What Motivated You to Finally Lose Weight?

Congratulations, Bundyman!

With me, it was constant headaches I would get, along with being out of breath doing the simplest of tasks.

Similar story to yours (kind of). Both my parents and grandparents (and a lot of uncles) have diabetes so I have a yearly check. I have been obese my whole life too. I hadn't weighed my self for a long time and I went to the nurses office to have my check. I stood on the scale and I was 15 1/2 stone. I decided there and then I was gonna lose weight. It has been a battle. That was back in 2011 - I did really well 2011 and 12 then kind of lost it. My life style has totally changed - I run, I teach zumba and kettlebells and go the the gym. BUT when my eating isnt good I go backwards. I will get to my GW one day. and you will too, we just gotta "keep truckin'" xxxx

wow man that's very inspiring. kudos to you!

i hit 240lbs just before Xmas 2015, felt crap all the time, for the first time ever found myself breathing heavier when doing little things like tie shoe laces. i was still active playing football (soccer) but my performance and endurance was way off which would leave me annoyed with myself knowing its my fault for the state of my fitness and appearance. another reason was the lower back ache i was experiencing. with having an office based job and doing no activity outside of work, my back was in bits all the time. it would effect my running and give me an excuse not to workout.

i wouldn't say I'm massive, however its clear i am very over weight with a big beer belly (slowing getting smaller). Since the new year Ive curbed my calorie intake, usually have 1500 to 1800 a day (before i was closer to 3000) and i make sure i workout 4 or 5 times a week. (football twice and circuits or bike at home, get out for walks)

Ive lost 19lbs since Xmas and within a short space of time my fitness levels has come back. Seeing the results on the scales help but at the same-time that's only a motivation tool, its the fact the clothes are getting looser and I'm running out of belt notches which gives me the most satisfaction.
i also bought a fitbit to gauge my running stats whilst playing football. i noticed at the start of January my resting heart beat was about 62bpm its now down to 51bpm meaning my heart isn't working as hard as it was. win win situation there.

anyway i've rambled on there, Well done on your lifestyle change and of course your results. keep it up.

The threat of diabetes was the trigger for me, too. My blood sugar finally crept up high enough to scare me. Down 45 lbs. since last November.

"other routine daily tasks which are anything but routine"--boy, I hear you. Now everything is slowly getting better, little unexpected gifts nearly every day.

I had to walk a new faculty member across campus to pick up his keys and was unable to maintain a conversation with him because I was breathing too hard. We weren't even walking that quickly. It was mortifying to be huffing and puffing and sweating the whole time; I hated how I felt and how horribly unfit I was and vowed to change it. That was the end of June 2012 and I started my transformation on July 1 of that year.

Some bad (like really bad) blood work motivated me to take measures (like cleaning up my diet and exercising regularly) to be a healthier person which is important to me because I have two small boys at home that I would like to watch become men. A nice bi-product of getting my *kitten* together was dropping some weight...about 40 Lbs.

My heaviest was after I had my twins. I lost some weight when they were born, but quickly gained it all back and then some. I know you would think that having twins would keep you busy and moving enough to lose weight - it's not. It takes effort regardless of how many children you have. You can easily eat any calories you burn chasing them just by finishing their leftover cheetos and pbj's. Trust me. I did. When they were about 2 I was my biggest (235, 5' 7.5" tall). I was teetering on size 20 pants...18 was getting tight. I got out of the shower and grabbed my towel that didn't wrap around me and walked in front of the mirror (you know, bathrooms always have those pesky things). I bent down to pick something up and when I stood back up I saw myself from the side, like really, I noticed what I looked like. Generally I was so tired or busy that I paid little attention to my usual mirror views. But this time it fell on me like a ton of bricks. My giant stomach stuck out further than my chest...dimples everywhere, sagging bottom, etc. I felt instantly disgusted by myself and that disgust, within minutes, transformed into anger. That anger drove me to loss. I bought a generic version of WW on eBay because I was too broke to go to anyone for help with weight loss. The word document that had lists of point values also included the formula for calculating points. I carried a calculator around with me everywhere to calculate the points of what I was eating. It took so much effort on my part, but I was so done with how I looked. It worked. It took about a year and I lost about 50 pounds getting me to 185. Still too much on my frame, so I've been poking at the rest for about a decade now...yo-yo style. I'm somewhere around 170 at the moment for a grand total loss (over a decade) of 65 lbs. I would like to lose about 15 more or so, but I'm really doing pretty good overall. I know I didn't have nearly as much to lose as some, but it doesn't matter if you have to lose 50 or 300 lbs - the struggles are similar. For those who lose 50 lbs, it's still hard. It's time consuming, it takes dedication, it doesn't just melt off towards the end anymore. I'm ready to be done with this phase - the 'loss' phase - and move into the maintenance phase, and the continuing building on the athletic side of things. When I can get this last 15 off, which I PROMISE will be this year, I'll be ready for a new chapter. I think spending a decade trying to lose weight is sufficient!! Good luck, everyone! Cheers to you all for being here and fighting the fight

