What Convinced You To Change?

Being a hypocrite.


seriously. One of my biggest pet peeves, is people smoking. I am dumbfounded by how people are knowingly killing themselves, and the only thing stopping them from quitting, is themselves. But no, they keep on puffing away, making excuse after excuse as to why they can't do it.

I would go on and on about how much their excuses were total crap....


then, it was like a light bulb went off. Here i am, making excuse after excuse as to why i'm overweight. I am knowingly killing myself every time i eat things that have no nutritional value for myself... but yet, there i went, stuffing it all away.... and as far as weight loss went, i'd have all these bs "reasons" as to why i couldn't do it.

I decided i was NO better than any of them. :noway:

After that, there was no stopping me! I've stuck to working out at Crossfit for a solid 10 months now, and while it took me a while to finally get dedicated to tracking my food, i finally started sticking with it, and the pounds are melting off! :happy:

Holiday Facebook photos.

Nuff said.

I'd been having leg and hip pain for years (at times so bad I had to use a cane or wheelchair), due to a pinched nerve in my back. Because surgery at the time was pretty much a crap shoot (and I could not be sure I was even eligible) with a 50/50 chance of relief and a long recovery time, I had injections (which didn't work very well or for very long). With limited mobility, exercise has been spotty and the weight just kept creeping up (didn't help that in that time I lost some significant friends and family members...and I am an emotional eater).

The last few years have seen some nice advances in technique and I finally told my physician I'd like to see if the surgery would work for me. The neurosurgeon I saw (as well as the second opinion neuro) sees me as an excellent candidate -- provided I lose 40 pounds. So there you go.

This has not been difficult and after losing this 40, I plan to just keep on with it and lose the next 40 as well, which would put me at the same weight I was before having children.

We have been trying to conceive for a long time. There is no medical reason why we have not had a successful pregnancy up till now. After a heartbreaking cycle, I had a conversation with my SIL who had her own 6 year struggle with infertility and she said something that clicked with me. You can control your health. One of the things that is the hardest with infertility is that there are no guarantees and no matter what you do, your control is pretty much limited. That coupled with a monstrous obsessive type A personality had me beyond frustrated. This I can control, I can control what i put in my body, how much I work out, what my goals are...on and on. So I have been doing just that. I don't know if this will help with conception or not and its really hard for me to believe that at this point...that would just be a bonus. After 3 years of being consumed with something I can not control, I have my mind back. I can focus. I set goals that are being reached...I can get my body back too. In this journey, my body gives me back the effort I put into it and that's JUST what I need

My legs rubbed together too much.. chafing hurts!

I looked at my wedding and honeymoon pictures and barely recognized myself under all that weight. I wanted to make a change to not only lose weight, but get healthy and fit. Walking up the stairs at work with my coworkers was embarrassing. I decided to make a life change...not just a diet and exercise until I get to an ideal weight...a permanent life change. I want my future kids to grow up with healthy eating habits and exercise part of life, not a chore.

Having children inspired me to start eating healthy and exercising regularly. I was gung-ho on raising perfect healthy children :laugh: . That was more than 30 years ago. I've eaten more or less the same since then.

I never had a weight problem until the nest emptied. Then it became a yo-yo of slack off on exercise, gain a few pounds, get back on track with exercise, lose the pounds, slack off, gain, back on track, lose. I was still eating the same so it was always a slow gain.

Then around Christmas 2010, I finally it 30 lbs overweight, I was about to turn 50 (!), and my triglycerides were borderline high. And I felt FAT! Not like me at all. So, I made the stereotypical New Year's resolution, bought some Zumba DVDs, got back on track. I lost the weight and haven't stopped since.

