Wow! Welcome back!
I agree with carmendmv that it is impressive that you were able to maintain on your own, and then have the willpower to come back to the diet!

What is the ONE thing that really inspired you to lose your weight? Health? Looks? Clothes? Someone else?

I am really curious what it took to make each of us finally say enough is enough, I am going to lose this weight!

In the past, it's been looks/clothes and just overall feeling better. Obviously, that never stuck for long.

This time, it is all about HEALTH.

My sister is 9 years older than me, and we both have PCOS. We also have a family history of diabetes, heart disease and stroke. My sister had to go through extensive fertility treatments for each of her pregnancies, and she even lost her twins when she was at 5 months. She's had gestational diabetes, and lately her sugars have been running high even when not pregnant (gestational diabetes=more likely to develop adult diabetes). She also started taking aspirin every day due to some pain in her chest.

Looking at my sister is like looking through a window into my future, and it scared the heck out of me. We're going to start trying to get pregnant this summer, and I knew that wasn't going to happen unless I lost weight. I also want to avoid gestational diabetes and all the other complications my sister has had with her health.

I just wish I'd had these realizations earlier, so I could enjoy the fit, skinnier me for a while before getting pregnant.

Wow! That is inspiring! It is truly amazing how somethine as simple as weight can affect all those areas of our lives! You look amazing too! I do hope all your dreams of babies and health come to be a permanant part of your life!
(My sister is 9 years older than me too LOL)

I would say it is all of the above for me! I have been a hairstylist for 7 years and unfortunately looks and being able to put yourself together with cute outfits and heels is a must for maintaining a good clientel. Then I decided to go back to nursing school and had gained my weight back and decided how can I be a good health concious nurse if I am 80lbs overweight? I also want to be the mom that gets in the pool with my 5 year old instead of not going at all or sitting on the side in my t shirt and shorts because I don't want to get in a swim suit, and the over all health improvement of just being the weight my body is supposed to be to prevent heart disease, diabetes and the countless other diseases I learn about everyday in class and clinicals that obesity plays a role in contributing to.

QUOTE=GoalBound;3805430]What is the ONE thing that really inspired you to lose your weight? Health? Looks? Clothes? Someone else?

I am really curious what it took to make each of us finally say enough is enough, I am going to lose this weight! [/QUOTE]

For me, it was health. I always liked the way I looked and thought I was dressing cute when I was heavy (though its much more fun to shop now!).

But over the summer, my doctor suggested we do a bunch of health tests....thyroid, cholesterol, sugar, etc. And my sugar was high. Pre-diabetic high. My A1C level was high and she told me I had two options: lose weight or get diabetes.

My grandpa had diabetes and unfortunately, died from complications a few years ago....and I didn't want that to happen to me. Since I actually could do something about it...I decided I would.

I tried from June to September calorie coutning and working out...but the pounds weren't really budging. I was able to do more excersize, so I was physically improving....but in order for my diabetes risk to decline, my weight had to go down. One of my professors had done MRC during my first year of grad school and lost a lot of weight, so I talked to her about it and decided to join.

My doc told me for every 20 pounds I lost, my risk for diabetes would decreast 20%, and so far I've lost 40 pounds! So 40% less risk for me to get diabetes! YAY! (PS. Today I'm wearing the dress I wore to high school graduation!) *photo attached* [

Wow. WOW. You look absolutely fantastic!

Right now, it is health, although wearing cute clothes again is a bonus. When I was pregnant with my daughter (18 months old on Friday), I developed severe pre-eclampsia. I was on bed rest for 6 weeks in the hosptial and even then she was delivered 2 months early because my body couldn't handle it anymore. When I was discharged, I was on 11 blood pressure pills a day. Currently, I'm down to 3 and am hoping the cardiologist will reduce that when I see him again in June.

High BP is a genetic thing for me. I've been as low as 136 pounds/size 6 and still had high BP. The irony is, it was diagnosed 6 months after running a marathon. Go figure.

Looking good! Keep it up!!!

