What Convinced You To Change?

What inspired you to finally start eating healthy, eating less, working out, etc?

Had you been trying for years to commit, and finally, something simply clicked?

Was it hitting a new highest weight? Getting some bad news from your doctor?

What convinced you to make a change?
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Replies

  • CoachJake83
    CoachJake83 Posts: 108
    I hated what I saw in the mirror. I didn't want to go into my 30's out of shape. Any time temptation popped up to talk me into quitting I got ANGRY and kept pushing forward everyday. =D
  • lambchristie
    lambchristie Posts: 552 Member
    Stephanie,

    I hated what I've seen in the mirror for many years but never did anything about it, well except for eat more. I never considered myself an emotionally eater, but I guess I proved myself wrong.

    A friend, much younger and what appeared to be more out of shape than me, started posting on FB about working out and all she did for herself and her daughters. I thought if she could do it so could I. I was on vacation when she first started posting and decided that when I returned home I was going to check out the gym she went to. Its a great little privately owned gym and I worked with a Personal Trainer in a group setting. We have fun, we work hard and I am seeing results.

    Like Coach Jake doesn't want to go into his 30s out of shape; I do not want to go into my 60s out of shape. I have 2-1/2 years to get in the best shape of my life ... ever. This time its real and I am seeing changes in my body and my eating habits. Its not a diet or anything like that .. its a lifestyle change. I know my yo-yo dieting days are behind me ... moving on and moving DOWN (in weight that is).

    Its never too late to start over! :wink:
  • farway
    farway Posts: 1,264 Member
    Bit of a similar tale, caught sight of big fat self in full length mirror whilst on holiday, then ran out of fatty belt holes so decided I did not want to into my 70's as a big fat git
  • Jane_1705
    Jane_1705 Posts: 152 Member
    Blood test showing liver problem (I don't drink enough to have an alcohol related liver problem).
    Was really worried that I had fatty liver syndrome or gall stones, that twinned with the fact I am approaching my 40th changed my attitude, this is my new lifestyle now.

    Ps my last blood test was fine, and I feel much healthier.
  • RomanaW
    RomanaW Posts: 108 Member
    My mirror image and especially the look at my photos from 6 years ago. I used to be very toned and 30lbs lighter. Can't believe I slipped so much from my diet. It is hard work to get back to where I was especially as the age progresses.
  • gevaisa
    gevaisa Posts: 34 Member
    A lot of self-loathing and then realizing that I had the power to change that. I've been wanting to lose weight for years but never committed to it, so I finally gave in and tried MFP to kick start this process.


    I was tired of letting my body stop me from feeling confident, so I have a goal of trimming down over the summer and losing 20 lbs by the Osheaga music festival!


    I'm only on my second day, but I'm hoping that I can do it. What got me down before is that if I failed one day I'd bemoan and give up, but I'm not letting it happen this time.
  • karensdream
    karensdream Posts: 135 Member
    Got tired of putting others first before me, for many years. Got tired of hurting all the time from arthritis, Got tired of getting short of breath with the slightest exertion....I could go on an on. I realized that I still have quite a few working years ahead of me, and with the demanding job that I have (nurse), I am never going to make it before my body gives out on me, not to mention the poor example I am setting. It was "now or never", and I chose now!
  • RobinsonDawn
    RobinsonDawn Posts: 40 Member
    Well personally I hate the way I look and feel in clothes.
    Before I had a baby I was very slim and was comfortable wearing anything however I want my confidence back and the only way I'll get it back is by working for it!
    I was tired of sitting around wishing I would be slimmer while doing nothing about it so I decided you know what? I will lose weight and I will be more healthier for me and my daughter and even future children!
  • mkeller234
    mkeller234 Posts: 121 Member
    I have multiple reasons to improve my health. I am responsible for my 15mo daughter's dinner, so I want that to be nutritious for us both. I also want to be as healthy as I can be for longevity and energy to get the most out of my time with my family. On top of that, my wife looks fantastic, I want to return that favor. I turn 30 this year and I don't want to squander the rest of my youth struggling with weight issues.

    What got it started though? My boss gave me a suit and the pants did not fit.
  • The simple answer: my boyfriend.

    He was and is my inspiration and motivation to be the best version of myself that I possibly can be, physically and mentally.
    I have struggled with my weight my whole life, and I did a lot of unhealthy things to try and lose weight. I always lied to myself and told myself I saw progress and I just complained about how I looked.

