what started it all for you?

Well my friend always says she can't wait for us to share clothes when we live together, and I look at me then her, and I realize that'll never happen if i don't lose weight! So, I mean she really did it for me!
I did it for myself too, I've always wanted to lose weight, but that was a big push for me! I just wanna look and feel good and not have to worry about what people are saying and thinking about me.

Sick of my belly jiggling over my pants...yuk

I had ballooned up to 265 lbs, biggest I have ever been. My sister-in-law started the Atkins diet and lost about 20 lbs really quickly so I gave it a try. I lost about 65 lbs on it but missed my fruit and veggies. I still don't eat potatoes, pasta, rice or bread but I eat all the fruits and veggies I want. It was about a lifestyle change for me. I can't even eat pizza anymore, lol, don't even desire to eat it. I have cheat days so I don't binge but it's the lifestyle change that has helped me (it's been 16 mos)

I was the girl picked last in high school gym class( as well as the pariah noone wanted to sit next to during lunch but that's for another thread!) . I sucked at volleyball and basketball and baseball....etc.

I figured I must just not be athletic.

I was teased in gym, had the ball thrown at me. Told to my face I sucked and I was awful. I remember trying, I was never one of those kids who made an excuse not to participate but my classmates let me know everyday that I was a loser. What happened in the gym followed me throughout highschool.

Well I joined the army. Found out I was good at running (I was always first or 2nd girl in when my platoon ran) and i never even attempted to join track back in highschool because of my miserable experiences in gym class. Maybe if I had, I would have found what I was good at sooner!

Also found out I was very good at lifting heavy things..lol. I did the most pushups out of all the girls in my platoon. I was one of three girls who could do pullups. So I found out I was actually strong.

What that taught me is EVERYONE is athletic. You just have to find the right sport! Team sports are obviously not my forte. But individual athletic endeavors I can succeed at.

Had I not been picked on in gym...I probably would have been content to pack on the pounds like the majority of my classmates have done through the years. My 20 yr reunion is two years away and I am determined to be HOTNESS at that time.

Yeah, high school may have been years ago but all that hurt never really leaves you.

My wake up call was when I saw my new Driver's license photo. My face was so round. I was embarrassed how far I had let myself go.

It started after going on medication to lower my cholesterol .

what a great thread. I realized that I've wasted the last 20 years of my life being miserable and too fat to do the things i really want to do and that my life is half over. this time i am actually losing the weight and am determined to do it slowly but as a permanent lifestyle. also, i see my daughter engaging in terrible eating behaviors and gaining weight (although she's actually doing it like her dad, sweets, sodas, unbalanced diet whereas i mostly just overate on healthy foods) and i want to be able to steer her the right way. my son is super-athletic and he was getting pretty frustrated with his fat mom. well, he was right, overeating and not excercising was definitely a choice that i was making. one thing that really got me exercising was when he made an off the cuff remark that i was incapaple of exercising consistently (he swims 6 days a week). well, that got me mad and i didn't want him to believe that about me even though it is true that i have never exercised consistently. so the bet was that i exercise 6 days a week (we started at 12 miles but he got tired of losing and so he keeps increasing it and this week's challenge is that i do 18 miles). Punishments were helpful in nature like he has to cook dinner all week or the week I lost i had to pick him up from his activities on time each day. so it's been an imperfect process but it is progress and this time I WILL get there!