Why did you come to the conclusion to lose weight?

I have already been on MFP and have lost almost 20 lbs since the end of July 2016. My husband had to have surgery last week, and I spent the day around the hospital and the waiting rooms and the recovery area. I saw sooooooo many women, some my age (44) and some much older, trying to cope with their health problems. I understand that I cannot diagnose or comprehend all of their illnesses and injuries based on my quick observations, but it seemed that the ones who were overweight/obese/morbidly obese were having a lot more problems getting around and recovering than those who were normal weight or slightly overweight. Yes, perhaps they had underlying conditions that caused their weight gain. But there is no doubt that a person who just had back or knee surgery will recover faster if they are in a normal weight range. I saw so many people who were alone and scared and facing a long recovery at home, and they could barely get around on their own.

The whole experience terrified me and convinced me that I HAVE to lose weight now, while I am still somewhat young and without the bad knees, back, hips, ankles, etc. that I will probably get if I don't get my stuff together and continue with the weight loss and exercise I have started. I really do not want to be one of the people I saw in the hospital.

I have done this in two stages... the first Wake Up moment was when I was getting ready to turn 40. I had been fat all my life - and only had gotten fatter.... topped out at 367. I sat up in bed one day, and winced as the pain of putting my feet on the ground hit me. I was only 40... and the women in my family live into their 80's and beyond. I didn't want another 40 plus years of agony... so, I did what I needed to do to lose about a hundred pounds. For me, that included a Lap Band - but, there was the usual diet and exercise component, there, also. I felt so much better, and some life stresses occurred, that I stopped hitting the gym, stopped eating my low carb diet - basically went back to my couch potato ways. Fortunately, I couldn't go ALL the way back -I was simply unable to inhale food the way I had before and I only gained back 15 lbs. Coasted at 275 for a long time.

Fast forward ten years... Knees are starting to ache again, cause old age sucks... But, my Aha moment wasn't because of that, this time. My hubby broke his ankle, had surgery, and did recovery in a wheelchair... I got to push him around, haul the chair in and out of the truck, do ALL the household stuff myself, etc. When I did my annual physical for work - I discovered I had lost 15 lbs - by accident - just from moving around a little more. Seemed pretty crazy not to keep that up... so, here I am... back down to a size I haven't seen since the early days of my marriage, and pushing for lower.

This is probably going to start with WAY TMI..
Last December, I got my TOM, and it was all out of whack. Lasted like six weeks and was crazy heavy. I felt awful, and knew that I needed a change. I weighed myself after a long period of ignoring the scale, and found myself at the heaviest I had ever been, 277 (at 5'1"). I had always been fat, and knew I needed to figure it out. I have two kiddos that depend on me!
At the beginning of March, I started logging consistently. I've taken a day off, here and there, just for my own sanity. At this point (7.5 months later), I'm down 72 pounds, and feeling the best that I have in my adult life! I'm hoping to reach Onederland in the next couple of weeks!

Wow, this is a little emotional. I have never written this down.

Well, I got hurt and wasn't super mobile for years. In March, I decided to stop taking the pain medication I had been taking for ten years. The hardest thing I have ever done. Then on June 24th I stopped smoking. So through the process of getting all of those chemicals out of my body, I gained weight, a lot of weight. It was to the point that I didn't want to be seen in public (I still don't) and I don't want my friends to see me, however it was starting to affect my fourteen year old daughter. I used to be so active, always doing something. Now, not so much. Hopefully, I am not too late. Now, I spin (in my home) sixty minutes every morning and I meal prep. My problem wasn't what I eat, is was the portions. Now, when I cook a big dinner I portion control meal prep the leftovers for the week. I am just starting out, Saturday was my first day. No slip ups or slacking yet. I am afraid to fail, so I shall persevere.