What was your breaking point.

I went through a really rough break up and I realized that I needed to focus on myself. It was time to take back control of my life!

Same for me. I decided I was going to have the life I want, finally! That included having the body I want, too.

I was really blind or didn't take my weight problem seriously, until my dad broke down and talked to me about it. He was so worried that I would die young and leave my older siblings to grieve. I went to the doctor and dietitian and joined a gym. After that talk with my dad, I realized that it really was worse than I thought. It forced me to take a hard look at myself. I realized that I had gained 20 pounds because I was bored (not in school or work), didn't fit into any of my jeans and only wore sweat pants and was spending all my time on the couch. Only 6 weeks in and I have so much energy I don't know what to do with it all.

I'd managed to get around the weight issue for many years. I had a series of breaking points all within about a week in the end, which got me going. The main ones were:

1. My wife, who has lost over 50kg (110lbs) herself in 2 years, asking me not to widow her by dying early (my peak weight reached 174kg - around 380lbs)
2. Dave Myers & Simon King (The Hairy Bikers) showing how you can lose weight whilst still enjoy the sort of food you love in a healthy way by reinventing it (if you haven't seen their show "The Hairy Dieters", it's well worth a look!)

I know it's a long road, but I'm as stubborn as an old mule when I set my mind to something. Just never made this a priority until now.

I think we all need breaking point.

We don't need a breaking point. I started by accident. One of my dogs sprinted after a squirrel, I realized I missed running, I started running again. It was a total fluke. But it took-so I'm good with that.

I am a strong believer in being happy. There are a lot of positives in my life, but I know I could be happier. By losing weight, I will be almost completely satisfied. At such a young age, I want to end my problem now and start my life over. I want confidence, challenges, and experiences that I can look back on when I'm older and smile, rather than regret. My family is planning on going to Colorado and visiting Rocky Mountain National park, and about 15 days ago I decided I want to be leading the family rather then trailing from behind.

For me it was a culmination of things - I've been obese for most of my adult life, but about 2.5 years ago my ex left me for a much slimmer and fitter woman, destroying what little confidence I had left and taking all our friends with him. Although I wasn't so upset about the end of the relationship I was humiliated and upset that all our friends had cast me aside. I think part of the reason for that is due to my size. I think he was seen to have 'traded up' and as an obese woman I have no right to complain. I was very depressed and lonely and comfort ate. I gradually got better by learning to appreciate my real friends, taking lots of holidays, doing more fun things, and coming to terms with my new life, but was still overeating. I figured I'm not trying to impess anyone so who cares what I look like?
Then I went for the annual medical at work and have high tri-glycerides, and pre-diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (I don't drink so at least that's one thing I don't have to worry about!) and a whole number of lifestyle related issues that I wouldn't have known about without the tests as they're not affecting my day to day life at the moment, but are lurking there beneath the surface like a ticking bomb. Basically - just as I'm starting to feel better emotionally, I realise this fun new life is likely not to last very long if I carry on down this road! So last year I tried a few things that didn't work, then stumbled across MFP - lost 25 pounds and felt so much better - the daily achievement and having something positive to focus on, feeling in control of some part of your life is worth more than any therapy! However..... I then went on a series of holidays over about 4 months and put all the weight I'd lost back on..... I enjoyed myself though! But Jan 2nd I went back to MFP - started from scratch, new year, new me, lucky 2013..... Doing ok so far.....

When I realized that I had been chasing the effect instead of the cause. In essence, losing weight was not going to make me mentally tough or miraculously change my point of view. When I realized that I first had to reform my mentality and looked inward, I was able to find the mental fortitude I never thought I had. At that point, and at that point alone, I was able to make a change. Haha, sorry if I went a bit too metaphysical, but that's really what made me change!!!

My ex telling me I was fat and unattractive. Something in me just got pissed. Really mad. Fed up and ready to prove the haters wrong

My breaking point was looking in the mirror and realizing I HATED MYSELF and hated taking pictures...my bf was cheating on me and I was looking at the girls and realized, they were thin. I wasnt.

I didn't have a scale for years, but the day I got one and it showed me 72kg changed everything. After a few weeks spent in denial I made a plan and stuck to it. I'm now at ~57kg and I'm not going to stop until I get to my highschool weight of 54. I'm motivated by the fact that I'm getting close to 30yo and I want to enter my next decade looking hot.