What REALLY inspired you to lose weight?

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  • htg20
    htg20 Posts: 116 Member
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    Just a bunch of things seem to have converged. I'm almost a nurse practitioner, my kids don't respect me, I'm turning 35 this year, I want to give myself the best possible chance of not getting lifestyle related diseases/conditions, I want to feel better about myself, I want to have more energy, I want to be a good example for my kids and get them eating better/being more active, I want to be a better everything (sister, wife, citizen, mother, etc), I have big dreams for my life that I won't be able to accomplish if I'm still lazy and overweight, I'm tired of starting then stopping, then starting again, and on and on.
  • Camarose79
    Camarose79 Posts: 86 Member
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    Yes the yoyo thing, each new high weight was progressively higher. The clothes, the jeans being too tight, switching to wearing just leggings (and thinking that looked good- until I saw...) the PHOTOS! Ack! Being depressed and not caring about myself, but feeling bad for my boyfriend having to deal with me like that. And he kept loving me anyway. I decided that he deserves me better! Also scared of getting health problems... Very afraid I'll likely get diabetes. And wanting just at least ONE summer of my life where I can wear a bathing suit and not be too ashamed! One goal is to actually wear a bikini one day ;) not likely to happen this summer but maybe next?
  • jeannettemancini
    jeannettemancini Posts: 58 Member
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    A picture I saw of myself.. the one in my profile picture. It's me at a camp I worked at as a teen. I'm with my sister who is average/small. Seeing how huge I was next to her really did it for me.

    I'm inspired by my kids, my BFF who has lost 80 something lbs, and how good I feel when I do this right.
  • Spedangie
    Spedangie Posts: 108 Member
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    I've been physically pretty active for many years--I am at the gym 5-6 days weekly and ride bikes several days weekly (20+ mile rides) in all but winter weather. But I constantly struggle with weight gain. My high school class had our 50th reunion last summer and I hated the photos of myself that were posted in the candid shots. (I mean REALLY hated them!). But still I dinked around about doing anything about it. I have many relatives who are diabetic but My A1C is great. My blood pressure is generally 110/65. My cholesterol is low, my resting pulse is around 56, and wow, I even have most of my teeth, so physically I had no pressing reason to get serious about bringing the weight down. Then came Christmas and once again some pesky pictures pointed out that I was, well, overweight!
    That's when I got serious. I turned 69 in January and made the decision that before I hit 70 I WAS going to lose the unflattering extra pounds and commit to not only doing plenty of aerobic activities but to begin a regular strengthening program as well.
    Using MFP has really helped me see just how many unneeded calories I was consuming with a few chips here, some cookies there, an extra soda or two every day, a pinch of this and a bite (or 4) of that--whew--putting it all down in black and white ever day was an eye opener!
    I have lost about 14 pounds and hope by the end of the year to part with another 15-20.
    I still do indulge in snacks, but boy, knowing I'm going to have to list them at day's end has totally helped me to "just say no" to bunches of donuts and excess candy (now I eat a fun size Reeses instead of a full size candy bar), and in general stop the constant thoughtless munching.
    My family is having a mini reunion this summer and I'm pretty confident that I might even look forward to being in the millions of photos that are bound to be taken!
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    htg20 wrote: »
    Just a bunch of things seem to have converged. I'm almost a nurse practitioner, my kids don't respect me, I'm turning 35 this year, I want to give myself the best possible chance of not getting lifestyle related diseases/conditions, I want to feel better about myself, I want to have more energy, I want to be a good example for my kids and get them eating better/being more active, I want to be a better everything (sister, wife, citizen, mother, etc), I have big dreams for my life that I won't be able to accomplish if I'm still lazy and overweight, I'm tired of starting then stopping, then starting again, and on and on.

