What made YOU realize you HAD to lose weight?

For it was a couple months ago.

I told my mom I wanted to go to the mall to buy some new clothes.

I got to the store and I started looking through all the clothes picked up 2 medium shirts and 3 size 9 shorts. I was pulling up the shorts and it DIDN'T FIT ME. Size 9!

But most of all I didn't feel beautiful nor comfortable anymore. :\

I told my mom I didn't want anything and went home cried for 3 hours and decided to do something and here I am. 10 pounds lighter and 20 to go. :D

How about you?

AFTER my wedding, when I saw myself in all the photos, I knew it was time to lose weight.  I'm down 30 lbs since then (last November).  It's sad for me, because those photos are of such a special day that I don't want to forget, but I can't stand the way I looked then.  I wish I had tried losing before the wedding, but it just didn't seem important at the time.  Sigh. 

That was then and this is now.  I'm just 10-15 lbs from my goal weight and feel fantastic.  :-)

Mine was that I went to a cousin's wedding in July and then when we got back I saw some pics of myself at the wedding.  I just cringed and then said, "That's enough!  I'm losing weight."  I'm down 12 pounds, 15 to go!

In 2004, when I reached 225 pounds and started having sleep apnea and arthritic pain, and had trouble getting up from chairs.  It just hit me that if I kept on gaining weight, I might become disabled and nobody would be able to help me because I would be too big.

That year and during 2005, I lost a little weight, but didn't really lose much until I found calorie count in January of 2006.  I at about a 50 pound loss with 25 more to go to reach a normal BMI.

The sleep apnea and pain have completely stopped.

Seeing pictures of myself that other people had taken and realizing that even wearing my "fat" clothes (large dark colored t-shirts and jeans) I still looked entirely unattractive to myself.  The only "good" pictures of me were ones that I'd taken at weird angles to hide my bulges and face-fat.  Even down 35lbs I still have excess "face fat," but it's not nearly as bad.

I think that seeing pictures other people have taken really brings home how other people must see you every day.

Yeah, for me it was seeing a really unflattering photo of me in the scrap book my family made for my grandfather's 80th birthday.

I was wearing bright pink and I looked like a round little pig. Each one of my boobs was bigger than my entire HEAD!!! And I'm only 5'1 so you can imagine how ridiculous and slutty that looked (even though I always dress modestly).

I looked like a caricature of myself, and I was mortified that I was permanently featured in an important family artifact in such an unflattering way. I started crying and almost ruined the super fancy $7,000 dollar dinner, and I had to get drunk for the first time in my life just to keep from from ruining my papa's birthday with an impulsive suicide attempt.

It was baaaaaad. I still cry when I think about it. *shudder*

I've known it for a long time - mostly from seeing myself in pictures and realising my pants don't fit me any more etc. But it wasn't until I started walking to/from school earlier this year and I realised I not just felt better but starting to slim down (however little) that I really felt that I could do it and it was the motivation I needed. I've wanted to lose weight before, I've said I was going to try - but not until the results happened first was I able to keep myself motivated to go on.

Pictures are the worst - one bad angle and you look even fatter than you really are, and it'll always be there - unless it's deleted. But if it's a picture taken my someone else, chances are, it won't be. This is why I really hate being in pictures.

But given the replies so far, pictures of yourself looking all fat are good for pushing you to take the step to losing the extra weight, so that's good I suppose.

I always knew I needed to lose weight.  My sisters are stick thin and I was big.  I was always made fun of, had no friends and never was told I was pretty.  I looked horrible in pictures.  My highest was 151 at 5'5" and I looked horrible, felt horrible.  Then over the summer I got sick and lost some weight, which I had been trying to lose (but lost it unhealthily due to dehydration), and realized that I couldn't keep doing the same thing and not get any results.  So I changed my way of eating and boom!  In a year I got down to a size 1-3 from a 9.  Healthy eating and exercising helps.  I still need to lose more, but slow and steady wins the race.

suckafolove - Keep striving, keep up the great work, just keep eating healthiy and eat the right amount of calories.  And don't worry, everyone, no matter how they feel, is beautiful the way they are. =)  Don't let weight define you.  I did, and I'm a pretty lonely person for that.

It's just so hard. Everyone judges you. Everyone can see it. D:

And thanks for the responses.

Actually in reality, WE are OUR OWN worse enemy.  It's all in the mind.  People do judge, but you just have to remember that NO ONE IS PERFECT.  Everyone has flaws & issues, obvious or not.  So don't worry. :)

Well, you don't get morbidly obese without noticing, but my wake-up call came last winter when I had to have surgery done (unrelated to my weight) and saw the horrible number on the doctor's scales.  I decided that this was the year to get healthy -- move more and lose weight.

But, I think the whole question about what lets us suddenly make changes in our life is very interesting.  I mean, I knew I needed to lose weight before I got on the doctor's scales, but why did I suddenly decide to do something and mean it?    Why was I finally ready to change my entire life to be healthier rather than another halfhearted "diet"?  I guess there is a whole section of self-help books at the library, so it must be something different for everybody.  If only we could figure out what really works to get people moving there would be so much added happiness in the world!

