What is the reason you decided to lose weight?

Letshopeforthebest

This is going to sound bad, but when I started comparing myself to my friends. Not only body size wise, but the confidence difference. They always wanted to go tanning on the beach and hit on guys , and I always felt the need to cover up and be shy and quiet. I'm sick of being that girl. I can't wait to lose some weight and be confident this summer season.

Gregg8322

Saw a picture of myself and didn't like it

catestevam

sounds silly but i love my clothes. might have 25 pairs of pants and fit into 3 at the moment. NOT fun.

^This

Rose6300

Since having my oldest child 16 years ago and losing the pregnancy weight within a year, and except for the time I was pregnant with my second, I've always fluctuated about 15 pounds (137-152). During my heavier times, I'd know I'd need to get down to a lighter weight, but since I don't find it terribly hard to do so, I'm pretty relaxed about it. Like, "oh, I'm having a fat year, I'll get around to losing it". Well, this time I was having a "fat year" for too long and I got up to 172. What finally got me going was realizing I was getting tired shaving my legs in the shower!

HerkMeOff

So I can have sex with hot chicks.

_celesse

I think I started to realize how my insecurities with my weight caused insecurities in basically every other part of my life. Because I'm fat, I can't wear the clothes I want. Because I'm fat, makeup doesn't do enough for me. Because I'm fat, I don't want to go outside in the summer. I don't want people to see this unconfident fat chick attempting to make herself happy and failing...the fat itself just seems to emphasize my lack of confidence and I know I won't be anywhere near having it when such a major thing is hurting me. So the main reasons - I want to feel better about myself, and a lot of other stuff deem shallow.

In addition to that, I'm noticing that a lot of little aches and pains I have could be alleviated if I just weighed less. I'm at risk for all sorts of health issues and I won't be doing myself any favors by keeping on this weight. I want to live something like a more naturally active lifestyle...don't take me too literally, it just means I'm not into gyms and pilates and all that stuff. I do love tennis, and would love to make it a consistent part of my life. I want to live in a place where I can walk or bike to most of my destinations. I wanna get out and explore nature more. Stuff like that.

DeterminedFee201426

i decided to lose weight becaue i was going close to 200 pounds and thats not where i wanted to be so i started there i could'nt imagine being that much weight ppl keep saying oh girl your skinny where will you lose weight but thats what they all say to me & i know the total opposit :0 i was a fatty also so insecure with myself because of my fat hanging around could only wear certain clothes that dont reveal the rolls lol that means no slight tight fitting things for me

tildastwistedlife

I have lost and gained weight many times over the years for a variety of reasons. This time I had several build up on me. I'd been snoring horribly enough that hubby had taken to sleeping in the extra bedroom. I did NOT like that. I stayed so puffy and fat that my wedding ring didn't fit anymore. Then I went to the doctor in November to find that my blood pressure which had always been low was high and that my cholesterol was high as well. Enough. Just, enough already. Hubby had found out a year before that his cholesterol was also high so we are both trying to avoid meds for such things. I had also been hovering around 210 for a few years, but then somehow jumped up to 224. All of these reasons contributed to it.

wheird

I was beginning to have medical issues that I believe was prediabetes and I was struggling at work. I lacked energy, was getting random bouts of blindness in my right eye, one of my toes was partially numb for a month, my mood was all over the place, I was out of breath from simply climbing a ladder, and I loathed myself.

Myhaloslipped

So I can have sex with hot chicks.

:bigsmile:

wheird

So I can have sex with hot chicks.

:bigsmile:

^That was a side bonus.

annetroup

On Feb.26th I was working on my computer in my office at work when I experienced severe chest pains and shortness of breath. after a couple of minutes the pain got worse I was dizzy. I thought " I am going to die alone in this office" and stumbled out the door and onto the truck dock of the facility. Thank heavens there was someone there who realized I needed help. After calling 911 and getting me to the hospital I was told that I had a cardiac event meaning that it was not a true heart attack but I may not be so lucky next time. March 4th I signed up for a gym membership and I work out with my daughter daily. She says she doesn't want that "Your mom is on her way to the hospital with chest pain" call ever again. She is the one who turned me onto fitnesspal.

LadyBos

I saw myself in a mirror and thought, who the hell is THAT? Profile - seated view. I frightened my ownself!

ruthieoftx

I discovered there is such a thing as the Disney Princess Half Marathon. And suddenly, it was like the heavens opened and a little angel perched on my shoulder and said "You get to run from Epcot to Magic Kingdom in a princess costume, and the characters cheer for you, and you get a tiara shaped medal, and you will be, like, QUEEN of the geeks."

So I HAVE to do that.

But not only was I not a runner, I was around 60 lbs overweight. I actually liked my body just fine and my health was good, but I knew I wasn't going to run 13.1 miles in the hot Florida sun with all that extra weight on. So I cut all refined sugar, started eating a whole-food diet, and started running and strength training. I even found an app that turns running into a fun interactive Zombie-apocalypse-survival game. The weight loss is not my end-game... It's a means to my end, which is running that half marathon.

Apparently, all I needed to get myself interested in fitness was to find a way to do it while letting my geek flag fly.

RonnieLodge

Gained 10kg/10 inches and couldn't fit comfortably into my extensive wardrobe of beautiful vintage clothes.

So it had to go!

albionjen

Short term reason: wanted to get in shape for skiing. I used to be way better than I was at Christmas 2012, and I hated realising how bad I had let my fitness decline.