    First, you need to feel better about yourself. Forgive me if I'm stepping out of bounds, but you seem to be blaming lack of your kids' respect, lack of energy, laziness, and lack of motivation on being overweight, and that once you lose that weight, everything will magically fall into place. The problem is, that you don't KNOW that. What if you go through all the trouble of losing the weight and everything doesn't magically fall into place? It's commonly known as fear of failure. Don't put all your problems on being overweight. Put your problems of being overweight on being overweight. Because if you think everything is going to suddenly get better once you've lost how many pounds you want to lose, it's not going to happen, and you know it, which is probably why you are afraid to start losing. If you want to lose weight for YOU, then do it! Meanwhile, gain your children's respect, stop being lazy and unenergetic, and start being a good example. You can do this whether overweight or not. You can do this. And you know you can.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    Spedangie wrote: »
    I've been physically pretty active for many years--I am at the gym 5-6 days weekly and ride bikes several days weekly (20+ mile rides) in all but winter weather. But I constantly struggle with weight gain. My high school class had our 50th reunion last summer and I hated the photos of myself that were posted in the candid shots. (I mean REALLY hated them!). But still I dinked around about doing anything about it. I have many relatives who are diabetic but My A1C is great. My blood pressure is generally 110/65. My cholesterol is low, my resting pulse is around 56, and wow, I even have most of my teeth, so physically I had no pressing reason to get serious about bringing the weight down. Then came Christmas and once again some pesky pictures pointed out that I was, well, overweight!
    That's when I got serious. I turned 69 in January and made the decision that before I hit 70 I WAS going to lose the unflattering extra pounds and commit to not only doing plenty of aerobic activities but to begin a regular strengthening program as well.
    Using MFP has really helped me see just how many unneeded calories I was consuming with a few chips here, some cookies there, an extra soda or two every day, a pinch of this and a bite (or 4) of that--whew--putting it all down in black and white ever day was an eye opener!
    I have lost about 14 pounds and hope by the end of the year to part with another 15-20.
    I still do indulge in snacks, but boy, knowing I'm going to have to list them at day's end has totally helped me to "just say no" to bunches of donuts and excess candy (now I eat a fun size Reeses instead of a full size candy bar), and in general stop the constant thoughtless munching.
    My family is having a mini reunion this summer and I'm pretty confident that I might even look forward to being in the millions of photos that are bound to be taken!

    Woo hoo! You're doing great!
  • srschaffer1
    srschaffer1 Posts: 30 Member
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    The whole side of my mother's famiy is seriously obese. Healthy problems galore. I thoughy it was normal growing up to be bigger but once I hit my teens I started to feel very uncomfortable with my own body. It was a hard time for me.

    Now that I'm out of school I find myself far more comfortable with my body, even with the curves. Unfortunately with the health problems I am seeing arise with my parents and the rest of my family I find that as comfortable as I am with my body that it's not a healthy body. I did MFP for sometime, lost a little bit of weight then I had gotten comfortable and let the weight come back on. I'm worried that like the rest of my family, I'm going to have children and gain even more weight.

    I have to start somewhere and so I started back uo again, I'm going to try as hard as I did the first time but more when I can. I owe it to myself to see that I don't become another genetic statistic.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    For me, there were a combination of factors but it came down to being 37 and feeling/looking like I was a lot older. I decided that I either needed to do something to stop feeling and looking like garbage or shut up about it already. I'm still mad about the wasted years but I'm happy that I have good ones ahead of me.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    srschaffer1 wrote: »
    The whole side of my mother's famiy is seriously obese. Healthy problems galore. I thoughy it was normal growing up to be bigger but once I hit my teens I started to feel very uncomfortable with my own body. It was a hard time for me.

    Now that I'm out of school I find myself far more comfortable with my body, even with the curves. Unfortunately with the health problems I am seeing arise with my parents and the rest of my family I find that as comfortable as I am with my body that it's not a healthy body. I did MFP for sometime, lost a little bit of weight then I had gotten comfortable and let the weight come back on. I'm worried that like the rest of my family, I'm going to have children and gain even more weight.

    I have to start somewhere and so I started back uo again, I'm going to try as hard as I did the first time but more when I can. I owe it to myself to see that I don't become another genetic statistic.

    The problems with being overweight is now the number one health problem, more so than even smoking or other substance abuse. Congratulations on your decision to overcome this!
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    For me, there were a combination of factors but it came down to being 37 and feeling/looking like I was a lot older. I decided that I either needed to do something to stop feeling and looking like garbage or shut up about it already. I'm still mad about the wasted years but I'm happy that I have good ones ahead of me.

    I didn't have a weight problem until I quit smoking at age 51. Before, people always assumed I was a lot younger because I was a size four or six and only 5'2" tall. You have a LOT of good years ahead of you! At nearly 63, I dunno about that, but I'm going to make them count, hah!
  • Cardio4Cupcakes
    Cardio4Cupcakes Posts: 289 Member
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    I got tired of going to the back of the rack or bottom on the pile for clothes.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Cardio4Cupcakes wrote: »
    I got tired of going to the back of the rack or bottom on the pile for clothes.

    I didn't do that; kept buying "fat" and "fatter" clothes at Goodwill until I was looking like a homeless man with my big shirts and pants. Now, it's a lot of fun to go shopping in my closet, wearing clothes that are finally starting to fit me again!
  • harpsdesire
    harpsdesire Posts: 190 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I got inspired when I was finally able to book my dream trip to New Zealand, which I've been saving money for over almost 10 years. So this is something I've been actively working toward for 1/3 of my life, and I don't want to let heaviness and resulting bad knees get in the way of exploring and experiencing it to the fullest!