    My boyfriend lost 70lbs before we began dating, and seeing his change and having his support has motivated me to want to look and feel my best, because this is the only body I have. And thinking about the future, knowing that I want to be the best role model possible for my children, inspired me too :)
  • ron2e
    ron2e Posts: 606
    My weight increased steadily over about 20 years since giving up smoking, I was starting to get breathless when walking any distance, my knees hurt, I had high blood pressure and my clothes were again getting too tight so in January I bought a set of scales (I had always avoided weighing myself) weighed myself and just about died. The mirror was actually right and I was in obese territory. That did the trick!!
  • When I stood on the scales and weighed at least 40lbs more than I told myself I was, then I decided it definitely needed to change!
  • A lot of self-loathing and then realizing that I had the power to change that. I've been wanting to lose weight for years but never committed to it, so I finally gave in and tried MFP to kick start this process.


    I was tired of letting my body stop me from feeling confident, so I have a goal of trimming down over the summer and losing 20 lbs by the Osheaga music festival!


    I'm only on my second day, but I'm hoping that I can do it. What got me down before is that if I failed one day I'd bemoan and give up, but I'm not letting it happen this time.

    I was exactly the same. Hated what i saw in the mirror and hated myself for letting me get like that. Ive got 2 nephews and a niece that love running around at the park and i hated that i could make it more than a few minutes. Add to that my upcoming wedding in June 2014 i decided enough was enough. I've tried the typical new years resolutions before, and they never worked. So this year i made the resolution to look after myself better as a whole, mind body and spirit. I lost 3kgs before i started on MFP, and another 2.5 since then. Its a slow process but I am starting to get complimented on my progress and i have a lot more energy now. Cant wait to get back to my goal dress size and wear all the gorgeos clothes i have had to store away.
  • Justjamie0418
    Justjamie0418 Posts: 1,065 Member
    I was sick of being fat. period.

    My boyfriend of 3 years cheated on me while I was pregnant and claimed it was because I was fat. I know better now. But I lost the weight and left him.
  • BonnieFife
    BonnieFife Posts: 104 Member
    I hated what i saw in the mirror especially after having my last 2 children, after my son was born i got back down to just under 11stn then i fell pregnant with my daughter, so ive bit the bullet my family is complete i want so much to be back to pre pregnancy weight around 9stn 7lb or 10stn i'd be happy to shift 40lbs to get to around there . I always hated my body but when i look at old pics there was nothing to hate i'd love to look like that now so thats my goal. I workout 7 days a week im watching what i eat, & already many people are noticing a difference :smile:
  • chrisjathompson
    chrisjathompson Posts: 227 Member
    Combination of the scale hitting 300, and upcoming 30th birthday
  • DaniKenmir
    DaniKenmir Posts: 387 Member
    I was at home with the flu eating a box of chocolates and I thought, I wonder how many calories this has in it (2700 by the way) then I though, how many am I meant to have a day, ended up on here and haven't left...
  • JJordon
    JJordon Posts: 857 Member
    I was asleep. I put myself asleep. I gave up. Then, one day, years later, a specific combination of words, woke me. I didn't like what I saw and said something to the effect of, 'No more.'

    I was awake now.
  • TaniaB_79
    TaniaB_79 Posts: 52 Member
    The scale almost hitting 200lbs, photos with double chin but what really did it was catching sight of my back fat in the mirror. One stone off later and its still there but nowhere near as bad. I will get rid of it soon!
  • JanetRene1
    JanetRene1 Posts: 8 Member
    Well...I had re restarted the weight loss process last year when I final suffered my first real consequence of being morbidly obese and suffered a stress fracture. That put my off my feet for eight weeks. After that when I was just about ready to start back up the same foot became infected. Which knocked my back of my feet for a few more weeks. Then winter hit and I couldn't really do my primary form of exercise which was walking.

    After losing all the ground I gained plus ten pounds, I have decided enough is enough. I am not celebrating another birthday hating the person I see in the mirror. I deserve better than this.
  • traceytwink
    traceytwink Posts: 538 Member
    I wanted to be a good role model for my children they are coming up to teenage years where they could be lead off the wrong path and I wanted to show them you can achieve a healthy lifestyle with exercise, I haven't changed the way I eatwe always try to eat healthy but I stopped exercising which was all it took, I was also about to hit 40 and I didn't want to be fat and forty but wanted to be fit and forty ????
  • Hating my self , had an accident in 05 I have put on 100+ pounds depression I lost my home my car everything I valued even my job and I loved it. I had no choice but to move in with friends at there instances well that ship has sank , while I had money they LOVED me could not do enough for me I was bed bound for 3 years now that the money is gone Well that is neither here nor there , now I hobble around with a walker and I feel if I loose this weight maybe I'd move better.I must get on my own I hate my living arrangements I rather die alone if I fall then live like this because right now I am dead inside.
  • Uni, Christmas, Birthdays, Easter and any chance for chocolate or junk food or alcohol and I'd agree to it...

