What made you decide to loose weight?

Noticing that i was just putting on more and more, and serious worries about my health.

Aliens. They refused to abduct me due to weight limitations of their ship. Damn futuristic space craft safety guidelines ....

I wanted to be able to bend over to tie my shoes and breath at the same time.

I've always been active and enjoy the outdoors. As a "big" person (needing to lose 40-50lbs to get an acceptable BMI) entering middle-age I'm beginning to learn that youth and strength as compensation for excess weight will only last so long. If I want to continue to enjoy these activities later in life I need to act, the sooner the better.

It's also a realisation of the creeping cumulative effect of weight. The bottom line is if you don't make a decision and actively take control, then it's a situation that will only get worse and more difficult as you get older. It won't fix itself and it isn't something you can put off until tomorrow, next week or next year. How many people on these forums express a regret in not doing it earlier? That makes me so sad when people talk about things they missed out on, when really they didn't need to. Being overweight is a self-inflicted disability, nobody's fault but mine.

I've often heard similar people claiming they were "fit" while being overweight. Well that can be true to an extent, but 250lbs of me going through these knees while skiing, isn't sustainable no matter what my resting heart rate.

I realized I was avoiding visiting old friends because I didn't want them to see me "this way". Also, my wedding ring didn't fit anymore...

I've been overweight all my life - since I was in 2nd grade I've been fat. Met my husband while I was this way and everything. Lost my father in March at a fairly young age and that fueled the biggest fire for me to get this weight off for good. While his passing wasn't so much weight related I could just see what was coming down the road if I didn't get myself on track. Another reason - I want to have a baby. At the weight I started I couldn't have a healthy baby - and we are still struggling after 82lb weight loss to conceive. My advice to anyone who wants to start their journey - just stick with it. It's hard but if you stick to the plan it really does work.

I was 60lbs overweight after two pregnancies. I remember sitting on the floor with my daughters (2 & 4 years old)....and having to roll on to my knees just so I could hold on to the table and push myself back up to standing position. I had never been overweight in my life.... and shopping with my friends was brutal since they were all still thin.... I remember going into our favorite stores and I couldn`t fit into the clothes that I once was able to buy and wear and trying stuff on was brutal....I used to love shopping and at that time all I wanted to do was cry. Also at the time my marriage was on the rocks and I was feeling horrible, fat , sad.... so I took all of my negative energy and emotions and through it into exercise and watching what I eat.... 1.5 years later I lost 50 lbs....10 lbs heavier than my goal weight of 125... but oddly the same size 5.... Right now I am back up a few.... but back on the wagon. Weight maintenance and a healthy lifestyle is a life-long thing and the one thing I learned, wieght loss is hard and I never want to go back to where I was.

I binge ate during a breakup and gained ten pounds. When the relationship was finally over, my boyfriend wasn't there anymore, but my ten pounds certainly were. I'm still impressed (and appalled) with how quickly I put that on.

I wanted to get to fly in Charlie Tango....

I was just unhappy. I was trying to exercise and get my black belt in karate, and I couldn't keep up. I was injuring myself running all the time and would spend three months on, two months off, etc. I decided it was do or die time - decide to be a couch potato and withdraw - or make the change.

Never being overweight until I had 2 girls in 2 years....I was 20ish lbs overweight for a bout a decade. Something just hit me one day. I knew I wasnt obese, but I wasnt happy either.......Thankfully I have a husband who NEVER said a negative word to me....but as I lost weight, he never ever failed to comment on how good I looked. Not "Better".........to this day he still comes home daily and says 'Hey hot mama". I think for me, finally realizing I COULD do it was all the motivation I needed.

OP - glad you took a comment like that and turned it into something positive. Congratulations on your success :flowerforyou:

I gained my extra 20/30lbs through a combination of getting a desk job, being in a really crappy negative relationship, loving pizza, and the depo shot.

Still have the desk job but I've learned to love running and lifting weights.

Out of the crappy negative relationship and in a positive one now.

Still love pizza, but try to eat it less and cook more - I love cooking now and I am encouraged to do so.

Working on getting off the depo shot in the next few months to see how that goes.

All the inspiring, awesome, sexy people here I know have done amazing things and I want to be awesome right there with them.

I decided that I had a life that was worth living and enjoying. I love my wife and wanted to ensure that I lived a longer and healthier life so we can do all sorts of fun things. My lifestyle before my weight loss and restructured diet was self destructive (albeit fun).

The first time I lost weight, 13 years ago, was simply to get laid. Fat, sloppy, non-confident dudes don't score with the ladies.

Now, I want to compete in triathlons.

I was the girl that would know well in advance that we (my husband and I) were going out, but when the time came to actually get dressed in something other than sweats, I would become so saddened, angry, negative that we'd just end up getting Chinese take-out. PA-THE-TIC. I've got a ways to go still, but I wish the best of luck to myself and everyone else here!