what made you decide to lose weight?

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  • Supadoopafly
    Supadoopafly Posts: 248 Member
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    "what made you decide to lose weight?"

    I've been battling weight all my life. For as long as I've known myself, I've known I was very fat and overweight as people didn't hesitate to tell me so even as a young child.

    I've tried all sorts of diets .. my most successful was the Cambridge Diet Plan, but this messed up my mind and my self-esteem and I hit a hug rock bottom mentally.

    In 2010 I started embarking on eating less and exercising more, I lost weight and I felt so fit and felt really good although I wasn't slim (I was around 18 stones - 252lbs mark), but physically I felt great and I believed I looked nice in clothes .
    2013 was an awful year for me for lots of reasons my depression came back, I didn't exercise and I started on medication for fibroids.

    It didn't really worry me at first, however in the last 4 months I've become a recluse, because my clothes/bras don't fit and I feel so uncomfortable in tight ill-fitting clothes, I'm unfit, my lower back aches when I stand up or walk for a long while, I'm constantly hot and I generally feel worthless as a human-being. I know it's pathetic but I'd give anything to be around 252lbs right now.

    I so want to be fit, be someone who can run 1/2 marathons and feel great at the gym. I want to feel and be attractive because I really want to meet someone now. I want to be healthy. The tipping point for me is having recently been put on blood pressure tablets. This can't go on. I want to reach my weight loss target of 168 lbs and nothing else will do, not even 252lbs. I've a very long way to go.

    Sorry for this long winded navel gazing but to answer the original question: what made you decide to lose weight?

    - regain my health
    - regain my self-worth and self-esteem
    - regain and surpass my previous fitness levels
    - get off medication
    - wear great clothes
    - feel attractive & sexy

    xx
  • keeptehpeace
    keeptehpeace Posts: 189 Member
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    I started pole dancing and thought my instructor looked amazing for 43 with two kids, decided to try to get into shape
  • manda79rn
    manda79rn Posts: 45 Member
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    My daughter... as her mom I feel one of my main jobs is to be her role model.. to me it doesn't matter if she grows up not seeing a victoria secret model as her mother but she will see her mom healthy, active and eating well (as well as indulging at times) of course I also did it for myself but my daughter was gave me the push, I want to live for her as long as I can and I want to live actively with her.. she was the best gift I've ever been given and she helped me find myself in more ways then one. :)
  • MagicsMommy11
    MagicsMommy11 Posts: 19 Member
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    I really want baby #2 in a year but with my first pregnancy I was over weight and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, PUPPS and ended up having to have my gallbladder removed a few weeks after my sons birth. The doctor told me that it was due to an unhealthy lifestyle. I made goals to lose weight and did a year after my son was born but I went into a deep depression for a year and gained everything back. Now I'm happier with my life and myself but not so much with my body. As much as I want baby number two I'm not okay with risking my new baby's health. So I'm giving myself 1 year to lose 28 lbs and keep it off, if I can do that then I'll be satisfied.
  • MarlaVSings
    MarlaVSings Posts: 66 Member
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    I only wear frumpy stretchy clothes because none of my nicer clothes fit.
    I stay in the house instead of going out because I don't want to be seen like this.
    I was sick of getting out of breath from climbing a few stairs or walking at a faster pace.
    Sick of the knee pain.
    Sick of avoiding the mirror.
    Sick of eating terrible food for the momentary high and then feeling like crap afterwards.
    Sick of worrying about how mortified I would be if I ran into someone I haven't seen in a few years.
    I want to be proud of myself.
    I want to look at myself in the mirror and like what I see.
    I want to go places without feeling self-conscious.
    I want to have the confidence to start dating again.
    I don't want to rely on food to make me happy.
    I want to be at the level of fitness I once was.
    I want to look on the outside the way I feel on the inside.
    I want to do out-doorsey things and have the energy for it.
    Speaking of energy...I want that endless amount of energy I remember having when I was fit. (Seriously, I only needed 5 hrs of sleep a night).
    Most importantly - I know I deserve better than this.

    I can keep going... but I'll stop here for now :)
  • Supadoopafly
    Supadoopafly Posts: 248 Member
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    I only wear frumpy stretchy clothes because none of my nicer clothes fit.
    I stay in the house instead of going out because I don't want to be seen like this.
    I was sick of getting out of breath from climbing a few stairs or walking at a faster pace.
    Sick of the knee pain.
    Sick of avoiding the mirror.
    Sick of eating terrible food for the momentary high and then feeling like crap afterwards.
    Sick of worrying about how mortified I would be if I ran into someone I haven't seen in a few years.
    I want to be proud of myself.
    I want to look at myself in the mirror and like what I see.
    I want to go places without feeling self-conscious.
    I want to have the confidence to start dating again.
    I don't want to rely on food to make me happy.
    I want to be at the level of fitness I once was.
    I want to look on the outside the way I feel on the inside.
    I want to do out-doorsey things and have the energy for it.
    Speaking of energy...I want that endless amount of energy I remember having when I was fit. (Seriously, I only needed 5 hrs of sleep a night).
    Most importantly - I know I deserve better than this.

