How you started/what motivated you to start losing weight

I started 5.5 years ago when I was diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure. We were trying to start a family and I had an incident where I thought I had miscarried. Saw a doctor for the first time in 10 years...scared her. She thought I was going to have a stroke right there in the office. After 9 months of meds and diet changes and exercise, managed to lose 50lbs. Kept it off for 2 years and had put off the babymaking for that time. Started in earnest with the baby making again 3 years ago, but when it didn't happen after 6 months, then a year, then 18 months...got real down. Nothing made me happy, and having a terrible person for a supervisor at work didn't help. I couldn't stand to be around anyone who was pregnant, or to hold anyone's baby for a long time. Just couldn't handle it. Hated being asked why at 35 I didn't have kids (I kept my struggle mostly to myself and my husband). Put 38 of the 50lbs I had previously lost back on.

Finally found an ob/gyn I am comfortable with, and told her frankly that I wanted help. I didn't want invitro, but wanted to try something that would make a potential difference. I've had 3 friends find success taking Clomid, so I'm currently working on losing 25-30lbs (the dr's suggestion for the medication to be more effective). I'm halfway to my goal, and my next appointment is February 6th.

I want to age well. Both my parents are overweight and both have health problems. Neither one can walk any distance without getting winded. I don't want to be like that.

Weighing 337, on various medicines for weight related issues, and walking around with 46ddd breast, that pulled me down.

Went to my primary care doc to get a note that would allow me to wear crocs at work. New dress code banned them. Blood pressure was up and he advised me, for the nth time, to lose weight. I've done really well. MFP has been one of my best tools. I'm a geeky nerd and am really into tracking weight, diet, exercise, body fat, sleep and blood pressure. Self monitoring is key. My blog summarizes the hardware and software I'm using: http://johntmoore.blogspot.com/

Would love some new friends, especially if you're serious about tracking!

Started 1 year ago when I spent last Christmas in the hospital with heart and lung issues, was my 4th long stay of they year. And thankfully a nurse in ICU told me point blank you can fix most of this, you're too young to be having these issues, you need to drop a lot of weight and that would help more than any medical treatment you can get.

First reaction was anger at the nurse then I spent the night thinking about what she said, and she was right. It's been an interesting year but one filled of many transformations and changes. I'm looking forward to seeing what 2014 has in store. And I did send the nurse flowers a few months later, if it wasn't for her I'm not sure where I would be.

High blood pressure with hypertension, not meeting Army standards, threat of being kicked out of the National Guard, promotion possibilities, remedial physical fitness as 5:00 am, and not being fit. Now I’m 5’11’’ and 170 and could not be happier because I hold myself accountable. I give most credit to MFP.

By the way I am gorging myself with food today!

Great job! I'm with you on the gorging today!

My story...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TheEffort/view/fat-to-skinny-with-a-touch-of-psychosis-571278

Before I got pregnant I was a nice size. I had always been tall and skinny (5'9). I honestly thought I would go back to normal but I was wrong. I gained 62 pounds while pregnant. I never knew how much I was eating during and before pregnancy affected me. All though I wasn't over weight I still hasn't healthy. I decided to lose weight a year ago and was successful. I lost 25 pounds. I was about 197. My weight before I started was at a least 220+. I don't know what happen but I started slacking off and stopped all together. Now I'm 210-212. I decided to work out again when I saw my aunt. She lost so much and she looked great. She made a comment about my weight and I had to agree. Adding height and weight in I look really big. I decided it was time for a change, I'm young and I have a life to live. I want to look and feel good and I want to be happy about my body.

I was at the upper end of my yo-yo range (again) and tired. I didn't like the way I felt and knew I had to work to get back down. Took 15 months to reach my goal. This time around I set the bar low at a half-pound loss per week and focused on sustainable eating and exercise. My main challenge is to ditch my "lifetime yo-yo" ways, through sustainable practices and better stress management.

For more details on my methods, I posted this:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1095703-mfp-1-year-anniversary
Here's a follow-up:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1153938-next-stop-maintenance

I've been trying to lose weight for years. I'll lose some and then something happens in my life. The latest has been being with an emotionally abusive boyfriend., that will cause me to gain. So since I've gotten rid of said bf I'm back to wanting to be healthy. My first biggest weight loss was 5 years or so ago when I quit drinking soda. Its a let down when you go to a store find a cute shirt to onnly realize that because you have too much fat you can't wear it. The self-esteem goes down a little till I realize thats fine I'm happy with the way I currently look and I can improve on that by losing weight. The other issue is I really don't have anyone that understands this battle to help support me and keep me accountable. so eventually I'll give up and go back to eating wrong and not really exercising. So hopefully I can find some more firends on here to keep me going and I can get this done!

I was overweight when I got pregnant with my TWINS at 172#. That was 15 years ago and I've FINALLY returned to that weight... At peak I was 245# during pregnancy. I remember what it was like to be thinner and 145 is my fav weight. That's my goal now. I've done a Paleo training retreat and I'm very motivated. I want a healthy old age! My carbs were too high so now thanks to MFP I've dialed them way back! Good luck to everyone and happy holidays!

I started unhealthy approach myself so your not alone lol started Akins and everyone know that is one of the worst ways to eat then gained back some and then starting binge eating then starved myself during all this i lost 70 pounds and now for the past 2 month i been eating healthy and exercising and i can say i feel better then i have in years

Being in a constant state of depression for several years. Life's too short to waste it like that. 95% of my depression was due to my weight, and how difficult it was to go on a hike with family, or kayaking or anything since I had no stamina. I finally got fed up with it and I've lost a ton of weight this year. I only have 15 more pounds to go, and at this point nothing's going to stop me. I won't be done when the scale says what I want it to though, I want to tone up and build up my endurance. Next summer I'm going to be super active and have fun doing it since I'll have the energy!

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.

Thank you for the link. That article is the most thoughtful and serious look at obesity that I have ever read. My husband and I are starting the journey towards better health and a healthier life together. His nutritionist recommended the MFP app and it is a great tool. My kickstart was twofold: 1) the knowledge that if I do well, my husband will be encouraged to do well, and 2) to take great care of the future me. Future me deserves to look great, feel great, be great (sounds like a slogan for some cereal:), and it's my job to insure that she does.

The one constant throughout my entire adult life has been being either overweight, fat or obese.

I used to daydream about being a normal weight, instead I sought solace in alcohol and food, consuming both to excess.

At the start of every year I would make it my resolution to lose weight and get fit, I'd even been to the gym for 6 months in 2011 but my weight hadn't changed much.

January 2nd 2012, I was tired of being not being happy and I decided to actually try and do it.