I was sitting here at work just thinking about when I started my weight loss journey. So I decided to start a thread. So heres my question that I pose to all of you. What was the deciding or motivating factor that made you want to start leading a healthier lifestyle? Sometimes it is something negative that happens like a comment or look from someone. Other times you may look in the mirror and say, "I don't like myself like this way and I want to be a better person." So I want to hear about everyones reasons for wanting to be fitter. I think I've mentioned mine before and it's on my website but I'll just paste it below:
"The thing that finally made me really want to lose weight was in my senior year of high school. I was doing a group presentation on Gap, Inc. (Gap, Old Navy, and Bannana Republic) for my final project and we had brought in samples of clothing from each store. I brought in my Old Navy jeans. I held them up and said "These are a pair of women's Old Navy Jeans." This one boy yelled out for the entire class to hear, "Those are women's jeans? I can fit those!" I wanted to cry when I heard that, but held my tears back. That's when I decided to make a change in my life. At the end of my senior year (1998) I weighed in at 216."
It made me think a lot. I know that, all my life, I've never been happy with myself. My weight has always been a huge issue. I remember hating the way I looked but still wasn't doing anything about it. When I met my sweetie I gained A LOT of weight and became really irrational about my eating habbits. I was eating just to eat.
One day, I went to the doctor and she told me to jump on the scale. WHAT?? I said...no way! Well...I did....And it wasn't a pretty number...220lbs...I couldn't beleive it. I was over 200!! I was disgusted with myself. I was 220 lbs and wearing a tight size 20. I had a fat tire around my waist and a double chin. My back was hurting and I was always tired. It had to stop!! So I decided to do something about it...It was time!
Well that's about it...You guys think I need a therapy?? *giggle!*
Mocha...your post was very inspiring, i weigh 216lbs at the moment (well according to last weeks weigh in...hoping iv lost some this week) and its great to know that it is possible to get that weight down thanks for sharing that!!
I want to loose wieght becuase eof my health, i have PCOS and am hoping that if i loose some weight it may lessen my symptoms and make my body a bit normal...have heard many stories of this happening
Fabulous Idea Mocha, it may also help inspire the lurkers
Well my reasons are very much the same. I used to live in the counrty in a very small town. I had a job that was mostly evening work and had tons of time to work out and was around 170 lbs and a size 10/12. I was very happy at that weight, I was very strong and in great shape. I also owned my own house and had an extra bedroom in the basement that I turned into a gym. This was after being a very heavy child, my graduation dress was a size 18 but I have no idea how much I weighed as my mother won't allow a scale in the house.
Then, I moved. My fiance got the job of his dreams, a police officer in the city so we moved into a one bedroom apartment and had to sell most of my exercise equipment except my eliptical trainer. I found an amazing job but it wasn't as physical and I spend most of my days sitting in my office or driving around. My job was and still is extremely demanding on my time and emotions, I'm a social worker. My weight slowly creeped up and I was so lost in life that I didn't have the time to pay much attention. My exercise routine went out the window and my eating habits stayed the same for a while then got much worse. I got on the scale one day and it said 200lbs. I was mortified but not enough to do something about it. I became very depressed and our relationship was going down, really fast. He moved out a year after we had moved to the city. We'd been together 5 years at that point. In the months that followed I worked really hard and ended up eating my way to 220lbs. I didn't feel comfortable in my skin any more. I was always fiddling with my clothes, pulling them down, I started wearing sweaters all the time to hide. So I started working on the emotional parts of my eating that got me there. Started journal writing, and talking about it with my dear friend, which I had never done before. After 4 months, my ex-fiance and I got back together both with much better outlooks on life. He moved back in and that was a year ago.I maintained the 220 for that year. Then last month I had enough, it was rock bottom, I had a bad day at work and stopped at a fast food place and ordered three meals, with 3 drinks so they thought it wasn't all for me. As I sat in a park eating myself sick, I realized how out of control this was and that I knew why I was doing it and that I could no longer continue.
So I went to my doctor the next day, turns out I was pre-diabetic at 24! I was stunned. That day, he put me on a low-carb plan, that was July 12, 2003. We moved into a 2 bedroom apartment 2 weeks ago so I could have my gym room back and today I'm down 20 pounds and feel amazing. And the added benefit is that after a month the pre-diabetes is gone, my blood sugar is totally normal.
