What was it that made you start working out?

AllOutof_Bubblegum

Realizing that clothes looked horrible on me, not because of the clothes' fault, it was me. My FAT was making me look fat, not my clothes, lol.

alaine5377

Ghostlight1 wrote: »

I think everyone has to hit some point where they just say "that's it, time to get in shape" What one thing prompted you to start taking your health seriously? For me, I was going through a separation from my wife and felt that if I was in better shape it would help our marriage. Well needless to say it didn't and we got divorced a year later. Now I stay in shape for me to keep active and travel.

Mine is something similar. My ex and I were having bad problems so I tried working out for him. Then when we divorced, I missed going to the gym and eating good foods. So it has now become a stress relief and a moment for myself.

Jeebles604

Because skinny fat doesn't look great naked.

Honestly, someone who is fit is a damn attractive quality. It shows pride in themselves. I know how I view someone who is super fit and healthy. I also wanted to be that. It's the opposite of laziness. Someone who is active shows so much about them.

amusedmonkey

Because I wanted extra calories. No shame in that.

Ghostlight1

Shortly after that a trainer saw me using the machines in the gym. I ended up purchasing some sessions with her and she taught me to squat and deadlift. The rest is history. I'm signed up for my first power lifting meet this September. [/quote]

Just as Arditarose did, how many of you signed up for some type of competition after you started to get in shape as a goal.

My first year getting in shape I did 3 - 10K races and 5 - 10k Mud races bu my second year i signed up for the swimming leg of a relay Triathlon. I am not a big fan of running but but goals do help.

jmidd97

amusedmonkey wrote: »

Because I wanted extra calories. No shame in that.

So true! Its not my only reason - I live for my swimming and 2 martial arts - but I love food. And if you're also small (5'3) then being inactive means something like a measly 1200-1300 calories. How can anyone eat peanut butter on that, lol.

Alarae21

Initially started to lose weight in January for the impending wedding in August. My friend had signed up to the gym the year before and went off and on. She convinced me In February to go to a yoga class with her. I avoided the gym before I didn't want to be the fat, unfit one that couldn't do anything.

The instant I started that class was an eye opener. No one cared if you could or couldn't do the moves. They were concentrating on themselves, not you.

When I got to work after the class I signed up for a membership online and started the following week. I experimented with different classes in the schedule until I settled on my current routine which is 6 days a week of 1-2 classes per day, with a mix of weights, Cardio and Pilates.

dutchandkiwi

When on a holiday in Scotland I fell in love with walking the area and specifically wanted to walk the Great Glen Way For the best part this way roughly follows the main road so I could see its beauty and I wanted to be in those hills and I knew it would be too much, most certainly with a backpack.
Two years later we did walk it for our holiday and I was hooked. The year after we did the Hadrian Wall Path which as harder but we made that one too. From thereon it has been snowballing into more and more. Not planning a walking holiday this year due to special circumstances, but I have one in mind for the year after

amzblitz

The pump

Fitamdshiit

Because I was tired all the time and in and out of a depression. One day I just had enough of the cycle I was in.

Dannigreen31

Hit 30 and just wanted to get really fit instead of letting myself go..

bketchum1981

At first (January 2015) it was about fitting in a dress for my son's wedding three weeks ago. I found the most encouraging, effective and fun workout studio in the most convenient location. One of the best leaps of faith I've made. Can't believe I'm registered for a 5k and Tough Mudder in September?!?!?

almostanangel21

To deal with depression and anxiety. I started going to the gym to get a break from an abusive now-ex, and found that it helped my mood. Even at my current weight, exercise has been a constant just to keep me sane. It's only now that I need to be a socially acceptable weight to get internships/a job that I'm exercising to lose weight.

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jodieelol

The actual moment was when I was getting ready for a date, I put on a grey dress and when I looked in the mirror I looked absolutely massive and was completely disgusted.
I cancelled my date, threw out all unhealthy food, went to the gym and got a membership and a PT and then to the store for some workout clothes and I've NEVER looked back!
3 stone down and 2 more to go until goal 1 is reached!!

neldabg

I have oh so many reasons. I've been wanting to lose weight since I knew I was fat, and especially when in middle school, my pediatrician said I needed to watch my weight. By my midteens, I'd crossed the line into obesity. In my late teens, I had many moments of pause, of realization, that I was fat, and it was by my own doing. On a summer Wednesday morning, I woke up early and took a one hour walk at a local park. Since then, I've consistently worked out most mornings.
I just couldn't do it anymore. I knew that as I continued on in adulthood, my obesity would cause me problems, just as it was already causing problems for other obese members in my family.
Also, some people are fine with being overweight, but I clearly was not. I always downplayed my size, rounding to the smallest number or clothes size, and suddenly getting very quiet when the topic of weight, clothes size, and health came up in conversation. In fact, when I graduated from high school, I listed my weight to be a good 25 lbs lighter for my cap and gown order. No. I didn't hate myself. Not at all. However, I was not comfortable being so big. It's one thing being overwieght due to mental and/or physical health conditions or having problems growing up, and another thing to be overweight because I lacked discipline.

cwolfman13

Most of my life I've been active and fit...in my prime I was a pretty good athlete and for a brief moment in time I was ranked 3rd in my state in the 100M sprint. I let myself go when I graduated college at 30 and started working for an accounting firm and simultaneously started a family...eight years of letting myself slide and I was just tired of how unfit I had become given where I came from. It was a pretty easy decision.

eIIekay

I was noticing that my body was becoming stiffer...age sux! I didn't want to completely seize up, so I started exercising. I'm way stronger now, I have more stamina, and my flexibility has improved. Here's to getting younger!

brower47

I was unhappy with the way I looked at 198 and knew that my chances of developing a weight related disease would only continue to increase the longer I kept it on. It was seeing myself sitting naked beside a mirror that really gave me the epiphany. I'd love to say that getting healthy was the #1 motivator but that would be a lie. It's part of the equation but it wasn't the primary driver. Now I do cardio for additional food calories during deficits and for health and I lift for vanity and increased strength.

gainerpal

Anabug81 wrote: »

I was tired of buying large size clothes!

Are larger clothes more expensive ?

canadianlbs

one of my closest friends ever reconnected with me 25 years after college, with the most crippling clinical depression i've ever seen. i've never known anyone want so much to get well or try so hard to make it happen.

one of the things he did was an exercise 'study' for people with life-threatening levels of depression. i started biking again while he was doing that. the lifting followed after he'd dropped off my radar again, but he was part of that too. i think he was the first big strong man i'd ever known whose friendship was completely unqualified by sexism of any kind. he always loved it that i was stronger than the average female bear, and i think he loved it even more that i thought i was even stronger than that.

i've sort of come to terms with the idea that i'll probably never see him again. i'd love to believe that he's still alive, and that somehow something went right and he's happy again. i haven't heard from him for almost three years. but when i first started lifting a few months after the last time we did speak, it took me six months to a year to lose this mental movie of me someday getting to show off my new strength, and the way i could picture his face lighting up.

i don't lift 'for' him. he's got bigger troubles than i'll ever have and it's ridiculous and self-centred for me to think in that way. but i miss him still, and the wishes i send in his direction are still there every time i go near a barbell.

Fiqahana

That I needed to lose weight and eating less is not going to cut it, and later on after seeing my body getting healthier and I feel so much more alive, I love it even more

Anyway, to anyone out there, if you ever need a friend to accompany you through this journey to a happier and healthier life, motivate you to reach for you goals, support you through ups and downs, I'm always here to be that friend, so feel free to add me! I hope we all will succeed in this journey, until the end! Have a nice day everyone!