The most motivating thing that happened to you.....

Hi everyone. Just thought I would start a thread where we could share stories about the most motivating thing that was said, done, hapened etc that either got us to finally lose weight or maybe keep on going.....what was your moment?

For me it was standing in the mirror and thinking to myself. "Look what I've become". I would pretty much devour anything in sight not thinking about how many calories. I was sick of being fat.

I had lost a little bit og weight due to the fact that I joined a running thing. I weighed myself, and saw that I had lost five pounds in a few months. I was carrying hoe groceries the next day, and I weighed those. They were five pounds. I though, "I used to carry that much more weight on my body. " Then I realized that I would be more agile, and possibly a better runner if I was lighter. It worked. I didn't diet or anything. I just cut out a lot of food, and ate healthy foods. I couldn't give up my muffins or bagels with peanut butter though.

Alex proposed to me.  Rolls and all.  I wan to look even more stunning than I am now for him the day we say our "I Do"s.

edit: fixed a typo.

My endocrinologist said "If you don't lose 40 pounds as soon as possible, you will drop dead soon."

EEEEEEEK!!!!

*THUD*

(So I am now dieting!)

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=^..^=  Molly (my cute pet photos are cuter than yours!)

I had found cc doing a random google for a calorie content, that was back in May. I posted my stats on the Twin thread. About 6 weeks later I had fallen off the diet and gained back everything I lost. Then I got a pm from another member saying she was my twin. She organised a competition and I joined. Talk about a motivator--it's great to have this site and friends :)

Well this is sad and I am even faling off the wagon but getting back on and did join LA, and lost a little already. But a few weeks ago, we went on a family day trip. We were in a mall and a very obese man was walking by. My 5 year old daughter blurted out "oh man, that guy ate too much!!" Okay I was mortified but I also don't think he heard her and I HOPE not. I told her immediately it was NOT nice to say things like that and to not do that again. I have told her before to not make comments about other people's looks, apparently it can take repitition. But a few days later I thought so much about it. I couldn't help but think "you know what if it was me walking around the mall and some kid said the exact same thing about me". Or worse yet, well there was a time when I lost 55lbs and now I put 60lbs of that on :( The same people I am sure say things "what ashame, how she put that on". But anyway, I think my daughter's comment about that man was an eye opener for me. And I also think more so than that, reading up on so many things and really understanding that binge eating is a lot more than just trying to cover up hurt feelings, anger and sadness. Because that is why I have battled my weight in the first place all of my life and that is also what had caused me to gain all of that lost weight I initially had. Soooo I guess those are my motivators. 

Moving to the "plus sized" section of the store.... I had, for the longest time, been on the waaaaaaaay outer limits of "average," and had taken this as a comfort, since I'm the smallest of my friends. The day I could no longer wear my pants, I flew into a panic... and somewhere in that emotional OMG, a switch flipped.

yesterday, when my biggest pair of jeans sprouted a hole on the inner thigh from rubbing :(. That and realizing i was pushing 150 (i'm pretty short).

When I went to the bariactric doctor for the first time ever and found out more than half my body is fat, and that my BMI is 44.7 making me morbidly obese.

That has been the biggest kick in the rear to get moving, so far.

Wedding photos from my bf's sister's wedding in Aug 06. I had thought I had looked so amazing in my brand new outfit, but the photos shattered all the lies I'd been telling myself. I decided to lose weight by starving myself (I thought it was the only way) and found C-C, which gave me a second kick in the butt when I found out my BMI had crept into the obese range. eep. but, C-C also told me I had to eat at least 1200 calories, so I did. And suddenly, for the first time the scale reversed direction. Yippee! And now, I stay motivated by thinking how now I can run 5k easily and before I couldn't even walk up the hill to my house without getting winded, and how shopping is fun now cause all the stores carry my size :)

I was having headaches quite frequently and went to a neurologist that ordered an MRI of my brain.  There was an abnormal enhancement on the films.  The neurologist, who was less than tactful about this sort of thing, faxed me some orders to see some specialists, including a neurosurgeon and oncologist!  Both of the orders used the words "possible lymphoma or glioma."  I spent an entire weekend plus a couple of days thinking I had lymphoma or some type of cancerous tumor.  It was the scariest few days of my life.

Everything turned out to be ok (I just need to have it monitored every year to make sure the abnormality doesn't change) but at the time I was 270 lbs and smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.  HELLO... the experience made me realize that life is too short, and I should be taking good care of the one body I have to life with for as long as I can!  I may not be able to prevent something like a brain tumor if that were to happen, but I can prevent a lot of other things that could develop if I were to remain obese as I was, not to mention a smoker.