So that's my reason, I realize that it's a very long post but it's also a very complicated story and a long journey for me to get where I am.
My story for now sounds like tummy's. I moved in with my (now) husband and it just kept creeping on.
But the first time when I lost 50 lbs....that is what I keep going back to and that is what is motivating me today!!!! I was the lead singer of a pop punk band for a long time. People would always send me all these nice emails and I had what I guess you could call fans. One day when I checked my mail, I had a letter that said, "you are a fat-a##" I wrote back and told him that I really didn't need to hear it and he should shut up.....Then he wrote back "you are so fat and ugly someone should smash your head in with a hammer"
Let's just say I moved pretty fast and made a change for the better. I was always chubby, but I had so many positive people around me that I didn't even notice, and then after the email, it hit me like a ton of bricks. This was 3-4 years ago. Now I have 20 to lose and hope to do it even better. Now I am just looking at old pictures of when I was really skinny and thinking how did I let all that hard work go to waste. I AM NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN!!
Of course I took every action to find out who wrote that email, and when I was finally face-to-face with the kid I just smiled. Later I found out he couldn't believe it was me. I had changed! I am still changed, but I need to keep going.
I used to be 145 pounds all the time. And I was always trying to diet. But that was 5 years ago. Sence then I've balooned up to 265 pounds. I just let myself go and I had overweight friends with bad habbits that I picked up. I remember when I used to be to embarassed to walk into the Layne Bryant store with them in the mall. I wouldn't even walk in I'd sit out on a bench and wait for them! My most embarassing moment was when I was at Great America 2 summers ago with my husband and we were in line for the roller coaster and he saw a cousin of his I had never met before in line and we talked with him and his wife and friends until we all had to get onto the roller coaster. When it was our turn the guy couldn't get mine buckled down so they kicked me off the ride in front of everyone! That was probably my worst humiliating moment. But I want to lose weight now because I hate everything about it..how I look, my aches and pains, pictures. Its unhealthy and a real drag.
I started trying to lose weight again for the regular reasons: tired of being fat, tired of being tired, ignored, invisible, feeling worthless, unloved....I could go on forever--y'all know!
I think this time was different and I'm sticking with it for several reasons: The big 3-0 is only one year and 18 days away! I found the Walk Away the Pounds videos and really stuck and focused on exercise not food this time. I'm up to 4 miles 6 days a week and nothing is more motivating that seeing an actually kneecap and collarbone peeking thru--I didn't know I had them! Also, I can actually feel a tricep under those flabby bat wings for the first time in my life! I have a fellow teacher who has been getting fit this past year also and she has been a constant, steady, and unwavering source of support.
I enjoyed reading all the posts here and I can relate to all. Especially the one where it mentioned going to the drive through and ordering 2 or 3 meals and extra drinks so they would think I was ordering for more people than just myself. I was to that point this summer and it was humiliating. Plus I would eat when nobody was around and then be mad at myself and hate myself for a week. I was a GROUCH all the time b/c my self esteem was so low. I also got to a point where I wouldn't leave my house unless it was for food. My habits were so bad that my son was eating terribly as well. He was about 10 pounds overweight (although you couldn't really tell b/c he is a very tall 9 yr old) and it was all b/c of my self loathing and terrible eating habits....SO, that is when I decided to change my lifestyle, not just for my sake, but the sake of my son also!! I started my change this July 22 and so far have lost 16 pounds. My son has lost 4 1/2 pounds and I haven't put him on a diet or anything, he gets to eat healthy home cooked meals now instead of having his Mommy run out to the fast food places every afternoon and evening!!! So far so good and I don't plan on going backwards into that downward spiral. I was at the bottom and the only way to go from there is up.
