What made you ultimately decide to get fit?
raulmi1
Posts: 2 Member
I have 2 questions for the members here:
1. Was there any particular event, situation, moment... that made you decide that you really needed a change, and made you change your life? (sort of a breaking point)
2. What is your WHY, when it comes to losing weight / getting in shape?
I guess it happens to everyone, most days I feel a lack of motivation, and I wanted to get your inputs, and see how we can all relate.
Thanks in advance for your answers!
1. Was there any particular event, situation, moment... that made you decide that you really needed a change, and made you change your life? (sort of a breaking point)
2. What is your WHY, when it comes to losing weight / getting in shape?
I guess it happens to everyone, most days I feel a lack of motivation, and I wanted to get your inputs, and see how we can all relate.
Thanks in advance for your answers!
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Replies
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My ex had a heart attack and stroke and every medical condition common to a morbidly obese person. I didn't want to be like him.
that's kind of the long and short of it. I lost weight, maintained for a few years, got lazy and it started creeping back up. Needs to creep back down now
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I am 47 and approx 40 lbs overweight. My motivation used to be to look great in my clothes, swimsuit, etc. but that visualization/goal didn't seem to motivate me for more than a few weeks at a time, which led to a lot of stopping and starting with my self discipline in relation to eating.
In the past year, my husband and I started kayaking together and something I'd love to do is to be able to get back into my sea kayak by myself. In order to do that I need to be lighter and stronger! My motivation now stems from visualizing myself being able to go on kayak trips and being capable of carrying my gear, and performing the skills necessary to paddle safely. My focus is less on my body and more on the exciting adventures that will be possible if I am self disciplined!7 -
Medical stuff was the reason for losing weight. I decided to get fit because once upon a time I was a competitive athlete and I missed being physically fit and strong.
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I had a major accident on a motorcycle and had to, over the course of a year, get back to walking properly. I realized how fragile life is and that I needed to improve my health lose weight and move more3
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No one particular event.
I want to lose weight so I can start dating. I don't want to date whomever would find me attractive as I look right now. Also, I want to try to minimize the various rude comments I get about my size. Things like "you look like a football player" or "have you ever been a bouncer" or "I look so small next to you." I'm partially screwed because unfortunately, I'm 6'3", so I'm guessing I'll never totally shake the image people have of me. I'm just hoping that if I lose 100 lbs (started at 285, currently 270), people will be less likely to see me as "big."9 -
Barely fit into the roller coaster on a family trip. Decided I didn't want to miss out on things cause I was too big.4
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First time...I was 18ish years old and obese. Girls wouldn't look at me.2
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Fitness? After cancer treatment in my mid-40s, I realized that if I ever wanted to feel strong, good, and probably happy ever again, I needed to *work* at getting stronger, at least for a while. In the process, I discovered an activity I love so much (on water rowing) that I'd do it even if it weren't good for me. It also got me doing other things, to be in better shape for or otherwise support the rowing.
But I stayed obese for about another dozen years. At age 59, it was health stuff that finally got me losing. I was already on a good level of regular exercise (still mostly rowing!). I tried eating differently, but my eating wasn't *that* terrible in the first place, in what I ate: The bigger problem was how much.
My blood pressure and cholesterol/triglycerides came down a bit from eating differently, but were still way too high, and my doctor was threatening statins. I know they can have cognitive degradation as a side effect, and I figured I'd already given up enough of that (permanently, BTW) to chemotherapy. So, I started losing weight. If there was any doubt, part way through the loss, my gallbladder was removed (not stones or sludge). It was an ugly, cholesterolized thing with thickening and actual holes in it, potentially headed into precancerous territory. That sealed the deal, for weight loss.
Now, 5+ years later, age 65, I'm still active, still at a healthy weight.8 -
I bought a dress form to help my sewing projects...had to take my measurements to set it up and was pretty shocked by the numbers and realized that what I looked like in my head vs what I looked like in reality were drastically different. That was the kick in the pants I needed to start working out regularly.6
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I thought I was going to die and soon.3
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swiftgirlm wrote: »In the past year, my husband and I started kayaking together and something I'd love to do is to be able to get back into my sea kayak by myself. In order to do that I need to be lighter and stronger! My motivation now stems from visualizing myself being able to go on kayak trips and being capable of carrying my gear, and performing the skills necessary to paddle safely. My focus is less on my body and more on the exciting adventures that will be possible if I am self disciplined!
Oh I like this so much!0 -
My big why is self-centered, but that's okay in my book. I just want to look attractive and feel attractive and wear cute clothes again. When we can be out and about anyway. I have many things hanging in my closet waiting for me to be smaller and the world to be ready for all of us. 6
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Thanks everyone for sharing your story!1
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I collapsed in a parking lot at 38-years-old. I was diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary embolisms and a heart defect. It was the biggest wake up call/kick in the pants for me. I've lost 72lbs since then.3
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I’m 62 and about 40 pounds overweight. In my 20s, I was in a head on car accident and my heel was crushed when the engine came in on me. I had three surgeries soon after the initial injury. I have always had pain in standing and walking plus some balance issues due to a fusion that limits range of motion. In June of 2019, I had a surgery to remove bone spurs from my ankle which resulted from arthritis caused by the original injury and fusion. I was still recovering and in physical therapy when my mother’s health declined. She died in November. Then My daughter moved to London in December. And COVID hit and my husband has health issues that have caused us to be in hard quarantine since last March. And my brother died in April. I was still limping around and in pain. All the time. I was depressed and felt like it didn’t matter, because I was never going to be able to do anything ever again anyway.
