What made you decied to lose weight?

sherbear702

What was your moment, your wake up call, the straw that broke the camels back, that deciding factor that made you want lose weight?

jgnatca

I suddenly gained ten more pounds and the added load was too much for my pancreas. Metformin alone wasn't working any more and the next step is insulin. Also, I was suffering greater mobility issues, knees were creaking, and I had heel spurs in both feet. I feared if I didn't make a change not being able to move would make it that much more difficult. It did feel like I was standing on the edge of the cliff.

icandothis5769

I suffer from depression and fibromyalgia. I absolutely hate giving in to anything and I realized I've been a big part of my own misery. So on New Year's Day I made a decision to take care of ME for a change and hopefully feel better doing it!

dclark566

A horrifying picture of myself.

dawn0293

My hubby lost a lot of weight and I knew if his lazy butt could do it, I had no excuse. My kids were starting to emulate my bad eating habits and I was feeling like crap all the time. Plus, I hated the way I looked. Yet, it wasn't until I started having irregular heart rhythms that I finally woke up and said, no more. I don't want to die. This is sick. I have to change. So, I did.

Oldred

Osteoarthritis in my knees.

MissDeeDee78

When I stepped on the scale....and my stomach hung over my panties

eemmerson929

Turning 50 and really bad numbers on my blood work. A1C (Sugar), cholesterol, triglycerides were way high. In 3 months, I was able to bring them all back to a normal range through diet and exercise by tracking my food intake and steps walked. There was also medication but I was already on the medication for a while and it was not helping (or I was getting worse slower). Got the meds cut in half by the doc just this morning.

cwolfman13

I decided that I wanted to be healthier and get off the meds I was on and choose a new path that wasn't going to result in what likely would have been an early demise.

To be healthier meant that I needed to eat healthier and more nutritious foods and get regular exercise...losing 40 Lbs was just a nice bi-product of living a more healthful lifestyle, it wasn't initially anything I really set out to do. I lost a good 20 Lbs before I even realized it...just eating more healthfully and getting in regular exercise. At that point I decided to dive further into nutrition and fitness and found MFP where I dropped another 20.

marisas80

My kids were all active in sports and I felt like I wasn't practicing what I preached. Now they have to work really hard to out run me.

raisealittlehell

Not feeling comfortable in my own skin. Was also tired of making excuses.

Need2Exerc1se

I've been toying with losing for a few months now and lost a little - 8 lbs in about 4 months. But I've decided to get more serious about it since I have 2 reunions to attend this coming summer.

SJKirk51912

A picture posted by a friend on FB for the whole world to see. I knew I had gained weight but didn't realize it was that bad. With every like the picture got I cried because it meant one more person saw it.

sklarbodds

From my 'story':

My Background
I grew up a crazy skinny little kid. Sports was most of my life. When I wasn't playing for a team I was playing with friends around the house. I lived about 3 miles outside my hometown and I would ride my bike back and forth, often a couple times a day. I could sit down and eat an entire large pizza and I wouldn't gain a pound. I graduated H.S. at 135lbs. I was an athlete.

Where I Began
Fast forward 16 years later. I had sat at a desk job for almost all of my adult life. It all started when I was ‘out-growing’ my 38”-waist pants and knocking on the door at 40” (205lbs). I wasn't “huge” by some standards, but I was definitely by mine. I would be out of breath walking up stairs. I couldn't run around with my kids too much. That picture on the left was taking my then 8-year old to the daddy-daughter dance where I would get worn out after dancing to just a song or two. It was affecting my life in every way. I went to my doctor and for the first time in my life my blood pressure was high. My doctor suggested nicely that maybe a few pounds would help and if I didn't it could lead to health problems later in life.

The Journey
A few months later I got fed up. I hated being that out of shape and overweight. I refused to buy a larger size of pants and I wanted to be an athlete again. Honestly one day it just hit me like a ton of bricks. I CHOSE TO BE THIS FAT. There was only ONE THING standing in my way from being the me that I could faintly remember. CHOICE. All I had to do was CHOOSE better. That’s it. I had tons of reasons why I was fat. I work at a desk all day, I’m a dad I don’t have time, I don’t want to get up early and workout, it’s too hard, etc. etc. When it came down to it, I just realized that I could do it, I was just choosing not to.

ketorach

I cleaned up everything else in my life, so it was finally time to take care of my body and my health.

glassyo

Basically, my doctor said, "I want you to lose weight. Get down to 160." I was about 225 lbs at the time. Yeah, I'm that easy.

spoonwalker

Im the biggest I have ever been and have two kids under the age of 4. I want to be able to enjoy their life with them and not be so self conscience everytime we out in public. I know I am better than what I have let myself become and I want to set an example for my girls.

kimlight2

In my early 20's I showed horses for a living and was a year away from International Levels of competition. I was always thin and ate crap but because I was so active I never had to think about my weight. I was actually losing weight eating 2 Big Macs and a large fry for my lunch everyday.
When I was 29 I was in a car accident and was unable to ride anymore and ended up having a hip and 2 back surgeries. I continued eating crap without any activity and slowly gained about 100 lbs.
About 2 years ago I saw a picture of myself sitting in the stands at my son's hockey game surrounded by all of the other Mom's on the team who were quite a bit skinnier then me. I was embarassed and decided I didn't want that life anymore. I wanted to be able to keep up with my son and be one of the "hot moms" not their fat friend. Slowly but surely I am getting there.

