Why did you come to the conclusion to lose weight?
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One of my friends has always been heavier than me. I met up with him after not seeing him for a few months. He lost a significant amount of weight and now I was the biggest. I started that very night.0
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For me, it wasn't so much a decision to lose weight as various motivators for me to NOT let it get out of hand to the point where drastic measures would be necessary:
1) Family history of heart disease & high blood pressure.
2) A job that not only involved a "maximum allowable waist size" but that is easier to perform with less excess weight.
3) A surprise visit by the "cancer fairy" where I needed immediate medical intervention and I realized that being as fit as I was is probably what kept me alive long enough to reach medical treatment.
4) Tying in with #3: Hearing people being told by the doctors that "we can't do that procedure until you lose some weight" because, if I ever again find myself in a position where having surgery ASAP is necessary, I don't want my weight preventing me from getting treatment.
Add in a mild obsession with strength and fitness that came after cancer, surgeries, chemo, and the associated lack of activity had me needing to take a break after just walking 150 meters down the street, and the whole spectrum of weight control, activity levels, fitness, etc., became a priority in my life.1 -
My husband had a triple heart bypass at the age of 47, when they checked his heart he had two arteries fully blocked and 1 partial and they said it had been like that for a good while as the arteries had already started trying to make new veins to maintain the supply to his heart. I sat there and thought.... I've got 8 stone more than you and two kids under 14.2
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My partner thought I had thrown a shirt away but it was my underwear. Hilarious I know.1
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Hated how I looked in pictures.. Finally decided that I needed to get back in smaller pants and then my girlfriend was so much more fit than I was and I wanted to look better for her.0
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When I realized I couldn't make myself leave the house anymore because of the constant sniggering of other people. I used to have anxiety attacks and I was a prisoner in my own home. I am still on my journey after losing 60lbs but feeling so much better now and have changed my whole life
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Didn't like myself in pictures , have a daughter that wants to do lots of "Adrenaline junkie" kind of things with me (rollercoasters, rock climbing, tandem sky dives) and I can't. Feeling like i am 90 years old when I am only 42... and wanted to look better in clothes and look better for my loves0
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I went surfing this last weekend and bought myself a wetsuit. I did not look as cool as I thought i would in it. Aand here i am, started yesterday.2
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My ah-ha moment for me, as a male, was when I realized I needed a mirror to see certain parts of my body.
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I realized in the Spring that I wouldn't be able to pass my annual physical training test with the military. This was a huge wake up call for me, and I've been scrutinizing my food and fitness ever since. I was able to pass by the way -- but barely. When it rolls around again in May, I will be prepared to pass it with flying colors
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I had a job interview last week and had to go to 8 different stores to find a suit because none of the stores had my size which is a 22. That was my aha moment. Plus I am doing it for myself. I want to be able to look myself in the eye and no I committed and didn't give up.0
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Looking at my wedding photos. I hadn't even realized how big I had gotten!!0
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I started to be conscious about my weight when I felt like I was having a heart attack walking up a hill coming from work, when my husband gave little hints, and when I was playing with my grand children. All of these experiences has caused me to exercise every chance I get. I realize I should have at least 20mins to an hour to do something strictly for me!!!!!!!!0
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Lost 24 lbs on the fitness plan a few years ago, but one day stepped on the scale and it found me again along with another 10 lbs. I am 65 years old, still walking and bike riding, need to stay in shape for the enjoyment of retirement and watch my grandchildren grow.0
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I knew I had gained weight after my final semester of university (binging on bad food, not cooking/exercising, stress etc). The real shock came when I was on a night out and the band around my dress broke
quite embarrassing! 0 -
- when I decided that more advanced yoga movements would be so much easier if I lost the excess non-active weight.0
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I didn't like looking plump and dowdy, and I got sick of being a slowpoke runner.0
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We are done having children and I simply want to look good naked again.1
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Not seeing My grandmother and mother for 5 years and they show up at my door wearing matching nitro necklaces in case they have a heart attack and just tired of this weight.1
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Driving trucks for over 20 yrs. Couldn't keep wait down alone, so motivation dropped. Hitting 50 next yr. and buying a motorcycle. Along with health related reasons, I just don't want to look like a fat guy on a bike. So buying the vivofit and syncing this app keeps my motivation n focus waaay better..ADD ME so we can grow n loose together...0
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I had a case of Tachacardia, resting heartrate over 100. Didn't feel good and DR. gave me still another pill to take. I'd had a couple of years of different health scares; this one I called "The Ghost of Christmas Future". I got scared, started reading and learning about food from many different sources. Part way through the journey I found MFP, now my goto source for healthy eating.
Those pills are thrown out, my 38" pants are going to charity as I get into 32" pants!2 -
When I bought myself new clothes and realised I'd just bought the next size up yet again so it would be more comfortable. I realised that I was just buying bigger clothes each year and thought "where is this going to end, at what size am I going to stop?" So I decided it stops right now. I've just given most of those larger clothes to the local charity shop so I now have to lose weight or have uncomfortably tight clothes or just wear the same things all the time! It won't work for everyone but for me it's the incentive I need to get going and get back into all those things in the wardrobe that I haven't worn for years.0
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So this Endless Journey started 1,000 days ago. It was a Friday, got home, went upstairs to change, came back down and then something happened. I had to sit down, sweat pouring down me, struggling to breath and had chest pains. my body was telling me that all was not well. The pains got worse so decided to visit my doctor. She sent me to the ER straight away, I was very quickly seen by a Consultant who carried out tests. I did not want to tell my wife as she was at work. The consultant called me in and said very simply, that if I did not change my lifestyle, he gave me five more years. very simply I was killing myself. Going back to my car, I realised now that life is not a rehearsal, I needed to act now. My Journey has now started.
