What kicked your REAR into GEAR???

I decided I wanted to have a baby in a couple of years, and I needed to be able to run around!

Not a very exciting reason but one day i just looked in the mirror and said to myself... my god you are a fat f*** your wife deserves better... that was motivation enough for me to get started.

My TOM symptoms were so bad I thought I had PCOS. Turns out I didn't (thank goodness), but it turns out many of those symptoms were caused by my weight.

I lost my weight only by dieting and ended up skinny fat, then lost some more instead of moving my laizy butt until I got underweight. At that point I had a revelation and got off the couch and started eating like a normal person. All is good now, just don't do like me

I don't know. I think I just finally really, really wanted it.
If you'd asked me if I wanted to lose weight before I joined MFP, I would've said yes, for sure. But I wanted the freedom to be lazy and eat what I wanted more. More importantly, I felt weak. Like my goals were unattainable to me due to whatever character flaws.

I guess I just hit rock bottom. I was depressed and didn't even want to look into a mirror. I refused to buy new clothes but didn't fit into my old clothes, so I literally had almost nothing to wear. One day I found enough strength inside myself to start logging and I walked into the gym, joined, and hired a trainer. Haven't looked back since.

Honestly...?

I just wanted to be hot.

Does this count even if I don't think I'm full in gear? I've just been trying to implement things over time that would be conducive to being healthier. Once upon a time I went to the gym with my mom and got a membership there. Eventually I started going to the gym more often. Then I did my free meet with a personal trainer. I just keep layering the pieces in. I get mad at myself when I realize that I lost track of one element when I added in another, but I think that's the only thing that actually counts as a "kick."

I went to Ireland for 3 weeks. The food there is healthy, not crap. I came back and tried going back to how I had been eating pre-holiday and my body rejected it. Then I just had a light bulb go off. I started working out every day, eating right, I quit fast food, booze, soda and crap all together and decided I needed to change everything. I did become a hermit for awhile, but only because it was what I needed. I needed to block out the world and get focused. BEST.DECISION.EVER.

Pre-Ireland I had been in a deep depression for like 5 years. Post Ireland and a year later...I'm happier, more confident, getting my old self back, rediscovering who I am and falling in love with myself in a way. Falling back in love with life and living it like one should!

That fact that I got out of breath from tying my shoes. Thank goodness I'm at a point that it's not a problem anymore, but I am nowhere near done!

I got married last June and when my wedding photos came in I realized I looked three months pregnant. Devastated me. It's not like I didn't know I was overweight. But those photos in my mind are ruined. That beautiful day forever memorialized with my gut hanging out in my dress.

That and for the second time in three months I had to clear pants out my closet that were too small.

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.