I was just curious what moment triggered everyone to want to lose weight?

For me, a cousin of mine had gastric band surgery and these days you would hardly recognise her. I did my resarch and discovered I can get it quite cheap through my private health fund and decided to get an appointment and book in to get it done next February.

One night my cousin came over and she was telling me how liberating being thin is and how she could even occasionally cheat with the band and have chocolate cookies and whatnot and STILL lose weight. She told me all the things she used to worry about, like not being able to fit into a plane seat, the way people looked at her, how she was always the biggest person in photos and how different it all is now in an attempt to pump up my enthusiasm for the surgery, and at first, it did...

But after a few days I thought to myself, why should I sit around and WAIT for these things when I can start slowly to change them? And that was the moment when I thought f*** this! I have to change. I cleared out my cupboard and for the first time in my life joined the gym. I went to the library and got a stack of books on healthy living and have been faithful to my plans ever since.

I'm not sure I'll still get the banding, I guess I'll see how I go. All I know is I don't want to just lose weight, but to change my lifestyle so that I gain health and can maintain healthy eating for life.

Please share your story

Mine was motivated by a breakup with an ex. He left me and I felt like I had lost myself as a person throughout that relationship. So, we broke up, and I decided that it was time for me to start focusing on ME.

I've gained about 100 pounds in the last year, just from eating crap constantly, and the whole time I remember thinking "this has got to stop". Of course, as I'm sure a lot of you know, its not ususally as easy as that. For the first few months of late spring/early summer, my scale at home was saying that I hadn't gained any more weight, so the stress of constantly gaining was taken off me for a time, and I was able to relax. I went to the doctor in early july (turns out from gallstones..owww) and found out that I had actually been gaining the whole time, and was up to 288 pounds. Being that close to 300 is scary...really scary. But I think it was because my scale was broken (and I soon discovered the problem...the bottom was completely cracked!) and I wasn't stressing over gaining for a long time that really made me able to start committing myself.

You put a frog in boiling water and it jumps out, even though it won't jump out if you put it in tepid water and heat it to a boil. I'm so glad for that slap in the face!

My moment was when the scale hit 250. For some reason 249 wasn't as big of a deal as 250. I recently went back to school and am in classes with 18 year old skinny girls, and remembered all the teasing in high school. I know that it wont happen to my face, but I know what people think. and I didn't think I looked that bad, but seeing me in pictures was a reality check. I wont willingly be in pics right now. I also have a stretch class where I stretch in front of a wall of mirrors, so being in the back of the room hiding doesn't do me any good because they all can look in the mirror. I guess those were the main reasons. Also, I quit smoking on January 1st, and figure, if I can quit that, I can lose weight.

There were a few things that seemed to get me motivated all around the same time.
1) My dear best friend spent the last year losing 100 lbs, I've never seen him to happy and healthy and confident.
2) I was home alone this past weekend and watched The biggest Loser Families and something just clicked.
3) I recently met this absolutely beautiful guy (who doesnt care how much I weigh) and I would like to be able to be more active so we can do more fun things together.
4) My kids need a healthy mom and they need to be healthy too
5) I found out my daughters after school care has a fitness room and it is only $60 a year to use it...I have no excuse why I cant go because I have to be there every day to pick up my daughter!

So I decided...this is it. It's time to get fit and healthy and enjoy life while I still can =)

When I saw my own picture in my sons High School Graduation photos of him and I together... I just got shocked, I knew I was fat and mostly I had given up but seeing him and I in that photo (first one in my diet blog from June) blew my mind...I was 394... I am down to 317 now and I still see a fat person when I look in the mirror and it just makes me angry, that I let things go this far out of control... I will fix this and then some, it might take me 2 years but I WILL become the most fit and healthiest I have ever been in my adult life..lol (ok..I am calming down now..lol),

But that was it for me,
- Elliott

After goign on a "diet" for the 15th time or something, I just realized I needed outside help when I still was not happy and spent more time trying to figure out the best angle to take a picture than just having fun at whatever event I was at. I HATED every single picture of anything other than my face which only could be photographed from a certain angle. With facebook, it was far too difficult to control photos that got put up of me and I was miserable. I had tried sooo many times to stop the cycle of losing a few pounds and gaining it back because of my eating. I was sick of hiding at home and waiting to live because I didnt feel good about myself. so I walked into Weight Watchers one day to find out about the program and was sold. The woman convinced me to just join and get on the scale. I told myself if it didnt work, I could decide I was supposed to be the size i was and work on being happy with that and stop feeling bad about gaining that weight. lucky for me, it worked! and i realized I wasn't meant to be 20 pounds heavier than I was a few years ago. i was just overeating!

I have enjoyed reading what has motivated other folks to lose weight. Thank you for sharing your stories!

