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!