What was your biggest motivation?

ElizabethOakes2

Back in November, my husband and I both had our annual physicals.
My cholesterol was a little high, my blood pressure was still up. (I was solidly in pre-hypertension numbers for a couple years), and my doctor said, "At least you haven't gained anymore weight..." before talking about putting me on meds for my bp and cholesterol. That's when it struck me that he had given up on me making changes for myself. Nobody gives up on me!
My husband, however- his bad fat numbers were so high they masked his good fat numbers, he was pre-diabetic, and cholesterol was insane. Finally, he was scared enough to make real changes, but he was having a hard time sticking to the plan the doctor put him on. He was seriously depressed, angry and frustrated.

The nutritionist working with our physician's plan was literally insane and making it worse, so I said "Fire her. I know more about nutrition and fitness than she does!" He did, we came to MFP, we did our own calculations and figured out how do this for real and do it for life.

callsitlikeiseeit

not wanting to be fat anymore.

lostgoals

I looked at my belly hanging over my jeans and looked at the box of photos from my younger days.. turning 40 this year.... and wanting to live. The best motivation is my nonverbal autistic daughter, the longer I live the better her life will remain.

Buff_Man

Arnie's chest! If I could have that, just for one day...

Winter_Girl92

I have a holiday to the gold coast in novemeber visiting the theme parks and I don't want to be too big to fit in the seats of the rides. That has really encouraged me. Plus I wouldn't have seen my sisters in over a year so I want to show them a big transformation.

scorpcookie

Motivation was basically I'm getting older and I wanted to have visible abs for once in my life.

Forty6and2

At first, I just wanted to be hot. But now I just want to be fit. If I do live long, I want to still be able to run and lift weights and do yoga.

My mom struggled with her weight and had mobility problems due to how heavy she was and how much back pain she had (from surgeries) and I don't want to end up like that. My mom, grandma and sperm donor (aka "father") all died due to heart complications. I don't want that to be me. I want to have a good life, no matter how long I live.

gradchica27

I want to go back to being fit and strong and feeling like an athlete. Which is hilarious bc I was overweight and totally unathletic as a child, until senior year of HS.

And I want to look good in my clothes. I don't want to be the frumpy mom--I homeschool my four boys and will probably have more kids...I don't want to fit the dumpy denim jumper stereotype. I like meeting people and having them be surprised that I have four kids and/or that I run half marathons. Plus I know if I let myself gain/keep a few pounds with each kid, I'll easily end up like my mom (diabetic and at least 225 after two kids). I don't want to limit myself and our family by my weight and health.

loreefabulous

Health reasons. Also I hated when I used to go out shopping and nothing would fit, I don't want to go back to that anymore. I just stopped caring about how I looked. Now I just want to feel good about me. And now it feels good to be complimented on the clothes I am wearing.

My husband keeps me motivated and is always challenging me in a way that I respond well to. Who knew I was competitive?

richardgavel

My biggest point is to look bettter. Co motivation is better performance racing in running and triathlon events. But vanity does play a significant role.

ilovefastcarstoo

I loved reading all these
My ex husband told me before he left that the body is more important. Whatever that meant at the time. But looking back I see that I let myself go after I had my daughter. I stayed at home and had no reason to get fixed up. We are fast food etc and the weight slowly came on. Since being single, I have had no luck with finding a person I can truly spend my life with. So me being as attractive as I can, is one big motivation. Another is being healthy so I can do things with my daughter. I want to also be an inspiration for others out there struggling. Obesity is a serious issue in the U.S. If we don't change the way we live, I'm afraid what will happen for future generations. I also have never been in great shape in my life and would like to be proud of myself. I'm gone through a lot in my 26 years of life and I know I can do anything I put my mind to

tomteboda

I didn't want to become disabled by my weight and cause trouble for other people. I realized my weight had itself become a problem in my life, not aesthetically but from its impact on my ability to do the things I liked.

83 lbs down and 12 to go, my only regret is not coming to that understanding much, much sooner.

