What was your bottom/ah-ha moment....

when I had some lovely photos done with a friend, when they arrived a few weeks later I said 'I'm never going to look like this again'. Totally shocked - especially as it was a day when I'd had fun, been happy, felt pampered etc and 'at my best'. and I had a moon face staring back at me. I still have that pic on my phone to remind me, I don't even recognise that girl any more!

I was also sitting and watching my kids instead of joining in, and I hated that. My aim has always primarily been to be fit and healthy rather than a certain weight - so now I'm just under the top end of 'normal' BMI (which was a huge change from 29.9!), but I can run up the stairs without getting out of breath, and enjoy my life and theirs. The challeng is keeping it there. Maintenance is far harder than the loss was!

You can do it - every decision is a new one and can be good, even if the previous one was shockingly poor! You don't have to wait for the next day or the next week to make a good decision about food or exercise.

Oh, and motivation is a myth - but you can have determination. For me routine was very important - if it's Monday at 6.30pm then I'm doing XYZ. I also found a personal trainer invaluable to kick start fitness improvement as it pushed me beyond what I thought I could do - which is exactly what your body needs to change!

When I met my Now boyfriend, he was the first person who I really wanted to be my absoute best for, when I saw our first pgoto together "I nearly died" I was shocked at how far i had let myself go , even though i had already lost 6kg before I started this new journey. I knew I had to do this to be better healthier for me, for him.

I always start these things and never really makeit work for myself. This time I am!! I am an additional 8kg down and I feel great, so far mybiggest pants was a 22 i now were a 16. Still got 16kg to go atleat.

I have HORRRRIBLE before photos at home that remind when i loose focus too!

Its a lifestyle change, embrace it and love it!

There was lots of build up "moments" - even my "fat clothes" getting too small, seeing pictures of myself/avoiding the cameras, etc., but the ultimate moment was going to the doctor's office for a regular check up and seeing that number on the scale! I actually cried right there in his office!! That appointment was April 26, I started MFP April 27, and I'm up to 37 pounds loss now! I can't wait for my follow up appointment in December!! LOL

I am turning 40 in 6 months and i want to be healthy happy and lastly have a bikini body...lol My turning moment was I was put on meds that made me gain weight and after being thin my whole life I decided since i wasnt going to change my meds that i better start eating heathier and get my body moving!! Now I am addicted and have finally found something I love to do for myself and my mind. Its a great stress reliever and you will feel sooooo good once you take the first step!! You can do it do it for you health first the rest will follow i always say MIND BODY and spirit!!!! Today is the day take your first step, youll be glad you did

my moment was when i found out that my dad's sister was going to pass away due to heart/diabeties related problems. This will be his second sister in less than 4 months to die of the same issues. I was heading in the same direction as they were and I dont want my dad to live through that with me.

Photos of my dads wedding. Just a few weeks ago my brother come to me and was like "Oh my gosh you have lost so much, I saw the photos of the wedding and wow." The wedding was in 2009 I think.

I got a phone call to say that my toddler had an "episode" and an ambulance had been called - I ran the whole way and it almost killed me. That was the beginning of the end of my unhealthy lifestyle.
That and my morbidly obese mother visiting.

I didn't step on the balance for a very long time. Maybe 1 year. And what I saw completely shocked me.
Now I know that numbers don't mean anything, that the scale can lie... but that was just way too much.

I had just bought a bunch of size 13 pants a couple months before and was growing out of them, like I seemed to do a little at a time since I was a size 5. And we had no money to go buy new clothes for me. So, I buckled down. I've lost 11.5 lbs and tomorrow will make 1 month for me. (: those size 13's are loose on me now and I almost comfortably fit into AE size 12 (: I'd told myself after my daughter was born I was gonna get skinny. Skinnier than I'd ever been but that didn't happen after the c-section. So, almost 16 months later I decided it was time. (: Better late than never.

My doctor diagnosed me with Diabetes in December apparently she had done it 3 months earlier but hadn't told me, only added more meds then on a follow up visit in Dec. I saw it in my chart and realized if I didn't get serious I was going to put myself in an early grave.

I was 35 when I had my first child and 38 when I had my second, I figured if my girls waited as long as I did to have kids I might not meet my grandbabies so I guess I had found my long term motivation to reverse my poor health in hopes to live long enough to meet the next generation.

Mine was just last week... I Had goals.. that turned into dreams... been pretty sick, i felt like i was cutting myself short and using it as an excuse not to reach my goals... but then a very special person in my life told me i was worth more and to stop being a sad c@nt. O_O thats when i was like oh lawd.... and now im back on track to competeing. ^^

AHHHH....one of those friends that doesn't hold anything back I'm guessing.....lol. Gotta luv em.

fat clothes started fitting too snuggly.

then my boyfriend proposed to me.

i didn't to be a chunky bride and also, didn't want to become a fat wife. even though we plan for the wedding to be over a year from now, i wanted to start losing the weight and know i could maintain 'til the big day and beyond... since that's where the real struggle begins for some...

i love my fiance to death and believe that keeping myself healthy shows respect for not only myself, but for him. i don't want him worrying about me or get to the point where he says, "baby... those pants don't really fit..." i gained 10 lbs the first year we dated--all happy weight of course--and while he never said anything and still considered me physically attractive, it will only get harder to lose weight if i let too much time go by. so i started the second week in july

Mine was a picture with hubby in February when I weighed 221 pounds - my highest ever. I looked at that picture and thought "OMG I'm a fat person." I had a double chin. My upper arm was huge. I also had noticed that when I was driving I could feel rolls of skin touching the insides of my arms. I hated it. That, and the medical issues I had been experiencing, sent me over the (good) edge.

Looking at some christmas pics and seeing Fred Flinstone next to my wife.

Honestly I just woke up one day and knew. It was time to change.

Of course like most people, I wanted to give up at every tiny set-back. What keeps me going is that after I had lost a good amount of weight and toned up, I got fitted and bought a bridesmaid dress for my best friend's wedding in 9 months. The consultant at the dress store said it's IMPOSSIBLE to have the dress "let out" if I gained weight because of the type of fabric/cut, but it can be taken in. It's a size 8, the smallest I've been in my adult life. I have put it on twice since then for reference, and it's getting a little loose
I keep in mind that if I give up and gain the weight back, I won't be able to be in her wedding.