What motivated you to begin your weighloss journey?

christina0089

Soooo many reasons but here are some of the main ones.

1. I am not getting any younger and I deserve to live a long and HEALTHY life so it was time I got to it.
2. I want to be here with and for my family as long as I can.
3. I was/am tired of feeling like crap.
4. I need to have surgery and it's to dangerous to go under the knife at my current weight.
5. I want to travel and be comfortable doing so, that way I can enjoy myself.
6. I LOVE myself.
7. I am getting married this year and I want to feel and look good walking down the aisle.

mwilke

Weighed 220 at 5'3". Joined a volunteer fire department, and had issues finding turnout gear that fit properly. And when put said gear on with SCBA and walked around, it felt like I had been working for over an hour already. Also, don't want to have a lot of the health issues that run in my family from being overweight.

mbar12

First, it was because I work in a hospital lab, on my feet all day, extremely busy, and I would come home totally exhausted. I felt if I would lose weight I would have more energy. What I now realize is that the act of exercising gives me energy.
Secondly, buying clothes and seeing pictures of me has been a huge motivation to lose weight.
Thirdly, all of my "skinny" clothes, combined with seeing my sis who lost 100 lbs wearing adorable outfits has been a big motivation.
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, I want to be healthy... I was tired of feeling lousy... feel much better now.

getfitnow33

My motivation was my health. Ive always been a confident women even at 268 pounds but when pain surpassed my adoration for my figure i had to do sumthing. I developed heel spurs which is one of the most painfully annoying things ive ever experienced in my life. Constant lower back pain, knee and ancle soreness, sharp and aching pain in my legs and my dr tell me that yes your a beautiful girl but how pretty would you be in a hospital bed or worst a casket......it was hard to hear and boarderline disrepectful but it was sumthing i needed to hear :brokenheart: and now 10 pounds lighter im not going back!:laugh:

joeylu

I saw a pic of me sitting next to santa and i was fatter than him. Wtf. This put me in gear:smooched:

BobbyDaniel

A few weeks after turning 39 I realized that I would turn 40 in less than a year.

its4me62

well this year I would be turning, The Big 50 and I said that I wanted to lose 50lbs, Plus i just had my 5th Grand and wanted to do something difference this year.. Great question !

Prek2005

What motivated me to begin my weightloss journey was when I went to the doctor for a check up and the scale topped 216. I knew then that it was time for me to make a healthy lifestyle change.

basjan

i guess just being the healthiest person i could be... I never had a lot of weight to loose, but i am one of those people that cant eat when dealing with lots of stress, there for always fluctuating 10 pounds or so.... but i really what to be healthy and keep my weight steady by exercising everyday ad eating healthy (never skipping meals)

hopefully this will help get my metabolism higher and loose that 10 pounds and keep it there.

lookslikeyoda

Opening my wardrobe, trying on every single piece of clothing and only 2 t-shirts fitted. Now, still only 2 fit but the rest are now too big, not the other way round.

AmyRhubarb

Stepping on a scale and realizing I was steadily gaining a few pounds every year, and that it would continue if I didn't do something about it. I didn't like how I looked in photos, I hated always having to 'suck it in' for certain outfits (still working on that!) - just decided I wanted to be fit, and I had no excuses as to why I couldn't be.

leann74016

When i started this journey in Nov 2011 every single piece of clothing wasn't fitting me anymore! Plus i am one to always weigh myself and the scale just kept climbing and climbing. I got up to 196 lbs and I'm only 5' 2'' so thats WAY to big for me. That was a big sign that i HAD to do something! So I found this website and just begin to log EVERYTHING! I went over just about every day for a couple of weeks but still managed to lose thankfully! I have only been doing this for 4 months and I've lost 16 lbs. It's been a slow and hard but i am losing!! I am back down to 179!!

2hungariangirls

I hardly have any pictures of myself with my girls when they were babies. They are 4 and 20 months and I will not let this time pass without pictures of my family. Haven't had any pictures with the husband since our wedding day!

Tired of the rash I get between my stomach and top of my thigh. I'm tired of buying Lotrimin and powder just to be able to walk around.

Tired of sweating when it is cold outside

When I started feeling my stomach on my legs when I sat down...gross!

Realized that I was staying home A LOT because I was embarrassed to be seen by the "town" and knowing people were talking about how big I had become. I was always average size.

I could go on forever...This all ends in 2012!

RuthRW

I was tagged in a facebook photo with another mom who I had always considered MUCH larger. I didn't even recognize myself at first because my head was turned. But it was me and there was virtually no difference between our shapes. That was in Jan 2011 and I had been hemming and hawing about making a change for some time but that photo was the final straw. I weighed about 230 (give or take) and started eating better and bought my first exercise dvd. Found MFP in May while looking online for recipes and I'm so thankful for this site!!!!
I now weigh 189 and am almost halfway to my goal weight of 150!
Ruth

WarriorWomanMaxine

I beat cancer last year now i need to beat this weightloss i think after beating cancer the weightloss will be a breeze (hopefully)

LaurenJn83

Several things:

My health insurance premiums were going to increase if I didn't get my BMI under 30.
My fasting blood glucose was 100 (which is boarderline pre-diabetes) - I'm only 28 (27 then).
My son - he's just turned two and I wanted to be able to do fun things with him without huffing and puffing just to barely keep up.
My doctor - her office runs a weight "management" clinic (Blue Sky MD), and her description of the program was intense, but made sense that it would work (and it did - I lost 65 lbs in less than 7 months)
Finally - something in me clicked! I can't exactly say what it was, but I was hell bent on getting that weight off me. Like I said, the way I did it was pretty intense, (VERY low calorie and carb, lots of exercise), but for the first time in my life, I was ready to be healthy. I was overweight long enough (almost 10 years). My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. I now have loose, saggy skin. Hopefully that will shrink too over time.

