Losing weight is HARD work. Really hard work. In order to start and stick with it, a person has to be extremely dedicated and motivated, because it's so much easier to just stick with your old habits.

I'm asking everyone to share their own story of how they decided to change their lives for the better. What did it take? What is your biggest motivation? And what keeps you going day after day?

I've yo-yo dieted in the past, so I've had several of those "I need to lose weight NOW!" moments.

The most recent happened on New Years Eve '07. I know it sounds chiche! It wasn't a New Year's resolution though - it happened because that evening my boyfriend and i hung out with a friend of his, and that guy's girlfriend showed up looking FABULOUS. i hadn't seen her in months, and didn't recognize her. she had easily lost 50 lbs, and i found out it was by doing weight watchers!

so two days later i went and joined. a little over three months and thirty-four pounds later i'm proud to say that that will be the LAST time i ever need motivation to lose weight, because i'm going to do it this time!!!

Let's see...I knew I was getting REALLY fatter for a REALLY long time...I was in a rut where I knew I needed to lose weight and that I was unhealthy...but I didn't have the self esteem or motivation to do it

THEN I went and saw my best friend's mother who I hadn't seen in about 4 months and she asked me if I was pregnant...and she was serious...even when I told her no she didn't believe me...


ALSO I looked in the mirror one day and realized I was getting a huge gut like then one I had in high school when I weighed 250

What REALLY motivated me was when I would tell my boyfriend "I'm so fat!!! I'll start my diet tomorrow, I'll start working out tomorrow." And he said "Tomorrow is the same as today. Every day is just one day, every day is your whole life. Tomorrow is just mere hours away. If you want to do something, do it everyday because every day is your whole life."

And now I am doing it.

vday - I love what your bf said. Its brilliant!

For me, the really big motivator was when I decided to go back to school and get my PhD. I've been in a sh***y job with a hostile bullying atmosphere for too many years, and the result was me getting less and less active, and more and more obese. When I realized that I could cut myself free, I decided I wanted to move on to the next stage in my life without all the crap baggage that I have accumulated since I started working at that place. So, I've been literally clearing out my life - getting rid of stuff I bought but don't need, counseling to deal with the emotional damage, and diet and exercise to get rid of the extra weight. That way, I can really start fresh.

back in september, i got an abscessed tooth. my cheek was swollen up and it was extremely painful. i hadn't been to a dentist in 10 YEARS and i was afraid of what kind of work my teeth would need so i kept putting it off. this abscess made me have to go and face my fears. i did have to get two back teeth removed and i had a cavity but it really wasn't that bad!
what this has to do with my weight loss is that i realized i was ignoring my body for far too long. the abscess put me in check - i had to take care of my body or it would fall apart! so in october, i started my weight loss journey.
oh yeah, i recently had a 6 month check up and they said my teeth look 100 times better!

My biggest push was when my fiance and I went to Vegas for spring break and I could hardly sit in the airline seats.

I came home from vacation and threw out all the crap in my fridge and started my new life!

I saw photos of me from my honeymoon. I was too embarassed by most of them to actually post them online for my friends to see. I looked so bad. I vowed I never wanted to look like that in pictures again!

Hi there!

Little Moon Rabbit - where did you get the side by side photos (before/after)?

Me want one!

Anyways - I've been overweight since my early twenties (I'm now 54). I was at my heaviest (302) March 18, 2008. I knew dieting didn't work for me. I had been on NutriSystem for a while back in 2001, but I went off of it for financial reasons and just gained even more weight.

I was watching a program on TV about women that had lost large amounts of weight. This one in particular weighed over 400 pounds, she lost over 200 pounds and did it in a year ... By limiting herself to 1200 calories a day. I sat there and watched and thought, sheesh if I could find 1200 calories a day that I actually like to eat (I'm a picky eater), I could do that too.

So I went on the internet, searched 1200 calorie diets and started searching. We don't have much money (at least none to spend on "different" food just for me), so I had to pick things that we would ordinarly have. I was able to do that. I also decided I was going to give yogurt another try (I had it years ago and it tasted like chalk). OMG, it's the best thing since sliced bread!

Anyway, long story short, I've found foods that fill me and satisfy me. I'm hoping this will be a life change for me rather than a diet. My son is going to college in the fall and I want to be able to go to his graduation and have him not be embarrased by me. I know he doesn't think that, but I do.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! BTW, I love this forum. Friendly and helpful people!

Karen
(Oh, sorry - I didn't realize this was a 20's forum until just now) LOL

No reason to be sorry, everyone's welcome to post everywhere ^^
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I don't have an "ah-ha" moment... more of a slow realization that I was getting heavier and feeling less than healthy.

I had wanted to join WW for awhile, but I couldn't find the darn place! One day my roommate said to me "Oh hey, I found a map to it!" I copied the map, and immediately after work I drove straight to the center. Been workin' ever since!

For me it was when my husband and i started dating. We would go for a 2 mile walk twice a day. lossing weight was not my intention at the time it was a side effect. but any way i noticed that the weight was coming off and others were noticing more and i was getting more confident in myself ( part of it was my hubby incuarging me.) but it was the confidence in myself that really motivated me to want to loss the excess. no longer a side effect.

Hmm, my motivation is that I'm just sick of being overweight...wait, technically I'm obese (that sounds so awful). My cousin started working out so I decided to join her.

What keeps me going is this model on the Hurley.com/girls (look for Rosie) website. She looks exactly like I would look like if I was her size. She has dark hair, eyes, and her septum pierced. Like me! Haha, she's what keeps me going. Thanks, random model!

My motivation was I could hardly fit into normal size clothing anymore, which was a HUGE deal as I don't have any overweight friends or family at all, and I hated the idea of being the "big chick".

Many, many times but when I gained 10lbs in 2 months, I knew I HAD to do something (which is weird because I usually would eat 1 meal a day - I know bad, but I worked 50 hours a week and had classes). Then I ordered a tankini from the Sears Catalogues, and when I tried it on at home, I was embarassed. Stomach hanging over, huge thighs..so I vowed to lose at least 20lbs (would LOVE 30lbs but that might be pushing it) by July 15th, as that's around the time I go on vacation every year. I'm going to order that same tankini again in July and see the difference. Hopefully there is a good one.

I don't think I ever really had like an epiphany or anything, I was just tired of being fat. And vday, I love what your bf said...keep that guy around

I had alot of different things that motivated me. First off I had gained almost 30lbs during and after my pregnancy, I had no clothes that fit anymore and refused to shop in plus size so i lived in mens trackpants and big tshirts, the one that really got me going was I wanted to try out for canadian idol and I thought there is no way when the camera adds 10lbs am I going on TV. I have losed 43lbs so far and my audition is next saturday