What caused you to have to lose weight in the first place?

getting_fit86

Starting another thread like this because it is interesting to see how we all differ in our weight loss journey - and how it all started.

Was it binge eating? Just plain bad eating in general? Was it growing up around fast food, sweets, etc?

For me, it was when I finished high school. Through my high school years I was active, had an active job where I was on my feet and played sports. I did eat junk in high school but I never gained weight from it. When I got out of high school I went to university for a year and basically didn't' do anything active at all. Ended up weighing the most I have ever weighed in my life due to emotional binge eating and yo-yo dieting. YIKES! (That darn freshmen 15...).

Good luck to everyone!

mperrott2205

I looked in the mirror and thought: "No."

LauraBalyk

There are so many reasons why I wanted to get in shape, but then again, everyone usually has a lot of reasons. I think my breaking point was when I was on a trip in Mexico with my fiancé, my entire family, and my sister in laws family (My brother was getting married in Mexico). We were at a beautiful all inclusive resort, and it was scorching hot everyday, so you had to wear the bare minimum everyday and night because it was hot. My sister in law is MAYBE a size zero, and even with that, all she ever does is talk about how she is fat, all her friends and sibilings are also twigs, super tiny, the typical "perfect body" with tiny waist, average to large size boobs, and a nice *kitten*. I found that everday when I was getting ready I hated it, I hated putting on a bathing suit and having to go out everyday essentially just wearing a bathing suit everywhere. My fiancé kept telling me how beautiful or sexy I looked, but I just didn't feel it. The day of the wedding I thought I looked awesome in this light pink dress. I came home from the trip and then looked at the pictures that my family had emailed me. I started to ball my eyes out when I saw myself in the light pink dress. I thought I looked so good, and felt good, then I saw myself. I could see every roll, my *kitten* looked MASSIVE I couldn't understand why I hadn't seen how I looked in it before I wore it out. There is a picture of me from the back, and it just disgusts me, its my "holy hell what have I done to my body" picture. I am getting married next year and I want to look great, I want to be able to have children with no complications, I want to be able to run around the house and case the kids, not just sit there on the couch ... so the little pink dress, my wake up call. Have a far ways to go still, down 12 inches and 8 pounds, but I will get there, I will get to under 200 pounds, it may not happen before the wedding, but I will get there one day.

Hollywoodm55

I'm finally changing my eating habits and trying to stick to a healthy diet because I've always had a bad relationship with food. All through middle and most of high school I was overweight even though I was active in sports. My family had never eaten with health in mind. It started to bother me, so I decided to do something about it. I wa down to eating cauliflower for lunch and binging and purging everything else. I was down to my lowest weight ever but it didn't last. This has followed me throughout the years and it has been an ongoing struggle no matter how much I detest it and want to stop. I have finally reached a point in my life where I think I am capable of making the right choices and can be in control.

HacheraTsarine

I tore every single one of the jeans I own (I have quite a lot of them) and I don't want to start buying stuff in a plus size store because damn those things are pricey, and not even cute. Just functional.

Oh, and healthy life style and motivation for my family and friends and whatnot.

But mostly to have a cute wardrobe.

OK, FINE.

ONLU to have a cute wardrobe.

blondageh

Oh my goodness, such a long story. Lifelong. I will try to cliff notes.

Fat from 5-15
Jenny Craig - 15
Skinny 15-22
Bad Breakup - Depression - Lost Job - Graduated College - Gained 234 lbs in a couple of years.

YES, 234 pounds in a couple of years.

So there is a lot more in between the lines but I obviously have issues with depression and food. I am 36 now. I have been working to get those 234 pounds off for about 10 years now off and on. I have lost 125 then gained some back, lost 125 gained some back, now I am back to 110. We shall see....