Soon2BeMrsSherriff

I had two that coincided together. We took the family to the great wolf lodge. For those that don't know, it is an indoor water park. After a few times up the stairs to the slides, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I had to sit down and couldn't have fun with my family. That was the real turning point. Also, I got engaged and I wanted to look better for my wedding!

NoelFigart1

Desire for improved athletic performance.

holyfenix

So mine is a little different than most. I was never technically overweight for my height, but as we all know weight and bf% are not the same, and my BF% was much higher than I wanted it to be. I could no longer suck my stomach in so it was flat. I officially had a fat belly. I made the decision to act in November of 2013 but didn't actually make any changes until January last year. The holidays were coming up, I was going on vacation to San Diego and Disneyland and I figured, why not enjoy myself. This put me just shy of 200 lbs at 6'0" and what I would estimate around mid 20's BF% First thing I did was the typical go sign up at the gym. I poured through article after article and even tried a "diet" or two and had limited success. I used MFP off and on, but made a lot of mistakes and wasn't as committed nor understood what I do now. Mostly is I wasn't fully committed to the cause, and when I had a severe allergic reaction to a certain "diet" shake, I almost took the easy way out and gave up, and almost gained all the weight back I had lost to that point, which wasn't much.

Fast forward to mid summer, a few things happened that really just made everything click. I found out about intermittent fasting. I started a new workout program...which I abandoned pretty quick because it was fairly advanced but will go back to it soon, and I started eating "healthier". In retrospect if I had known and done what I had started then I would of had a pretty impressive physique for summer time. In less than 6 months I lost over 30 lbs. of mostly fat. Did a planned 1 month recomp just to have a breather, put 10 back on and now I have about 4 more lbs to lose again before I start a clean bulk to last until my birthday in April.

Some things I have learned are, I am glad I was lifting the whole time. I haven't got a ton stronger but I haven't gotten weaker while losing that much weight. I think everyone has something that just makes everything make sense and gives them that self motivation they need. The first 75-90% of fat loss is, in my opinion, fairly easy and stress free, its not until that last little bit where you really have to keep track and be completely honest with yourself is hard. At this point, if I let myself go I can ruin 3 weeks of hard work just like that. For a man a six pack is not over-rated, its awesome and I am oh so close to having a really nice one I can almost taste it.

I wish anyone who is seriously committed to losing weight (fat), the best of luck. It can be intimidating because its a big life change but it is well worth the effort.

rand486

It happened by accident. I am a software developer - we were all inert, office jobs, sitting around, and slowly expanding around the waistline. The way most people talk about it, it's a normal part of getting older, as if nothing can be done about it.

Then I joined Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a hobby, and a form of self-defense (I was a huge UFC bro back in the day). I lost 10 lbs by accident, just by doing something active. I had no idea I was out of shape and fat before that.

That's when I took notice, realized what fit people actually look like, and started reading more about health & fitness. Now I'm 35 lbs lighter, in the best shape of my life, and looking to potentially gain weight (in terms of muscle).

PeachyCarol

I already had a dodgy medical history and then I was diagnosed in fairly rapid succession with a brain tumor (non malignant) and psoriatic arthritis. In the past, I had gone through letting a medical condition get me down, and I refused to let it happen again. I started exercising, the trainer at my first gym recommended MFP for tracking, and here I am.

Liftng4Lis

I was going to turn a year older.

xstephnz

I'm not really ready to lose weight, but one thing that is really getting me there is, I struggle to breathe, especially after getting up quickly or climbing stairs. I often wake up choking. I have a higher cholesterol than I should, and sometimes I wake up choking.

SteveMFP123

My back, I suffer with a lot of pain and figured it was due to my weight but I'm nearly 60lbs down with little to no improvement. Other than that the usual, being lonely and unhappy sucks.

rand486

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

I was going to turn a year older.

Did you manage to prevent that by losing weight?

Sylvarose

After the worst asthma attack I've had to date I had a follow-up appointment with my doctor. She had a very frank and honest talk with me. While it was true that my cholesterol was good, my blood pressure was good and even my sugar levels were good I still had to lose weight. At 330lb the weight was impacting my breathing making it difficult for my lungs to expand. The need and the desire to breathe: that's what made me decide.

Ninkyou

3 things:

1) I couldn't even hack a 10 minute hike to a waterfall when visiting my SIL's family
2) I was size 16 and flirting with plus size.. 16's were getting too small and 18's were too big
3) I wanted to be able to have a second child and my weight was getting in the way of that.

Now: I can hike to my heart's content, I wear size 10 pants and I'm due with my second child next week. Well, the first 2 are pre-pregnancy, but I'll get back to those after delivery :P

pscarolina

I had to make a video of me teaching for an annual evaluation. I thought, "who is that chubby girl dancing on stage & why does she sound just like me?"

AllTheNoms

I was at my all-time highest and pretty frustrated with myself. I happened to get food poisoning and lost a few pounds in a couple of days. Instead of going back to my old ways, I figured I might was well use that as a jump start to a renewed diet effort.