    I'm losing weight as part of my training to hike Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is known as one of the best single-day hikes in the world, and is 12-15 miles (depending on your exact choice of side-trails) over rough and steep terrain-- Probably small beans for many people, but a big goal for someone sedentary and in bad shape!
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    csbnga wrote: »
    Two things for me. I kept disappointing my 4 year old daughter because I couldn't run around with her and play. Second thing was I visited my brother for first time in a year and we had a conversation where he told me how worried he was about me and how he didn't know how he would handle it if something happened to me.

    I'm so glad you had that conversation with your brother, and wish you the best of luck. You'll get there.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    I had moved to a new town and all the women were such witches to me for no reason. I tried and tried and tried everything to try and make friends and nothing worked. The only difference I could think of was these people didn't know me before I had my baby and didn't know me when I wasn't overweight so I decided to try and loose weight to see if people would be more welcoming of me. And it worked! Unfortunately, people are extremely shallow and the only way for me to make friends was to loose weight.
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
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    This time round (I lost a load and then maintained for a couple of years but then got into one of those comfortable relationships and gained 40lbs) what really kicked my *kitten* was one of my friends calling me an 'unhealthy weight'.

    We are both 5ft 3, and she has always been bigger than me, about a size 12/14. Then she went travelling, and returned having lost a lot of weight (size 8 now), and is very proud of herself (and she does look great). We were talking, and I was saying how I needed to start losing weight because it was creeping upwards and I was just sick of it. I told her I weighed 9 and a half stone (a healthy weight according to my BMI).

    She just looked at me and said, 'well, I think between 8 and 9 stone is a healthy weight for our height'.

    I went nuts. I didn't say anything, but stewed internally. Just because she is now skinnier than me doesn't give her the right to judge me, or anyone really, especially as I am a healthy weight. And it was just the way she said it so casually, considering she is supposed to be a friend.

    So, whilst I'm not doing this for her, it was great motivation. And there is that little part of me that is looking forward to rubbing it in her face when I'm looking slim and fab again (just five pounds to go before I nudge under 9st!).
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    I had moved to a new town and all the women were such witches to me for no reason. I tried and tried and tried everything to try and make friends and nothing worked. The only difference I could think of was these people didn't know me before I had my baby and didn't know me when I wasn't overweight so I decided to try and loose weight to see if people would be more welcoming of me. And it worked! Unfortunately, people are extremely shallow and the only way for me to make friends was to loose weight.

    I don't think that was the reason. Do you think perhaps that when you lost weight, you felt more confident in yourself and started listening to people instead of trying to be friends with them? I'm not saying that in a mean way. I moved to a different state just before my senior year, and didn't have many friends in my previous school. I decided not to even try to make friends in the new school, but surprise, I had more friends than ever. I stopped my "technique" of trying to impress everyone and instead listened to them. Made a HUGE difference!
  • Toadstool_
    Toadstool_ Posts: 120 Member
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    A few things really. The doctor had brought my weight up as my bmi was a little high and told me I needed to lose some weight, a couple of friends congratulating me on my "pregnancy" and most of all, as disgusting as it sounds (sorry!) the discomfort of curling up in bed at night or sitting down and having all those yucky flab rolls touching - so uncomfortable! I don't weigh a ridiculous amount at all really but it all goes on around my tummy / top of my legs so even a few pounds shows quite badly!
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    Toadstool_ wrote: »
    A few things really. The doctor had brought my weight up as my bmi was a little high and told me I needed to lose some weight, a couple of friends congratulating me on my "pregnancy" and most of all, as disgusting as it sounds (sorry!) the discomfort of curling up in bed at night or sitting down and having all those yucky flab rolls touching - so uncomfortable! I don't weigh a ridiculous amount at all really but it all goes on around my tummy / top of my legs so even a few pounds shows quite badly!

    Ouch! I can identify! The only reason people knew I wasn't pregnant is because I'm too old, otherwise, I would have been congratulated as well.
  • Lexicpt
    Lexicpt Posts: 209 Member
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    I have suffered from an eating disorder since I was 9 years old. I've gained and lost, gained and lost the same 40 pounds almost my entire life. Now I have a beautiful 4 year old little girl that deserves a healthy (mentally and physically) mommy. I'm learning to take control of my life and get to a happy weight in a healthy way. She is all of my motivation.

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