I became fed up recently because I'm tired of feeling guilty about eating and always saying "tomorrow" I'll eat right and "tomorrow" I'll get my act together. I really feel like I have to get my weight under control now or I might never do it.

What was the final straw for you?

For me it was turning 39 this year. I have no problem with turning 40, but I want to be in shape for it! I want to be a 40 year old BABE!!
And I'm suddenly terribly worried about my health.
Okay, and the fact that my closet is FULL of great clothes that don't fit me.

Well, mine was doing WW and trying and trying, and losing about 10 lbs and just staying at that weight, no matter how hard I tried and kept dieting. Then, once I'd plateau and stay stuck for 3 months, I'd say "Why am I even trying?" and start eating whatever I wanted again. My mom and dad have lost a lot of weight on this diet, and so has my aunt, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm sticking to this WAY better than any WW plan, though!

My defining moment was Wednesday night when I was picking out pictures to be copied. The pictures were from my oldest daughter's wedding this past June. From her apartment I went straight to Target and bought the SBD book.

I've gotten through Day 1. This is not that bad! I can do this. And I already feel better because I'm doing something healthy for my body.

I have also joined and rejoined WW many times. While I think it is a good program, I was having a very hard time keeping myself motivated. I knew that I needed/wanted to lose more weight prior to getting pregnant and felt that SBD was the way to go.

Weezle I second you on that it is much easier to stay OP that WW. I think that is because my trigger foods (candy and crunchy snacks) are totally off limits.

I was already overweight and getting ready to have foot surgery and I was afraid I'd get even bigger. Also, to help get off some of the meds I was taking.

My defining moment where I decided I truly needed to lose weight was in March. I was going through a lot of swelling with Fifth's disease (swelling, joint pain, reddish cheeks) and my doctor put me on a diuretic. She gave me three months to lose weight in hopes my cholesterol would go down or she was talking of putting me on a drug for it. I'm already on three blood pressure medicines and I didn't want to be on any more drugs. In fact I want to get off at least some of the blood pressure medicines.

I started losing on my own and got from 214 to 197 and then found this forum and read about South Beach. I've also started exercising and now I'm at 181.5 and I will see the doc next week to find out the results of the labwork. I'm 41 and I want to be around to see my 7 year old grow up.

My twins were approaching their first birthday and I had gained back almost all the weight I had lost (did WW) before getting PG. After the twins were 9 months, life started getting easier. I had settled into being a working mom of twins. It was getting to be fun to be a mom.

And frankly DH was ready to resume our regular life. *ahem* And I was putting him off. I just hated how I looked. I was not taking care of myself. This went beyond weight. My clothes did not fit well. Lots of my clothes were stained from baby life. I had not been getting my hair cut and colored enough. I was just in a dark place.

So it was time to overhaul. DH knew I felt badly about myself and knew he had gained about 15 pounds post-baby. So we started SBD diet together. He lost his 15 pounds and maintains now.

I just bought myself some more new clothes, nothing was fitting. Got a pedicure and will get my hair dyed again in a couple weeks. I wanna be a hot twin mom.

I have loved reading those. My husband asked me last week this same question because one of his co-workers asked him. This co-worker saw me and was totally amazed at the transformation and wanted to know what clicked.

For me it was several things:

Last summer after failing with WW for the 4th time I went to LA Weight Loss. What a crock! I got different counseling with a different counselor. I was charged for blood work that was never done, I was never measured, it was so bizzare. Maybe they have a great program, but the one near me was awful. Besides handing over more than $600.00. But I tried that for a few months and couldn't stick with it.

Then I was looking at my son coming home after being in Japan for two years. I wanted him to come home to a mom that was leaner. (He'll be home Aug 11th by the way) We're having family pictures done and I didn't want to be in them.

The final straw was walking in on a lady that I work with, who was talking about me. She's the most toxic woman I know. No one has escaped her tongue, her gossip or her venom. I really can't stand this lady. Anyway, I was still trying to do the LA Weight loss thing, she was telling another co-worker that I looked fatter than ever, she said "she eats like a pig". "I think it's worse" than before her diet. I turned and walked out, then I cried. I was more depressed than I had ever been before and went on like that for a few months. What I wish I would have done was walked up to the *&*^(## and slapped her into next week, but instead I found the Beach!

It's been a slow process, I've come to really believe there is no overnight cure, it has been one day at a time. I've been angry when I see people eating really delectable food and I want some, but I've felt great when I don't give it! I'm addicted to running and other exercise. My blood work has improved my a million %. Two days ago I bought a size 6 pair of pants! It's been worth it!!!