I was very active in high school. So I was thin when I graduated. I went off to college and met a guy who was awful. I got depressed and gained 40 lbs in 2 months. And just kept gaining. I have done a few exercise programs, but never really stuck with them. I stayed with that guy for 6 years and after we broke up I told people I lost about 220 lbs. But I kept gaining weight. I got to my heaviest aroudn 225. I honestly didn't feel like I was that big (when I look at pics though, wow!). I got a new horse and I wanted to start becoming serious about barrel racing again. And I knew I needed to be in shape and lighter for my horse. So I just started running. And that was 6 months ago and riding is easier, my saddle fits better. I am almost half way to my goal weight. It can get hard and frustrating. But when I get in that saddle I know it is all worth it.

Never in a million years did I think I would weigh this much. I can't tell you how painful tight pants are around my waste - and all I've done for the last two years is get larger and larger sizes. The belly rolls around my stomach limit what tops I can wear because I don't think it's fair for people to have to see them - so I wear the same oversized shirts and sweaters again and again. I can't button my winter coat and can't afford to buy a new one. I guess I got to the point last week to finally tell myself that if I continued eating how I was eating - things weren't going to magically change by themselves. I have gained fifty pounds in 7 years. I'm about 5'1''. I've had excuses on top of excuses.....i was unemployed for 17 months, lost my house in foreclosure, mom and sister got diagnosed with cancer, shoulder surgery, etc. etc. etc. But you know what - that's life! And if I wait for 'bad things' to stop happening I'll be another 50 pounds heavier in 7 years. I need to eat healthfully and hopefully at some point soon find the time to begin exercising regardless of the 'bad things' going on. So - I started My Fitness Pal one week ago. I've lost some weight - (3 pounds) which blows me away) - but it's not 100% about the weight. I feel like I'm regaining some control in my life. When I can't control everything else - I CAN control what goes in my mouth. Good luck to everyone - and thanks for this. I didn't want to do this alone - and now I feel like I'm not!

I realized I spent the last 5 years of my life doing little but playing video games and relaxing without any wonder or care for my body.

Once I began meditation and self reflection my life snapped out of its pattern and I feel as if I began a second life, not just figuratively.

The fact that I start uni September 2014 and want to feel good about myself when I start.
I want to be thin nurse student, not a fat one!

My husband and I were preparing to adopt our second child. Because I was so overweight, I couldn't have my own. After trying everything, I finally made the decision to have gastric bypass. That was 7 years ago. I was almost 400 lbs when I had this done. I am currently down to 250 but have been as low as 227.

I think I finally decided that I wasn't going to wake up one morning with all the weight off. That and my doctor had to start me on insulin to control my BGL. I have recently remarried (2 1/2 years ago) to a wonderful man who wants to travel, something I have wanted to do for a long time. His daughter has 2 lovely boys and a little girl on the way this summer and my daughter gave me a beautiful granddaughter a year ago and I want to be around to see them grow up. I guess all these things together gave me the push to really get serious about losing the weight and becoming more healthy. These things gave me the incentive but I'm doing it for me, not because someone else wants me to. It won't hurt that I will be able to get clothes that are more attractive as well!

During the course of the afternoon, I popped 6 chocolate truffles in my mouth. Then I wondered how many calories were in each one, so I flipped the package over and was stunned to realize I ate 1200 calories just as a snack. I think it then hit me how much I snack, binge, and overeat. I joined MFP the next week and haven't left it since. Funny, how I thought I really didn't overeat and yet by tracking it, I realized how out of control my eating was. I never had a weight issue until about 45. I have been grumbling about it for years, but I decided to take control min January.

I think I just realized that I was the obstacle in my way living the life I wanted. It wasn't that I have some bucket list of specifics, I just wanted to be able to do anything and everything – be that hiking the appalachian trail or wearing fashion or buckling my seatbelt on an airplane without an extender. I couldn't have done any of those things and I blamed my body for years but my body doesn't have a mind of it's own, my body isn't vindictive or punitive. It is merely a reflection of how I felt on the inside and how I behaved. Once I realized all that I was able to get the hell out of my own way.