A Doctor's Visit near Austin, TX changed my life. Check out my page, read my blog, add me as a friend.

I've never actually technically been overweight, but about 5 years ago I found myself heading towards the top of my desired BMI range. I think old age is setting in...

My sister had signed up for MFP and wanted an accountability buddy, so I joined too. This was my first time attempting to manage/lose weight, so I didn't know what to expect. But I'd seen too many of my peers let themselves go over the years, so I was eager to be proactive about keeping my weight in check.

I found this method extremely straight-forward, simple, and even kinda fun. It's almost like a game to me. I dropped about 18 pounds (slowly but surely) and I've been here maintaining ever since. Good luck everyone!

I saw a picture of what a obese person looks like from the inside. The fat around the knees, things like that.

The person who posted the picture expressed only empathy for how the person must feel physically with all of the extra weight being carried around and effecting the body. No judgement, only empathy.

Then I switched off of WW and onto MFP. I think that WW must have some inherent guilt or shaming or something that I don't feel on MFP. I feel empowered by MFP. I felt resistance to WW.

I looked at myself in the mirror and didn't recognise myself anymore... I felt like I was in the wrong body.

I want to be more confident when it comes to shopping.

Great work! I genuinely thought I wasn't going to see 35 (while at 30). I knew I needed to change something, but I just didn't care. At 25, I was 6'3/264lbs and working at a gym. I started drinking and eating fast food 3-4 times per day. I shot up to 395lbs. I had a close friend pass away from complications with diabetes. That caused me to try giving up soda... but I wasn't able. Two months later, another close friend died from a preventable cause (drugs). Now, I was really seeing the big picture. I knew I didn't want to be next. I still did nothing. Finally, my best friend came to me with a product and forced me to try it. I jumped all in and haven't looked back. Today, a little less than 15 months later, I am down 125 pounds and have gained muscle mass. My goal is 250 and I hope to be there soon (currently fluctuating between 272-276).

Bundyman wrote: »

I'm sure many if not all of you have a similar story to mine. Overweight / obese my entire life and could never stick with a diet.

It's depressing to fail time after time. We always want the quick fix to turn our health and lives around. Unless you have some form of surgery to jump start the process it's a struggle to succeed and there is no real quick fix.

For me, my wake-up call came when I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2013 at the age of 45. I weighed nearly 450 pounds and knew if I didn't make some serious changes, I'd likely be dead before long. At the very least I'd start losing body parts.

My doctor wanted me to have Gastric bypass surgery but I knew I was strong enough to lose the weight on my own.

Long story short, I've lost over 160 pounds so far and I'm no longer on any diabetes medications. I was able to lose the weight simply by making some lifestyle changes. I exercised every day by walking and I cut back on my calorie intake limiting myself to 2000 calories a day. A far cry from the 7000+ I had been eating. I've gone from a size 60" waist to now wearing size 42" pants.

I have never and will never use any wraps, shakes, pills or gimmicks of any kind. Every day is a struggle and there have been plenty of bumps and plateaus along the way but I continue to count calories and hit the gym 4 or 5 times a week. I no longer have joint pain and I'm proud to say when I golf, I only rent a cart when the course makes me.

Diabetes and the very real likelihood of an early death is what finally ended my excuses and failure and I have my life back.

This is an inspirational story. Thank you for sharing!