I know I need to lose weight and have gained more in the last few months. I know how to lose it and have all kinds of books and work out videos but I just can't seem to get it together to get started. What was your breaking point and how did you get started?

Thank you!

I think sometimes you have to just do it even though you aren't motivated. Heck, even after a year there are lots of days I have to be committed because the motivation isn't there. I think it helps to just get some momentum.

Everyone's stories are going to vary, but for me...

I knew I had to start somewhere, and if I began thinking that I HAD to work out an hour a day for it to count.. then I'd never begin.

So I started out with two very attainable goals in my mind.

1) Track/write down every single thing I ate. No matter what it was. No matter how much it was. It must be written down.

2) Walk 5 minutes a day.

With those two goals in mind, I set out to do it for a week. Then two. Then a month. Then I added in more healthy habits, more exercise.

I've been at it so far for 3 and a half months, and I'm still tracking everything I eat, I'm making healthier choices with what I eat, I'm exercising 25 minutes a day, and doing more forms of exercise.

And it never would've happened for me if I hadn't started with two very small goals.

I couldn't keep up with other people walking, so when I started a new job in a building with a gym, I joined and bought personal training sessions.

My breaking point was when I went to get a physical for a job and they told me I weighed 310 lbs. and had a blood pressure of 168/106 and I was 20! If that wasn't bad enough I had to complete a second part of the physical requiring me to demonstrate certain tasks for the job (it was a nursing assistant job) and they had to take my b/p first and I almost wasn't able to do it because my b/p was to high. It took multiple readings to barely get it in the safe range. During the whole time I was out of breath as if I had just ran a mile, but instead I just walked across the room.

I started by counting calories and keeping them around 1800/day. A few weeks into my diet I found a contest run by my local news station that was a Biggest Loser type contest. I got the chance to be a contestant. I was able to work out at the gym with a personal trainer 5/week and it got me really motivated.

Ginger: I hear you loud and clean and so do most of us here, I am thinking.

I have been thin and fat and now obese for a long time. My breaking point was breaking the 200lb mark (this is ONLY in the last year), seeing myself as I really am (I always think of myself as MUCH thinner than I am lol) and being too heavy for our motorcycle - I miss riding these last few months! In addition to this:

1. Ramping up my business and receiving requests for video, newspaper (with photo) and tv interviews

2. My book release that will also generate the same media attention as above (was supposed to be this summer, but I didn't meet my goal)

3. Meeting with clients real-time in an office besides online
and

4. Performing a bellydance routine this Summer NOT being a fatty-bo-batty (original goal that I didn't meet. There will be next Summer!)

For me now, it has been an evolution of my whole self in the last year. It began with understanding from where the weight gain has come and what is fueling it besides food. The exercise is the first thing to stick. I love to walk and found bellydance over a year ago.

I have struggled with the food issue since. I don't eat junk food, fast food or eat out much. I meal plan, shop once a week and cook at home from scratch. Our meals are balanced with a protein, a carb (includes certain squashes) and lots of veggies. I don't keep any junk food or soda in the apartment (if I buy it the family asks what the occasion is). So, it has been very frustrating to figure out where to change. Well, I have since found a new way of eating that works with my natural appetite. I found that I was forcing myself to conform to others' woe that doesn't work for me. So far in the last few days of consciously eating in this new pattern I have found it to be natural and effortless. I no longer stress eat (and I'm under a lot of stress this week) or feel like overeating at dinner or after.

So, I would say that finding my optimum lifestyle is really what is going to allow me to lose the excess once and for all. We will see how this evolution goes by the end of the year.

Pain was my breaking point. I decided that I was to young to be in pain when I moved around.

Also, we have an autistic son that will never be able to take care of himself. As his mom, I need to be as healthy as possible to be able to take care of him as long as I can.

I started small. I quit drinking soda and worked on eating more fruits and vegetables as opposed to junk food.

I also wanted to move more. At first I just got up and marched during commerical breaks. Then I lengthened the amount of time I was doing this. Slowly as I got better able to move I started doing more.

The first step was ceasing to buy any more "frozen dinners" - which are filled with salt, preservatives and hydrogenated oils.

Then substituting whole grain cereal and bread for crackers, chips, and "snack bars".

Followed by adapting to accepting fruits and nuts as treats - instead of pastries, cookies, cake and ice cream.

There's more, but I lost about 20 pounds just from doing those things before I needed to tighten my regemin further for additional progress.