Long term reason: I had just turned 30 and I realised I only had bad health in my future if I carried on with my crappy lifestyle. I always knew I should lose weight, but I guess the thought of hitting 40 at an even larger size made me worry a lot.

Now what keeps me on track is that I enjoy my life 1000x more with being fit and healthy. Less stress, I can just go and do things without worrying about my size or what others think of me. Of course I should not have been bothered before, but I always felt self conscious and scared in case I was too fat to do something, e.g 10k race with friends this summer

megqbrown

I've been overweight my entire life, beginning with sneaking in an extra breakfast at preschool. As you can imagine, this has led to a lifetime of insecurity regarding my appearance. I recently became a Physician Assistant, and during my medical education, witnessed so many of the terrible effects of diseases like strokes, asthma, and diabetes which can result in blindness, amputations and the need for a lifetime of dialysis, and which are entirely preventable. I recognized that I was clearly headed that direction by allowing myself to remain sedentary and obese. In watching so many of my patients lose limbs, lose sight and lose family members, I was basically terrified into literally running for my life. So here I am, three months later, 23 pounds down and 47 pounds to go to be just inside of a healthy BMI.

Also, I would love to be able to shop at boutiques that only carry sizes S, M, L.

Swilla_Swole

My daughter deserves a healthy active daddy

Left4Good

Wow a lot of amazing stories thank you for sharing them, i wish you all luck with your journey.

sengalissa

After giving birth 1 year ago, I had an awful summer. Nothing fit and I just wanted to hide all summer. My older kids, though, wanted to be out there and go swimming. So I was forced into beach and hot, all in my only fitting long pants. I swore myself that next summer would be better. I told myself would be bikini ready by early summer (almost there!) and that I'd welcome every warm day to show off my figure after 5 pregnancies.
It worked. It was warm today, and I wore a spagetti top feeling awesome. Another month and I want to not feel self-conscious in a bikini. When it gets harder to get those last 5lbs off, it will be late summer and there will be fresh vegetables in abundance. Also, I can run outside now because it is light early, and I would nothave wanted to run so often when overweight.

BigVeggieDream

The first sign that my diabetes were starting to hurt my kidneys. That woke me up.

RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle

Well, I usually feel like I need to lose weight when I'm ten to twenty pounds heavier than my ideal, but I let my busy life get in the way. What made me focus on it this time was really just a need to feel like I was being productive with my time. I started about eighteen months ago when a shoulder issue made me stop knitting, dancing, and socializing. Mfp gave me something to do with my resting time and a reason to run a bit. Also, eating at or below my TDEE and especially when I started to see results on the scale, made me feel like I was doing something productive with my time.

aliwhalen

I wanted to fit into the adorable clothes I already own rather than buying new ones. I wanted to be able to chase my kids around the park, challenge them to races, and toss them up into the air without getting winded. I wanted to feel proud of myself for accomplishing something that's been bothering me for years.

So I am.

nxd10

I had been stable for years and gained 18 pounds in two years after menopause. I was close to a number I didn't like and scared I'd get diabetes.

I wish I had done this 15 years ago.

Geekygal85

Besides the fact that medical problems run in my family, it was the fact that I could not ride a ride at a theme park, which has never happened. I am a huge Harry Potter fan so when they opened up the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, I was stoked to be able to walk through places that I have read about and have seen in the movies. We went for my birthday and got to the park super early so we could get in line to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey because we know the line can get super crazy. After waiting almost 2 1/2 hours we were a couple feet from getting on the ride, when an employee pulled myself and my friends aside and asked us if we have ever ridden this ride. After telling them no, they told us that the restraining bars may not accompany our sizes and that we had to try the tester seat that was right there. I was devastated when the bar would not click in all the way. Out of our group of 5 only 2 got to ride. So while they were enjoying the ride I was waiting at the exit in tears because I couldn't ride the one ride I had waiting so long to experience. Now that they are expanding the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I am determined to lose enough weight so I can ride all the Harry Potter rides.

einzweidrei

Pants were getting tighter.

I stopped wearing some shirts because my love handles looked so big.

Then I started trying to find very loose tank tops (it was summer) that would kind of hang because I wanted to hide my love handles.


That was enough.

Miffylou

When my doctor told me that I was now in the high risk category of having a stroke because of my medical issues and the medication I was on. Not a good thing when you're only 41 and a mother of two children.

Nearly two years later
23 kilos lighter
no more health issues
a wardrobe full of nice clothes
and last week I ran my first half marathon.

I couldn't be happier.

????

TattedInStilettos

My health was going down hill, had to fix it

Steff46

1) To ward off family health issues. 2) My fiance is going to do his third Ironman (in September 2014) so I'm hoping to be the best looking Ironmate there! 3) My clothes were becoming too small...yikes!

Kakibot

I am health anxious like crazy, so I think that's the biggest reason for me... I used to have anxiety attacks like 'I bet my blood pressure is too high' or 'what if my arteries are being clogged by cholesterol RIGHT NOW'... I needed to get in control, so whenever this happens I can tell myself 'you go to the gym four times a week, you eat your five a day, there is no reason why you should feel unhealthy!'

Also I have a bit of a crush... and he's super fit... and also kinda inspirational, having lost a lot of weight in the last couple of years. It always makes me feel weirdly proud telling him about my fitness successes.