When was your last straw that made you want to change?

Christmas Day, just a few weeks ago. I had a miscarriage in October, and since then, I knew I had put on a few pounds (stress eating and depression eating). But when I stepped on the scale Christmas morning, I saw 241.8, so, basically, I weighed 242 pounds at 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 23 years old. I was suddenly just so sick of feeling fat. I work out and run all the time, but that wasn't the problem; I realized there was no way I could out-exercise or outrun a crappy diet. So, I started on Christmas Day, probably the worst day to start a new lifestyle plan (not diet--this is a lifestyle makeover). But I figured if I could make it through Christmas Day without consuming my usual 2,500 calories, I could do anything! I did, and since then I have eaten super clean (90% of the time) and drank lots of water. I even changed up my workouts a little bit, which helped too!

It is Day 17 of my "makeover," and I am down 16 pounds! I'm eating about 1,200-1,500 calories a day, much of that consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables. I feel fantastic already!!

When my fat pants were getting tight and the scale passed 190 lbs. ENOUGH! I'm starting today. Very excited.:drinker:

Your 16 pound weight loss is amazing! Keep on keepin on.....

I've been trying to start over once again for the past few weeks and eat healthier to lose weight once and for all. I went to Dress Barn today to buy myself a couple pairs of jeans to at least feel a bit better about myself while losing. I used to be a size 10/12 way back in the day before 3 children, after many years ended up size 18 in jeans….. Today I had to try on size 20, and was almost crying in the dressing room, as I tried them on and had to kinda face the music. I came out and asked the sales girl if they had a Short Length in one of the jeans that I liked, and she said she'd look for it.. I walked away to the other end of the store to look some more and she yells out, to me WHAT SIZE DID YOU NEED? My heart sunk, and I wanted to cry and run out of the store, thinking how rude of her but yet I had to face reality…How could I be in that size? How did this happen to me? I am almost 61 years old, and thinking I had better do something about this problem now! Feeling pretty sad and depressed now, but know starting now I need to stay motivated!

Sitting at a vacation spot watching my husband do the tour because I couldn't handle the stairs at 386 pounds. This was after not being able to get to the black beach in Hawaii (well I could get down to it but not back up to the car), or tour the battle ships because I couldn't do the ladders and fit through the locks (doors) and several other vacation things in several other places I either was too big for or just plain unable to do. You get the picture. I was 55 years old with very little mobiiity. So 2.5 years ago I had weight loss surgery. Not done losing yet but I can tell you that it has been the best thing I have ever done for myself!!

Yes i agree. It just clicks.

Being told I was borderline diabetic after a health screening at work. I started taking a diabetes prevention course at my local YMCA and started exercising. I also joined MFP because it was mentioned as a site we could use to track our exercise and food intake.

There are a lot of stories out there that I can relate too but I think the true reason for me is my nephew. I love my nephew more than life itself and he told me that he wants me to take him to sixflags and ride some rides with him. Last time I went to six flags was in 2009 and although I could fit into the rides back then it was a struggle. I have put on a lot of pounds since then and I don't want to go to the theme part knowingly i can't fit into a roller-coaster seat. In his eyes, I am the cool Aunt but it hurts me that I can't do things with him due to my weight like Go Kart Racing, jumping on a trampoline without feeling I am going to break it. So I am doing it for him and myself but he is my motivation and he keeps me going *tears*

I didn't read every response but out of the ones that I did- yours was my favorite. It actually made me tear up a bit.

My grandma noticed that I was getting pudgier - my grandma is definitely 300+ pounds, so knowing that even she felt like I was getting too big was a good kick in the *kitten* (plus a ton of other factors, but that was the biggest warning sign).

For me it was almost too simple...my mother and I were shopping and she saw someone that she goes to Weight Watchers ahead of us. She told me that this woman used to be severely overweight but now looks marvelous! She apparently has kept the weight off for over a year. Well, this woman is in her late 50s, early 60s when she started her journey. I realized i have been making an excuse that because I am over 40, it is too hard to lose weight and so why try. Seeing that another person did it, despite my reasons, inspired me. My mother also shared her weight with me, which she looks great and has been on WW for many years. It was the first time I realized that she weighs less then me. That was a wake up call! I don't have to and definitely don't want to live the rest of my life feeling ashamed of the way I look in pictures, in the mirror, etc. I have a long life to live and want to feel good and look great!

I weigh more now that when I gave birth to my 10 lb son!! I am uncomfortable in my own skin, shortness of breath, even my fat clothes do not fit and feeling sexy??? Forget about that!!! I am 45 and AM NOT going to live in this state ANY longer!! I feel confident and Will be successful this year!!! Cheers y'all!!

My size 16 stretchy jeans are starting to be too tight. I have a physical coming up and am afraid of the results, regarding cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. I figure if I use this resource I might actually stick to my goals. I have a real problem with emotional eating and I've got to knock it off.

I went to the doctor's office last year and had no choice but to step on the scale, which I had avoided for almost a year. That slapped me into reality. I was 45 at that time and had thought that weight gain was just part of middle age and perimenopause. But I looked at the nurse, who was around my age, and she looked great. That day I started logging onto MFP and couldn't believe how many calories I was eating, and how little I was actually burning. I snapped out of the fog I had been living in and made changes. I cut out sugar, started eating healthier, and got addicted to Turbo Fire. Nearly one year later, I'm 20 pounds lighter and feel fantastic. I'm a new person, inside and out!

The first time I lost the weight the last straw was a crush of mine's comment regarding cheerleaders. We were watching the super bowl and the Dallas cheerleaders came on. He commented on how hot they were and I realized that I looked nothing like them and would never get a hot guy if I wasn't hot myself.

As many know I didn't lose the weight in a healthy way and now I'm about 70 lbs. more than I was at that time. This time it a few different things. One, is I landed a wonderful hot guy (not the guy mentioned above) when I was skinny and amazingly he still loves me at my current weight. But he deserves better. My son is now 2 years old and we would like to try for a girl, but we can't until I lose the weight. I also can't fit places anymore. I can't fit in booths at restaurants unless I can push the table toward my husband. In older cars the seatbelt barely buckles. I work for a travel company and want to travel back home to England but I don't want to pay for two seats or upset the person next to me on the flight by not fitting in my own seat. I also saw a photo of me on my husband's phone that was from our cruise back in May. I couldn't believe it was me. I could try and food myself all I wanted that I wasn't really that big, and here I was huge! Now it doesn't matter what it takes, but I need to lose the weight, and doing it in a healthy way so that I can keep it off when I'm done.

Whenever people take pictures of me, I try to pose in a way that I know will make me look thinner. On Christmas in 2012, however, my cousin took a bunch of candids that I didn't notice, and later posted them on Facebook. I was HORRIFIED by how gross I looked. Not only was I overweight, but I was red and splotchy and just looked unhealthy. I knew I had been gaining, but I was avoiding mirrors and photos and clearly didn't know how MUCH I had gained. You know how when overweight people lose weight, but they still feel overweight because they had been for so long? Well, I was the skinny girl who gained weight but still imagined myself as being thin because I had been for so long. Being forced to really see myself how others saw me every day was my last straw.