What made you decide to lose weight?

For me, it was when I tried on my shorts from last year and there was probably a three inch space between the button and the hole.  WOW!  That did it for me.  I'm going to get my beach body back though for the summer.

For me it was when my wardrobe got smaller and smaller...funny how all of my clothes were shrinking.  Finally a co-worker was talking about dieting and mentioned that she  wished she only had to lose what I had to lose...ouch...no more denial.

For me, after years of failed yo-yo dieting I finally decided enough is enough. My handball skills have deteriorated somewhat due to weight gain. Also, I developed arthritis in both my knees after several injuries. Unlike my past, this time I'm very determined to change my life - not just go on a temporary diet. With the help of this site & the great people who post here I know I will finally make it.

Nathan

For me, it was Plantar Fasciitis and the pain that's associated with that. In addition to not wanting to activate any disease that come by way being overweight. After I learned that the Plantar Fasciitis (in both feet) could go away if I shed the extra pounds, I was suddenly (for once in my attempts to loose weight, life) was on board and determined. I got ultra serious about losing weight. I can't have my feet hurting. It gets so bad now that I can barely walk at times. Pain is a great motivator.

Realising that I was overweight and unhappy because of it. Not wanting to spend anymore time being unhappy. Sick of trying and trying at the gym with no results. Becoming more miserable about how I used to look great and now I dont. Clothes not fitting so great. And I could go on...

But now I'm here so all will change hopefully!

When I walked upstairs at my house and was out of breath

Initially it was my Oct 2009 wedding but as I sat and thought about ALL the reasons I came up with the fact that I didn't like the number on the scale.  I refused to buy clothes that were larger, it hurt to bend over and tie my shoes.  Fiance and I went to the Bahamas in July 2008 and when we got the pics back I was HORRIFIED!  In the past I could "hide" the weight in clothes but these pics weren't holding anything back.  I decided then and there that things needed to change.  I have trouble staying motivated sometimes though but I'm working on that.  I'm working out and counting those calories.  Hoping to lose 25 to 30 lbs by September, I've lost about 12 lbs since January.  Very slow loss but I'm happy with it!

My clothes progressively became tighter, to the point where the few size 12's I own even became too tight. I'm stubborn by nature and I refused to buy new clothes in a size 14. I had determined at that point in time that I either had to lose weight or go to work naked!

My experience has been similar to the others here... watching my wardrobe change, having to buy size 14 more frequently and worrying about what's coming next.... specialty stores? I'm turning 40 this year and that's a real time of reckoning. The few photos of myself that I haven't hidden from are a real slap in the face as well.

At first, an older man came up to me at work and said, "you're getting more and more voluptous every time I see you....I don't know if that's a good thing".  I kinda brushed it off until one day I caught a glimpse of my behind and realized I turned into Sponge-Butt square-pants.  It was then that I decided to make a change.

It Sounds so cliché, but I was watching Oprah one day where the guest was a woman who once having weighed 600 lbs or so, lost 400 lbs. At that time I weighed 293 lbs. While I watched that woman, I was thinking to myself "how did she ever let herself go that much! She must have been eating a ton!".  But what she said really affected me. She said she had gotten to 600 lbs just one hamburger at a time.

I realized, I might not be eating 3 or 4 bugers at a time, but a little bit of overeating here, a couple of extra cookies there would lead down the same path as this woman.

I that time (at the commercial break) I decided I would not wait until tomorrow to start. From that minute on I was consciously watching what I was eating. I have since lost 102 lbs. Whenever I feel like overindulging or justifying glutonous eating, I think about what she said. "Just one burger at a time".

It all started for me when I got a new job.  I had been working at a Radiology facility and wearing scrubs to work.  Scrubs hide a multitude of sins and if you avoid the mirror, you can be in denial all you want.  Well I got a regular office job and I needed clothes and I had to go to the Big Girls store to get them.  It was my first wake-up call but it still wasn't enough to get serious.  Finally when we applied for life insurance and I had to have a physical.  When they weighed me and it came out 200 lbs (5'3") that was the last straw, and I haven't looked back since.

For me it was when I realized that I cannot donate my kidney to my mother who needs one. The doctor said my BMI was too high. I have never felt so selfish in my life. I cannot help her because of my weight. I am beyond motivated now. Wish us luck guys!!!

Partly it was this picture and the realization that I abhored having my picture taken because it showed me that woman I didn't recognize.

It was also realizing that I was 39 and I was putting in my application to return to college and that I could live with being the "old chick" in my classes with kids my son's age, but I couldn't live with being the "old fat chick" in those classes. I couldn't change my age, but I could change my weight.

So now, 65 pounds later, I look like this and I'm doing better and better all the time. As a happy side-effect of my vanity, I have more energy to be a full-time student, work full-time, and still find time for my kids. I've finished my first semester back in school and I'm ready for more.

ms_anaa23, that is one of the best reasons ever I have heard for losing weight and I have faith in you that you can do this. Go you!

my mom's high triglycerides.  and need for improved lifestyle. (and she was slim to start)

so after gaining weight i realised i needed changes too.  i'm much happier putting forth more effort!

**dreadfulpenny you look great keep up the good work.  =)

The moment of truth came for me when I was visiting my parents over the holidays and found a scale in the garage and weighed myself for the first time in over a year. When it red 211, I wondered why in the world they kept "an old, broken scale" rather than throwing it away. Two weeks later while at a my boyfriend's house, I weighed myself again and it read 96 kilos. After typing that in google and having 211 pop up on the screen again I realized my parents scale wasn't actually broken! I knew I had to change!!

Now I've lost 27 pounds and am loosing more every week!! :)

Before I got pregnant I weighed 160lbs, two months after she was born I was 207lbs! I couldn't believe I had gained that much in less than nine months!

But the main reason I started this journey is because I want to be a good example on how to lead a healthy life for her. I wanted her to know how important it is to eat healthy, not smoke or do drugs and exercise. I have more energy now than ever!

For me it was right at new years '07 and the last pair of jeans that I had that sorta fit me ripped. I was sooo mad at myself.

i got engaged!  and i saw pics of myself from that weekend and I thought - i want to look better and feel better too!  i lost most everything i wanted to almost a year before the wedding date and just maintanted.  but now that all the celebrating and the holdays went by, i need to lose a few again :)

I got to the point where the spare tyre was uncomfortable when I was sitting down - so I knew something had to change! Once I had decided to change the next step was finding the best way to do it. I have tried weight watchers before - lost a lot of weight - and put it all back on - and some!! So I knew it had to be something different. CC appeals to me as it makes perfect sense - no complicated rules to learn or live by - just do more than you eat!I have lost 7lb so far....only 38 to go!

Seeing my dad at 23 stone Christmas 2007, breathless, bow legged in agony with his legs and back, with heart problems diabetes, sleep apnea and high blood presure, I was going the same way I had reached 20 stone and was going for all the tests and had high blood pressure and had terrible pains in my back and kness too, my breasts when i sat down lay on my massive stomach and my tummy lay heavy on my legs I was uncomfortable sitting standing and couldn't bend and I was allowing my M.E and depression take over my life and comfort ate and binged, Looking at my Dad made me realise that was going to be me if I carried on.

Thankfully I am now a healthy BMI and weigh 12 stone just under and lost a whopping 8 stone in a year and 5 months and I am clear of Diabetes, my blood pressure is normal my heart is healthy and I control the ME and Depression rather than it controls me and have a better healthier view about food.

Sadly for my Dad He is 75 and refusing to do anything about his weight.

Best wishes

Astralhippy