What made you decide to lose weight? (oops, this is a topic)

New years was it for me. It wasn't a resolution, I was just so miserable at the party. I felt like crap in all the clothes I tired on and felt so self-conscious. I hated myself. All I could think about was my rolls and I felt like a giant and not feminine at all. I felt so unsexy with my boyfriend (even though he's never made me feel that way himself).

I was out of control...the year before I tried to lose for 4 months and got no where. I had to do something right this time. I was tired of feeling sorry for myself and needed to start loving myself again.

That next day I started working out  regularly and joined cc in February. Now, 30 pounds lighter, I couldn't be happier.

I am curious about your story.  What was your life changing moment? How did you feel?

This time around, and it will stick, it was having a hernia operation.  This was caused partially by my weight and I've had it.  I'm not even 2 weeks in yet but it's made up my mind.

The operation to fix it was a "minor" operation but it totally messed me up.  Plus, I'm not getting younger and if I don't be careful with my health I'll need "major" operations much sooner in life than if I get healthy.

It just made me realize how much I needed to be good to myself and not just eating stupid.

When my mother-in-law came over to borrow pants from me... and I thought, yeah right they won't fit her- and they were LOOSE on her! 

gdavid,

I am doing this to stay as healthy as possible for my life also.  We only have so much time on this planet, and I don't want to spend it with type II diabetes or in a walker. 

Way to go! What a great attitude!

Original Post by greenpea88:

When my mother-in-law came over to borrow pants from me... and I thought, yeah right they won't fit her- and they were LOOSE on her! 

 AH! That's such a nightmare! lol. My aunt is this tiny little, skinny hottie and I jsut think, "this isn't right!! I'm the younger one! I should be hotter!"lol. But I love her!

Osteoarthritis in my knees at age 35 and 235 lbs. I am now 37, 170 lbs and pain free.  Still 30 more lbs to go tho before I am done losing, but my motivation has shifted to more general health and appearance reasons now that I've gotten a glimpse of how good carrying less weight feels ...

Original Post by scalebeater:

Osteoarthritis in my knees at age 35 and 235 lbs. I am now 37, 170 lbs and pain free.  Still 30 more lbs to go tho before I am done losing, but my motivation has shifted to more general health and appearance reasons now that I've gotten a glimpse of how good carrying less weight feels ...

 Way to go on the weight-loss thus far! That's fantastic! My mom was walking out of a store and tore cartilage in her knee...just walking! She's about 5'3" 200+ lbs. The doctor even said that extra weight will cause that. I bought her a pedometer.  The other day, I checked her steps (records 7 days) and they all said '0'. I was FUMING mad.  Good for you that you're actually doing something about it!

Maybe we can "sticky" this one and ditch the "loose" one?

I can't really describe what happened, I just felt "ready" to correct the last 25 years of overeating and under-exercising last Januray.  I was facing surgery in February, and the multiple doctor's visits (I normally don't spend much time at the doctor, since I am healthy in spite of my weight) showed scary numbers on the scale.  I didn't want to have a long, hard recovery from surgery, so I just started exercising more and watching my portions.  I knew I couldn't lose a lot of weight in 6 weeks, but I thought I could at least be as fit as possible.

At the end of March I found CC (I had already lost about 15 pounds), and the tools (especially the food log and the recipe analyzer), advice (Ask Mary is great!), and community support have made it really easy to stick to my program.  I am now about halfway to goal weight, don't feel deprived or bored or like I am "on a diet".  I just feel as if I am eating and living the way I want to for the rest of my life, and I am confident I will reach goal and maintain once I do.  My only regret is that I didn't figure all this out 25 years ago!

What made me decide to lose weight? I have never decided NOT to lose weight (LOL). I am always trying to lose weight. I get to my goal weight for a day, then start back up the yo-yo! ugh!!!!

