What sparked "I'm going to lose that weight!"

scubaruby

After gaining and losing the same 50-80 pounds several times over the past 40 years (most years spent on the high side) I found out shortly after I turned 55 that, despite being a vegan for over 20 years, I had high cholesterol and was pre-diabetic. I failed a stress test, which scared the bejesus out of me since my dad died of a heart attack at 54 and my sister had a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted at 54. I felt like I was living on borrowed time.

My heart turned out to be fine, and I've been scared straight. I'm down 22 pounds in two months, with another 28 to go

nel0311

not fitting my clothes and not looking good in them at all

rgoodearl

Heart attack scare :noway:

nomoreexcuses121

3 months after I had my daughter I was looking at pictures that my husband took of us and couldn't believe that it was me in the pictures! I looked huge! I couldn't blame the weight on being pregnant anymore and knew it was time. I also have been heavy my entire life and want to set a good example for my daughter.

tycusjay

I want to look good in my wedding pics. Also I have always been a 12-14 (Aus) but recently I crept up to a 16 and even they were becoming tight. Enough was enough and now i'll never look back!

ceilingscrack

When I dropped down from 185 to 132 in 2007, I lost the weight because I was starting my first year in college and wanted to change myself. Currently I'm at 141lbs and would like to lose weight so I can feel confident when I go out! I don't want to be the fat friend anymore, haha. Also, I'm getting older and I figured I should enjoy my youth while I can and get back to being healthy so I can keep my good heatlh as I age.

nancyko

In September I had blood work done and it came back that I was diabetic. That was just not a acceptable to me so the very next day I started eating healthy, watching my carbs, excerising and losing weight. When I saw the doctor I asked her if I was prediabetic or diabetic and she said diabetic but if I lost weight it would go away. That has been my goal every since. I am 68 years old and have decided for the rest of my life I am going to eat healthy. I go back for more blood work at the end of January and I know my sugar count will be down. I kinda think this has been a good thing because it got me to be serious about a healthy life style.

Funshinerika

Went for a check up after not weighing myself for about 6 months. I knew I had gained weight during the divorce process but didn't think 20 pounds! The doctor told me my blood pressure was high and she was concerned for me. It runs in the family. After that I cried and knew something had to change. The next day, after throwing a pool party for my SO's 9-year-old, I found out that one of the boys there (I had never met) had said "I thought she would be skinny." THAT WAS IT! Two days in a row - the sign couldn't have been bigger! (no pun intended) It's time to get healthy and be proud of how I look and feel!

NomNomCupcakes

I always was a *little* overweight. My weight would go up and down but I always had back fat, a stomach, and huge boobs. I thought of myself as like 5 lbs overweight at most. One of my best friends is same height as me except super skinny so I felt like a fatty around her. I also wanted to look nice in a bikini for the summertime.

When all my pants stopped fitting I got really irritated. I wasn't sure if my pants were shrinking or I was ballooning. I did a little WiiFit here and there (which consistently told me I was overweight) to lose 5 lbs or so and usually gained it back but prior to summer I said enough was enough and started working out every single day and now here I am!

quiksandy

My best friend from childhood is singing at Carnegie Hall in February. I really wanted to go on the trip to NYC with her. My hubby gave me incentive. He knew I'd been wanting to lose about 15 lbs for about 8 years. He told me, if I lose the weight I've been saying I wanted to lose and keep it off until February, then he would send me on that trip.

I set out to lose 15 lbs. So far I've lost (some pre-MFP) 27 lbs...just to be safe. I've booked my tickets and I'll be watching my friend sing at Carnegie Hall in February. Woo hoo!

