What finally made you get serious about losing weight?

Worsening knee pain and a breakup.

I wrote about this in my blog....so I'll just copy and paste it here.

"The A-ha Moment?

Some people have this huge a-ha moment, or inspirational moment, in which they decide they're done "trying to lose weight" and just simply do it.

I didn't have that.

Mine was more like an a-ha year.

Let's rewind...

Early January 2011 - I got a phone call on a Saturday afternoon (Saturday the 8th to be exact) that my step-mother (47 years old) had a stroke. My mind was confused...I knew it was serious, but didn't realize HOW serious...still, something told me I needed to drive the 7 hours to go support my dad, brother, step-sister, and of course her. A week later, she passed away.

This scared the sh%t out of me.

She had Addison's disease, which has to do with the body's production of cortisol, stress, etc. (Google to find out more) and due to this she was overweight, and had also been diagnosed as diabetic a year earlier. She did as she was supposed to, cut out the sugar, white breads, etc. But what's this??? She drank diet soda.

Anyhow...It took me a few months to process what happened. I was in shock. It did however, make me scared of artificial sweetners. I started opting for drinks and foods that had unrefined sugar. (In place of bleached sugars, artificial sweetners, high fructose corn syrup, etc)

While I was still processing this.....fast forward to March 2011:

My mother (49 years old at the time) was admitted to the hospital because of abnormal bleeding, which had left her very weak. After days of blood transfusions they finally performed a hysterectomy for the "fibroids" and she felt great, and life went on....for 3 weeks...

April 2011: I was on my 2nd day of vacation, had been to the beach with my husband and had just gotten home to shower. My mom called... The doctor left a voicemail (didn't even SPEAK TO HER) and informed her those fibroids were actually a rare cancer called Leiomyosarcoma.

My mother is the PICTURE of health. She is 49 years old and seriously looks 29! People ALWAYS think we are sisters; and are literally dumbfounded when they find out she is my mother. She has always been very thin (I'm talking size 0-2 her entire life), no issues like high blood pressure, hell...not even WRINKLES) Anyhow, I flew up to be with her at her appointment in which they said "Oh we got it all with her surgery, she is ok now". And so, life continued for another few months. This had a big effect on me though. How does someone SO HEALTHY get such a rare cancer at such a young age? I then began switching to organic and all natural products (I'm talking down to the face moisurizers I use, not only food). This began to have a small effect on me, I still ate big portions, chose the wrong things at restaraunts, but, I still lost a little weight, and stopped gaining.

August 2011: I got a call at 7:30 am on my way to work, mom was bleeding and in pain... She found out later that day her Leiomyosarcoma came back not only in her pelvis area, but also in her lungs. I immediately flew up to be with her again.

Since then - just so I don't leave you all hanging... my mother is doing well considering the circumstances. She had a few major surgeries, and was in the hospital for weeks. She began chemo, and has been undergoing chemo for a few months now; and will have scans done in 6 days. They removed everything "visible" in the abdomen, and they are trying to get her lungs to a condition where they can operate. You can follow her battle on her facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barbaras-Fight-Against-Leiomyosarcoma/104115746357036

Anyhow....All of this CRAZINESS literally scared me into my a-ha moment. I found myself not eating quite as much; and making better decisions just because in the back of my head I was like "I don't want to die at 27 of a heart attack, diabetes, stroke, cancer, or anything like that"...

So I got weighed a routine visit at the doctor, and I had to ask them to repeat my weight. I'd lost about 15lbs, without even knowing it. This was amazing to me! I've been battling weight issues since mid-high school when my hormones kicked in. There are no excuses for the weight I've gotten to, but contributing factors were definitely: my depression; my crazy childhood (I ate bc of emotion and boredom); Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome (hormone imbalance- causes me to store fat around abdomen, glucose/sugar issue); and the list goes on and on. Sometimes I lost from starving myself (literally) but that was the only way.

All of this is my a-ha moment.

I HAVE to get healthier. I want to enjoy life. You cannot control what happens to you sometimes (for example my mom's cancer; or accidents, etc) but I can control the quality of life I lead each day.

I lost up to about 35lbs without tracking calories, or exercising, but finally decided right after Christmas because I was doing so well... I'm going to exercise! And I didn't hate it...so a week later I thought "I'm going to track my calories".....and so, here I am...47 lbs lighter than I was this fall.

I still indulge some, have "maintenance" calorie days, but I am very consistent with never over eating, making decent decisions, working out, and it's working for me.

My first goal is still 46 lbs away. (Which would be a total loss of 93 lbs) and from there, I'm not sure...I haven't put a number on my final goal. HEALTHY is what I want.

I never want to feel bad at the mall because I don't fit into certain stores clothes again.

I never want to worry about riding a roller coaster because I don't fit in the seat again. (This almost happened once and that moment flashes in my head like a record on repeat)

I never want to struggle to buckle the seat-belt on the airplane again.

