What made YOU decide it's time to change?

I'm from London too so I know what you mean!

For me it was buying my 4th pair of trousers in about a year having outgrown the previous 3.

I dropped 50lbs but am back up 30 after not logging for 18 months but back now.

I've had problems with my menstrual cycle and then doctor told me I had PCOS. I've also been obese my whole life. Last but not least, some heart problems that I have to deal with. So the main reason I decided to change was because of health issues. I just want to live a healthier lifestyle. I would say I'm pretty active but couldn't do the things I wanted because of my weight. I dream of running my first ever marathon and that is on top of my list at the moment.

Seeing my mom and gma for the first time in 4 years and both of them wearing Nitro-necklaces in case they have heart failure.

1. The summer before my junior year of high school (July 2007), I was getting ready for a job interview for a gymnastics coach position, and my mom made a comment to me about what I was wearing and how they wouldn't hire me because it made me look big and that I didn't look like I had ever done any gymnastics (which I did for 8 years). I ended up getting hired.
2. Between January 2012 all the way through 2013 (spring of my 3rd year of college into the fall of my 4th year), my mom always made comments about my weight and would buy me girdles or other clothes that some may wear to make them look skinnier. I was already struggling with major depression and had thoughts of suicide, and her doing all of that just added way more fuel to the fire.
3. I had a breast reduction surgery in May 2012, and in January, my mom said that if I lost weight, I probably wouldn't have had to get the surgery.
4. When I was 12, my dad told me that I needed to lose weight.
5. I was tired of my mom making comments about my weight and buying me clothes that made me look smaller all throughout my college years and making me feel 100 times worse than I already felt (and still feel) about myself.

JessiBelleW wrote: »

Your mum is a Dick. I'm really glad you are able to use this as fuel to get healthy and boost your self esteem

^This.

You'll do it, too, @saraherren, with the positive support you find here.

gilliebee63 wrote: »

JessiBelleW wrote: »

Your mum is a Dick. I'm really glad you are able to use this as fuel to get healthy and boost your self esteem

^This.

You'll do it, too, @saraherren, with the positive support you find here.

Thank you @JessiBelleW and @gilliebee63. I will always have some amount of resentment towards her for treating me that way. She said she only did that because she "was worried about my health" (to use her words), but a big part of me doesn't buy it. Back in May 2012 while recovering from my breast reduction surgery, she was on the phone with a co-worker who was using MFP to lose weight, and her co-worker said she had already lost 5 lbs using it. My mom looked at me and said that I should use it so I can lose weight like her co-worker. When I was overweight, she treated me like I was less of a person because of my weight. It's almost like deep down she despises all overweight and obese people. Her co-worker that I mentioned above sadly gained all of the weight back that she lost plus more, and now my mom is using me to "show off how I good I look in front of her to hopefully give her the push she needs to lose it again" (again, her words). I feel like that's extremely disrespectful. I didn't start my weight loss journey in March 2014 and reached my goal weight at the end of January this year. Lost 50 lbs during that time and a total of 80 lbs. I lost the first 25 lbs somewhere between May 2012 and March 2014 without realizing it. I still struggle daily with my self esteem and try to avoid mirrors because I still see myself as the super overweight girl I used to be. But now that I'm at a healthy weight for my age and height (24, 5'0", 122 lbs), I don't eat any of the foods I was so used to eating growing up and through college (fast food/restaurants and Starbucks multiple times daily). It's been surprisingly easy for me not to go back to eating that way anymore. Haven't had Starbucks in over a year, and the only time I ate out more than once in a day was on my birthday this past April. It seems like my mom is trying to get me to eat those foods again. Not daily of course, but every now and then. I'm not opposed to enjoying myself every now and then, but I just don't have an appetite for those foods anymore, which is a huge change considering where I used to be. I also choose not to eat it bc I'm afraid I'll get addicted to it again and will revert back to my old habits. The only thing though I will eat is froyo, but it's not very often that I do (like once every 2 weeks or so).
I've been struggling for several months now with a severe loss of appetite, that even eating at home is extremely difficult for me. I've basically gone from one extreme to another (eating way more than I should growing up to almost nothing at all). I can't even get to 300 calories a day. I didn't start eating this little until just over a month ago. I know this is just as unhealthy as what I used to do, but it's extremely difficult for me to eat when I'm literally never hungry. I've been to the doctor and got blood work done. All of my hormones are normal except for my estrogen and progesterone. She wants me to be eating 1,500-1,800 a day so my sex hormones can normalize again. I return on September 25, so hopefully I can find the courage to eat that amount daily. It's been difficult eating because I have an intense fear of gaining back the weight I lost.

saraherren wrote: »

