How you started/what motivated you to start losing weight

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Replies

  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    Originally a picture. I mean I knew how much I weighed, had mirrors, bought clothes. But that picture :noway:
  • melkhamilton
    melkhamilton Posts: 22
    What got me started, actually, was that I got sick. I went severely hypothyroid five years ago, then last year I was told I had high fasting blood glucose by my doctor, and then I just...tanked. This whole past year I've been exhausted.

    I "thought" I wanted to lose weight but weirdly, none of the vanity motivations, which used to get me moving, were working. It wasn't that I didn't care, it was just that they didn't give me that final push. I guess I just felt too tired to do anything about it.

    Then I learned about gluten tying in with hypothyroid, and I eliminated gluten...and then finally I took my pre-diabetes in hand and went lower-carb (not VLC, about 50 g carbs/day). I finally feel healthier and yes, I have finally lost weight.

    Good luck! Different things work for different people.
  • KetoBella
    KetoBella Posts: 141 Member
    For several weeks I was having stiffness, pain and weakness in my knee causing me to limp around for a bit. I heard for every pound of weight you lost you'd take 4 lbs of pressure off your joint. Now that I have lost 23 pounds and the about 100 pounds of pressure off my knee I no longer have the issue. I am sure taking off the additional weight I have to lose may prevent knee replacement surgery in my future.
  • jenimc13
    jenimc13 Posts: 20 Member
    What is the couch to 5k running program?

    Here's the link the couch-to-5k program I'm following: http://www.c25k.com/

    Im on Week 5 and loving it so far. I can't wait to be able to run 3 miles without stopping!!
  • Naaer
    Naaer Posts: 212 Member
    I got on the scale and said "Nope" I'm not getting any bigger than this! That's what started this last summer...


    Reaan
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Health...I could give a rats *kitten* what the number on the scale is. I care about what my blood work says and what my BF% is. I initially came here to track my nutrients and decided I should probably reduce my BF% to to help my blood work out. Last year I was well on my way to an early grave with the kind of blood work I had going...now, it's not perfect by any means but I'm in the normal range for everything and improving by the day...that's all I really care about...I want to be alive to watch my kids grow up, I could care less about fitting into a size whatever or what the scale says.
  • soupandlettuce
    soupandlettuce Posts: 114 Member
    Someone asked if I was expecting :sad:
  • Kerrygirlinmaldon
    Kerrygirlinmaldon Posts: 32 Member
    Trying like mad to get into a bridesmaid dress for a wedding. I was so stressed about messing up the brides plans. I did get into the dress but decided longer term I needed to lose weight. Someone suggested working with a personal trainer haven't looked back since.
  • mitchiejo
    mitchiejo Posts: 179 Member
    Two things made me decide to lose weight.

    1. None of my pants fit any longer
    2. Someone said to me you gained weight, just don't gain too much.

    It was a good decision because I began to eat healthier and started incorporating strength training in along with my cardio.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    i read this. and i watched the video at the bottom.

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/08/31/is-it-really-worth-it/
  • sun_fish
    sun_fish Posts: 864 Member
    A serious talk from my doctor after getting some unfavorable lab results. I was 50 at the time, and decided that I didn't want the diseases that were lurking around the corner, and any other life changing problems brought on by obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle.
  • LoveMyLife_NYC
    LoveMyLife_NYC Posts: 230 Member
    Most people in my family are severely overweight, and accept the resulting health problems as a normal part of aging. There were so many doctors, pills, and a whole world of "I can't because I'm sick" or "I can't because I'm out of shape."

    In my early 20s, I was pre-diabetic and almost clinically obese. I couldn't keep up with my friends when we did anything active. I realized I fell into the same pattern that my relatives did, and vowed not to let those health problems take over my life too.
  • crystalrose_tina
    crystalrose_tina Posts: 39 Member
    I've tried and failed many times all my life. I've always been overweight no matter how active I was. I tried nutrisystem while I was in high school. Dropped 15lbs and gained it right back (and then some) after I had completed it and had to actually make my own food decisions. In college I reached my heaviest weight and was also pre-hypertensive. Buffet-style dining halls and fried/fatty takeout meals were the death of me. I was on blood pressure meds and was only 18-19 years old. :S My doctor kept telling me constantly that I needed to lose weight so finally I decided that this was all ridiculous and needed to start making life changes. I started taking exercise classes and making more of a point to start going to the gym regularly.

    Weight starting coming off and I was no longer pre-hypertensive! I think what stifled my progress the most was believing the calorie burns that were reported on the exercise machines and also not knowing that I can't actually eat as much food as I want just because I am exercising. Once I found MFP and purchased my own HRM things became so much easier and I was able to finally reach numbers on the scale that I never even dreamed of getting down to. I still have about 20-25lbs to go! :)
  • rbarragato412
    rbarragato412 Posts: 42 Member
    The desire to look awesome walking down the aisle to my soon to be husband. Also, to be healthy in my marriage so we can live a long life together!
  • chriamaria
    chriamaria Posts: 76 Member
    I've been trying to lose for a very long time but what really got me back on track this time was lethargy. I am so very tired all the time and I know that it has to do with the unhealthy foods that I've been consuming. This is mainly due to a low budget- cheap foods can be very unhealthy. My budget has increased thankfully- or it will in one week, but I am on a mission to find healthful foods that are low cost.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    I've been trying to lose for a very long time but what really got me back on track this time was lethargy. I am so very tired all the time and I know that it has to do with the unhealthy foods that I've been consuming. This is mainly due to a low budget- cheap foods can be very unhealthy. My budget has increased thankfully- or it will in one week, but I am on a mission to find healthful foods that are low cost.