Oh and I kind of read the question wrong. What caused me to try again this time. (I've been trying again this time since April 5, 2013 -- Down 50 as of today Woo Woo!) It was feeling terrible. My depression is directly correlated with what I eat and when I gain weight. I couldn't let myself get into that dark place again. Not when I have my daughter to think about now. So, it was time to give up the fried chicken and cheeseburgers again and get serious or I was going to end up over 400lbs by the end of the year. I just set the date to start and did it.

fluffymaggie3

I have been fighting breast cancer for the last 3 years. I have had so many surgeries. I have had pneumonia twice. The medications have made me hurt and feel sick. I just got lethargic, sat still, slept a ton. I ate to comfort myself !!!
I was extremely fit before cancer !! I ran 3 miles pretty much every morning. I was a size 6 !!! I just gave up after my diagnosis !!
I am still on medications, and probably will be forever. I will always have pain, and my lungs due to radiation will always be weak.
I just decided a week ago that I wanted to try to get back some of what cancer has taken. I want to feel better !! I want to feel pretty again !!
1 day at a time.......

seltzermint555

I think MOSTLY poor diet and partly genetics.

I was raised with the typical 1980's American diet of fast food, processed food, everything with lots of sugar, salt & fat. Dessert after every lunch and dinner. Convenience foods exclusively. Few veggies. In adulthood, I branched out but not enough. I was married to a man who was a big fan of fattening restaurant meals and Southern cooking - I indulged as often as he did.

My mom's whole family tends to be extremely pear shaped with huge hips, thighs, etc. Females especially, from puberty onward. They're Italian descent and just shaped in a certain way that's conducive to that. My dad was 6'4" and obese, in a proportional, relatively healthy (yes, by that I mean he worked an active job and had normal cholesterol, blood pressure, etc) way from his early teens until about age 60 when he developed some health issues (prostate etc) related to age and dropped weight quickly with a fairly big diet change and pretty drastic exercise regime. Which is great!

elvensnow

I was always so unhappy. As a teen I got overweight (up to 190, possibly more, around age 14). Then one day I just started running on our treadmill that my parents bought. Only like half a mile to a mile a day. I think I also started eating subway for lunch (they started offering it at my school). That was all, but apparently that worked and I was down to around 150 until college. I was pretty happy. I was always an active child and loved sports but when I was heavy I did a lot less. Once I lost the weight I joined softball team and was generally just healthier.

Then college. I gained the freshmen 15 and more. Wasn't active at all, ate like crap because of no money and no effort. Got up to around 240. Hated myself all the time. Finished college, got a job, was still fat. But the straw that broke the camels back was my GYN, who was always super nice and encouraging me to lose weight, mentioning that at my BMI (40+) it could cause issues with pregnancy and fertility. Really a wake up call, since I do want kids someday. And now I actually had money to afford a healthy diet, so really no more excuses.

So I finally bit the bullet. I did WW and lost weight pretty well for about a year. Plateaued hard. Found MFP, been here since. Still trying to lose but damn is it harder than before

cwolfman13

I used to be very involved in athletics growing up. I ran track, did swim team, wrestling, football, gymnastics, etc. Pretty much from 1st grade on I was involved in some kind of athletic sport pretty much year around. After high-school I went into the military and continued to train like a beast and eat like one too. When I got out, I went back to school and put on a few pounds, but nothing to concern myself about. I was still active, just not quite as active and getting older. It was after school and starting my career in accounting that I put on most of my weight. Basically I became much less active..."didn't have time" to work out, etc. Basically I sat on my *kitten* 12 hours per day and then went home and sat on my *kitten* some more...all the while eating like I was training. Next thing I know I'm about 50 Lbs overweight.

I started all of this about 9 months ago and have gotten myself back into reasonably good shape...but still quite a bit of work to do fitness wise to get back to where I was. I've lost 40 Lbs in the process and reversed a whole lot of bad blood work and am off of all of my meds except two that are for hereditary high blood pressure. I have some assemblance of my old life back and it just keeps getting better and better.

Calliope610

Recovery from alcoholism (switching my booze addiction to a food addiction) compounded by mood stabilizing drugs notorious for weight gain.

The good news is after 9 years of sobriety, I am able to use the tools I learned in recovery to address my food issues, and since my mood disorder is not exacerbated by alcohol, I can manage it with out meds.