After tellng my wife, she said that only I could change this and of course she was right. I grabbed the laptop and sat down. So how was I killing myself?, for one week I wrote down how much I was eating and drinking. The results were frightening I was consuming up to 4,000 calories a day, add that to the fact I was not even exercising, nothing more to say. My weight was 276lbs, pulse rate 77. My blood pressure was normal.
A new diet was planned, out went hamburgers, take aways, junk food. No more drinking alcohol, and eating between meals. The fridge was completely emptied and replaced with fresh fruit, vegetables, salads, chicken, fish. Cans of coke were replaced with bottled water. Extreme you might say but time was not on my side. Eating beteween meals was a problem so each morning I would get a bowl and chop up some melon, apples, raisins, add some celery, nuts and raisins. Now whenever I was hungry instead of having crisps or chocolate I would reach for the bowl. Drinking water before each meal helped to curb my appertite.
Ok thats the diet sorted but now exercise, being so overweight this was not going to be easy. I just started going out for walks around the block, the first time after twenty minutes I had to stop I was so out of breath. But gradually as each day passed i just incresased it. Weight loss was slow so i checked my diet, reducing my intake to 1200 calories, this suited me but may not suit everybody. My BMI was 49% so the body had enough fat to live off. The next stage of getting fit, I decided to purchase a mountain bike. OMG what a sight seeing me trying to cycle, confidence was low, and made worse by other cyclists making nasty comments, this just made me more determined. I was hooked on cycling and went out every day increasing the time I spent out on the road. The same cyclists passing me by asking if I wanted a push. My time would come.
My weight was starting to melt away and i started to feel good about myself so the next stage was to invest in a road bike. I did this and started cycling furtther and further. Ok 2014 was not good i got knocked off my bike no less than four times, but was determined to carry on. Easter this year I decided to enter a road race, a 130km race. The weather conditions were the worst I had encountered but was determined to complete the course. Oh so what happened about those cyclists who were so cruel to me I can here you ask? The next time i went out on the road I saw them in front of me approaching a hill. As they started to cycle up it they were all breathless, I pulled along side them and said. would you like a push? I then left them struggling, looking over my shoulder they knew who I was.
So 105lbs lighter and a healthy pulse rate of 45, BMI now 25.5, everything was going good. Until about 12 weeks ago, after a long cycle I returned home feeling unwell ok I thought it was caused by the long cycle but it was not. After a visit to the doctor and some blood tests, I was sent to ER to see a consultant. Who just by looking at me suggested I may have Kidney Cancer, leaving the room my wife just looked at me with tears in her eyes. Comforting her I said lets see what the scans show. Two days later, after two scans the best results ever, I did not have cancer. There was however a problem with my Kidneys. I have been told that an operation will cure the problem, I am still training only after speaking to the surgeon. I have a 160km cycle planned for November this year which I should be fit enough to compete.
Remember, life is not a rehearsal, you do not get a second chance, so dont waste it. Your body is a temple so look after it.
Good luck to you all as you take the first step to a healthier you.10 -
When me and my fiance broke up. I gained my weight being on the road with him. And now im down to when i first got engaged to him. I wish we never broke up.1
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When people told me I always wear the same shirt(s). Can't fit in my other shirts anymore, won't buy new "tents".0
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I've started and stopped 'weightloss' so many times but never for long, I have postponed it so many times, thinking 'I'll start tomorrow' or 'I'll start Monday'. But this time I really feel like its hit home to my core. I started nursing school and read in my textbooks the black-and-white indisputable facts of diabetes and heart disease, and it scared the pants off me. I don't want that to happen to me, I don't want my kids to see me decline and get sick. I don't want to deal with the medications, watching every morsel I eat, blindness, skin breakdown, amputation, kidney disease, fatigue, gasping for breath. No way, uh-uh that's not for me. This **** is real, food can make you SICK and no amount of pizza or chocolate is worth it.
BTW I wish there was a "Like" button, so many of these stories are so inspiring, funny, sad, I love this thread!4 -
None of my old clothes fit me I wear baggy clothes and leggings everyday and I look a right mess no lore fatty bum bum I lost lots of weight in past and gained most of it back well its hard work getting it bk off but I refuse to stay in these clothes gaining weight all time. I have holiday booked and I refuse to be the fattest round the pool 0
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I was in my changing room one day getting dressed for a horse show. I took out my clothes... and... well... my pants were literally bursting at the seams, my stomach was hanging over my belt, and my shirt was ready to rip in half. LOL. I realized then how much weight I had gained. It took me at least a half hour to get into those clothes. It was ridiculous. Those were my "fat" clothes, too, so that's pretty bad. It was pretty embarrassing showing my horse looking like that! I still have lots of weight to lose, but I'm not quite that large anymore.0
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Hello, mine is for medical reasons along with the fact my clothes don't fit. After a long fight with cancer and other extended hospital visits. I had gained almost 200 pounds. So I went to see about weight loss program that I started a month ago. In the last month I have lost 28 pounds, and I feel better. My hang up is that I need more exercise. Now I need to work on the get moving.0
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BTW I wish there was a "Like" button, so many of these stories are so inspiring, funny, sad, I love this thread! [/quote]
Glad you enjoy the thread. I love reading all the stories as well. We all have that "moment" when we realize we really have to get serious about being healthy.1
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