Hi Blakerae, welcome to the group. Isn't it comforting to hit the bottom in some weird way? It is only up from there. Good luck on getting really, really high up there or I guess lower would be more appropriate
Well, my story isn't too exciting... I was always involved in everything in high school, from sports to Yearbook Editor...you name it. I was too busy to eat and I was never hungry. I was always a size 7/8 and about 130 pounds and didn't feel skinny at that size either. But I was fit and I never thought about weight. I have always been a VERY "Curvy" girl so I will never be a tiny person. But, college added on the Freshman 20, then College graduation added another 15 and Marriage added 20 (in 6 short months). I decided that I didn't want to keep adding on 20 pounds at every stage of my life. with the loss of 15 pounds I kicked off my plan to get back to a healthier weight and fitter body. I am not so concerned with how much I weigh but how I feel and how fit I am. If I am a size 6 and 300lbs...fine with me:-)
So that brings me to now and I would like to have kids in the next few years and I don't want to end up gaining a bunch and now 30 lbs heavier, I want to instill the healthy lifestlye to carry throughout the pregnancy. I want to be the inshape mom that can play with the kids without getting winded!!
That's it... I am at 170 right now and hope that August brings another 10lbs or so of loss... I would love to get back down to 130-140.... the dream!!!
I decided to lose weight a little over two years ago at the advice of my cardiologist. I had developed heart problems and although they were not weight related , the extra weight wasn't helping things. I started off slow..gave up sugar, then refined carbohydrates, and then started to exercise. After about 2 years, I began weight lifting to tone. It has been a long journey, but I am a firm believer that slow and steady wins the race. The pounds didn't appear overnight, so it's not realistic to expect them to dissapear overnight. In the two years, my cholesterol and triglycerides have improved significantly. I had gained the bulk of my weight taking hormones and a steroid for gynecological problems. Since starting this lifestyle I have been able to get off my thyroid meds completely. I have lost about 80 pounds and am very near my goals. I have always had decent self esteem, but am coming to better terms with my body. I am just not so hard on myself anymore..
P.S.- Tummy, I am also a social worker! I practice clinical work in a therapy setting.
Good idea Mocha! It's always a great motivator to look back at what started this whole journey...
I started loosing weight for health reasons. Tory - I have PCOS, too. It resulted in a fairly rapid weight gain (about 90 pounds over 3 years!), although I am certain that my lifestyle helped the weight gain along. I had been having all kinds of medical difficulties, and the doctors were never really willing to investigate - they just told me to lose weight and I would feel better. Turns out that I have PCOS and I had gall stones (had to have my gall bladder removed). PCOS puts me at a high risk for diabetes and heart disease, so I decided that I didn't want to increase my chances even more by carrying aroung 100+ extra pounds. Also, like Tory, I have heard that weight loss can minimize PCOS symptoms.
The other motivator was how I felt about myself. I started to realize that I was cutting myself off from people. I was ashamed of how I looked and felt about myself. I felt ashamed to do simple things like go to the grocery store...I was certain that people were thinking "That girl needs to stop eating". I just felt uncomfortable and unhappy! I realized that it was coming to a point where I was isolating myself completely - except for my from my fantastic and supportive boyfriend - and I realized that this was too high of a price to pay for some potato chips! It also seemed like a lot of pressure to put on my DB - making him the whole centre of my life (although he never complained!).
I have lost 73#s so far....and I am finding that I am more extroverted again. I am also willing to try new things that I would have been afraid to do at 261#s (swimming, gyms, meeting new people, new career).
I still struggle with my self-image.....I still see 261 pounds when I look in the mirror sometimes....but I am working on that!
JackieO - I'm a slow looser, too. I have been actively trying to lose weight for just over 2 years now. Things are slow going...but the weight is staying off. I do believe that slow and steady CAN indeed win the race!
Whew! That's a lot of personal information! Sorry about the rant...but it is great to be able to look back and see how far we have all come from our "bottom" moments!
Onwards and upwards ladies! (perhaps onwards and downwards would be a better expression??!)
Hello everyone, I am new to the board. I decided to change my lifestyle 3 years ago when I just constantly felt lousy. My tummy always hurt, I was always tired and I was constantly sick with the flu or some kind of cold. I saw the Body for Life book and picked it up on a whim. I did that program for about a year and than I ventured off into my own exercise and healthy eating routine. I am now trying a more balanced approach as I got too obsesed with it before. I am following intuitive eating and doing pilates, weight training and some cardio. I eat healthy but I listen to when I am hungry and what I want to eat. I am also a recently tunred vegetarian and I am trying to go vegan.
This is a great thread and I hope to get to know all of you better!
Jamie
What Made You Want to Make a Change in Your Life?
Sorry about the rant...but it is great to be able to look back and see how far we have all come from our "bottom" moments!
