The moment that made you SERIOUS about losing weight?

Very simple...I am 43 and have been blessed with the gift of my daughter. I have to live for her. I have to eat correctly so she will. Everything else is extra.

I'm 22 and i've been self conscious about my weight and unhappy with myself since the age of 10! I always acted like it didn't bother me until my senior year of high school. When college came i had this stress put on me to be perfect and do well in school even though i didn't really want to and this stress led to me eating bigger portions, dining out a lot, and of course not exercising. In 2008, my then 1 year-old sister, was my job (i had been babysitting her since the age of 4 1/2 months) and she decided that my arm fat soothed her while lying in my lap to sleep...this was only the beginning! Not only did she pinch my arm fat but as ahe got older she would lift up my shirt and say "Sissy you're so jiggly" and jiggle my stomach. I tried to diet and exercise but would become bored and give up. Finally ,when she was 4 (last year), i decided enough was enough after she said "You know, you're very chubby." I was completely mortified....that's when i learned my family history so i decided i needed to lose weight and get healthy to lower my risk and be happy with myself.

pictures of myself...absolutely was this. In my mind, I am a lot cuter and smaller than what I look like in pictures! lol

It was a real eye opener.

Ugh it took Pancreantitis, Diabetes that could not be controlled (Standard in the 500s), a size 28 pants, and a heart attack...


I'm here now! Lol.

I'm 48, 5'6" tall. I've tried various diets over the years but nothing has really stuck.

I've always had excuses - I had a kidney transplant in 2005 and the drugs have wrought havoc. I put on loads of weight. My dad died in June 2011 and I hadn't seen him for 6 months and so I took comfort in food. Then I couldn't find anything to fit to wear to the funeral - had to wear my husband's polo shirt and trousers. Even that didn't force my hand although it was humiliating.

Finally at, Christmas 2011. Going home to see the family. My sister-in-law who is only 5 years younger than me having to help heave me off their sofa. Then struggling to get up their stairs to the toilet. Stopped 3 times and hubby had to pull me the rest of the way. Then I had to come back down on my bottom. Something had to give. I was having trouble getting up from a chair, trouble walking from one room to another, even rolling over in bed was a struggle. I was breathless and getting palpitations.

I weighed 146.6kg/323pounds in January 2012. Today I am 125kg/275 pounds. Still hefty and with a long way to go but this Christmas when I go back to visit the family, I'm damn sure I'm getting off that sofa without help!

<===== Yes that is really me. I no longer weigh 171 lbs and I am almost 52 years old. !!!!

Curious about that moment when you said "OH NO. This has to stop and it's going to start right now!" Maybe a picture of yourself, or an innocent child saying "You look like Santa Claus" Whatever. It makes a difference!

I've tried to drop weight before, but it is different this time because I had that moment in my life!

I was (trying) riding my bike on the greenway. I was going up this hill and it felt awful and I'm sure I looked ridiculous because I was kind of listing back and forth across the path, feeling painfully aware of how FAT I felt.

Suddenly this skinny chick rides past me in a blur and calls out in a cheery voice "You go girl! You can do it!"

I was instantly angry and ashamed. OH MY GAWD, I thought. I'M THE FAT CHICK YOU SAY "You go girl!" TO!!!!

Oh heck no! That is NOT me!

That was what kicked me into gear. Oh, she motivated me alright, just not the way she intended.

Over the years I ran and lifted weights, I practiced martial arts, ran marathons, hiked, skied, and biked. Over the decades the weight piled on. I kept on working out harder and harder thinking I would lose the weight but it kept growing. I tried various diets, lost, then gained, lost, then gained, the typical yo-yo story. At age 48 I finally reached my peak of 171 lbs. at 5’1″. I had chronic back pain, low thyroid, and adrenal fatigue. I kept working out and running one marathon after the next thinking maybe this time it will work. Nope, the weight stayed on. Everyone told me to give up; this is what happens when you get older. I never gave up.

I always put running first and weights second, but I lifted consistently. I did the typical split routines and copied the exercises the guys did; flat bench, decline bench, incline bench, several back exercises, curls, tricep extensions and squats. Usually 10-12 reps. Day after day, year after year. I looked strong and hefty and big boned but never like the athele I wanted to be and it got worse as my weight crept up.

I'd retired from my software engineer job after 25 years and continued my workout routine. I weight 150 lbs when I went through the police academy at age 45 and could still run circles around the guys. I was a runner! I ran marathons at 150 lbs, even 50 mile races. You can't out exercise too many calories. I didn't realize how small I am. Hint: If you are short you are probably small.

I was so proud that I completed the police academy (in California that is a tough task to accomplish) AND passed all the agency hiring test and background and got picked up as a deputy. Only 1 out of 50 pass and get hired. I work for free as a reserve and I'm proud of it. Anyway, the weight crept up like crazy and I had to buy a bigger uniform, size LARGE pants. Oh my gosh embarrassing! I had planned to lose weight and was working my butt off at the gym and exercising like a mad woman. It was so NOT FAIR!!! What the heck? Something must have been wrong with me. My metabolism was broken (not really but I THOUGHT IT!). I had low thyroid and adrenal fatigue. My weight crept up. Adrenal supplements and thyroid medicine was not the magic pill once that got fixed.

Finally one day my partner and I were taking someone to jail and the bad guy called me a FAT *kitten* the whole way to the jail and in the booking room. My partner kept saying "That is not a very nice thing to say", but I kept thinking Oh my god it's TRUE. It was the last straw. I decided then and there I would lose the weight. I found for me it didn't seem fair but I had to EAT LESS. Way less, because I'm small. I didn't realize how small until I lost 60 lbs and saw how small I was without all the fat. HINT: If you are short, especially a short female, you are probably small. You have to eat way less than everyone else. It is not fair but it's the truth. Eat more works for taller people because they can eat MORE OR LESS and remain in a deficit. If you are small you don't have room in your deficit for EAT MORE, sad but true and NOT FAIR, but the fact is when you are small you have less lean body mass to maintain. I lift weights heavy and even with that and my super dense bones from lifting my lean body mass is maxed out at 104 lbs, and that is probably as big as I'll get staying all natural.

Is it okay to digress to weight lifting?? I hope, because this is important especially for women.

Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

Girls, start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

If you are a girl you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulking and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

When people kept asking me if I was pregnant or just ask when are u due.

I hold my weigh in my tummy and hips(love handles) areas...

Also live longer to see my kids have baby's of their own...

My health!

I had been trying for years and only lost a few kg. One day I went to a dance class with an old friend, I loved it! I was hooked. I danced as often as possible and without realizing it I had lost 5kg. People were commenting and it was so easy, something "clicked" I COULD lose weight and it wasn't even difficult - it was fun!

Wow, that was a touching story. Congratulations for your progress so far and good luck on the rest of your journey!

My moment was five years ago, when I could no longer fit into any of my jeans and had to go shopping for a size 13/14 (176 lbs). The very next day I grabbed my best friend, joined a gym and went from there. :0)