Debbe2

Became tired of struggling with health and comfort. Knew I was capable of losing and got determined to figure out how and to do it rather than just thinking about it.

missay_

My bestie sent me a quote. "A year from today you would have wished you had started now." it hit me like a ton of bricks. i have been trying to lose weight for like 13 years. i want this to be the last time i look at myself and feel gross. i want to be able to go take a casual hike with friends and not get tired/sweaty, i want to strap on some shoes and go for a run. i want to be my best self, not only for me, but for everyone around me!

zbmb30

1. I hated taking pictures, I wasn't used to my face being so pudgey and the double chin.
2. I lost my curves, I had just become somewhat of a blob.
3. I hated wearing anything other than sweats.
4. I had to sing at an event for 30 min. and I was getting out of breath while walking on stage singing (and I've been performing since I was 10 years-old) and this was the first time that had ever happened to me.
5. My friends who have always been bigger than me had lost a lot of weight and were a lot less then me.
6. Comments that had been made to me.
7. I missed feeling anywhere close to pretty.

Angel87a

All my clothes started getting tight & I always felt tired. I hate feeling out of shape, so I stopped making excuses and started making more time for me.

sophjakesmom

I was sick of myself. I felt awful in my own skin and I realized if I didn't do something, I would be over 300 lbs in no time.

christinehetz80

Woke up one morning and said "I need a change!"
Simple as that.

Exactly! I didn't loathe myself, because I have rather healthy self esteem and big or small I like how I like for the most part, BUT I wasn't energetic, fit, and needed a change.

anacsitham5

I put on a size 14 and it was tight. It was instant. I'm obese and I'm done. Within 6 months I had dropped 40. I have lost a total of 52 and am LOVING IT!!!!!! So much easier to get dressed in the mornings now!

felice03

realizing that I was the same weight that I had been the day I gave birth to my daughter (and I gained a lot during pregancy). She was one at the time. She is now three and I am seven pounds away from my goal.

grannygethealthy1111

Looking in the mirror and REALLY seeing myself for the first time in years.

Greg127

The picture on the left is in June 2011 in Bermuda at my daughters wedding, The one on the right is from last week in a suit I hadn't worn in about 7 years.

galegetsthin

My daughter and I were walking through a store and a friend pointed out a dress with an empire waist that was very pretty, just not for me. I told her that that style makes me look pregnant. My 6 year old daughter replied with "but you do anyway". I went home and just cried and cried. It hurt so much. I am okay when strangers who dont know any better ask if I am pregnant, but for my daughter who knows I am not....... it was hard. I cant look like this anymore. I have to get rid of the belly.

staceyb2003

when my 10 year old daughter told me her friends were saying I was getting fat. After about an hour of crying, I decided to do something about it.

chugglebunny

I've been trying to lose weight for about 6 years. After leading an unhealthy lifestyle with my ex fiance. I tried on and off for years, but he was always unsupportive, demanding pizza instead of cooking and never coming with me when I wanted to go on walks etc. But because we'd been together 8 years it didn't seem like it mattered too much since "he loved me anyway" but I was unhappy in myself and lying to myself I was happy with him too.

So I made the hard decision to leave him and live my life for me. So far i've lost 20lbs and I don't plan on stopping till i'm happy with me for no one elses benifit but my own!

ruggedBear

Multiple symptoms of a sedentary life came crashing down on me in a short period of time:

-Injuries from simple tasks I used to take for granted that I could do (running , hauling wood)
-Morning stiffness and pain
-Shortness of breath
-Frequent heartburn

And the final straw - little boy at my son's school told him his mommy was fat. Oh did I want to remind him of his manners - but it was the truth (and the greatest son in the world, who obviously knew this about me already, told his friend - "yeah, but she's awesome!")

Now I'm really going to be as awesome as he thinks I am (and I used to be before the kids were born!)

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

ctriston

having avoided looking at myself in the mirror, I ignored the weight gain, until I realised if I don 't want to look at me looking like this, then I doubt my other half wants to either, and he has to!!!

So I did it for me, and he is awfully happy too, I have about another 20 lbs to go...having lost 30, and I am enjoying the compliments from hubby and my family!

apesid

While I've been overweight for a long time the final straw so to speak was when my 5 yo son asked me "Why is your tummy so big? Are you having another baby?" No...... I'm not. And my baby is a year old! LOL!