I have been using this website since August and it's helping me a lot! I've had a few attempts at "fixing" the eating problem throughout my life. My weight has fluctuated since I was a teen. Never, morbidly obese but, in HS I ballooned to 175 lbs (5'5") ; Anorexic in college - 120 lbs. (very buxom); in pregnancy as high as 190 lbs. Generally about 160 lbs has been my average weight. It's not obese, but it's not thin. I always want to get 20 lbs off.

I've always been addicted to the good feelings I get from eating. I am an emotional eater. I hate the effects: being over weight, tight clothes, feeling sick, low self-esteem. I've binged more nights away than I can count. Once I started eating a snack at night, I couldn't stop!

I have been using a twelve step program to get a handle on this since 2001. I work my program every day including a food plan. I am constantly playing with my food plan to find one that satisfies me, yet keeps me from binging. That's a tough job. I stopped eating anything after dinner last May and I have kept my weight steady. (I sometimes overeat during the day, but I am not binging at night!)

I love this website because it's scientific. I don't have to restrict certain foods, just watch portions. It's Calories in, calories out: simple math. And I love the group fellowship found here, it makes me feel less alone in this battle.

Thanks for asking!

Original Post by kickinthehabit:

 My weight has fluctuated since I was a teen. Never, morbidly obese but, in HS I ballooned to 175 lbs (5'5") ; Anorexic in college - 120 lbs. (very buxom); in pregnancy as high as 190 lbs. Generally about 160 lbs has been my average weight. It's not obese, but it's not thin. I always want to get 20 lbs off.

 My weight would fluctuate ALL the time. I would think, "well, so I gained weight. I lose so easily, it'll come off". Yeah, I would lose when i was stressed and too busy to eat a balance diet so my deficit was always high (not that I knew that) and I would gain because when I was relaxed, I would be a lazy bum and pig out all the time. What I learned about myself is that I was INCONSISTENT with healthy choices and that's what led to my weigh ups and downs.  Now I know how to lose and maintain.

It's only been about 3 weeks since I've been in maintenance mode (until jan), but it's been going well with eating healthy (not as much cal counting) and occasional treats, while staying active. Now that I've actually been TRYING to lose weight, I know that it is hard to do and I wont make that mistake again...man I hope a future pregnancy doesn't mess things up LOL!

Original Post by dkenworthy:

My only regret is that I didn't figure all this out 25 years ago!

 Congrats on the weight-loss! & BTW, it's never too late! Just think of how happy you are that you didn't wait to find this until 2010! I found cc totally by accident. I think I was looking up fast food or something. From that day (feb. 3rd) I have been a regular. I love the people on this site...they're so knowledgeable and really help put things in prospective!

There were basically two things.  First, the back and knee pain was getting worse, so I'm hoping that, at some point, it will lessen.  Second, I want to be able to wear clothes from a regular store and not have to buy online from a site that specializes in clothes for larger women. 

I haven't found one this time, but the last time I lost weight, it was because I went to the Dr. office and my hubby went in with me.  I had no idea how much I weighed because I was in denial, and I want to dissolve into the floor when I weighed in at 165 - an all-time high (I'm 5'3" and small frame)  I really thought I weighed around 130-140.  I was so embarrassed for him to see how much I weighed, so I immediately started dieting and exercising and lost 50 lbs within a year. 

Unfortunately, I gained 30 of it back, so back to the drawing board...

I'm with Kick in that I have always been trying to lose weight. I got heavier with each pregnancy and when those damn coordinated sweatsuits came into style in the early 80's, I got spoiled to the comfort and my sizes just kept creeping up. I remember when my mom gave me a pair of her slacks and I wore them all the time just because they were larger and more comfortable.

I found CC last year while thumbing through a Prevention magazine. I was successful with it, but the Thanksgiving holiday came and I was totally destroyed. I think because this site works, I DID get overconfident that I could just pick up where I left off and the weight would just start coming off again (and that's true, but you have to get back on the program and count the calories and exercise but I never really got back into it and kept it up.)