Somehow around Christmas I decided that I didn’t want to be crippled and unable to do anything forever. I want to be able to travel to England and visit my daughter.
And I decided I have to lose weight and be more fit. If I weigh less, I will have less pain and more mobility.
So I started. And I’ve been doing seated exercises 5-7 times a week ever since. I’ve also been strictly counting calories. I’ve lost 10 pounds so far.4 -
Whatsthemotive wrote: »I’m 62 and about 40 pounds overweight. In my 20s, I was in a head on car accident and my heel was crushed when the engine came in on me. I had three surgeries soon after the initial injury. I have always had pain in standing and walking plus some balance issues due to a fusion that limits range of motion. In June of 2019, I had a surgery to remove bone spurs from my ankle which resulted from arthritis caused by the original injury and fusion. I was still recovering and in physical therapy when my mother’s health declined. She died in November. Then My daughter moved to London in December. And COVID hit and my husband has health issues that have caused us to be in hard quarantine since last March. And my brother died in April. I was still limping around and in pain. All the time. I was depressed and felt like it didn’t matter, because I was never going to be able to do anything ever again anyway.
Somehow around Christmas I decided that I didn’t want to be crippled and unable to do anything forever. I want to be able to travel to England and visit my daughter.
And I decided I have to lose weight and be more fit. If I weigh less, I will have less pain and more mobility.
So I started. And I’ve been doing seated exercises 5-7 times a week ever since. I’ve also been strictly counting calories. I’ve lost 10 pounds so far.
That's really a lot to go through, especially in such a short time. Kudos to you for taking control of the parts you *can* control, to create improvement.
If your experience is like mine (lost at 59-60, with some arthritis and other issue), the weight loss and improved fitness will make a big improvement in quality of life, via increased capability and reduced pain.
Wishing you excellent outcomes for your efforts!2 -
In highschool I was very skinny. When I graduated I was 5'6" and 126lbs. I was teased a lot because from behind with longer hair, I looked like a girl. So once I was out of highschool, I started going to the base gym (which was inadequate back in the 80's) and then eventually joined a hole in the wall gym. Within a year I grew another inch and gained 30lbs and felt great. I then played more sports because I was big enough to hang.
I continue today with a current weight of 180lbs at 5'7" and can still sprint, box jump at least 36" and kickbox. I put a lot of guys half my age to shame many times. And I want to keep going as long as I safely can being fit and physically active to keep playing sports and kickboxing.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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1. Was there any particular event, situation, moment... that made you decide that you really needed a change, and made you change your life?
I saw myself in too many web meetings with 5 chins and this isn't the me I can remember so that was my ping moment.2. What is your WHY, when it comes to losing weight / getting in shape?
I used to be a fitness addict and I loved it. I want to get back to the same level of fitness / health. That was my why to get started again but I found after a few 'forced' sessions I got the old post exercise buzz back. My why now is I like the buzz and want it again! The fact I am shrinking is a bonus
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Ninerbuff
That’s inspiring. My (surviving) brother has struggled with being underweight for most of his life. At 5’ 11” he has ranged from 135 to 150. He hits his low weights at times of stress. There’s so much emphasis on weight loss that we tend to forget how difficult being underweight is, especially for a man. In college, some cruelly called him hoe handle because he was as skinny as a hoe handle.1 -
GigiDeborah wrote: »My big why is self-centered, but that's okay in my book. I just want to look attractive and feel attractive and wear cute clothes again. When we can be out and about anyway. I have many things hanging in my closet waiting for me to be smaller and the world to be ready for all of us.
Right on. I may never be able to really feel attractive, but I know I can at least improve what I have.0 -
1) about 10 years ago, I was at 191 pounds and only 5’2”. I looked in the mirror one day and caught sight of the back of my arm and saw the fat drooping down over my elbow. Funny, it wasn’t the fact that my clothes didn’t fit anymore (I reasoned that they shrunk in the dryer), or that I was up to a size 16, pushing 18 (I reasoned I was curvy) or that I could barely make it up a flight of stairs. Nope. It was seeing that bit of fat hanging over my elbow that made me realize I was fat.
2) I have several whys-1) I’ll be 50 in a few months and I like looking good for my age, 2) I’m still single and will likely stay that way which means I’ll probably grow old alone. I want to have mobility as I get older and if I fall I want to be able to get up, 3) I love exercising; it’s my zen, 4) when I do go clothes shopping, it feels good to be able to buy in store. The stores I shopped in didn’t carry the larger sizes in store so I had to shop online, 5) I can cross my legs now; couldn’t do that with thick’um thighs, 6) I just enjoy taking care of myself and keeping in shape is one way of doing that.1
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