Phoenix5422REUPP

I saw a picture on FB of me at a family meal I was absolutely shocked at how big I looked I actually cried about it, I then found the picture of me at my sisters wedding I was a size 8/10 back then I knew I'd put on some weight I was just oblivious to the fact that I was now a size 14. Which to some people would think it's ok but not to me.

And then Hannah Waterman was on a morning breakfast show and she had lost so much weight and she was talking about her DVD coming out, so I purchased it as soon as it came out, and dropped a size.

I'm down to a size 12 now, I'm getting there slowly but I suppose I'm not going to be back to a size 8/10 in a matter of days it's going to take time and hard work but I'll get there, I'm hoping to get down to a size 10 by the end of this year so I can start trying wedding dresses on.

Nic620

I started by accident I guess. My friend who is getting married next yeart sent the email that she had joined and I thought I'd join to support her. Here I am, 5 months later and 33 pouns thinner. I always thank her! She was my biggest inspiration and has been one of my biggest supporters.

FitN50s

So many things contributed to my decision to get focused on looking better and feeling better.

I saw a picture of myself and nearly fainted - who the heck is that fat woman holding my grandson? OMG - it's me!

I was turning 50. 50. I may not be able to change that number, but I sure as heck don't have to be a walking billboard for it. I don't mind that I am a 50 year old grandmother of six, my life is awesome. I just don't want to look like one, lol.

This one hurts a bit, it's kind of shallow and stupid. I found out my DH was attracted to someone else. A skinny little younger thing he worked with. Now, I know my husband. He would never have an affair or cheat in any way. But knowing he found another woman intriguing was a real crusher for me. I realized that I needed to get back to being the woman who turned his head to start with. He didn't fall in love with or marry me because I was a tiny little thing. But, everyone has a "type" that they like. I was that type, which is one of the reasons he was attracted to me. I pretty much stayed that way, through having and raising 3 kids and living life. Until the past few years. The pounds came on slowly, just sneaking in there a little at a time. So, I made up my mind that I would be his "type" again. I actually got to meet "her" . I'm sure under other circumstances I would have liked her just fine. As it is, my sole goal for a long time was to show up at the next company function looking so much better than her that after he saw us side by side there would never again be any attraction to her. I'm happy to say, I did it. I still have a long way to go to get my body back to where I want it. But I'm closer than I was.

foremant86

One day it just clicked, I was tired of my clothes not fitting the way I wanted them to and not being comfortable in my own skin and not having the energy to do the things i wanted to do.

sunkisses

What motivated me to begin is understanding that the misery of my life needed fixing. Once I started to take care of that, I was able to take care of my body as well. These things have always been hand-in-hand. When one is out of whack, it affects the other.

What motivates me to continue is the realization that I'm not on a journey. Caring about my health and body is everyday, real-life, and not going to come to an end until I come to an end.

wk9t

My doctor has been after me for years to lose weight. She finally scared the hell out of me last September when she told me I was pre-Diabetic. I told myself I was not going to allow myself to become Diabetic so I started a diet and exercise routine. I started on MFP about one month later.

I have lost 44 lbs and gone from a 46" waist to a 40" waist. I am not done yet. I plan to lose another 25 lbs. I am going to the gym 4 days a week and I stay under 1700 calories every day. I went to the doctor for a check up 2 weeks ago and I am no longer pre-Diabetic. She also lowered the dose on my blood pressure meds and told me I may be able to get completely off the meds after I lose more weight.

I feel FANTASTIC. Thanks to everyone on MFP who has helped to keep me motivated.

tracym17

going to my nephews wedding and for once had the money to spend on something really special to wear, but couldnt find anything to fit. eventually found a nice dress that the woman said was 'for my shape', still had to wear spandex underwear and when saw the photos I looked like (as we say here) 'a wee fat wummin'. Had another wedding 4 months later and was determined to be in better shape for that.

fredvolinsky

I was motivated to begin a lower calorie/saturated fat diet due to my very high cholesterol test results. My family has a high history of cholesterol problems and my eating fast foods and high fat desserts did not help my cause. I'm new to this website and have kept it up for a couple of days. I love it!! Everything is transparent. I can see what I put in and what I need more of.

I hope to continue this diet on myfitnesspal and see some real results. The only thing I'm dreading is when I hit the plateau mark. That will be a new challenge to over conquer.

LaurenJn83

I saw a pic of me sitting next to santa and i was fatter than him. Wtf. This put me in gear:smooched:

Lol!

JustRhondaRH

Also saw a picture of myself

170to117

I saw pictures of myself in a bikini from this past summer..yikes! I realized that I needed to make a change so that the next summer (and the ones thereafter, for that matter) wouldn't be so horrific
I also decided that since I'm still rather young, I can lose the weight now so I'm not stuck with it in another ten or twenty years.

lowerbsnow

I can sooooooooo relate to that!!

Leo101

Being ashamed of how I looked, trying to hide fat underneat coats and sweaters and seeing my wife start to really notice and flirt with other men. That is my motivation!

peapodkris

Just feeling less active was a big one for me. I used to hike quite a bit & now due to my weight I have a harder time. I want to be a healthier version of myself and for the first time in my weight battle I am looking at it from that angle rather than the numbers : )