What got you started?

WannabeStressFree

I've been here for about 6 months, but didn't really get into it until about 2 months ago. I started to log in honestly, exercise more often, running, now I'm starting weight lifting.
My reasons?
Lifetime of being over weight, yo-yo dieting that led to NOWHERE( I've tried every diet out there ;-( ), feelings of depression and anxiety, insecurity, no knowledge of nutrition.
Sometimes I was so bloated I'd look pregnant, (never been).
I did lose weight previously but it was by starving myself, which led me to binge--- not good at all.

So now I'm trying to eat balanced, I'm attending my local Y (across the street from my building!), recovering from an injured foot so I'm not running as much as I was, and starting NROLfW.

What's your story, if you'd like to share?

xo
good luck!

kill3rtofu

my buddy Devin got me into eating right by logging and IIFYM! Always wanted to look and feel better as I had mostly just under eaten. I always was athletic and working out regularly but never saw big results til I ate right

jaecamp1

I had resigned myself to being the fat chick. Then my husband got sick with the flu for a week and we both decided to use that as a jump start to getting to healthy weights.

gk03ub

I was so sick of feeling insecure and weak. Now, 13 pounds lighter than my highest weight and about 5-7 pounds away from goal, I feel strong, pretty, and confident. I'll never look back.

Yooperm35

I saw a picture of myself at a family reunion. I don't think I had actually seen anything below my neck in years. My SIL had tagged me on facebook - I thought immediately about untagging myself, but instead, I did something about it. I leave that picture up in my album to remind myself how far I have come.

WannabeStressFree

I'm glad to hear of all these successes!
I also was brought here by my friend, I'm not looking back either!
And I also had resorted to being the fat chick- no more!!!

As for eating correctly, it truly does make all the difference in the world!
xo

susannamarie

Ugly breakup after 7 years of being together. A friend got me started here and told me getting slim and hawt was the best revenge.

guessrs

Few things came together: being 198 pounds, fat photos, being sick for two months and not getting well, feeling heavy, eating lots and still feeling weak.

seltzermint555

I was totally comfortable and accustomed to being over 200 lb since my teens and around 260-270 lb during my 20's.

Then I hit my 30's and had a stressful sedentary job, marriage with zero passion, and extra disposable income spent on fast food & dining out. Wound up at 307 lb and for the first time ever, started having some health worries due to the weight such as foot pain, leg swelling, shortness of breath...it scared me so I IMMEDIATELY started to walk several miles per night.

Over about 4 years I lost weight getting back down to my usual 270 lb and feeling completely energetic and healthy, with none of those health worries going on.

Divorced my ex husband and took that as a chance to eat healthier. Saw no change in the scale at all.

Met my nutrition-conscious, fit & active new husband and learned more about how to best do that and even went pescetarian in Nov 2012. Thought there was something crazy wrong with me because I only lost 8 lb in 5 months from some pretty major dietary changes. That might not sound too weird to some people, but as a 36 yr old 5'8" woman who weighed 270 lb to begin with, 8 lb was a very very small loss!

Decided to join MFP at 262 lb and now at 214 lb, 7 months down the road. It's honestly been pretty "easy" thus far and I am still shocked at how effective calorie counting (and increased awareness of nutritional content) has been for me.

lawlorka

I had known I had gained weight and I'm short so a little weight is very noticeable! And I kept saying I have to do something about it, but never did.

Then, one really hot day during the summer I was on my way home from work and was standing on the platform waiting to get on a train and a woman asked me if I'd like to ask someone to give me their seat when we got on the train. I realised immediately she thought I was pregnant, and rather than embarrass her I just smiled and said its ok, I'm only going 2 stops. This lead to a 10minute conversation about how uncomfortable it is to be pregnant during a heatwave in a busy city and how I could go about getting a 'baby on board' badge....

I went home, laughed about it with my OH but we both decided then and there to get our acts together. I started eating less for a couple of weeks and must have lost a few pounds but didn't have a scales so didn't know. Then we got a scale and I saw the damage - found MFP about a week later, and haven't looked back since. I've lost 11lbs since starting MFP but in total it must be about 15/16lbs.

Plus I've discovered I actually love the gym... weird....

alisonlynn1976

I started taking steps toward weight loss because of clothes. I was too big to fit into most designer brands and getting close to needing plus sizes, and I wanted I change that. I started getting excited about fitness when I found a form of exercise that is fun for me (kettlebells).

simplycorey

My most recent was because I had gotten comfortable in a relationship, then gained weight with birth control and a pregnancy. I started trying to lose the weight after I had my 5th child a couple years ago and reached my goal but then life happened ... and kept happening. I ended up putting some weight on due to stress but got back on track several months ago.

RealWomenLovePitbulls

A family history of obesity - my mom had gastric bypass 8 years ago and did great for a while, but is now struggling with her weight again... watching her and my brother trying different diets and fads throughout the years, my grandma died at 65 with lots of problems due to her weight (she also had the lap band surgery) I was always thin, but then I started putting on a little weight - about 10-15 more than I liked and was feeling unhappy about the way I looked and felt, so I wanted to do something about it before it got out of control.
I lost the weight I wanted about a year ago, and now I'm back because I was slipping back into poor habits and slowly started putting on a pound here and there, and I know those can add up PLUS my husband and I are trying to have a baby, so my main goal in all of this is to have a healthy pregnancy and not gain 70lbs in the process (unless I have a 70 lb baby!)

Snapshotgirl

I got started after I was always feeling tired and ill. I went to see a nutrionist and the results were amazing. I felt sooo much better, just eating right and exercising. It's been a constant struggle and I often fall off the wagon but slowly, very slowly, I progress.

eels4peels

After being very chunky (Plus Size 24W since 6th grade) for most of my life and dozens of embarrassing experiences including being kicked off of roller coasters for not fitting, no one dancing with me at home coming, and breaking numerous chairs I decided the whole it's genetics excuse wasn't working anymore. So I decided to do a ton of research on my own. Started on a website called sparkpeople.com. Lost all my weight while tracking my food and exercising. It took about a year, but I lost around 120 pounds. Now it's all about getting stronger and maintaining success.

legless11

I've got a massive crush on someone I see for a weekend once a year (at a sporting event), next year when I see him I'll be hot... :laugh:

and also a friend has lost a lot of weight by counting calories and she has inspired me to try this method seriously. I struggle with things like Slimming World because i'm on a tight budget and need to make food I can afford fit rather than worry about syns etc.

sarahgutz23

For me, this past summer was the first time I truly thought (excuse my language), "I'm sick of this crap" and decided to change. I was 5' 3" tall, 190 pounds and feeling like I was constantly at war with myself. This summer at the Salt Lake Farmer's Market, a friend took a photo of my fiancé and I sitting on the grass and I was disgusted by the photo.

I started by purchasing a FitBit and trying to meet my 10,000 step goal. I didn't know then that I would be overhauling my diet and become a version of me who exercises daily now and eats healthy every day. I'm beginning to love the body I'm in and am working on being happy/thankful/positive about what I'm doing now, rather than focusing on being angry that it took me so long.

jazzie_red

I miss my bike. I really really miss my bike. I am going to break it out today for my first ride in four months. I had fallen off riding over the winter. I had gotten back on bike and had built up to a ten mile ride. (This is about half of what I rode every work day last fall, and then a weekend ride of around 30 to 40 miles) After I got the the ten mile mark, the next day I crashed my scooter and crushed my foot. IT was not pretty. So I have been off bike again for four months. I couldn't even really walk... I was depressed, in pain, ate out control, and was not excercising. To say I put on a few pounds, is to put it mildly. I feel out of shape and just want to feel like I did when I was riding. Which is physically and mentally strong. So I am watching my calories and getting back on bike!!

wildrose53

I looked at my daughters wedding photos and was actually shocked at how much weight I've gained over the years. It was a real wake up call for me.

MrsH1987

I started looking at pictures of myself and feeling really disgusted at how much weight I had put on. Then somebody drove past me in the street and called me fatty, I haven't looked back since

115s

Weed. Not even joking.

shannonschwarz77

After struggling with my weight since middle school now with depression, I realized I need a change.

susistretch

Ten years after meeting my first WW goal, the mid-life bulge arrived. The lovely things I'd bought at my goal weight didn't fit, Nothing looked right, and I was thinking that was it. I have MS as well, so maintaining strength is hugely important!

I decided this week to "get real". I signed up with a new trainer at my gym, and committed to every day for the next two weeks - before my teacher job starts again. After that, it's going to be a struggle. I'm going to need a lot of encouragement!

cdl42

: Well I have started and stopped a few times, but my most recent reason for starting is so I can be here for my girls plus after seeing what are hearts may look like if we gain to much weight. So cheers to our better health.:drinker:

mundaycarroll

Since I joined the military I have been going back and forth with my weight. I seem to be the type that will do really good for a long period of time and once I reach my goal I slack and go back to the way I was. At the beginning of this year I was slacking really bad with my workouts and drinking entirely too much. One day, right before this deployment, I got on the scale and realized not only had I gained entirely too much weight but I was the heaviest I had ever been while being in the military and the heaviest I had been since getting with my husband. I was so embarrassed that my husband had to be seen with me. So after that I decided it's time to get serious again and this time make it a lifestyle change rather than a temporary solution.

LoneWolfRunner

MFP showed up on my Garmin Connect so I clicked on it and thought it might be useful to log in everything I eat so I can see first hand my eating trends... plus knowing that I am going to log in everything I eat helps me make better eating choices...but not drinking choices...lol... my diary is full of lots of alcohol-related empty calories...

missbellz

As many others, it was a photo, I knew I as fat, I knew I looked horrible, but seeing it in a photo made it real. I had avoided photos of anything from the neck up for a long while.

JePet63

For me it was the combination of different things... slacks from last year I couldn't even get over my thighs, vacation photos (after demanding that my husband leaves me out of them, 3 pics managed to crawl into our album and I was absolutely horrified) and the fact that we want to have a baby... idea of putting on more weight when I am already overweight sounds like a horror to me...

In addition, I started resenting myself and feeling depressed, started avoiding people and even withdrawing from my husband. So he sat me one day and spoke to me gently trying to figure out what was wrong. I was ashamed to admit it was something so 'vain' as my weight (in my mind weight issues are still primarily related to appearances and therefore vain in comparison to 'real problems'). He was very supportive and we immediately ordered Fitbit Flex, signed me up in the local gym with a good coach and... most importantly set up a deadline!

Its really only my second day and I am already terrified I'll slip...

fejiofor

I started when I started snoring and sleeping difficulties . Serious wake up call for me.

Cactusedd

I just got tired of being the second choice because I have skinny friends :laugh: And I also want to know how it feels to be skinny again because it turns out I can't remember lol

detoxrobot

The same as most, pictures, two beautiful daughters that I want to be around to annoy FOREVER! Boyfriend, extra energy, and I missed my "skinny clothes"