Seeing myself in some photos & then weighing myself for the first time in a very long time --> realizing that I was 40lbs heavier and that I had a BMI of 35.4 (200lbs at 5'3, last year in august)

I'm down to a BMI of 28.5, but I still have a long way to go

When someone who I considered to be overweight wore the same size as I did. When she found out we were the same size she was very very excited 

anglej, that one would suck, because then you'd also feel guilty for thinking they were so fat when they are actually the same size as you! So it's a double blow. Not only are you fat, but you are judgmental too?! (At least, that's how I feel when it happens to me)

What I did was listen to a friend tell me that she didnt care what she weighed.. due to menapause. She said who cares we are in our 40s. I kinda took that to heart and said your right.. we are old to most people. I knew deep inside it was a wrong way of thinking.. She coudnt lose at one point and blamed it on that.. so did I! Then I started having stomach problems.. bloating.. hurting pain.. when that ceased I went to the doctors and told him that I was ready to start a diet.  Three weeks later 13 pounds gone!  I feel better but the best part is how you get addicted to exercise! Anyway I am! When I do.. its not worth it to pig out.. It helps me maintain the thought of it.. All that work .. to eat that? no way jose!!! It takes a lot of positive thinking.. ALOT. She was not the only reason I gained as I work from home in front of a computer and ate tons of fast food. Never again!

No way will I put that in my mouth.. maybe when I lose the rest.. 30 more pounds..I will limit it to once every couple of weeks.  Fast food is bad news. Chemicals.. fat and preservatives. all bad..  Victory will be mine!!

From my profile: "While I was watching a weight loss show (that will remain nameless), they showed a man who was going to get surgery. This man had never worked out, ate constantly, and was very, very large. This surgery was to save his life. For three days before the surgery, he had to stay on a liquid diet. Water, broths, the works. However, one night, he recorded his self crying because his family was cooking hamburgers...HAMBURGERS!? The horror! Anyway. Now, I don't mean he was sitting around thinking, "Hmm...I'd enjoy one, too bad I can't", he was really upset. Crying, sobbing, saying he wasn't ready to say good bye to food, the works. Watching this, I felt pity and a little disgusted. I thought, in all of my open mindedness, "It's just food. Get over it!" Then another thought hit me. "How am I any different?" I used to eat like I was a starving day laborer all the time and then complain about my weight mid-bite. Right then and there, I said I quit. I quit being that fat girl, that fat friend, that statistic. I quit."

I really got myself into gear when I actually found out my number. I was horrified. And being the youngest and biggest in the house was very upsetting to me.

For me, this spring I tried on lots of my clothes from last summer and the summer before (UK size 10/12, US..6/8 I think?), and they didn't fit. I felt bad about it but I still had some clothes left over from when i was previously heavier and a UK size 14, so I moaned about it a bit, but didn't really do anything.

So I bought some new clothes in the bigger size ready for summer, including a cute pair of swim shorts so I wouldn't feel self conscious about legs/hips when I went swimming with my friends. A couple of months later I try them on...and none of the clothes fit well, they were uncomfortably tight and i looked like I was bulging out. I needed a size up. This time I was devestated, cause although I've been a 14 before, I've never been more and never want to be. And I knew I'd end up avoiding the beach cause I had nothing to wear.

I decided this time was the final straw and I couldn't keep letting my weight gradually creep up, and let it stop me from doing what I wanted. So here I am :)

I've known I needed to lose weight since I was 13 years old, probably younger actually, but that's the first time I ever tried to do anything about it (I'm 32), and I'd tried so many times, several different programs, and didn't once get down to my goal.

This time? I've always been overweight, but I was never obese.  But I hit 160 lbs.  I'm 5'1" and that's borderline obese.  I couldn't live with the idea that I was just going to get heavier as I got older if I didn't do something.  Also, I'm pretty sure my weight has given me self-esteem issues.  I was teased about it as a kid.  I'm single, and I don't date much, and while I can't really blame it all on the weight, I can blame some of it on the self-esteem issues the weight helped create.  That has to change.

I think facebook played a part too.  Someone took a picture of me at a party, and when I was getting dressed for that party I did my best to look as thin as possible.  Clearly I was deluding myself because I look fat and horrible in that picture, and it's going to live forever on facebook for all to see.  My only defense is to get skinny and post a whole bunch of pictures of me skinny to counteract the fat pictures.

I'm down 19 pounds, 9 pounds from a healthy BMI and 22 pounds from my goal.  I'm so thankful I found this website because that has made all the difference in the world from every other time I've tried to lose weight.

Original Post by yummy_kitty:

  judgmental too?! (At least, that's how I feel when it happens to me)

 I see indeed!

First it started because it was for my health i have  ahiatal hernia and have gurd that made my throat not feel so great.So i went on a strict diet to not get heart burn and staretd losing weight once i started losing big weight it was to get into smaller cloth and not feel like a blob.


100 pounds later and fele the best ive felt ina long time.

 Let's see.....I think when we cut the new commercial for my store and I saw it for the first time on TV.Who is that big fat lady!!!!! I never felt so terrible. I am committing to changing this permanently in my life. I even passed up what I would have considered the party of the year tonight because I would have had to see all those friends from years ago in this body> This is not my body>>>>where did my body go???? I am on my way to finding.