Thank you @JessiBelleW and @gilliebee63. I will always have some amount of resentment towards her for treating me that way. She said she only did that because she "was worried about my health" (to use her words), but a big part of me doesn't buy it. Back in May 2012 while recovering from my breast reduction surgery, she was on the phone with a co-worker who was using MFP to lose weight, and her co-worker said she had already lost 5 lbs using it. My mom looked at me and said that I should use it so I can lose weight like her co-worker. When I was overweight, she treated me like I was less of a person because of my weight. It's almost like deep down she despises all overweight and obese people. Her co-worker that I mentioned above sadly gained all of the weight back that she lost plus more, and now my mom is using me to "show off how I good I look in front of her to hopefully give her the push she needs to lose it again" (again, her words). I feel like that's extremely disrespectful. I didn't start my weight loss journey in March 2014 and reached my goal weight at the end of January this year. Lost 50 lbs during that time and a total of 80 lbs. I lost the first 25 lbs somewhere between May 2012 and March 2014 without realizing it. I still struggle daily with my self esteem and try to avoid mirrors because I still see myself as the super overweight girl I used to be. But now that I'm at a healthy weight for my age and height (24, 5'0", 122 lbs), I don't eat any of the foods I was so used to eating growing up and through college (fast food/restaurants and Starbucks multiple times daily). It's been surprisingly easy for me not to go back to eating that way anymore. Haven't had Starbucks in over a year, and the only time I ate out more than once in a day was on my birthday this past April. It seems like my mom is trying to get me to eat those foods again. Not daily of course, but every now and then. I'm not opposed to enjoying myself every now and then, but I just don't have an appetite for those foods anymore, which is a huge change considering where I used to be. I also choose not to eat it bc I'm afraid I'll get addicted to it again and will revert back to my old habits. The only thing though I will eat is froyo, but it's not very often that I do (like once every 2 weeks or so).
I've been struggling for several months now with a severe loss of appetite, that even eating at home is extremely difficult for me. I've basically gone from one extreme to another (eating way more than I should growing up to almost nothing at all). I can't even get to 300 calories a day. I didn't start eating this little until just over a month ago. I know this is just as unhealthy as what I used to do, but it's extremely difficult for me to eat when I'm literally never hungry. I've been to the doctor and got blood work done. All of my hormones are normal except for my estrogen and progesterone. She wants me to be eating 1,500-1,800 a day so my sex hormones can normalize again. I return on September 25, so hopefully I can find the courage to eat that amount daily. It's been difficult eating because I have an intense fear of gaining back the weight I lost.

This may be none of my business, but I figured that I will feel terrible if I don't say something. I have suffered a similar situation to yours, not as extreme, but similar. My mother always comments on my weight or would scold me for eating something because it would "make me fatten up like a pig." I developed eating disorders over this, among other things, and your fear of gaining weight could very well be the start of one. Please, for your own health, tell your doctor exactly what you said here. They can direct you to people that can help, especially because of your history of essentially being bullied by your own mother. I'm sorry if this may have crossed a line, but it does seem like therapy could really help begin building some confidence in that weight isn't worth the fear of eating.

My father once said he'd give me $10 for every pound I lost. That horrified me that they were that desperate to get me to lose weight (I was about 25 at the time). But that didn't do it. My mother also saw my weight as a moral failure. But really it has to come from within. The first time was in my late 20s and just wanted to look better. Then in my mid 30s because I wanted to meet some one and get married, this time around I am now 50s with school age kids and a widow, I want to live better and longer and also feel strong. And not invisible. I think it was just another day of not being able to do something because of my weight that made me finally get serious.

KarlaH9801 wrote: »

KaseyDH83 wrote: »

I lost both of my parents in 2013. My dad had a heart attack while he was driving and it caused him to wreck his vehicle, and my mom lost her fight against breast cancer 8 months later. My dad was 52 and my mom was only 49. They both come from families that have a host of health issues: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, strokes … the list goes on. In fact, my dad's brother passed away in June after spending 6 months being bed-ridden because of complications from diabetes and strokes. This was a wake-up call. Genetics are not in my favor; and while I can't change genetics, by eating healthy and exercising I am at least improving my quality of life, and hopefully prolonging it a little. I'm down 40 pounds (having lost 20 before joining MyFitnessPal). I still have a ways to go before I reach my goal weight, but I'm already noticing big changes in my body and overall well-being.

I am so sorry for your losses! I lost my mother at a young age (42) due to an unhealthy lifestyle. I know they are all proud of you!!

That just woke me up. I am 44 years old and I had an unhealthy lifestyle. I have 2 small children too. Thank-you for sharing. This is giving me a shot in the arm not to give up no matter what.

bodymindmusic wrote: »

Seeing my mom and gma for the first time in 4 years and both of them wearing Nitro-necklaces in case they have heart failure.

WOW That statement just punched me in the chest. This stuff is real. I am so glad we are all doing something about it. I don't want to be a statistic. I dont want my kids on myfitnesspal saying I am the one that got them started. I want to live healthy because they saw me doing it. We got to break the cycle. It got to be us.