What was the reason you decided to lose weight?

After I had my motorcycle accident in August, I was put on a "neuron receptor nerve blocker" - to help alleviate nerve pain caused by a bruised spinal cord (broke my neck)...when I was stretching out of size 16 jeans, I decided to do some research on this medication....2 of the main side affects are "rapid weight gain and breast enlargement". Okay, I can SO deal with the "girls" getting bigger (was at 34AA most of my adult life lol) - now looking at 36DD, I was liking that part - but what I did NOT find acceptible was the massive weight I had put on. I'm also recovering from knee surgery earlier in 2011. Not to mention added weight gain from Bipolar medications, etc. I got tired of being out of breath all the time, and joints in a constant state of protest (pain). I'm off all medication...even through the CONSTANT pain. To me, the pain reminds me that I am alive, and very very fortunate to have survived such a horrible accident. (sorry for the rant...book):flowerforyou:

Mostly health related. I'm pre-diabetic. I have pcos, and I don't want to be on medication for the rest of my life. But the biggest reason is that I want to be a mom.

Reason? How about reasons......

Sick and tired of being sick and tired; not having any motivation; not feeling comfortable with myself and my image; not wanting to buy bigger clothes and the current ones being too tight; not having much energy.

There are probably more, but this should sum it up.

I hit 277lbs, which is only 3 away from 280 (and that hit me hard). I realized I was only a few months of eating like I was away from hitting 300lbs, and I told myself that unless I am playing d-line in the nfl, I'm never going to hit 300. Also- I want to be able to run around with my daughter and not be the overweight dad in her group of friends.

someone told me i wouldn't be able to and that i'd look ugly if i lost weight-never tell me i cant .
i have agoraphobia and couldn't leave my home despite having 4 kids.
no self-esteem/confidence.
i was becoming the 'fat friend'
i refused to buy size up in clothing
people made fun of me.... esp in public to make themselves feel better
i realised i was being taken advantage of and wanted to develop physical and mental strength

I refuse to start buying the next size clothes when I know I need to quit eating crap and do more exercise. I'm almost 37 and as a stay at home mum I have the opportunity right now to kick my own *kitten* and do something about it.

"Refuse to start buying the next size clothes"....this is EXACTLY what went through my mind around Christmas of 2011! I turned 45 in November, and the thought of being a mirror image of my mother frankly scared the hell out of me.

My best friend is just like me. We ateterrible, weren't very active, just liked to laze around. Well in October she started using MFP and had lost I think 20 pounds by the time I decided to join her in december. I knew she is just like me and if she could do it, I could do it! So December 30th I started using MFP religiously with her. I've lost 16 pounds since then. I've lost 50 pounds since Jan 2010. the first 35 came off with a combo of weight watchers and a diet drug. Now I'm doing it the right way with diet and exercise and losing low and steady. My bestie was my inspiration and has been the best source of support. However, my fiance has also been deployed since July and I REALLY wanted to lose some weight for when he came home. He came hom in feb for RR, I had lost 15 pounds and he absolutely could tell. It was the best feeling ever. He will be home for good shortly and I have another 5-10 pounds I'd like to lose by then so I've incorperated exercise in now with the eating. I'm on day 4 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and I feel better than I have in YEARS! I'm also at my lowest weight that I have been in almost 7 years.

I really like this thread... My turning points were:

1. I got married in August 2011 and while I didn't wear a traditional dress, ( it was casual ) the dress I did have on was a 2x, tight & uncomfortable. I didn't share or post any of my pics because I was horrified at the way I looked. I refused to look at most of them myself. This was supposed to be MY day & I feel like I ruined part of the memory..

2. In Oct 2011 I was diagnosed with Pseudotumor Cerebri (IIH) and when I stepped on the scale I was 256 lbs. Weight loss was apart of the treatment & a requirement to hopefully rid myself of the illness. There were no excuses, loopholes etc... Either do something about it or spend the rest of my life with headaches, spinal taps, medicines, surgeries etc...I found MFP after dropping almost 20 by myself and now I am down about 53 lbs. My eyesight is better, headaches almost non existent....but there is no stopping now, I've come too far.

BTW, that dress from August? It looks like a tent on me now & I use the pictures as my "before" pics. ;-)

My size 14s were getting tight, and I did NOT want to size up. I also saw a picture of myself from a wedding that terrified me - I didn't even LOOK like MYESELF (it's now my "before" in my profile pic). I decided something had to change, and fast. I joined MFP on January 2nd, and began a Biggest Loser competition on January 5th. Today I am 20 pounds slimmer, and I'm wearing 10s. This is the first time I've been this weight/size since I was a freshman in college! I feel better than ever, and I'm not done yet!

I was tired of feeling like crap 24/7, with no energy. I was tired of getting out of breath just from going upstairs. I was tired of being a size 14, and seeing my BMI in the 'obese' range. And the biggest thing was seeing pictures of myself. They were shocking.