So that very week I quit smoking and started losing weight with CC

Well today, the day before school is going to start, im with a bunch of friends and we are all playing video games. The host was like ''whooooo wants ice cream'' and seeing as i was good all day, last day of summer break, plus it was lowfat vanilla icecream, i though 'hmm okay, a bowl''. The second i take a bit, like i mean a bit, one tablespoon, a friend of mine was like ''hey taylor you fatass quick hogging the icecream''. so, out of spite, im going to go to the gym tomorrow for an extra hour, and eventually lose weight, and then have some more ice cream with her, and watch what she says then. =]

I have had hypoglycemia all my life but lately I'm starting to flip over into pre-diabetic.  I'm really busy with work and knew I needed to work harder on losing weight someday.

2 weeks ago, my brother had blood work done, and was almost diagnosed diabetic. (he had fasting levels over 120 1x but 2nd time was below 120)  He is now on meds to help keep his sugar from going to high.  The dr is telling him he MUST lose weight or he is going to put him on a liquid diet or insulin.

I realized that was me...we look alike, same genetics, he is just about 75# overweight and I'm about 45#.  If I kept gaining I'd be looking at worse and worse health problems. 

I'm down 4# and I want to stay encouraged and do it this time.  I've started and stopped so many times when the junk food calls too loud. 

I really am motivated by reading all your stories too, and glad I found this board.  I'm already seeing improvement in my morning blood sugar levels and its only been a few days, and that motivates me too.  It wasn't any really big thing, it was a whole lot of little things.  Like all my clothes getting too tight.  I hate pics taken of me.  Being tired all the time.  On and on. 

When I hit 30 and went for a doc checkup and found myself on the charts as being 'moderatly overweight' Im still considered that but losing 30+ lbs is working my way down to slightly overweight very soon and to me thats a HUGE accomplisment. I want to be a role model to my kids, I dont want them to remember  me always as a very pudgy round mommy but a fun active energetic mommy that wanted to do everything with them. Last but not least Im finally able to try on clothes in other stores not just the large women ones. I can go in and buy regular  clothing in just about any store in the mall. Happy Me!

Busting through the 200 pound mark and wondering what would happen if past trends continued into the future.

Lots of people list health reasons as the motivating factor, which is good, because if you do this for your health it's more likely to stick.

As for me, my motivation was both health and also vanity! 

I was complaining to my doctor about gaining 25 lbs and suspecting it was a side effect of a med I was on. He shrugged and said he didn't think it was a side effect, then added "Welcome to your 40s." I.e., it's just plain inevitable to gain weight as you age!!

Frankly, that got me pissed off. I *don't* think it's inevitable to gain weight with age. Or rather, I was just not ready to roll over and give up. I figure I still have a good 25-30 years before I decide to let myself go.

So I used my anger and turned it into determination to show him. LOL.  I saw him recently and he is pretty impressed - especially because all my tests results have improved, too. :-)

When I started university, I was at my highest weight and I always hated it. I was always big. One of the main reasons was because I did NO exercise. An all women's gym opened in my hometown and I finally bit the bullet and joined. That's all it took.

Well, when I started dieting it was because of the health issues and the things people said about me. Being picked on. Then I got down to half of myself and I guess imagined people were still saying it. So, I kept at it. Then, I started really liking a guy and didn't care about eating or not eating, so I think I just stayed the same weight. Later, he said he was "too shallow to date me" and low and behold...dieting was back on schedule. And now I diet because I have a goal of 140 by Halloween so I can dress like Marilyn Monroe and (hopefully) not be self-concious :).

I wrote a book in my profile on it but an intervention by an angel named Alice who convinced me my weight didnt have to kill me and the journey is possible plus a promise to be their every step of the way.

This forum and particularly the support at the southbeach thread takes a strong 2nd place.

I'm not over weight by any means. I do my best to eat health but for a while I would indulge more then I should, and I can't lie, I have fallen pray to quite the few binges in my time. You just don't realize you're doing it.

Now like I said, I'm not fat. I'm a normal healthy weight, but I have a small frame so the fat I do carry on my body stands out more. I wanted to tone up and get lean and the best motavation for me was when I was trying on a shirt for my mother to see and she goes "Oh no, way too tight. Just look, you can see all of your bulges."

Now I weight 120-117 pounds, I shouldn't have bulges. I was so offended by this comment that I am now hell bent on proving her wrong.