Why did you come to the conclusion to lose weight?

I started to suffer extreme angina at age 60. Had a stent put in my heart on 2-16-12. My weight was 206, and my cardiologist said I was lucky, no heart attack, but he wanted me to drop 20 pounds. By that December I had gained another 7 pounds! Two days after Christmas I said "enough is enough" and I went on my healthy life style change. I'm now at a healthy weight (mid range), have a normal BMI, my cholesterol meds were lowered from 40 MG to 5 MG (if I stop taking them my cholesterol is in the healthy range for someone who HASN'T needed a stent, but it's at the high end of the healthy range, so 5 MG keeps me in the low range)... and there's no going back to the way it was, THIS is the way it should always have been. 😉

Went on a cruise and realized 1) the heavy restaurant manager who was a delight ( correctly) viewed us as the same size... I’d been in denial 2) if I didn’t do something I’d eventually be like the many people people who were so heavy they had to use a scooter to get around. I actually started my diet on the cruise by eating half of my plate. Back home I gravitated to MFP. I lost 73 pounds in 10 months to get into a healthy mid-range for me.

Watching a close relative die of Alzheimer's disease, and realizing that he, as well as a little over half my close relatives, were/are diabetics. There is a real link between AD and insulin resistance. If you are a T2 diabetic, your chances of getting AD double. So I lost weight to get my blood sugar down, and hopefully I will be able to avoid insulin resistance, T2D, and everything in the cascade that comes after.

ETA: after I lost 35 lbs my fasting glucose went from 103 to 77 and has stayed there.

I've had arthritis since I was three. Misdiagnosed for years, confirmed at nineteen. Saw 210lb on the scale and decided that was enough of that. At thirty four my knees are getting bad and the only thing I can really do is get myself to a healthier weight so I put less strain on them. Since I had my epiphany or whatever you want to call it in Sept I've lost 15lb, 10 in the last month.

Honestly...stretch marks.
I had known that I was slowly and steadily gaining weight. I was kind of putting in a half effort to lose it, but the scale kept going up.
One day, my upper arms were absolutely burning all day at work. Like, my skin was on fire. My stomach area, too. I got home and took my clothes off and saw brand new, red and inflamed stretch marks.
I sat on the floor and cried for a good thirty minutes.
I started taking it seriously then. I lost a good 10-20 lbs but kept regaining it and losing it again.

Then my ex boyfriend of 6 years cheated on me with my best friend of 10 years and left me for her. (Her loss, my gain.)
She was overweight, too, and we had always tried to lose weight together. So, being the petty, spiteful soul that I am, I got hot while she packed on another 30 lbs or so. My ex, too, has gained quite a bit of weight.

About 27 lbs into my weightloss journey, I met my wonderful husband. He quickly became my best friend and my strongest support system. He encouraged me every step of the way to lose the remaining 30 lbs (though he has made it known from the start that he thought I was beautiful when he met me, bless his heart) and he even got me into weight lifting.

For me it was advise from the hospital to cut out a lot of things and to be more carful otherwise my lifestyle wouldn't be much of a style or that of a life really. It was a huge wake up call so i am here trying to use all the meathods and means to hand.