what started it all for you?

I woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and thought 'This is NOT who I want to be.'

ditto

What happened in your life to make you want to loose weight and be healthier?

Trying on my last years bathing suit just before Memorial Day and not being able to get it over my fat thighs.

Seeing my engagement photos I was at my heaviest weight at that point.

1. I was going on vacation in New York and even though I hike some, I know I would not have the stamina to handle it - I knew I couldn't lose much in the time I had, but I also needed to exercise daily. I lost 20 pounds and increased my daily walking from 2500 to 10,000 steps - in New York I was ended up doing 21,000 steps in a day and enjoyed every minute.

2. A lot of people around me are getting sick and it scares me. I'm the only one that is very overweight, but for some reason my health is still good. I realized I have been given a gift of being able to exercise and lose the weight - it's only my willpower stopping me.

It took a picture to be my wake up call.

nothing huge or major, really. I have always beeen somewhere on the spectrum of acceptible healthy weight.
except for a few years wheen I was 20 pounds underweight. I think I got concerned about the damage being 20# underweight could be- so I ate more, then lewrned to eat healthy. 135# is a good weight for me, but when I was about 33 yrs old I slowly started to get past that- them I got a tumor- which ended up being the size of a honeydew melon- which made me tired, constiated, gain weight, slow-digestion, etc...

I got up to 150# (which actually is still in the health range, I was told for my age(40) and height (5'6 1/2"), after the surgery I dropped to 144# and decided it was a good time to work on health and eating- to help my with recovery.

I would LIKE to be 135# again, BUT if I am eating really healthy and getting good exercise then I will weigh what my body 'lands at' and be happy with it.

My 18th birthday rolled around and my mom took me out to dinner. I binged - not to celebrate, but because that's just what I always did. Binge, hurt, hate myself, rinse and repeat. That particular meal stuck with me for about two weeks, I just could not shake the shame. Also, this was around the time I had stopped wearing jeans because they were too tight...it was ugly sweats or stay home.
Two weeks after my bday I said enough is enough, started logging my calories and eventually exercising. Been a few stops, a couple of false starts, trip-ups and days where I didn't give my all but for the most part I never looked back.

When my mom called me in 2007 to tell me her cancer was considered 'terminal". I made the decision right there and then, I was going to get healthier no matter what. I haven't looked back since.

i was about 30 lbs overweight and in early May I realized that bI didn't overeat, but I did eat too much of the things I shouldn't, like sweets. So i started tracking everything I ate about the 6th of May and then I was introduced here. I also increased my running so no I am down 20 lbs and want to lose at least anothe 20!!

I was sitting in a wheelchair at the orthopedists office. He looked at my xrays and said " you need two new hips and because of years of dysplasia, you need work rebuilding the pelvis but I can't do it at your weight. If you sit in that chair too long, you will lose the muscles you need to ever walk again. Good luck". So it was lose weight or spend the rest of my life disabled and dependent on my husband to do what I used to do. I went home, started my gazillionth diet then decided on gastric bypass. It was just the help I needed to lose the 150 pounds I had been carrying for decades--and to get me out of the wheelchair. Good luck on finding the motivation that works for you. My life was harder and my disability worse by severe obesity.

Your story really impresses me! Good for you!

I started Pilates. It was not even a break-through decision...just that I have been reading and thinking for years...but never quite started anything. I was quite inspired by a friend whose body has transformed via Pilates. I found a good studio close by and started a few classes. it was a major "click" that I have been looking for! and with that as a base, the ball starts rolling....and I am onto more and more. There have been both successes and set-backs, but overall that "click" has stayed with me since last fall and it is still going strong.


I hope you will find your "click" soon. It is all about what works for you! Good luck.

My boyfriend asked me (while we were, ahem, enjoying each other's company) if I wouldn't mind going to the gym. It hurt, but it gave me the motivation I needed. Now I go to the gym almost every day and I'm starting to keep track of what I'm eating. I haven't lost a lot of weight, but I've lost inches and gained muscle.

I had spent my entire adult life morbidly obese. I had destroyed my left knee. I had a grand daughter that I couldn't play with the way I wanted to. My grand daughter's parents split up, and I went from keeping her every day to not even seeing her for over a month (due to the spitefulness of her mother). I spiraled deeper into depression, I was having some very scary physical symptoms (heart arrhythmias and blacking out being the worst ones), and I didn't even have a primary care physician... and didn't want one. I really was at the point where I just didn't care anymore - and I don't just mean about how unhealthy I was, I mean I didn't care if I lived anymore. Honestly, I got pissed off most mornings when I woke up...