Ditto! I just wasn't feeling well and went to the doctor for a full hormone panel. Everything came back normal EXCEPT my blood sugar, which was way too high. Doc wanted to put me on meds straightaway, but I told him I'd like to lose the weight. I joined up with MRC one month later.

Basically health and clothes

For me, it was health. I always liked the way I looked and thought I was dressing cute when I was heavy (though its much more fun to shop now!).

But over the summer, my doctor suggested we do a bunch of health tests....thyroid, cholesterol, sugar, etc. And my sugar was high. Pre-diabetic high. My A1C level was high and she told me I had two options: lose weight or get diabetes.

My grandpa had diabetes and unfortunately, died from complications a few years ago....and I didn't want that to happen to me. Since I actually could do something about it...I decided I would.

I tried from June to September calorie coutning and working out...but the pounds weren't really budging. I was able to do more excersize, so I was physically improving....but in order for my diabetes risk to decline, my weight had to go down. One of my professors had done MRC during my first year of grad school and lost a lot of weight, so I talked to her about it and decided to join.

My doc told me for every 20 pounds I lost, my risk for diabetes would decreast 20%, and so far I've lost 40 pounds! So 40% less risk for me to get diabetes! YAY! (PS. Today I'm wearing the dress I wore to high school graduation!) *photo attached* [[/QUOTE]

Wow!!!!! just Wow!!!! ........Speechless

The primary reason is for health, and appearance definitely plays a part. But the thing that motivated me to do something about this RIGHT NOW is very shallow. An old "friend" made a snarky comment about how good I looked back in high school and the amount of attention I received, and then compared it to how she and I look now and how the tables have turned. Our reunion is in June and I can't wait to be back to my old self. I'm embarrassed to actually write that.

First of all.. RazorbackBritt - You look amazing!! And I'm so old, I don't have anything from high schools except a Band Letterman's jacket :-)

So not sure it was ONE thing that got my butt in gear... I moved back to Arkansas last year and started seeing my old family doctor that I had seen from pretty much the age of 5 to 21 and even came back from Florida for Spring Break and had major surgery when I was 24... so now at the age of 37, he asked me what I was doing about my weight. I said, "watching it". He didn't think it was too funny and neither did I but what else was I going to say. He ran a full blood panel on me and even sent me in for a pelvic ultrasound to check for Polysystic Ovary Syndrome. Thank goodness, the only thing that came back off was my blood sugar, which put me a pre-diabetic state.

I was debating bariatric surgery - Sleeve Gastrectomy. I actually went to a seminar several years ago and was told I'm not eligible for Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass because I've had 2 feet of my small intestine removed. And Lap Band is just a bad thing to get! But my insurance doesn't cover the Sleeve because it's too new. My doctor is totally against any of these surgeries so he recommended MRC. He said that a lot of his patients have gone there, lost weight and kept the weight off. I went back to him for my ingrown toe and at that point, I had already lost 9.5lbs and he lit up like the 4th of July! My mom had an appointment with him, the next day, and he just went on and on about how proud he was of me.

I seem to be going on and on.. another reason - I sure would like to buy a bra somewhere else besides a catalog or Catherines. Sure, I want cute clothes but for me, having a nice supportive bra is really what I want.. one without 5 clasps in the back or wide/thick shoulder straps. I'm single, no one would be seeing it but me... or maybe they would if I lost all this weight and went to Mardi Gras! HA! J/K!

On a sad note - my cousin, Missy, passed away Sunday, April 3rd at the age of 38! Her funeral was Monday. I really wish I could have been there, she lived in California - which is where I was born, so we grew up together until my move to AR but then every summer until about the age of 18, I went out there and she was the one I would always run around with. I got to see her this past Thanksgiving, which was great. Anyway, her death certificate was delivered to the family yesterday... Cause of Death - "Lap Band Placement" ... So I'm kinda doing this for her, now.

I think I'm done If you couldn't tell, I'm a talker! Like the Energizer Bunny.. I keep going.. and going...

After my long rant.. that's one thing I forgot to add.. a Class Reunion. It dawned on me last week that my 20yr Class Reunion will be next June. I'm not going to look the way I did back then... I'm going to look even better