This is a very good question. I have "started" so many times...I even made it down to Onderland for one brief shining moment. Then I slowly stopped doing everything I know I need to do and some of the weight came back. Lucikly, I "woke up" before I put it all back on!

I finally decided that I wanted to lose weight for me. I want to be healthy for me. I want to walk into any store and buy cute clothes. I LOVE to bargain shop--I want to hit the 'good sales' this year and know the clothes I buy on super clearance are going to fit next year. I want to lose weight to take as much pressure off my bad knee as I can. I know I will need another knee surgery someday, but losing weight will help push it further away. I know that when I am losing weight, I take better care of myself all around--I spend more time on my hair and make up--I like to look pretty. I care about how I look. I feel better about myself. My husband notices the difference too. He loves me no matter what size I am, but I want to be around for a long, long time so I can love him back for a long, long time!!! I will always remember at my dad's funeral, one of my dad's friends--a lady I had given a lot of clothes to when I lost weight came up to me and told me how wonderful I looked. Then she hugged me and told me how proud my dad was of me. My dad was a big part of the reason why I joined the gym and on days when I am struggling to get my butt there, I try to remember that.

Ok, that was a pretty long ramble....not sure if it answered your question or not, but it sure helped me remember! Thanks for starting this!!!

Superfoods RX
 

IT was finding that Superfoods RX book that did it for me too! I now have it , and the next two, Superfoods Healthystyle and Superfoods Diet. You can get all three (at least in Canada) for about 43$ including shipping from Chapters Indigo. If people are looking for delicious, NORMAL food that you seem to be able to eat in abundant quantities and never be hungry, then you need to read these. Turkey, Salmon, Spinach, Berries, yogurt, oranges, soy, oatmeal, nuts, ETC...great recipes, great advice, easy to read! I had exactly that same OMG THIS MAKES SENSE....I can do this, experience. I sent all three to my best friend who is struggling with her weight, has major health issues, etc. I hope she reads them and has the same epiphany!

I am at year 4 of when I started my weight loss. What got me started was that I realized that I was worth it.

What keeps me going are a variety of things. I do have to redefine my goals every now and then and try to keep to them. I will admit that the past year has been hard. Actually it has been hard to redefine goals at every major step. I can tell you that I am extremely happy to be where I am with my weight and I have to struggle against that happiness. When you weighed nearly 400 lbs at one point, getting down to just over 200 lbs is the best thing ever. Of course if I was some girl who had been 120 all her life and shot up to 200, then i'd probably be miserable.

So basically I have to work to find goals that work for me. Also, if you grew up as a heavy child like myself (I hit 300 at age 14), then it is scary to lose weight sometimes. I often feel like an imposter, fat girl in a chubby girls body. I can't imagine what it'd feel like to be skinny.

My latest goals include rock climbing next year and participating in a triathlon. So my goals really are fitness related right now which means eating right, losing weight to make those goals easier and increasing my fitness abilities.

This is an excellent thread!

FEAR is what's making me try again. Fear of dire health consequences, fear of losing my mobility and independence at the still-quite-young age of 52, fear of losing out on even MORE of life than the 31 years I've already spent in various stages of fat.

Fear that frustration and discouragement over my lack of progress is going to cause me to throw in the towel yet again--and I can't afford to get any bigger than I am. My body just won't take it.

Fear that I'm going to lose all my interests because, at this size, everything is just too much of an effort.

Fear that I won't be able to support myself adequately if I'm ever alone because who would hire me at this size? I'm in such terrible physical shape that I couldn't even do any other job if I did manage to get hired.

I'm not yet at the point where wanting to be good to myself and take care of myself is the reason. It's just the fear pushing me on...

I was diagnosed with insulin resistance and adrenal fatigue. Pretty serious health concerns, but still not enough to convince me that I needed to get healthy. It wasn't until a family trip that the light finally came on for me.

I went on a Disneyworld vacation with my family and I couldn't keep up! My knees hurt, my feet hurt, my legs hurt. I had zero stamina and had to keep finding a spot to sit and rest. I was miserable. Then, I saw pictures of myself. :( This was the final catalyst in a long list of scenarios and trials that finally convinced me that I needed to lose some, if not all of the weight.