AlciaMode

My biggest motivation was the misery and depression I felt when I was at my biggest. I am so much more confident and genuinely happier now that I have lost 60lbs. I once again have learned to love myself and it shows in every aspect of my life.

LuckyAndi

The first thing that motivated me was the very unexpected proposal from my boyfriend and fitting into my dream wedding dress. A couple of months later, I had a follow up doctor's appointment to see where we'd go with my osteoarthritis. The doctor didn't set a number, just told me I needed to lose weight.

While I do keep those in mind, I'm more motivated by my progress, how much I've pushed myself and gotten a real hold on this part of my life. I've dropped 24lbs and I feel so much better than I have in a long time. So now, the scale moving, my clothes getting looser, and my boyfriend celebrating with me every morning is what keeps me going.

kfkekxhf

For years I've been telling myself one day I'm gonna magically get up and decide to switch to a healthy lifestyle. That actually happened lol. It was very random.

AnnPT77

Health, followed by health, topped with a dab of health.

I've been obese (just a bit over the line from overweight - starting weight of 183 was BMI of 30.5, though that wasn't my highest weight ever). I'm hypothyroid (controlled well with meds). Now age 60, I've been quite active for the last dozen years, without losing weight, but getting a bit smaller (couple of sizes) by trading away fat for muscle.

But:

I'm a breast cancer survivor. My LDL/VLDL cholesterol was high, as were my triglycerides; my HDL was low. My doctor wanted to put me on statins. I had a torn meniscus in my left knee, arthritis in both knees, and knew I'd be looking at knee replacement eventually, but wanted to avoid/delay surgery as long as possible. My blood pressure had been pre-hypertensive, though I'd managed to get it down to more like high normal without losing weight. I have sleep apnea. I suddenly started having severe daily heartburn/acid reflux that was traced to a gallbladder that - once removed - revealed adenomymatosis, with holes and extensive cholesterol & inflammation damage.

On top of that, every time I went to a doctor's office (among other less ominous places), I was seeing people around my age who were nearly universally fat, having mobility problems, experiencing serious illnesses, and - maybe 10 years out from my age - ending up in assisted living. But when I went to the Y or the rowing club, I was seeing healthy people 10, 20 or more years older than me, working out and enjoying independent life. Ann, meet writing-on-the-wall.

The actual last straw - I think - was the gall bladder. Last April (2015), something clicked in my head & I decided to lose weight . . . this time, I meant it.

Now I'm 63 pounds down, around 120 pounds at 5'5" (a little too light for my frame), trying to figure out my maintenance calories. I'm still very active, as I was before losing the weight. But my knees hurt dramatically less; my cholesterol/triglycerides are solidly in the middle of the normal range, my blood pressure is at a very healthy level, and I just generally feel So. Much. Better. . . in ways I can't necessarily pin down (reduced inflammation, maybe?). I suppose I look better, too, but I can't say that I care.

TL;DR: Health warning signs/problems; lost weight; much healthier. Yay!

NCBALR

My motivation is, I just bought another Garmin device the Vivosmart HR and like my Garmin 620 and the Garmin 420 before that I'm going to max out as many bars as I can on my Garmin Connect app until one of my knees give out again...lol. This last time my knee went out I was down for 3 months.

kathakraz

I want to be a faster runner and dropping a bunch of weight was an obvious first step. Seems to be working so far.

kksmom1789

I have several Motivation factors
1) Health - I was born with a heart condition and have had 3 Open Heart Surgeries with at least 1-2 in the future I want to be the best version of myself and be around for a long time for my
2)Kids- I have 2 that I could not image them going on with out me I know one day it's going to happen but I want to see them have kids and maybe there kids have kids then i'll be ready to go but not for a long time.
3) Hubby- he totally deserves a hot wife to show off I can lay off the ice cream for that
4) vacations - we plan on going on a cruise in the next year or two and plan on taking the kids to Disney May of 2020 I want to be in shape to walk and just have fun with my family