MeIShouldB

I had just gotten accepted to a university and was about to move out on my own. A couple months before I moved, I weighed myself and it said 224. I was 22 y/o, 224 lbs, and 5'5. Something about that number was like "oh hell no". So, I figured since I'd have a gym and be walking everywhere college would be my starting point.

JoRocka

Accident.

I wasn't trying to lose weight- just experimenting with different foods- playing with paleo concepts- seeing how my body reacted and what it did for me.

Slowly adjusted the way I ate and I lost pounds I didn't realize I could actually lose- I was a solid 170 at 5'8" and never consider myself "FAT"- always have worked out- never been heavier than that. I've lost somewhere between 15-20 lbs- and dropped 2-3 sizes (Depending on which clothing and which brand you look at)...

I'm shocked to be honest- I really didn't think it was possible and I really never though I could lose that weight and NOT be miserable (I don't deal well with the HANGRY!!!)- but it's been a good journey and I'm really glad I started tinkering. It's been fun. I feel even better about myself than I did (which I didn't think was possible- because I was pretty fracking fabulous 6 months ago too!!)

chandanista

Mine is extremely complicated. Here's a snapshot of the last 15 years or so:

I was not athletic as a child or teen. My parents didn't put me into any self defense, sports, or dance classes. If I was active it was general, kid-running-in-nature activity. I had the starting seeds of an ED when I was a teen. I'd sneak my mom's diet pills (she wasn't fat either but she thought she was), and when I had money I bought diet foods. I tried to purge, but never figured out how, so I'd just skip meals. Then I'd turn around and eat half a loaf of bread dripping with butter because I felt like I was starving. My mom would laugh because I had skim milk with my cereal, then I'd gorge on ice cream after dinner. I certainly didn't think it was funny! But no one stepped in to show me healthy habits. I am not sure anyone in my family knew healthy habits; Gramma caught me eating apricots off her tree once, and told me if I was hungry I should just come inside and have some white toast.

When I moved out on my own I was a decent healthy weight for my height (143, I believe). I thought I was fat, but overall ignored the situation because I'd had enough of diet food and diet pills. After I had my first daughter at 20 I didn't lose any pregnancy weight until she was weaned; then I cardio'd some off but not all (I was in the high 150's).

We moved to a hot state for a few years and I spent a lot of free time indoors. I worked in an office and sat on my bum all day. I ate salt water taffy all the time; craved the stuff, really. Most of everything else I ate was healthy, just too much of it. When I realized how fat I was (195), I starved myself for 2 months and got down to the low 170's. Then I became pregnant with my son and ballooned a bit again.

After he was born I did a lot of physical stuff, walking and running and zumba, but didn't lose much pregnancy weight. He was weaned by January of this year. In February I started my weight loss journey properly, though I didn't come to MFP until April. NOT starving myself, combining weights with cardio, adjusting and weighing my portions. It has been the easiest, least stressful weight loss of my life, even if it seems intolerably slow. 210 lb in February, 170 today. But I look better than I did pre-son, so I'm doing something right.

ygstzip

Usually I was slightly overweight already, at the time I was in university my weight was around 134-136lb. Then I got a surgery and my weight surged up to 143lb and it wouldn't go down. Then 2 years ago, my house got hit by bad flood and I had to eat like crap for weeks during the flood session, when every thing got back to normal, I weight myself and found out that I was around 149lb-154lb. O_O...then people start comment on my weight more directly...such as my neighbor and sales person at the stores when I buy clothes...That's when I started to try to lose my weight.

BlueBombers

Not liking the way I looked or felt. My clothes were getting tighter. I was starting to get out of breath by barely doing anything. I knew I needed to do something as I have young kids and I want to be around for them for as long as possible. I woke up one day and said....no more!! It's time for a change.

