What did it take for you to want to make a change?

to read later...

I had started to lose weight last easter, lost 20kg and fell off the wagon in october and gained 6 back. The day I decided to get back on track I had pigged out on junk food my husband had bought me and was complaining to my friend on fb who has lost nearly 100lbs about how I wished I hadn't eaten it. He replied "Well darlin you don't have to put it in your mouth" lightbulb switched on and here I am 42 days back on track and all the weight I had regained back off again.

My mom dying of lung cancer back in '07.

Yup, that pretty much convinced me that: A) life's too short to be skinny fat and the time is now to change, don't wait.

Sad to say but if she'd lived, I think I'd still be skinny fat. Her death was the only way to shake me up, unfortunately.

After Christmas 2011 I weighed nearly 100 kilograms; I did NOT want to be in triple figures.

So here I am - less of me, currently just under 80 kgs so glad I started on MFP.

I started looking older.
Then I met a guy who I though was in his 50s and he was buying the same food I was.
He was maybe 40-50lbs overweight.
Grey hair.
7 months preggo look....
Breaking point.

Funny thing is I was telling coworkers for 2 years that "I'm going to start working out soon. Gotta lose this gut!"

I blame Jamie Oliver.
After talking to the guy in the store and deciding to make a change, his show The Food Revolution came on and really helped me understand the importance of proper nutrition.

Now i'm making a career change.

For me it was multiple family members commenting on how I gained weight. I knew that I had, but when someone else notices... it really got to me.

Sadly one of my biggest motivators to change is my health insurance cost next year will be based on our annual assessment. They put out an email this year saying that we could get discounts if we participate in the physical and review of our health, but in reality mine was terrible and they told me next year I would pay based on this. I guess this is fair though as I am sure I don't spend more annually then a healthy person at a normal BMI but still....

Health assessment at work gave us preliminary cholesterol, glucose, etc. as well as blood pressure, bmi and Body fat %. I did it to just get enrolled in the "contest" for the drawing for prizes, but got numbers back that scared me. They weren't awful, but they were on their way. My daughter was 10 months old and while I lost all but 5 lbs of baby weight already, I realized that if I wanted to see her grow up and make exercise a part of HER life, I needed to fix it. I don't want my daughter to remember me as FAT. I want her to look at pictures one day of me when she was a baby and say, "Wow, my mom changed her life for ME". So, I started and haven't looked back since the day of that assessment. Had another one 4 months later and got out of Obese range, got out of the danger zone for cholesterol and blood pressure is good. Even was told I have the pulse rate of an athelete now. Oh how things change. 9 months later, I'm keeping up with it and will never go back to where I was. While I am struggling to lose any more lbs right now, I do see changes in my body getting stronger and slimmer and I am trying to focus on that.

For me it was a heart attack in January at 40-years-old. I didn't have high blood pressure or bad cholesterol. I have never smoked. I was about 50 pounds overweight but the doctor said that shouldn't have caused a heart attack. I was told I just needed to get into better shape and eat better as I was lucky and I may not be next time. I have four kids. I want to see them grow old. I'm now eating better and working out. I have a long way to go but this site and seeing all the success stories is very motivating. Anyone needs friends, feel free to add me. The more help with motivation the better.

I am a teacher. When school ended in May, I joined Pinterest. I found a lot of interesting activities on there that I wanted to do this summer. But, I can't crochet, can't sew and I don't know where my glue gun is. I saw a weight loss post, and said to myself, "Loosing weight is all about eating less and walking more. Eating and walking. I can do that."

Wow, you have come a long way in a very short amount of time. Awesome work! My mom is Type 2 diabetic. That did it for me!

I've been wanting to be back to my old self for awhile now. But I notices lately I've been taking inspiration from women I see with nice bodies like I used to have. I want to feel that again.

My boyfriend was at 183lbs and 5'8" (kinda chubby but not largely overweight) when we started dating in July of 2010 and I was (a healthy!) 95lbs and 5'0". As we continued dating, he decided to start working out again (he played sports growing up and in college) and I guess I just decided to eat :laugh: ......I got up to 118.5lbs, my second highest weight ever (I was about 120lbs in 6th grade...stopped weighing myself after I saw that number though).

I started "for real" working out and eating better in January 2012, oddly enough not as a new year's resolution (started last fall but quickly lost any interest I had). I knew that my clothes had been getting tighter and I never liked anything in my closet. Hell, I even joked with friends about how you know you need to lose weight when your underwear is too tight! But what made me change? I went to a bridal convention with my boyfriend's mother to get ideas for our upcoming wedding (which we don't have a date for yet :laugh: ). Something just clicked and I decided it was time to make a lifestyle change--if I was going to commit to the biggest change in my life, next to having children, I could commit to losing weight.

After the bridal convention, I hit the ground running. I started doing HIIT, weight training and eating clean. I started out with 19-23lbs to lose and so far I'm down 9lbs :drinker: . I may end up weighing more than my "goal weight" beause I want to gain muscle in addition to losing fat. Honestly, I don't care if I end up back at 118.5! As long as I'm fit, strong, and healthy, th number doesn't bother me.

Oh yeah, and fitting into my underwear :laugh:

Three weeks ago I was sitting on the edge of my bed, bottle of pills in my hand, ready to swallow them all. I was so miserable in my life. It is not the life I had imagined for myself. I started having kids 15 years ago and I have only been someones mom since then. I came to the realization that my stupidity would kill my husband and my children emotionally. I love them far more than I hate myself. So I put the pills back in the bottle and put on my shoes and went for my first real walk. I have walked every day since. I have decided that losing weight, getting healthier and feeling better is a way to escape some of the pain I am in. Mentally, emothionally and physically. I am making other big changes in my life like trying to get my first real job or else enroll in school. I refuse to be a prisioner in my own mind anymore. Walking is about all that I can do at this point but it is so freeing to my mind and my soul.