What was your turning point?

I've had a couple turning points.
1. My dr told me that I could have PCOS, I looked it up and learned that being overweight could make symptoms worse, and NOT fun. I didn't want to be dealing with that all my life. Not to mention when I stepped on the scale at the dr, she kind of gasped...
2. Recent photos. I look at them and I don't even see myself anymore. They don't look like me and it just makes me feel terrible to look at them.
3. My fiance. I'm getting married in September...I want to look at those photos and be proud to display them. And I want to look hot in my dress.
4. I live in a second floor apartment..I was tired of being out of breath walking up the stairs..
ETA 5. my mom. She's overweight and I'm hoping that if i can finally do it, it'll motivate her

Have always had weight issues. Affected my anxiety, my confidence, and my overall well-being.

After my father passed away, I had reached an all-time high in weight. Started one of those prepared meal plans (won't mention which) and lost 40 lbs, was doing great.

Then after landing in the hospital for 2 days, found out that my gallbladder and liver were all screwed up, and had a cholesterol level that put me into high-risk for cardiac disease. Had to give it up, and accept the weight coming back.

Then I got back together with the man that I have been in love with for 6 years, He never felt comfortable with how uncomfortable I was in my own skin. After a particularly troubling doctor visit where I was at a new all-time weight and was chastised for it, he knew something was wrong and told me "I'm not going anywhere. We'll do what we have to, but the most important thing is that you're healthy". He then got a HUGE job opportunity that he'd been waiting 10 years for as a police officer, but had to drop out of the academy due his weight taking a toll on his knees for PT. He was told he can try again in August, but that he had to make changes.

So we decided to do this together. Using MFP and strength training, and supporting each other. He has a deadline. I have my own personal issues. I think he would be successful with or without me, but I KNOW that he is pushing me to try that much harder. For both of us. When he has a bad week, I support him. When I have a bad week (or even just a mental meltdown about it), he picks me right back up. This is making us stronger. And healthier.

I went to a Christmas party December 2013 and saw people I only see there once a year and something sparked in my mind that this time next year when I see all these people I want them to see me 100 pounds smaller. That's what got me started but after finding out how much I love this healthy lifestyle I do it for myself. I still cant wait till that Christmas party this year, I wonder what everyone's reactions will be

You'd think it was because of the joint pain I felt.
You'd think it was because I couldn't walk upstairs without panting.
You'd think it was because my health was suffering.

Nope, it was because I could no longer fit into my 16 shorts. I spent the summer wearing 2 pairs of draw string shorts because I refused to by size 18 shorts and admit I was plus-sized.

Now I keep the weight off because my joint pain is lessened (I have a disease similar to rheumatoid arthritis, so the joint pain is almost a constant in my life), I can run flights of stairs now and my health just keeps getting better!

I just got tired of hating what I saw in the mirror and decided to do something about it. I decided that I was going to refuse to let "being a mom" be an excuse for not being the best I could be.

When I saw my picture that was taken last December at our work staff Christmas party, I was the biggest one there...:(

It was a picture taken of me. I knew I had gotten overweight. When I saw the picture I knew that wasn't the me I used to be, nor did it fit the self-image I held for myself.

My family's medical history (diabetes, heart disease, cancer ect.)

My dad not following doctor's advice and his diabetes getting worst and on the other hand my mom is going to be 50 and is in much better shape than me and was about 50 pounds lighter than me.

I was starting to be the biggest size at the gap, j.crew, h&m and never wanted to have to shop plus sized.

Being mistaken for an old classmate that I always assumed was much larger than me.

I realized I was avoiding photos with my kids. I had 2 only 15 months apart, and my weight ballooned up 63 pounds between the two pregnancies. My mom avoided photos, too, and now I hardly have any pictures of us growing up that include her. I vowed that I would not allow myself to be erased from my children's memories. And I want to be happy to be in the photos- not embarrassed when I see them later. I want to feel strong and sexy for my hubby. Life is just too damn short to feel any other way.