This is my motivation, my struggle, my story.......but I'm in control of the outcome. That is something I will not forget."

My motivation is always the same. Seeing horrifying pictures of myself. Because I never seem to think I'm as fat as I really am until I see it captured in a photo. ACK.

For me, I had been fighting with myself for a long time. I started exercising and make some better food choices, but was never fully committed, which meant nothing changed on the scale. Then one day it struck me that I am very blessed in my life. I have a great family, a home, wonderful friends and a decent job. No, it's not all perfect and many people have more than me, but I am lucky to have what I do have and I am happy.

So, I just asked myself WTH? Life is good, so why am I punishing my body by not taking care of it? Why do I put eating bad food ahead of feeling good about myself? It seemed so silly when I looked at it that way. So, that's what I think about when I start to make bad choices - a bunch of fried food is not worth it anymore. I like knowing that I'm taking care of one of my many blessings.

I started eating better and found I feel so much more energetic that exercise is not such a giant hurdle every day now. I realized also that my morning workout helps me get focused for my day. All those things they say will happen when we do the right things, really do! Today I'm down 7 pounds since the holidays.

Totally agree about making a "lifestyle change". i tell my husband all the time that this isn't a "diet", it is a lifestyle change. What is the point of going through all of this if you are just going to go back to how it was and be unhealthy again.

I joined a trampolining club this year and my 1st competition was last sunday (came 43rd out of 84!! i'm happy with that)
but what i didn't realise that the rest of the club was filming the sets and mine was included and cause i do most of the set facing a wall (so i don't get distracted by the other clubs) you could just see my bum throughout it all
I wore tiny shorts but still it weren't a good look
If i can lose the weight, i can bounce higher which will make the routine look more natural... apparently

When I realized I'd put 6 lbs on since our move Jan 1st. Six lbs is a lot in less than a month!!

But my weight has been up and down for years. I was heavy when I got married (to me, at least), still heavy when I got pregnant the first time, and I was huge by the time I gave birth!

My son was born with a host of food intolerances (and possibly Celiacs) and a severe dairy allergy. I breastfed him, and at one point had to cut out all the Top 8 allergens and corn. So, I basically ate meat, fruits, veggies and brown rice. I dropped a TON of weight. I was down to about 97 lbs when he turned 1. Still within a normal, healthy weight limit for my height (I'm 5'). He started tolerating more foods, and I started gaining again.

I was still doing good when I got pregnant with my 2nd son though. And managed to not gain too much too. Breastfed this one too, and dropped the little weight I'd gained.

About 2 years later, I started dealing with some issues, and realized that I had a severe gluten intolerance (or Celiacs - will never know for sure because my doc refused to test me, and I went GF on my own). I dropped a little bit of weight again, but it didn't stay off.

Last year, I started dropping weight like crazy again, but this time, it was medical issues. I couldn't eat without getting sick. My gallbladder had stopped functioning. Had that removed on St. Patty's day, and was almost magically better, lol. Then I started gaining again! I've gone from a size 6 in March of last year, to a 12 by the end of the year! It was insane!!

Some friends told me about MFP, and I've been religiously logging in everyday, and starting to watch what I eat more and recognize that I need to get up and MOVE.

For me it was last summer when my friends and I went to a local carnival. There were tons of rides, but the one that looked most interesting to me happened to have an over-the-shoulder harness, which I'd never had a problem with before, so I went for it. While I did fit, I BARELY fit. There was a specific seat they had for larger passengers and I had to sit in it, AND the ride workers had to push hard (and more obnoxiously than necessary, I might add) to get it to lock.

I knew it was mostly because of how busty I've always been that it didn't fit, but I'm also overweight, and I knew that if I lost some weight, my breasts would shrink too.

I've been overweight for at least 11 years, since I was 16. This March I turn 27 and realized that I really didn't want to be overweight the rest of my life. I decided I wanted to be a healthy size by the time I was 30. I've been working on incorporating things into my lifestyle that I can do for the rest of my life. I am trying to eat between 1300-1450 calories a day, walk 5-7 days a week, intense cardio 3x a week, and trying to do 2 strength workouts a week. I've been going at it for 6 weeks, I had one week that I fell off the wagon a little, but I decided to forgive myself and start over again, because I figure those times are going to happen.
So far I've lost approx. 13 lbs.
Also, right now I am on Phentermine to help manage my appetite while I learn better portion sizes and eating habits. I've been on it a month, and will be off it in March.

Good luck in your weight-loss, it's not easy but it's worth it!

I am going to admit this..on this site. I want to loose weight, well...because I know I could be better in the sack...and want to be more confident. I am tired of being the fat kid. I just got up one morning....and that was it..I made up my mind.

same here... i listed.... "to have sex like a porn star" under my inspirations.... i"m tired of shopping at only plus size store and in teh plus size section... i wanna be able to shop go in the slim people store and sections!