    I can keep going... but I'll stop here for now :)

    This is an excellent post and made me smile and nod in agreement!!!
    Especially Sick of worrying about how mortified I would be if I ran into someone I haven't seen in a few years.
    ... you've done so well to strip 11lbs. I'm impressed. You're over 1/10 of the way there. x
  • AcaciaHavens
    AcaciaHavens Posts: 4
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    For me...various reasons. Vanity is one of them. Health is another. My "AHAH moment" was realizing that I was a hypocrite. I have family with addiction struggles (drugs & alcohol). I lacked sympathy for their addictions, and felt the resolution for them was to simply (make a different choice). Something just sparked in my brain that my struggle with poor eating habits is not all that different than other addiction struggles. I then made a deliberate decision to make better choices, however I struggle daily & have my own relapses. It's all part of the journey to a healthier, longer, quality filled life!!!
  • sunnyside1213
    sunnyside1213 Posts: 1,205 Member
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    I was 65 and people were asking me if I was pregnant.
  • anne2605
    anne2605 Posts: 482 Member
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    When I realised 50 is just around the corner.
  • aka_Kamalevantis
    aka_Kamalevantis Posts: 133
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    I decided on my 39th birthday (october 2012) that I didn't want to be 20+ stone (280+lb) when I get to my 40th birthday, that said, it took me until 12th November 2012 to actually start my journey.... Little over 14 months ago I weighed 321lb, today I weigh 194lb....
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    I got tired of having to wear the same pair of pants every day because they were the only thing that fit. 15 lbs later they are still the only pants that fit but I can see the glimmer of what were formerly my "bloated time of the month" pants getting a bit closer. I can get them on and buttoned, they are just not fit for wearing in public yet.
  • IIIIISerenityNowIIIII
    IIIIISerenityNowIIIII Posts: 425 Member
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    My husband and I are ready for more babies so I want to be in the best state of health possible prior to pregnancy.
  • kayms13
    kayms13 Posts: 47 Member
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    My dr. wants to put me on cholesterol medication, and I'm hoping to avoid that. Plus I'd like to find out if these aches & pains are due to age or just the extra weight on my hips and knees.
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
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    Posted this before.

    Summer 2012 I got an epiphany that I was a fatass. The elevator was out at work and I was breathing like a beached pilot whale from climbing three flights of stairs. I remember thinking, "Is THIS what you've become? Is THIS the best you can be?"

    I took a long hard, and truthful look at myself. At the advanced age of forty five I'd ballooned up from my physical work weight of one hundred fifty-five pounds to two hundred thirty pounds. My BMI was 34.5, and I was a mere fifteen pounds from being classified as 'morbidly obese'. I was tired all of the time. I didn't really do anything that involved being physical. I'd stopped working in the wood shop I have. Yard work requiring more than me pushing a self-propelled mower didn't get done.

    Starting lifting, made gains. Humped 1/4 of my new bodyweight in a pack 30-40 miles a week.

    The results:

    Weight: down from 230 lbs to 159
    BMI: down from 35.4 to 24.9
    Body fat (guess from pictures): 40%+ to ~20%
    Waist: down from 40 to 33

    On December 4th I fainted at work. On December 9th I had a 16cc benign tumor removed from my heart.

    Getting fit made the tumor detectable by sonogram in the ER - it blocked 95% of the atrium.

    Getting fit is making my recovery worlds faster - I was turning miles at nearly the pace I did pre-op at eight weeks post-op.

    Getting fit saved my life.
  • jmgoingINSANE
    jmgoingINSANE Posts: 15
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    I didn't feel comfortable wearing a bathing suit, and a month ago I said f%^k it, I have the time, so why not! Summer bodies are made in winter :)
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
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    a really fat lady at Costco asked when I was due... I came& found this site when I came home.....
  • anniekin_skywalker
    anniekin_skywalker Posts: 10 Member
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    I think I just realized that this is the time for me to be at my best; I don't want to waste more of my youth being self-conscious and making excuses.
  • Angelivh
    Angelivh Posts: 3 Member
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    I took my children to the park and my 3 year old wanted me to swing with her. I couldn't do it very long because the swing's chain links were digging into my hips. It was depressing, and I decided it was time for a change.
  • hmrey76
    hmrey76 Posts: 945 Member
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    *when my size 12 jeans went to a tight size 16....I refuse to buy the next size up!

    * when i stepped on the scale Dec 18th and it said 201lbs

    Now I'm focused on my goal weight and not looking back!! I'm gonna be smokin hot this summer ;)
  • F1953
    F1953 Posts: 21 Member
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    When you are in pain just from trying to wash yourself in the shower, or walking. Although, it turns out that I may also have arthritis--in a hip joint and foot on the same side of the body. I picture my mom's wheelchair. She had two strokes almost 5 years apart, and died from the second one, as well as pneumonia. I am trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to watch my sugar intake, which is harder than calories. Much of that sugar also comes from fruit.

    The majority of the weight I've lost was prior to starting MFP. I have lost about 68 pounds since around May 2005; most of it during the first year. Although it fluctuates some, I've lost around 20-21 pounds since I began MFP.

    Aside from the arthritis, I feel much better since my weight has come down, and I have actually bought 3 pairs of leggings in the last 4 or 5 months. At some point, losing weight should make you feel better in many ways, as long as you don't overdo it.

    Learn to forgive yourself for so-called cheating, and get back to program, even if you go off.

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