RBXChas

I have pretty much always been overweight, but I was on the heavier side when I got pregnant in April 2010. I ate whatever I wanted while I was pregnant and gained weight like crazy. I have no idea what my pre-pregnancy weight was, but at my last pre-delivery doctor visit (38 week visit) I was about 255 pounds. I had never been anything close to that heavy before in my life - the high end of my typical weight range was probably about 185. I appreciated that some of the weight is normal, but 255 is a lot. My doctor didn't say much, which I was happy about at the time but am sorry about now. Only at one visit did she express some concern over a high gain during that month, but I had gone on a cruise and eaten like crazy. She just said that if my next visit showed the same high rate of gain, she'd put me on a diet. However, I guess I didn't gain that much the next month. I continued to eat a ton post-delivery because I was nursing, and I "overestimated" (read: lied to myself) the amount of calories I needed over and above normal to be able to breastfeed. Two months post-delivery (end of March 2011) I was still almost 236 pounds. I had a 7+ pound baby (plus lost all the fluids and whatnot) and still weighed that much.

It got to the point where I was still wearing maternity clothes two months post-partum that I realized the "I just had a baby" excuse was not going to last much longer. I was also super sore in the mornings in my lower joints (hips downwards) with lots of lower back pain, and I was sooo slow getting down to the floor and up off the floor to spend time with my son. God help me if I had to pick him up, then get up off the floor. I would get up, then pick him up, then sloooowly put myself upright because my back wouldn't let me go fast. I had a rough time with nursing (my supply was nearly zero), so I finally quit and began tracking my food using MFP.

I did well just by eating less (I didn't exercise very much at all). In August my sister started doing Couch to 5K and invited me to join her, which has changed EVERYTHING. We got into Spinning together, so we either run or Spin 6 days/week now! I have successfully lost weight in the past, getting as low as 151.5, but I never did it with exercise. Today I am 163.8 and fit into clothes I used to only fit into when I was in the mid-150s! I am also seeing some awesome muscle development that I've never really had before. :happy: All of those physical problems, the back pain, the joint stiffness, etc, have since disappeared. I literally don't ever feel that way anymore. I can get down on the floor and back up (regardless of whether or not I'm carrying my 25-lb son) without any hesitation whatsoever. So part of this is that I didn't want him to grow up with a mom who couldn't do stuff with him, nevermind the whole setting a bad example thing.

I do plan on having at least one more baby (probably just one more), so it seems a bit silly to go through all this effort only to "ruin" it by getting pregnant again (not right away). However, I think it is more than feasible to go through a pregnancy healthily. I understand I will have to give up some of these workouts (or dial them back based on what my doctor says) and that post-partum I'll have to work hard to get myself back to where I was, but I'd rather do it that way than stay fat until I am done having kids (whenever that may be).

My sister and I call these the "light switch" moments - when the light switch in your head gets turned on for whatever reason. No one can turn it on for you, and it's your job to keep that switch on

tritt86

I didn't want to risk my career. My job requires individuals to stay under a certain weight / body fat percentage. I was at the point of one more strike and you are out!

kerrymh

For me. I was 32yo, 350lbs and had never had a bf, and loved children watching all my friends around me get married and start having babies. I knew I was killing myself and taking away the life I wanted to live. The final straw was when I got out of breath from holding a new born in my arms. That was it...how was I going to have the life I wanted and be this fat. I gained another 40lbs before my surgery but that was my motivator ultimately. Now 185lbs gone, and 2 years later...still no babies lol BUT a full life, active, I feel fantastic and just met someone amazing who knows what the future will hold but a whole lot more than if I hadn't finally had a rock bottom!

norriep

My brother's Kinect couldn't tell the difference between when I was standing straight on and side on! :noway: