What was the reason you decided to lose weight?

I quit smoking and was determined not to put ON more weight. I had put off quitting for many years due to the associated weight gain.

I had a baby when I was 44, and had not been able to lose the 'baby' weight, in fact, I was slowly gaining. I finally decided that I wanted to be alive to watch this precious child grow up (my others are grown or nearly grown) so I better get my act together.

I set a date to quit smoking and joined a gym. That was nearly 3 years ago. I'm down 40 pounds and have gone from a size 12/14 to a 4/6. I have run a 5k (after having been unable to run more than a few feet due to COPD) and I am off all asthma medications.

I lift heavy weights and fully intend to shock the hell out of everyone with my fitness levels eventually. I do NOT intend to be the lumpy, saggy, jiggly grandma...oh no, sir. I will have defined abs and I will have a solid, firm butt and legs to die for. I probably will never have perky boobs again, but that's ok. :laugh: . My health and sharing my little girl's childhood are my primary focus.

If an old fart like me can do it, anyone can do it!!

I always made the excuse that I was just big boned/ muscular. I'm pretty strong and have been athletic since I can remember. But I was just feeling blah. I was tired and unhappy and I started finding myself not wanting to go out with my friends because I felt uncomfortable in all my 'going out clothes'. When my sister started nursing training, I volunteered to be her guinea pig for blood pressure testing. She freaked out when she checked mine and told me it was scary high. She started giving me all these tips like not holding my breath when I go to the bathroom. I was terrified every time I went, that I would be found dead on the toilet! I refused to be a 24 year old on blood pressure medication and I new that my weight is the biggest factor. So here I am after a month and down 16 pounds. (I haven't rechecked my bp yet)

1~reason was my health.. i am on 2 many meds(wanna get off all of them someday)
2~my daughter i don't want me to set a bad example
3~my old pictures..looking @ recent picture of me is CrAZy but looking at past pics i was at a nice size..

I realized that I was working really hard to make sure my 5 year old son ate right because he leans towards being bigger anyway and one day realized that if I'm giving it to him, why aren't I eating it? He was seeing me eating things I wouldn't let HIM eat, so it was kind of "do as I say, not as I do" situation. I couldn't tolerate that. So, I decided that if I can feed my son healthily, I can feed ME the same way.

Also, my husband is naturally muscular and fit, so I didn't want him to have a fat, unhealthy wife. He deserves someone worth showing off! LOL

And finally, for me. I deserve to be happy with myself and healthy for my family.

My breaking point was I have been fighting depression since my now 8yo daughter was diagnosed with stage 3 Melanoma cancer.. She went into remission for eight months then it came back harder.. One month after my daughters cancer came back my dad died of a massive heart attack.. I went into a very deep dark depression.. I was at a breaking point.. In Feb I got on the scales and it said 379 I took a step back and said omg i am gonna die. So its been two months now and I lost 27 pounds but then i had a bad weekend gained 4 pounds back but as of today i lost two of those pounds already and I am even more motivated cause I refused to leave my kids with out a mom cause i let food run my life

It just clicked for me one day. I had always been slender but over the last 3 years I really began to put on weight. 40 pounds in 3 years. I am tall so I didn't really realize how much i put on until one day I got on a scale at the docs. I was in the 190's & no way was that going to remain! That was it! I've only lost 5 pounds in the last 6 weeks but I'm sticking with it.

Also, I come from an obese family, my mother is currently about 450 pounds. She is by far the largest but almost all of my family members were/are obese. It's sick...no offense to anyone here that may be obese and working toward that goal of health! My family members do not, they just keep stuffing their faces & getting more disgusting by the day. I would rather leave this earth than to be like them so I'm starting by ensuring I get healthy now!

Several reasons. Needing a 14 pants consistenly, not being able to run with my kids That was the worst. They are active, skinny little things and I want them to grow up healthy. There is history of heart problems and cancer on my side and my husbands, so my kids get it from all directions. My husband is coming around to wanting to exercise too and makes me very happy. I am grateful for all the support from this site and love to read the inspiriing stories!

my end reason for losing weight was pretty silly. i was promised a trip to england if i lost 20 kilos and that was that. the trip is april 21st, i have lost about 44 pounds and have a bit more to lose until then.
but the reasons leading up to me doing it once and for all were many.

For start my wedding day was not a fond memory. on the way to church my dress broke because i gained loads of weight before the wedding, i got asked by numerous people if im pregnant/when the baby is due on the day and i ended up in tears.

Then i had my first baby but my dreams of a natural birth were shattered because i developed pre eclampsia and had to have a ceserean due to my weight.
Then i had my second baby and once again had to have a ceserean but this time i was even fatter and they couldnt find my spine to do aceserean where i was awake and i had to be put under and dont remember much at all except for excruciating pain!
and the last even i remember was my sons christening. i had some pictures ont he fridge of me thin because i was trying to motivate myself and a relative saw them and said in front of loads of people: see,look how thin you used to be. wasnt i right when i told you to be careful not to gain weight? and this ruined the day for me and i was in the toilet crying and punching the wall. i thought i was angry at her but i realise i was angry at me for not losing the weight...
and shes one of my main goals to see her and be thin and rub it in her face.

yes my weight has been in my way putting a damper on every event of my life but now i will no longer let it. enough is enough!

My Father passed away a few years ago at the ripe old age of 48. I am 30 now and don't wanna look at my life as been 18 years from being over. I owe it to my kids, my wife, and myself to do better and be healthy. The final straw was this past December I had my gallbladder removed and lost a little weight. Then within a month i gained it back plus some and decided what I was doing was not working. I DO NOT WANT TO BECOME A STATISTIC because I was too lazy to change my lifestyle so here I am!

I was recently diagnosed with MS, and I began to mentally put my bucket list together and realized I needed to do these things while I still can. The first two things on my list were running a 5k and racing Motorcross/Enduro. Both require fitness, so I joined MFP and a local gym and here I am two dress sizes down and 24 pounds less since December. I've been training for my first 5k at the end of the month, and I've been taking motorcycle lessons from my husband on my new bike. I've wanted to lose weight for more than 10 years now, but there's no motivation like being diagnosed with a potentially debilitating disease to get your butt off the couch.