What got you started?

I had resigned myself to being the fat chick. Then my husband got sick with the flu for a week and we both decided to use that as a jump start to getting to healthy weights.

I saw a picture of myself at a family reunion. I don't think I had actually seen anything below my neck in years. My SIL had tagged me on facebook - I thought immediately about untagging myself, but instead, I did something about it. I leave that picture up in my album to remind myself how far I have come.

Ugly breakup after 7 years of being together. A friend got me started here and told me getting slim and hawt was the best revenge.

I was totally comfortable and accustomed to being over 200 lb since my teens and around 260-270 lb during my 20's.

Then I hit my 30's and had a stressful sedentary job, marriage with zero passion, and extra disposable income spent on fast food & dining out. Wound up at 307 lb and for the first time ever, started having some health worries due to the weight such as foot pain, leg swelling, shortness of breath...it scared me so I IMMEDIATELY started to walk several miles per night.

Over about 4 years I lost weight getting back down to my usual 270 lb and feeling completely energetic and healthy, with none of those health worries going on.

Divorced my ex husband and took that as a chance to eat healthier. Saw no change in the scale at all.

Met my nutrition-conscious, fit & active new husband and learned more about how to best do that and even went pescetarian in Nov 2012. Thought there was something crazy wrong with me because I only lost 8 lb in 5 months from some pretty major dietary changes. That might not sound too weird to some people, but as a 36 yr old 5'8" woman who weighed 270 lb to begin with, 8 lb was a very very small loss!

Decided to join MFP at 262 lb and now at 214 lb, 7 months down the road. It's honestly been pretty "easy" thus far and I am still shocked at how effective calorie counting (and increased awareness of nutritional content) has been for me.

I started taking steps toward weight loss because of clothes. I was too big to fit into most designer brands and getting close to needing plus sizes, and I wanted I change that. I started getting excited about fitness when I found a form of exercise that is fun for me (kettlebells).

A family history of obesity - my mom had gastric bypass 8 years ago and did great for a while, but is now struggling with her weight again... watching her and my brother trying different diets and fads throughout the years, my grandma died at 65 with lots of problems due to her weight (she also had the lap band surgery) I was always thin, but then I started putting on a little weight - about 10-15 more than I liked and was feeling unhappy about the way I looked and felt, so I wanted to do something about it before it got out of control.
I lost the weight I wanted about a year ago, and now I'm back because I was slipping back into poor habits and slowly started putting on a pound here and there, and I know those can add up PLUS my husband and I are trying to have a baby, so my main goal in all of this is to have a healthy pregnancy and not gain 70lbs in the process (unless I have a 70 lb baby!)

After being very chunky (Plus Size 24W since 6th grade) for most of my life and dozens of embarrassing experiences including being kicked off of roller coasters for not fitting, no one dancing with me at home coming, and breaking numerous chairs I decided the whole it's genetics excuse wasn't working anymore. So I decided to do a ton of research on my own. Started on a website called sparkpeople.com. Lost all my weight while tracking my food and exercising. It took about a year, but I lost around 120 pounds. Now it's all about getting stronger and maintaining success.

For me, this past summer was the first time I truly thought (excuse my language), "I'm sick of this crap" and decided to change. I was 5' 3" tall, 190 pounds and feeling like I was constantly at war with myself. This summer at the Salt Lake Farmer's Market, a friend took a photo of my fiancé and I sitting on the grass and I was disgusted by the photo.

I started by purchasing a FitBit and trying to meet my 10,000 step goal. I didn't know then that I would be overhauling my diet and become a version of me who exercises daily now and eats healthy every day. I'm beginning to love the body I'm in and am working on being happy/thankful/positive about what I'm doing now, rather than focusing on being angry that it took me so long.

I looked at my daughters wedding photos and was actually shocked at how much weight I've gained over the years. It was a real wake up call for me.

Weed. Not even joking.

Ten years after meeting my first WW goal, the mid-life bulge arrived. The lovely things I'd bought at my goal weight didn't fit, Nothing looked right, and I was thinking that was it. I have MS as well, so maintaining strength is hugely important!

I decided this week to "get real". I signed up with a new trainer at my gym, and committed to every day for the next two weeks - before my teacher job starts again. After that, it's going to be a struggle. I'm going to need a lot of encouragement!

Since I joined the military I have been going back and forth with my weight. I seem to be the type that will do really good for a long period of time and once I reach my goal I slack and go back to the way I was. At the beginning of this year I was slacking really bad with my workouts and drinking entirely too much. One day, right before this deployment, I got on the scale and realized not only had I gained entirely too much weight but I was the heaviest I had ever been while being in the military and the heaviest I had been since getting with my husband. I was so embarrassed that my husband had to be seen with me. So after that I decided it's time to get serious again and this time make it a lifestyle change rather than a temporary solution.

As many others, it was a photo, I knew I as fat, I knew I looked horrible, but seeing it in a photo made it real. I had avoided photos of anything from the neck up for a long while.

I started when I started snoring and sleeping difficulties . Serious wake up call for me.

The same as most, pictures, two beautiful daughters that I want to be around to annoy FOREVER! Boyfriend, extra energy, and I missed my "skinny clothes"