    My Doctor told me that I'm in danger of a high blood pressure (it runs in my family) and that I need to "be healthier" - I was 73kg (5ft 4") when she told me this!
    I have always been a bit curvier and chunkier than my friends... And now I want to be healthier too.

    What changed my mind?
    My boyfriend of 4 years proposed to me on the Millennium bridge, standing in the shadows of St Pauls Cathedral in London on the 8th January 2012... I did nothing between then and Christmas with regards to exercise... But now, I HAVE A WEDDING TO PLAN (as soon as I hand in my dissertation, I am going dress shopping).

    Also... At New Year I had a horrific sickness bug, and I lost at least 2 inches from my waist... And even though I felt **** at the time, I was happy that i could fit in to an old pair of jeans.... And that kick started it.
  • Treadmillmom1st
    Treadmillmom1st Posts: 579 Member
    Bit of a similar tale, caught sight of big fat self in full length mirror whilst on holiday, then ran out of fatty belt holes so decided I did not want to into my 70's as a big fat git

    So funny.
  • Treadmillmom1st
    Treadmillmom1st Posts: 579 Member
    I was sick of being fat. period.

    My boyfriend of 3 years cheated on me while I was pregnant and claimed it was because I was fat. I know better now. But I lost the weight and left him.

    Good for you!!
  • LadyZephyr
    LadyZephyr Posts: 286 Member
    I was severely bulimic for a couple of years and lost a lot of weight because of it. When I began recovery I gained a lot of it back, as you do, and was once again overweight. I decided to lose the extra pounds the healthy way, learning to eat well and intuitively along the way, exercising in healthy doses, keeping my body fit, healthy and strong rather than malnourished, weak and dying.

    I've changed immensely since starting this 'diet' and using MFP. I was actually in the middle of a relapse when I started using it and reading a lot of the posts on here really helped me see how much damage I was doing to my body by eating so little.

    It's not about being thin for me, however nice it would be to have a perfect body, it's more about accepting myself no matter what I look like, loving myself because I AM worthy of self-respect. It's about kicking bulimia in the butt and having an awesome success story to tell in the future, because I plan on being an Eating Disorders Therapist, to help others like me. I want to be in session with another young girl going through what I did, crying about their ED, and tell them, truthfully and from the heart, that there is hope and they CAN and WILL beat it, because I did.
  • Good for you! ur better of without him!
  • Victoria2448
    Victoria2448 Posts: 559 Member
    For me...I had always worked out and ate healthy. After 2 surgeries and a pregnancy I gained weight. I wasn't happy wioth the few extra lbs, but nothing I did would budge it.

    I tried a famous diet (even though I knew better...you do stupid things when you are desperate) that ruined my metabolism...lost some, but rebounded.I worked with a very well know female bodybuilder and while I gained some muscle....she could not budge the fat off me.

    I was resigned to be an ordinary looking frumpy middle aged Mom...figured that's just what it was for me. I ate healthy, have logged my food since the 80s, worked out, did martial arts. I was healthy, but just didn't have that "WOW" body.

    I bought P90X as a last ditch effort. I just knew it wouldn't work, and set out to prove it wrong.:smile: After just a few weeks I knew this was something different. I had set a modest goal of losing 20lbs in a 6 month period. I lost 19lbs and almost about 10% bodyfat in my first round!! After that I knew I had found what I was looking for.:drinker:

    I am now in my 8th round and still loving it...still getting amazing results....and have a better body than I could have imagined. :
  • toomuchbootyindapants
    toomuchbootyindapants Posts: 811 Member
    Uhm, I was fat. Grotesque. Looking in the mirror caused me great anxiety and panic attacks. Doctor said my cholesterol was high and I'd need to go on meds if I didn't drop some weight pronto. My sex life sucked. I was sick of being the me I had become.
  • Treadmillmom1st
    Treadmillmom1st Posts: 579 Member
    I've always loved fitness, was sporty at school and after, once I had kids I struggled to find time for me. I wasn't devastated by my reflection but I knew it could be better.

    My main motivation was my mother, it felt that overnight old age rained down on her, she went from being a sprightly fiercely independent lady to near loss of mobility through arthritis and brittle bones.

    It's so traumatic seeing her like this so I decided for my children to invest in my old age and give myself the very best advantage I can.

    I’ve managed to find me time…6am when everyone is still asleep lol, but I work out 5 mornings a week.

    I’ve always ate well, my mother was an old fashioned cook all from scratch and I’m the same.

    I hope these investments will pay off.

    I'll report back in 35 years lol.