How did you know this time was it?

I've never posted on a thread before but have gained a lot of great (and entertaining!) information from reading. I've used MFP very infrequently in the last 5 years.

I started losing weight 2 years ago for my wedding, lost 10 pounds, felt great, looked great. I did this by cutting out all dairy products and exercising every day. I know now that I simply created a deficit.

Fast forward to July 2014, I had gained 20 pounds, felt huge and awful. I never wanted to be photographed, and I feel that i've missed out on documenting some special moments because of it.

A Facebook friend invited me to join a "plexus slim" group (she sells their products). That made me feel incredibly insecure, even though I'm certain she sent it to everyone on her friends list. I also felt pissed, I had lost weight before on my own, without supplements. I didn't need that crap. That really was my turning point. I decided to use MFP and have logged on for 130 days.

At this point, I've lost 20 pounds. I'd like to lose 10 more, but I do feel great. I lost that weight by counting calories and exercising. It feels sustainable which is the biggest difference!

Best of luck to everyone!

I really can't say what made it different this time. It just was. I finally reached the point where I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I decided to hire a trainer, changed how I ate, and started working out. Some days have been harder than others, and I have taken a step backwards here and there over the past year, but for the most part, I have continued to stay the course. With 82 pounds down, and 30 more to go, it is taking longer to see the pounds melt away, but I am still making progress. That, and I've come to far to fail now!

999tigger wrote: »

The thing that made it the one was when I realised how boring and what hard work you had to put in to lose weight from exercise. Not intending to do this ever again.

This^^^ Plus, I am in my fifties. It took me 30 years to gain 35 pounds. I am running out of time to do this again.

I'm still in the midst of my journey but KNOW this will be the last time. I've yo-yo'd before but this last time was really bad because it happened during and after a broken ankle that required surgery. I blew up and kept eating. I must have been sleepwalking because I don't think I realized how bad it was until I started seeing myself in pictures and catching glimpses in the mirror. I'd tell everyone how much Iove working out and how great I looked "before". I am not sure they even believed me. Then I signed up for a 30 mile charity bike ride I had ridden two years ago and before the broken ankle. Two years ago, I did it alone and it was so easy. This time, I couldn't even finish. I had to stop halfway through and get a ride from the SAG vehicle. As I was struggling (and before I quit) all the fit riders kept zooming past me saying "you can do it!". One wench even had the nerve to ask if I was sure I wasn't supposed to be doing the 10 mile route. I was dead last. I'm 47 years old and my heartrate was steadily at 180BPM for most of the ride. I kept hearing the muffler of the SAG car behind me like a vulture waiting for its prey to just die already. That made it even harder to continue. My pride is huge and it was hard for me to quit (I never quit anything in my life) but I honestly wondered if I wasn't doing more harm than good. When I got home, I got on the scale for the first time in 2 years and realized I had gained 80lbs. I joined MFP that next day and rode my spinning bike for the remaining 15 miles I had missed the day before. I started eating healthy and counting calories and hitting macros the next day. That was September 21 and I have worked out 5x week (weights and cardio) since then. I've lost 31 lbs so far and am determined to lose a total of 100 lbs and be even better than I was before (which was pretty darn good!). And, oh yes, I will be riding that 30 miles challenge next year! Maybe I will do the 50 mile route...

I have never been so determined. I have never been so aware of the control I have over my life. I will never do this to myself again. That's how I know this time is different. Thereis no end date. This is a promise I make to me forever.

I weighed myself (for the first time in ages) in February and found out that I was 194lb and clinically obese. It might sound stupid, but I had no idea I was really that fat. I got my husband to take a photograph of me in a bikini and I put it on my computer as desktop background. I haven't looked back since I also gave up drinking alcohol cold turkey. I thought if I can do that, I can also lose weight.