My husband and the few close friends and family members that I have, the ones who really do care about me, were constantly on my case about getting to a doctor to get my heart checked out. They tried begging, pleading, even threatening... So I finally scheduled an appointment, just to shut them all up.

I went to that appointment on 3-June-2012. Within 5 minutes, this doctor "strongly suggested" gastric bypass surgery for me. I said "uh, thanks, but no thanks." He did blood tests, EKG, mammogram, upper GI imaging... ran me through the gamut. I went home from his office that day with 5 prescriptions, covering heartburn, cholesterol, and who remembers what else.

Now when I finally went to see a doctor, I had already begun losing weight, though it wasn't on purpose. I was unable to eat due to the stress in my life. My choices were either eat knowing it would make me throw up, or don't eat... so I wasn't eating...

Doctor wanted to see me again to do more testing in 2 weeks. I went in, had lost a few pounds, still not trying, and he added more prescriptions. I got home and was even more upset because not only was I tired of all the crap life was throwing at me, but also because we could NOT afford for me to be taking all this expensive medication. My husband is an insulin dependent diabetic, using an insulin pump, taking multiple medications, and he HAS to have his medicine... I couldn't stand the thought of wasting money on myself for medications when I didn't even want to be here anyway... Kind of the same way I stopped smoking... (finances were bad, and I counted out what change I could find. I came up with enough money to either buy one pack of cigarettes, or sandwich meat and a loaf of bread to feed my husband and kids for the 2 days till payday, but not both. I didn't choose cigarettes and haven't had once since, will be 5 years in January)

I still wasn't eating, hubby was monitoring that I took my medicine. One day, my son and daughter said they were going to go for a walk (she was 24, he was 16). I decided to tag along. Less than half a mile in and I thought I was going to die. I even told my daughter so. I told them that one of them was going to have to go get a car or call 911. They did neither. I managed to drag myself the remaining 1/4 mile home and swore I'd never do that again...

The next day, we walked a whole mile. And I walked with them every day for a week.

I hated it at first. I had grown to hate the thought of food too. Especially the way this Southern girl always cooked everything (fried, with bacon grease, mayo) and vegetables around here consisted of corn and potatoes... every "cooked" meal had white rice... but in my frame of mind, most suppers we had been eating for several months were either bacon sandwiches or hot dogs and french fries. And the french fries were deep fried, and were a 6 out of 7 nights a week thing.

Well, I could no longer eat all that grease. With the reflux, the hernia, and the fact that my nerves had my stomach in a constant state of turmoil, I had to find other things to eat. Not because I wanted to eat, but once again to shut those who cared enough to worry about me up.

I started making small changes. Baking the fries. Getting salad stuff.

My son and daughter weren't as keen about going walking every day anymore. I had started to look forward to it. I downloaded an app to my phone to track my walking. I liked the positive feedback.

I downloaded the MFP app on 9-August-2012 and have logged the foods I have eaten ever since that day. Now I may quick add calories for some things, but I've logged caloric intake since that day. Again, I liked being able to SEE what I was doing. Some of the people who were so "proud" of me, began to call me obsessed... to tell me I was getting too "into" tracking everything. My doctor, on the other hand, was excited to see the positive changes.

I don't know exactly when I realized that I was worth taking care of, that I had taken care of everyone else all my life, and that it was ok to take care of me now... but I DID realize it. And I'll never go back there.

I still don't see the 160-something pound Angie when I look in the mirror. Most of the time, I still see the 300 pound one. Occasionally, I startle myself when I catch my shadow or reflection in my peripheral vision. When I look at photos, I can clearly see the difference, but I can't believe it's me.

I've still got weight to lose, and I hope that a lot of this excess saggy skin will tighten up some... but for the first time in 40 years, I LIKE ME... I don't love me yet... don't know if I ever will... but hey, I LIKE me!

This time?

Well this time it was getting diagnosed with type 2 DM in early May. :sad:

At my Father's funeral, the first thing anyone said to me was, "Wow, you got FAT!!".

It was not just one comment, but many.