WHY did you lose weight?

If I am honest, there are two reasons why. First being I didn't want my children to be embarrassed to have 'a chunky mom' and secondly skinny jeans! Not the best reasons to start, but it was enough for me to start which has inspired me to stop complaining and start doing.

Wish you the best of luck!

Exactly! Especially the part about kids. I want to be a fit mom for my daughter!

i looked in a full length mirror and could not stand looking at myself any longer at the size I am so I am doing something about it.

Because I got tired of my boobs touching my stomach.

I'm tired of having boobs.

Yes yes, my gf is pregnant and I want to be there for my son etc. But mostly, I'm tired of these man boobs.

Because I was very unhappy and I needed to know if I was fat because I was unhappy or unhappy because I was fat. turns out the fat was a result of other issues in my life. I think a lot of people carry extra weight as a distraction from what's really going on in their lives.

It is much better to be the best, healthiest version of yourself. It's empowering. And, what have you got to lose but weight......?

Because I want to feel healthier, happier and have more self-confidence.

Because I want to wear the other half of my wardrobe.

Because I'm lonely, and I'd really like to have sex again one day........

I already responded but as I began reading through others' answers I realized that I kinda failed to address your direct Qs so here I go again ;-)

I have been big my whole life, going from a proportional-yet-massive 10 yr old to a chubby preteen and then an obese high schooler. I'd been over 200 lb since age 15 and finally got back under 200 lb at 37, this year!

In between, I was usually about 260 lb and had ton of energy, good health (except obviously being obese...but no medical issues), great social life, etc. I really didn't even try to lose weight. Maybe I was partly in denial but my weight didn't feel like a problem in my life. I was around lots of people (including my ex-husband) who were also obese and I felt smaller (and more active) than most of them so I just didn't feel any urgency to lose weight or become more fit.

At age 31, I started a new job and gained a LOT of weight in a relatively short time. I found myself at 307 lb, getting winded on stairs, swollen ankles at times, and out of breath -- for the first time in my life I felt really & truly ashamed of my body and scared about health concerns.

So in 2008 I set off walking every night or almost...many miles per night. I made a few small changes in my diet but was clueless about calories or what was truly healthy. Like many people I believed that I was eating 'healthy' by not salting my food, using artificial sweetener, and getting the tall mocha instead of the venti. It took me almost 4 years to lose 45 lb and get back to a more 'normal for me' weight of 262.

In 2011-2012 went through a bunch of personal events that were pretty traumatic - lost my home in a tornado, changed jobs, moved twice, got a divorce after 9+ years of marriage, etc. There is even more I won't share here. Anyway, through all of that I managed to maintain my weight and felt proud of myself for that.

After a period of dating my now-husband, who is very fit & healthy (and had lost quite a lot of weight in the past himself) I was REALLY frustrated and annoyed that I wasn't seeing weight loss because I was eating so much healthier/lighter than I'd ever eaten in my life and getting a bit more exercise, too. I think I was down like 7 lb in 6 months or something. I didn't feel ALL that motivated to lose a lot of weight but I was just annoyed that I wasn't seeing more change from the substantial changes in my diet/activity. So I bought a scale and joined MFP on March 25, 2013.

I have logged every bite I have eaten for the past 11 months and continue to do so. I don't exercise as vigorously as many of the members here but I do make sure to get in my calories burned goal each week (roughly 1,200) or exceed it. For me it has honestly not been all of that difficult to stay within my limits. The weight has fallen off, almost 70 lb now, but the hardest thing is not getting frustrated when I see jumps due to salt or exercise and to remember that it will be a SLOW progression but every 0.2 lb adds up to a big loss over time.

I didn't really set out to lose weight. Initially, my weight loss was attributable to changing the way I was eating...I didn't track anything and lost 20 or so Lbs just making better decisions about what I was eating and paying attention to portions, etc. This was primarily for health reasons and I had some blood work done as part of my annual checkup and while things had been going down hill for awhile, they were really...really..really bad that time around.

I ultimately joined MFP to better track my nutrition and my macros and just decided, "what the hell...lose a pound a week sounds good...I'm tracking my macros anyway." So I preceded to lose another 15-20 Lbs with MFP.

Really though, the best part has been learning how to eat appropriately and learning so much about nutrition and fitness. A year and a half ago I was a 2-3 PAD smoking couch potato...and when I didn't have a smoke in my mouth I had food in my mouth. Now I'm a leanish non smoking, nutrition obsessed, fitness rockin' beast. All my blood work is in the optimal to normal range as well...the only thing I haven't been able to fix (yet) with diet and exercise is my hypertension. It is likely hereditary and it is likely I will be on meds forever for it...but I still eat in such a way as to try and address that issue with diet...and I continue to rock my fitness.

I also didn't start out to lose weight. I wanted to quit smoking because I didn't want to die. And yes, I know I'm going to die, but I thought I could maybe put it off a little. So I started going to the gym instead of having my morning smoke. Eventually, I started looking at what I was eating. I would say, without too much motivation, can you commit to going for a walk most days? Walks are great, they really improve your mood, get you off the couch and out of the house. Worry about weight loss later.

Your upcoming event is "LIFE". If you are going thru isolated depression, then you are not living (it up). Everyone deserves joy. Healthy food and exercise battle depression naturally. If you choose these options to feel better, you will lose weight as a positive side effect. Usually feeling and looking better brings about events on their own. You want to go out, you want to have fun. Do it for you. My reason was to improve health.

I'm doing it because I'm finally starting to get a bit girly and want a cuter wardrobe and to feel comfortable in those cuter clothes. Also because I'm larger in the waist and smaller in the chest so buying bras is a pain in the *kitten*. I'm only an a cup but need about a 36-37" band and that is super hard to find.

Because being overweight is uncomfortable. Clothes don't fit right, my legs chafe, sitting down makes thing dig in. When things don't feel good its very hard to believe they look good.

Then of course there's my health. I wan't to have a healthy body fat percentage with my fat distributed in the right places (as little around my organs). I also don't want to risk ill health caused by being overweight.

I also have enough issues of my own to have to worry about being judged for being fat as well.

15lbs down and I'm already feeling better.