    I have this problem too and my past experience showed me the exercise helped loads with the lethargy. Thanks for reminding me. (at this point I have no choice but to keep off the processed stuff as I am allergic to gluten. Therefore my cheap stuff is potatoes)

    Good luck!
  • Zouthx
    Zouthx Posts: 15 Member
    When my ex fiance left me a month ago for being too fat, among other things. Despite the fact I was this big when we got together. I've had a few boyfriends before him tell me I need to lose weight. I want to look as sexy as I feel.
  • dogwalk
    dogwalk Posts: 57 Member
    Keep up the good work you will

    : look sexy again!
  • nseantae
    nseantae Posts: 29 Member
    I was at 291 and had been working out so I image I was at least 300-310 pounds at one time I just never saw that number on the scale. Plus all of my friends are so small, they love me for who I am. I really needed to get started for my health, and family.
    I just decided I wanted to be around for me! Now here I am working out and I love it. This time it feels so different. I actually look forward to waking up to work out. I think I ma going to start weight my self once a month.. or ever 2 weeks
  • JourneyingJessica
    JourneyingJessica Posts: 261 Member
    The doctor said i could go get a back MRI so they could find the best spot to do a second back spinal tap because they couldn't get a good reading with the first one. So we could rule out a weight related condition which leads to eye sight loss :sad:
  • jitsuda
    jitsuda Posts: 230 Member
    Medical Bills.

    I've had PCOS for a looooooong time. I was fine with that when I was in Thailand.
    When I moved to the US. , it was like $75 every 4 months plus $20 meds monthly?
    That's like an iPad in a year.

    My cycles are regular now :)
  • ElizaMclovin
    ElizaMclovin Posts: 3 Member
    Family and customers kept telling me I've put on weight. Just my friends were in denial about the whole thing. I noticed when I couldn't fit to my clothes anymore and then my bf's friends told him I was clearly pregnant when all it was I'd put on loads of weight because of the stress of exams. I eat when I am stressed, so going to cut off the weight and break my bad relationship with food.
  • euonymust
    euonymust Posts: 21
    I've been battling with my weight since I was in elementary school. I don't recall a moment in my life where I was fully secure with my body, or self. I was tired of being insecure, fat, and unhealthy so I've been on/off trying various diet programs, only to end up gaining everything back. After I became more educated about fitness, and nutrition that's when change began. The more my body changed, the more I became addicted to the healthy lifestyle. It's definitely a slippery slope. I have days, weeks, where I say 'the hell with this, I'll eat what ever I want' which ends up sabotaging my hard work, but that's how it is at times.
  • tattedupboy
    tattedupboy Posts: 1
    My motivation was simply not liking what I was looking at whenever I looked in the mirror. I started in July by walking the 3.3 miles to and from work every day (back then I wasn't sure how much I weighed, but my mid-September people were telling me that it was evident that I had lost some). By the time I joined a gym on September 26, I was 316. I'm 255 now and would like to get down to 220. Most people would probably consider what I've done (including intermittent fasting between 18 and 24 hours at a time, as well as keeping my daily calorie intake to around 1,000 less than maintenance on a daily basis) to be extreme, but it's worked for me.
  • Eli716
    Eli716 Posts: 262 Member
    Weighed on July 16th, 2013 at 295.5, I refused to weigh 300+ and told myself, "Enough is enough!"
  • arlenem1974
    arlenem1974 Posts: 437 Member
    bump
  • JameicaDenise
    JameicaDenise Posts: 62 Member
    there are a number of things, dying was the main reason, I wanted a change and I finally made that change Im thankful everyday that I made it... My new years resolution is to continue to this journey for the rest of my life and to succeed at it...
  • KatieWH
    KatieWH Posts: 68 Member
    i read this. and i watched the video at the bottom.

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/08/31/is-it-really-worth-it/

    Bump
  • journey_man
    journey_man Posts: 110 Member
    It's been a long time coming (put in some half assed efforts last summer) but the real kicker was finding this article amazing article a couple of weeks ago:

    Why Obesity Is Not Your Doctor's Problem http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/march/1361848247/karen-hitchcock/fat-city

    The funny thing is that I never saw myself as fat. But I am. Somehow, gradually, over many years, pound by pound, I have become "one of those people." It's a weird thing to realize. For me, that is a completely unacceptable way to live. So here I am.
  • dargal55
    dargal55 Posts: 1 Member
    What got me started was a Triple Heart Bypass a couple of months ago. I was close to 300 lbs and not getting much exercise at all got blind sided with this heart trouble. After the bypass, my Cardiologist recommended 2 things. Start following the Mediterranean diet and using this app and keeping track of calories and exercise. I have lost 25 lbs since the surgery and plan on losing another 100 lbs in the next year. Great app if one is serious about making a change. Not an app for lazy people who make excuses for everything.

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