What made you decied to lose weight?

• I had outgrown all of my jeans and would not allow myself to buy new ones so I wore sweats and yoga pants (read: anything with some give/ stretch) for 2 years (I wasn't a big fan of jeans anyway so it wasn't a huge deal for me but now that I can fit into them I love them)
• I had to go shopping for new shorts for vacation this summer because I had outgrown my others about 2 years prior and was horrified and in a little bit of denial at the size that fit. (I wore mostly dresses the summer of 2013 but I was starting to outgrow some of them)
• The reason that really did it was I was only 7 lbs away from 200 lbs (a number I swore to myself I would never get to)

I found MFP that night and have been on it ever since

My mom is 75 yrs. old and gets up everyday to work out. She does Zumba, Free weights and the Elliptical. I am 49 and can't keep up with her. I am also the heaviest I have been even when I was pregnant 22 yrs ago. I played all kinds of sports in school so there is no excuse except I got really lazy.. I also want to go to Hawaii next year for my 50th b-day and refuse to look like a moo moo on the beach. I tried Weight watchers and it did work but I gained all the weight back plus some. I decided I am going to try MFP, log my foods and work out at least 5 days a week. I used my MFP before and it works as well, plus it's free.

gotobedhungry wrote: »

For me it was a horrible photo, and the fact that I didn't want to buy bigger clothes anymore. And I got engaged and I want to look PERFECT for the wedding pictures.

Interestingly, after I lost 30 lbs, I took a new photo from the same angle in the same dress from the horrible photo. While I definitely look a lot thinner now, the dress STILL looks like crap on me and makes me look heavier than I am. The dress is now at goodwill.

That made me laugh! Sounds like something that would happen to me. I also was spurred to action in part by a photo. I wonder how many weight-loss attempts have been spurred by Facebook photos? A lot, I bet.

My husband and I have always been very active with hiking, backpacking, kayaking and anything outdoors. It was a very hard year last year, and I stress ate myself to 202 pounds. Even just small hikes would cause me sweat like a river, and I could not catch my breath, and I could hear my heart pound in my ears and it genuinely scared me. I also could not lift myself out of my kayak anymore. I do not want to give up the things I love because of my weight.

A few things. I was going on a BBQ tour vacation in North and South Carolina. I hadn't been on a plane in a long time. I got the middle seat on a five hour plane ride. I could hardly get the belt on. I was out of breath and sweating by the time I did. Also the disappointed looks on the faces of the people that had to sit with me. I spent the whole flight trying to keep me in my own seating space. I was embarrassed and not looking forward to the flight home.
I needed to go buy new jeans. I tried a few pairs on and realized that I could no longer fit into any at the store. I would need to look for big and tall places. Until I found new jeans I had to wear painfully tight ones at work.
After the last incident I decided I needed to weigh myself to see where I was at. My very fit Sister said I could use her scale. Her scale maxed out at 300 lbs. I couldn't get a reading.
That was the last straw. I bought a digital scale that weighed up to 400 lbs. I weighed in at 329. I couldn't BS myself anymore. I am down to 253 now. I haven't felt this good in years. I have a way to go but I never want to feel like I did before again.

I'm tired of the way I look and not having the energy for morning walks and bycicle riding that I had 10 years ago. I'm just disgusted with how I let myself go. I quit smoking for my health 10 years ago and gained 65 pounds. It's time to get serious about losing it now.

When I started trying to cover my gut with long scarfs and my purse in photos. I have become almost unrecognizable to myself and I hate it.