This year, I finally committed to a trip with my daughter to a dude ranch next June and after being matched with a draft horse on my last ride, I knew I didn't want to feel like some poor horse was going to suffer next summer just because I want to go riding! So I jumped back into my account here with both feet and, yes, the weight is coming off like it should when I'm diligent. I feel lighter some mornings! I was telling a friend on this site that my karate kick pants are looser now.  And if 17 lbs feels this good, I keep wondering happily just what the next 17, and the next 17 and the next 17 will feel like. I might just float instead of walk!

I do an occasional journal entry to keep myself motivated, but the forums here are a daily visit for me. I love to hear success stories from others because it reinforces the fact that this does work, and eventually I'll have a similar tale.

One last thing: I don't know if I'm unique here, but I never FELT as big as I am/was. Whenever I see pictures of myself I am shocked. So every time I see one, it's another little "moment" where I decide to keep counting and not look back.

I'm with Shoe.  I never felt as big as I was either.  I dressed nice and thought I looked ok.  Well at 5'5" and 226, not so much.  I'm now down to 155 and I look back at those pictures and shudder.

The funny thing is that even at 155, I still feel like I have a long way to go.  My ultimate goal is 147, so I am close weight wise.  I just need to tone this body up!

I was diagnosed  with PCOS  a  couple of years ago. Then, I started loosing a lot of hair. The easiest solution to the problem was to loose weight and add exercise to get the insulin and hormone levels under control.  It was rather shocking to lose hair while still in college and I decided to start loosing weight before it was too late to reverse the hair loss. It may sound vain but  has now lead me to a better and healthier way of life

I wish I could pinpoint exactly what it was.  Something just "snapped".  I just had enough.  I had read a review of Tom Venuto's The Body Fat Solution and decided to buy it.  Ordered the book, plastic calipers and a heart rate monitor from Amazon last April.  When they arrived, I read the book (in 2 days), created a spreadsheet to track my calories and workouts, and starting writing down everything that went in my mouth.  Figures that all the things my trainer had been telling me was true.  Calorie deficits really are all you need.  For whatever reason, I just hadn't been ready to accept that before.

Original Post by acretin:

 I read the book (in 2 days), created a spreadsheet to track my calories and workouts, and starting writing down everything that went in my mouth.  Figures that all the things my trainer had been telling me was true.  Calorie deficits really are all you need.  For whatever reason, I just hadn't been ready to accept that before.

 Wow, that's so true! I have been trying to tell my mom & friends this for so long and like me a year ago, they don't want to accept that. I'm so happy we've realized the "trick" to losing weight.

I'm going to look up that book. That maybe something my mom would understand better (it's more "factual" than hearing her daughter go on and on).

Well the really cool thing about the book is that the entire first half deals with the psychology of emotional eating, mental reprogramming, etc.  He makes you think about the reasons why you overeat and how to overcome them.  The second half is about nutrition and workouts.  It was very motivating for me.

All right, I am buying it.  THANKS!

Good thread!

For me, I was happily married with a new baby...and gaining weight, and I was thinking "oh well, I will just be that fat n happy housewife...known for good cooking and goodies"....but I wasn't really happy with myself.

So in january 2008 I joined the gym...and somehow found this site. I did ok but then went through some "rough" months where things were busy...and my baby kept getting sick at the gym daycare...so I quit. I gained back some weight...but still thought I was ok......then I saw a picture of myself at my neice's b-day party. WHEW! It was a BAD one! I think the camera had a super wide angle, but it made me shudder and I decieded to try again.

 My husband got me a treadmill and I have been at it again since  January 2009. I am doing it SLOW...but steady.I have had a few rough, busy months...but I learned I can maintain during those times. I have lost a total of 40 pounds so far (all together) and I feel like even if it takes me till next summer...I will hit a healthy weight and keep it off this time.

So, for me it was an UGLY picture...I never thought I looked THAT bad!