I have many final straws I think. I had done so many diets and never had great results, or it would yo-yo all the time. I was a HUGE carb/starch addict so this diet was really my last resort....but here I am!
Here were my reasons:
-I'm sick and tired of being the token fat chick in my group of friends (you know the "she's funny and has a great personality but is so fat!" I want to show that yes, I am hot AND hilariously brilliant!!). That's not who I was when I was a teenager and that's not who I am inside and I hate that people might view me that way.
-Seeing pics of my wedding and crying because I don't look the way I looked when I was a little girl picturing my dream wedding.
-Wanting more than anything to have my husband look at me again with "that look" again....you KNOW that look!
-Wanting to get pregnant in the next year or two and I want to have some skinny time before that and I want to be at a healthy weight before getting knocked up!
-Wanting to be able to go into ANY shop in the mall and buy clothes...
-Wanting to WANT to shop for clothes again!
-Wanting to make other men jealous of my husband because HE has me!
Oh, I could go on for sooooo long about this. But before I start crying or worse....I'll stop at those reasons!!

For the past few years I have always been a little overweight. I would mostly wear size 14, but I also had some 16s. I guess my last straw was when I went to work at my seasonal job for the first time in about 2 months, and my work pants (size 16) barely buttoned. We have assigned wardrobe at work and I was too embarassed to ask if a larger size can be assigned to me. The same pants used to be very baggy on me, and I realized that I had gained even more weight in just 2 months. I guess I didn't realize it until that moment. Anyway, after working for two days in pants I could barely breath in, and after a complete emotional breakdown, I decided that I need to do something. A few days later, I bought the book. I happy to say that my work pants are now comfortable again, and I anticipate asking for a smaller size in a few weeks.

[QUOTE=RNMOM]The final straw was walking in on a lady that I work with, who was talking about me. She's the most toxic woman I know. No one has escaped her tongue, her gossip or her venom. I really can't stand this lady. Anyway, I was still trying to do the LA Weight loss thing, she was telling another co-worker that I looked fatter than ever, she said "she eats like a pig". "I think it's worse" than before her diet. I turned and walked out, then I cried. I was more depressed than I had ever been before and went on like that for a few months. What I wish I would have done was walked up to the *&*^(## and slapped her into next week, but instead I found the Beach!
QUOTE]

So have you seen this toxic woman since you've lost the weight? Petty revenge is a wonderful side benefit of losing weight, it' s not the primary reason to lose weight but a little bit of revenge is nice too.

Barb: has your blood pressure gone down yet with your weight loss?

My final straw was going to the doctor in December and have her tell me that my blood pressure was high and thehorrible pain in my knees was asteoarthritis. She told me I was too young to be that old. I just turned 40. I have a family history of high blood pressure and she read me the riot act. I was already taking the limit of the prescription strength anti-imflamatories and the pain wasn't going away.

"You are only 40 years old. Do you know what you are doing to your body? You are only 5 feet tall and you weigh 200 pounds. You have to lose the weight or by the time you are 50 we'll be replacing your knee joints or you'll be dead from a stroke." She was very nice about it and actually acted concerned.

I had heard the lose the weight lecture before but usually from an uncaring jerk of a doctor, but she was just so nice about it and acted like it matter that I could have a stroke or something from the high blood pressure. That it got me to thinking. She didn't hand me a photocopied 1200 calories a day diet like the other ones did. She sent me to a nutritionist who talked about changing lifestyle and not going back to the way you ate that got you in this shape.

So here I am, 40 pounds lighter, not taking the pain medicine very often and my blood pressure is slowly coming down, not good yet. My blood work came back in also and everything else is great. The doctor said to keep up what ever I was doing because it was working and she wasn't going to give me any blood pressure medicine yet because I was actually making lifestyle changes. Yeah!

sarah....yep I work with her more often than I care too. I don't say much too her, but a month ago she asked me what I was doing because her husband needed to lose weight. I just answered SB. Well, he went on it and has lost 30 pounds.

My blood pressure has definitely come down. It is now regularly running less than 110/70. I still take Toprol, Lisinopril and HCTZ. It was running around 120/80 before I started losing the weight (but on the medications). I don't want to change my medicine without her approval though. When I first went on blood pressure medicine, I was 160/110!

I'm hoping she will agree to reducing the meds and seeing if I can stay at a good rate. She gradually added more meds through the years as I needed more to stay at a normal rate so I am hopeful. She knows that I keep an eye out and will let her know if I start running too high.