My turning point came when I had a job interview in the Spring, and none of my business-like clothes fit. I refused to go buy anything, and wound up going in a nice sweater and skirt instead of a suit. As well, around that time, I had an evening where I didn't feel attractive with the guy whom I had been dating at the time. No matter my size before, I always felt attractive and that one night I just didn't feel pretty. Add those two events to the constant itching from psoriasis I had had for a few weeks and, when I read about the yeast elimination diet that could help psoriasis, I had to go on the diet. Weight loss was one of the side benefits. The itching cleared up, and about 90% of the psoriasis cleared up within a week of eating healthy. I haven't looked back since. By fluke, the same week I started eating healthy a friend asked if I work out. That was all the prodding I needed to get back into the gym full time doing weights and yoga again. I feel so good once more that it makes me wonder how it is that I ever get away from eating healthy and working out in the first place!


Lou

Three months ago, I went to a work-related party with my husband, and I was talking to a couple of people at our table. One of the other women there, someone I didn't know very well, said that I "looked like such a mom". Generally, I might take this as a compliment because I am very proud to be my boys' mother, but something in her tone of voice didn't make it seem like a compliment.

A few minutes later, I walked into the restroom, and after I washed my hands and turned to leave, I noticed they had one of those full length mirrors. I stopped and stared at my reflection. And, boy, did I look like a mom! And not in a good way! I looked like someone who had forgotten how to worry about herself. I didn't look bad exactly -- just, well, like I had been sitting on the back burner for a while. It is really hard to explain. My shirt was clean and everything, but boring. My hair looked fine, but like it needed a trim. The rest of me looked sort of forgotten. I looked like some generic, stereotypical, suburban housewife and not at all like, well, ME.

That was it. That one comment made me realize that I wanted to feel sexy and alive in my own eyes again...cause I AM WORTH IT! I started the next day, and I have been at it ever since.

I went to another work related party with my husband tonight -- and about five different people told me I look amazing. One woman asked me for the name of my hair dresser. It felt great...I felt great. Proud of myself that I have done well so far. Strong that I can finish this journey...to finding myself again. While being my boys' mom is the most important thing I will ever do--it does not define all of who I am. I never want anyone to look at me ever again and dismiss me as "looking like such a--" anything. There is a heck of a lot more to me than a stereotype!

Thanks to all for sharing your inspiring stories.

Schumeany, your post brought tears to my eyes. I feel the same way. If you ask what my greatest accomplishment is, I'd say, "My kids." But there's so much more to me. I'm a successful business owner, I'm smart, I'm funny. But I know people don't see those things when they look at me. They see a frumpy mom who's let herself go.

When I turned 40, I vowed I'd lose the extra weight I've carried my whole life. And I did . . . for a while. Recently, I've been remembering how great I felt back then - physically and emotionally. And I want that feeling back, dammit!

I saw my weight creep up and up and up til I got to the point of being a total hermit. I wouldn't leave the house if I could help it and how fat I had gotten just consumed my life. The thing that really made it hit home was probably after My sister was married in September. Two days before her wedding my mom and I visited countless shops with me trying nearly everything I could find on, and just feeling so disgusted with myself that I ended up swearing I wouldn't go because I had nothing to wear. I also remember thinking that I used to be able to walk into any shop and pick up anything and look pretty damn good in it. The next week I saw my grandpa who I didnt often see and when I walked into the room he took an intake of breath and said 'By God you're piling on the lbs aren't you?' And I was horrified. But that's what it took - sombody just telling me straight what I needed to hear.

I'm glad he said it because I've lost weight now and I refuse to give in, I'd rather spend my life trying to lose those extra 6 or 7 lbs than feeling like I couldn't leave the house incase people gaped at me in horror. I'm doing something positive, learning about my body and becoming a mentally stronger person too.

My slap into reality was a protocol review discussion at work. I am a healthcare provider and we were discussing risk of DVT and PE (blood clots) in postpartum patients with a BMI over 30 and over 35, and the prevention anticoagulation protocol. I realized that here I am - not a postpartum woman- and MY BMI puts me in this high-risk category! I AM the "obese gravida" by virtue of my BMI and I have no new baby to be the reason for it. YIKES!!

Thankfully, this was my "eureka" moment and the light bulb went off, (FINALLY). I realized that it was absurd. I *know* all of the health risks, the damage I am doing to my body with all of this excess weight. I do not want to be a healthcare provider who says, if not in words, "Do as I say, not as I do". My *knowledge* and *training* finally entered into action.

Look out - here comes the Healthy healthcare provider.

Once in 9th grade when I was very very depressed and saw how people treated me, the second time was after I went on a very long walk and came back to take a shower...just to see how very unattractive I was to myself.