What kicked your REAR into GEAR???

Gall bladder issues brought on by years of overeating and bad eating. There is nothing like gall bladder pain to wake you up. It took about six months to get that straightened out. I'm better now, but I found I like the way I feel when I eat more healthy. I like the way I feel being down 54lbs.

What's kept my rear in gear the last six week is that my boyfriend broke up with me. There is nothing like wanting to look good for the next time we run into each other...its kept me very motivated.

Whatever works!!

I fought my weight my entire life. I knew I needed to lose weight, but lacked the discipline, until we moved into a new house. The shower is directly across from the sinks with the huge mirror behind them. HOLY COW!! I did not like what I saw at all. I knew I could not keep looking at that every morning. I knew if I didn't do something soon, it would just get harder as I got older.

I went on a camping trip in Kings Canyon last summer. I looked at the pictures and thought "Wow, you have no muscle, a fat belly, and are getting man boobs. What is wrong with you??"

It took until this March for me to get my butt into high gear. I got back into Water and Fire Damage Restoration - the industry I was born for - and it's very physically demanding, so I knew that after over a year in a sales job that had me in a depression, I would need to regain my strength. I never ate poorly (I actually have to eat mostly paleo because of my food intolerances), but I was not exercising at all. So my first step was to go to Fitness Wave and get my body composition analyzed. She said my lean mass was low and my body fat was high. Now that I had my starting point, I could set realistic goals. Now my eyes are on the prize.

I am averaging 2.5 lbs of weight gained per month, I feel like superman, and seeing the weight that I'm using increase constantly is incredible motivation. I am loving it. I've finally gotten back into that positive feedback loop of fitness and I refuse to let myself slip out of it. I also will be going back to Fitness Wave to retest in a couple months. That will be a huge motivator as well

for the past 10 + years i have struggled with depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. last summer, after a horrible episode that left me hospitalized, i agreed to weekly therapy, not expecting much.

my life completely changed.

not only did my mental health improve, but the fog that i was living beneath began to lift. i found the part of me that believes i could achieve my goals as well as the part of me that forgave myself and a part of me that refused to give in to the shame.

i have tried losing weight over and over again, but it was never for myself and i was never in a healthy enough space to truly dedicate my efforts to any goals.

with the tools that therapy has armed me with, i am able to tackle the next phase of a healthier me. i have the brain working better, now the body is going to follow.

when you are ready, you know. you just do.

The day when the only thing left in my closet that would fit me was a pair of stretchy yoga pants that were already being tested beyond the limits of physics.

MFP all the way.

I'd say opportunity, honestly. I gained weight over a period of several months during which a lot of stuff happened all at once, leaving me with little time for fitness and depending on quick/easy/not too healthy foods. My husband's cousin died of cancer in December, and my stepmother passed away of cancer as well less than 48 hours later- so with it came family gatherings, funerals, and a lot of time spent sitting down and working through paperwork. On top of it, I went back to school (online) last year, which left me pretty sedentary. Then there was the fact that I got married in April, and had a lot of things to do and crafts to make there. On top of all that, I came down with mystery digestive ailment that had me sick, almost constantly, for over six months straight. You'd think I'd have lost weight, given how sick I was- but I gained because I felt queasy whenever I moved and my metabolism got messed up and... blah, blah, blah. At the end of the day, every spare second of my time was devoted to something and, when I wasn't working on that stuff, I was lying in bed sick.

My doctor finally wound up finding a medication that worked for my health issues, right around the same time I got married and finished school for the summer. As soon as the opportunity presented itself for me to get active again, I seized it with both hands and ran with it. I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous about how I'll handle things once I go back to school next month and start my new job in a week and a half- but at the same time, I think I'm better equipped to deal with that stuff than I was before because I have a routine now, and because my health is so much better.

So angry with myself that save for sweats, not a single piece of clothing that I owned fit me in January of this year. I lived in sweats and other stretchy/baggy clothing. It is much better now having gotten to work!

My friends and I were talking about who would survive the longest if we were stranded on an island. I had 'tried' multiple times before to lose weight, but this time it just really hit home when my friend looked at me and said "Well, no offense, but I think you and I would die first, you know, we're both in horrible shape." I had been playfully teased like this countless times before, but I guess that was just the final straw. I was done with hiding in baggy clothes and being joked about.

I was quite large and by joining here I lost 42lbs. Then I regained it after I discovered I was Bipolar. I realised the weight had crept back on and I was starting to get out of breath - even bending down! The pics of myself was the last straw. Now I'm back on it! For good!!