I always had food insecurity growing up and never had healthy food, we were just too poor. I was inactive, eating crappy meals, and just felt very lethargic and depressed. I remember just feeling so bummed all the time. I knew I needed to start getting my own food and get more active or I would just keep gaining weight like other people in my family. It seemed very daunting.

It was just hard for me to find motivation at first. There were mental health issues in my family and I'm too stubborn to be medicated, haha. One day I just said to myself "screw it, you gotta start somewhere" and started doing the best I could.

I lost 20lbs and am in a healthy weight range but there's still things I want to do. I was at my worst about 2 or 3 years ago and looking back I just can't believe that person was me... It's insane. Overall I'm just so much happier. Since I made such progress with my physical health I'm motivated to get my life together and start working on myself mentally. I have hope for the future now because if I did this all by myself there is a lot more I can do.

I used to be athletic. I used to run at least 3 miles 3-5 times a week. 14 years ago I injured my back. The running stopped. I didn't gain much for a few years and my weight held steady until it didn't... then it jumped to around 280-290 lbs. It held steady there for years, and then I got into a relationship and my life became all about work and the relationship and there was no time for much else.

Fast forward a couple of years and my weight jumped 40-60 lbs. to mid-300's. I was still working a lot and I was sort of stuck in a loop... My now ex had moved away and we were doing the long distance thing and I was working hard to maintain the relationship, keep up at work, and just keep up in general. I sacrificed good food for fast food, usually eating twice what I needed in a sitting. I dealt with the stress in my life by eating.

Then the breakup.

And I took my blinders off and I realized how unhealthy I had let myself become in pursuit of everything I thought I wanted. I'd let myself forget about taking care of "me" and I was reminded of all the times my ex asked me to cut back, workout, and take breaks from work to relax. Hypertension? Borderline. Blood pressure? Borderline high. Sugar? Not dangerous but diabetes runs in our family... I almost pushed myself over the edge there too.

8 months later, 65 lbs lost later - I'm still friends with my ex. I joke with her that the best thing she did for me was break up with me.

My eyes are open now and I'm on a mission to get healthy, get back to my old athletic self, and I want to run my first half marathon next year. Done talking about "plans" and now we are all about "doing".

When I started needing size 20 pants and getting winded walking more than a few blocks. It was mortifying because I am not even 30!

It was a bit of a snowball effect for me, I'd been thinking for a few weeks maybe it was time to lose weight, but decided I really had to be sure I was committed to not just losing, but keeping the weight off forever as I'd lost 80 +lbs about 10 years ago and put it straight back on. Then a few things happened within a couple of weeks.

I was told I had to send a face pic to work so they could make me an id badge, I tried everything to get out of it as I had avoided having pics taken quite successfully until then, but they weren't having it and the resulting pic was horrific, forever on a badge to remind me and a real wake up call that's how others saw me.

Some friends who were my size had started to lose weight, I didn't want to be the only fat one, I wanted to celebrate with them not just for them.

We had a family wedding, I had a nightmare finding an outfit and felt a complete and utter mess on the day, afraid to get up from the table while watching all the other women dancing and looking pretty. We have another wedding this year and I vowed sat there I wouldn't do this to myself again.

Final straw was the Dr found my BP was sky high and mentioned meds, so I said I'll try to lose weight first and the commitment was made, no turning back

The turning point was when I took my pictures for my ID card (driver licence and medical insurance)....oh la la....I was not good looking, double chin, puffy face...I didnt recognize myself. I know I had a weight issue but I was in denial. My other turning point was my husband losing 40 lbs.

Here I am in MFP!

I wanted to start about 8 months ago and even asked for advice on a forum but I never bothered doing anything. I look terrible in some pictures and all I see is this huge blob of mass and it made me hate looking at pictures, especially when I used to look pretty good years ago. I started getting bad back pains because of my weight whenever I did anything, I saw an ad for UFC Fit while watching UFC and decided to do it. So I got it a few weeks ago and started doing it, and went and bought loads of healthy food to go along with it.