AEMW8

I was always on the heavy side, even as a kid. My smallest weight that I can actually remember was being 120lbs in 4/5th grade. Now I'm 22 and I'm over 200lbs. I never let it show that my weight bothered me too much, but in reality it did. I guess I felt that I had to put on a brave face around everyone just so people wouldn't worry about me. Now that I have some stress gotten rid of, I felt it time to get rid of my body stress as well. Besides, I got a good looking boyfriend (not RDJ hot, but close enough for a normal person), why not look great for him and myself?

That and I want tats that are going to look hella good on me. My first tat will come when I lose at least 10lbs. That's going to be a treat to myself.

isaacsemrad

I looked in the mirror and thought: "No."

Ditto

WendyTerry420

Change in lifestyle and not paying attention. I went from being on my feet all day and picking up/setting down heavy things, to sitting behind a computer all day and going home and sitting on the couch all evening.

TheGymGypsy

I always thought I was just big boned. Then I got a job and stopped boredom eating and effortlessly dropped 20 pounds. When I realized I was just fat, I decided to do something about it!

twosixeight

I knew I needed to lose weight and be healthier, but I didn't actually get into action and do something about it until my husband poked at my belly rolls and said (jokingly) that I reminded him of the Michelin Man.

elisa123gal

There is so much in my life I cannot control right now. But, I can control my fitness and health. So, I guess I look at my gaining weight as me being out of control and letting outside issues impact how I look. So, now I want to take control of this and I think it will lead to me taking control in other areas of my life as well.

I think people who are fit are respected because they choose to put themselves first and respect themselves. I want to be one of those people.

__Di__

Basically, after getting to my goal before, I liked cakes too much and ate many of them, here I am - again!

shannonahenderson

it was time....

shannonahenderson

I looked in the mirror and thought: "No."

right!!!!!

CarameI

I want to be an actress.

lessismoreohio

I decided I needed to do this for my health. I realized it was time to do what has needed to be done for a long time.

GnosisGnosis

I had just finished a 48 hours MMORPG binge and finished off my 2nd LARGE bag of hot cheetos, and I dunno, I just kind of... snapped. =p

jessinflames

My mom has always battled with her weight, and my dad was always pretty fit as he had a physically demanding job. He would make fun of my mom, sister and I for being fat (I wouldn't say I was a fat kid - maybe chubby) which used to hurt our feelings. The 3 of us girls would binge eat sometimes when he wasn't home and throw everything away so he wouldn't see it in the garbage.

My mom eventually lost a bunch of weight, and we went to the gym together and started eating healthy. When I started college that stopped, and I had really low self esteem so I didn't pay attention to what I was eating and didn't exercise. We didn't have a scale at home. One day I was shopping with my mom in a home store, and out of the blue stepped on the scale. The number looking back at my didn't make sense - 240lbs, 5'9 at 21 years old. I immediatley ran out of the store and cried for days - blaming my mom, blaming everything but myself. I started my weight loss journey and got down to about 170 - then I met my (now) ex - who was the laziest person I've ever met. I got sucked back into eating whatever I wanted and not exercizing. I've gone back up to 188 but am really motivated to get down to 150.

I just can't bear the thought of being an intelligent person that can't control what I eat or do. Watching TV and laying on the couch all night is NOT the spice of life. I don't want to be a part of it anymore and am well on my way to my goal of 150

jessinflames

I had just finished a 48 hours MMORPG binge and finished off my 2nd LARGE bag of hot cheetos, and I dunno, I just kind of... snapped. =p

^^^ I forgot to mention that too! Video game marathons with snacks - a plenty! What a recipe for disaster!

Gresancia

I looked at myself in the mirror, in clothes, in pictures and thought, all that hard work you just wasted. I had lost all the weight before and got down to a size 8 which is tiny for me. Now, I am back up to a women's size 14. I am so beautiful when I am smaller, I love the way I look and feel about myself. Now I just hate myself and don't want to do or go anywhere. I used to love being on the beach, now I haven't been on a beach in over 6 years. It is time for me to get my head and life together. I have been trying, but not sticking to it. It is time to stick to it and care about of me. I want to flunt my stuff again and feel good about flunting it. :happy: