What was your "ah ha" weightloss moment for motivation??

My most recent:

My bf and I recently moved to an apartment on the 7th floor. 2 weeks ago the elevators were running super slow so I decided to take the stairs.. I could barely make it. As embarrassing as it is, I actually had to stop for a breather on the 6th floor. That's when I realized how out of shape I got.

The death of my mom from cancer, a cancer that puts you at higher risk if you're overweight (she was). I knew I was digging my own grave and had to change or my kids would be going through losing their mom too soon like I did. Lost 110 pounds in a year and never looking back.

Congratulations KeeponKickin. That is an amazing accomplishment.

I went to the doctor in March of last year because i was having pain in the center of my chest after eating, and was diagnosed with acid reflux. He talked to me about dietary changes, and gave me a two week sample of Nexium. I walked out of there, and it struck me that at 42 years old and 338 pounds, this was just the beginning. I knew that it would end up being medicine for diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. I just decided I did not want to have to take medicine for something I could fix myself.

I saw a picture of myself at a kid's birthday party.... before that I was the type of person to look in the mirror and think " wow, I am really not that fat." Wrong! I have been suffering with back problems, foot and knee problems, all related to be too heavy! The day I woke up to the truth was amazing, and humbling.

Wow...thanks, MOM! lol

Mine was when my Dad died suddenly this past July and I gained about 8-10 lbs. My pants and clothes just weren't fitting well anymore and I could feel "things" jiggle...not good. So I am recently motivated again to get back into those clothes again and then eventually grow out of them again...but in the good way. So taking one meal at a time, looking to get in about 1600 cal/day and get in about 4000-5000 cal burned per week. Just visualizing myself at goal and wearing less clothing in Summer and looking GOOD. :bigsmile:

I've been on here for a few months and I'd start and then something would happen and I'd fall off the wagon....but the other day, I had a conversation with my friend on the phone( nothing said in particular, just a conversation), but after that, I inexplicably felt highly motivated to ramp things up. I'd been in the "thinking" stages of several plans of action, but had not implemented any of them. Since then, I took action and prepared and started a firm eating plan, and have "join the Y" on the list of things "to do" after work. This weird sense of motivation has extended to a number of things I've needed to do outside of the weight loss issue. It's like my brain isn't hearing all the excuses my inner voice has for putting things off anymore. Even the fact that I somehow injured myself doing the grocery shopping yesterday hasn't stopped me. Things are just getting done!

Oddly, I have a similar feeling as to when I quit smoking nearly 11 years ago. It's just a sense of rightness.

This is what I had 3 years ago, and got again now to finish the job! Everything is just falling into place well and I feel so much happier just for having made the right steps!

This is why I must get back into shape. My weight disgusts me. I did a 12 mile hike in September… Well, relatively, that was the most difficult hike I had ever done, though certainly not the most difficult objectively. I brought a half gallon of water, and some food for the journey, my camera, and off I went. After 3 miles I was completely out of energy. But those that know me and have hiked with me know that I am a hiking monster. I have endurance… even if that endurance is from sheer will. At mile three there was a hand pump well. I replenished about 32 ounces more of water at that time. It was a daunting task, pumping that well. It took several minutes to get the water flowing. At mile 6 I ran out of water; my body was telling me to stop. At mile 9 I was back at the pump. I pumped about 8 ounces of water, but I did not have the strength to pump any more. I started hallucinating from the dehydration. It was 84% humidity and in the mid 90s temp-wise. By this time, I began to pray the Rosary, and I was spotting places I could just curl up, and sleep into eternity. I went on with the power of the Rosary and Chaplet with sheer will. There is no excuse for me to be in this shape, and I am giving up the excuses and procrastination that lead to this state.

My sweet 7 year old told me I was fat.. She said it as nicely as possible but it crushed me.

I hated my life, I hated my body, I hated myself and I was in a bad relationship that I wouldn't leave because I thought no one else could possibly love me when I didn't love myself. I realized that of all the things going wrong in my life, the only thing I really had control over was me, I decided to focus all my energy on making me better, physically and mentally.

I just didn't want to feel so disgusted with myself anymore.

scale told me to "get off"..no just kidding, but i reached an alltime high if 297 and liver pain due to a fatty liver, so made diet changes that day, last fall figured out what was causing a food allergy so now there are absolutley no excuses....i can finally eat fruits and veggies, and my body is utilizing energy like it should! (side note, no more liver pain and it is not as enlarged!) thanks everyone for sharing!

I hated my life, I hated my body, I hated myself and I was in a bad relationship that I wouldn't leave because I thought no one else could possibly love me when I didn't love myself. I realized that of all the things going wrong in my life, the only thing I really had control over was me, I decided to focus all my energy on making me better, physically and mentally.

^^^ Exactly how it was for me. Got married and had kids young. I went through a messy separation/divorce, where my children's father decided he wanted nothing to do with our children (at the time they were only 2 and 1) and he left me a copious amount of debt. But the biggest thing was, that I'd lost myself in the relationship and didn't know who I was anymore. Beginning my weight loss journey was difficult, but it has taught me how to love myself and rediscover who I am. I will never lose sight of who I am ever again!

I have a few

- I looked back through my facebook photos and saw how I was getting fatter and fatter over the years.
- When I finally weighted myself my BMI was 29.2 – almost obese.
- I weighed more than my friend Steve who is 6 foot and I am 5 foot 4.
- I am gong to turn 30 this year – on my 29th birthday I was on overweight smoker and I don’t want to be either of these on my 30th.


I saw a friend over Christmas and I told her I was unhappy with my weight. She told me about the myfitnesspal app which I downloaded in the new year.

12/24/31 - the shooting pain that went through my hip as I stepped up to play my french horn at christmas ever services. Now that I am at goal weight, my motivation moment to get even fitter is the incredible natural high I get from ballet barre class.