What was your "trigger"?
 

By that I mean the thing that happened to make you say "hang on, this needs to change now"
Mine was a combination of a few things one day I was coming home from work with a bag of 10 jam doughnuts intending to eat them all before my husband got home so I wouldn't have to share (I was comfort eating as someone at work had said something in passing that I took to mean I was hideous even tho that wasn't the intent) when I got home I looked down at myself with jam on my hands and sugar on my face realised I'd already eaten 5 doughnuts without realising it and looked a bit closer to see that I was wearing my husbands shorts much too large for me a scruffy tee shirt with jam on and though "what have I become?"
Don't get me wrong I didn't dive off the sofa and throw the food away I cried and finessed eating them to try and make me feel better, of course that didn't work, a couple of days later I was sitting with my cat on my shoulder and thought he looked cute so I snapped a pic, I looked so awful I checked some other pics of myself on Facebook and realised I am without fail the shortest fattest person in every photo. The next day I went to my gp and begged for help, she fobbed me off with a 'diet sheet' which was stupid stuff on it like "don't eat too much fat' I'm obese not stupid. Also got a referral to a dietician who I can't see for another three months!
I went home and sat for a while thinking if no ones going to help me why bother? Then just decided if no one was going to help me I'd do it alone, I figured out by myself how to calorie count and everything. Now I'm starting out with a new attitude and hoping I'm strong enough.

Having my size 24 jeans get too tight on me and realizing it was the end of the line for shopping at some stores I liked.

Not being able to walk a couple of blocks as fast as my co-workers and being out of breath when we got to our destination.

Fear that it would damage my career.

Seeing pictures of my face. I'm pretty vain and my face looked very fat.

Fear of running into old friends and having them wonder what had happened to me.

I had been working out for eight months with no weight loss, so for me it was realizing that weight training wasn't going to do at 40 what it did for me at 20 and that I needed to add cardio, stop binging and radically change my diet.

A few things. I have a sister who's 11 months older than me, and we basically grew up as twins. I always thought we looked exactly alike, and in reality we do, in the face. Then family and friends started referring to her as "Little [last name]" and me as "Big [last name]" and with a few carefully selected questions my blinders were taken off and I realised that we are nowhere near the same size, I'm about 40 pounds heavier.

Also just seeing pictures and noticing my pants getting tighter and that lovely roll of flab that comes over the top of my pants when I sit. I was simply getting uncomfortable. I don't want to feel like that anymore.

First trigger was having to shop at Lane Bryant and Fashion Bug because regular sizes didn't fit. Buying clothes I didn't even really like, just what fit. Going to a size 18 to a 20 and feeling that get tight... I was like wth..what will I do when Lane Bryant sizes don't fit anymore?

Now it's my second round, my pants are getting tight and no way am I going back to the plus size stores.

Just realizing that I do not want to be over weight for my 20th birthday. I've spent 2 decades like this and I don't want to do this anymore.

Weight loss has been something I've wanted pretty much my entire life, but I was never serious enough about it. I'd lost a lot of weight as an early adolescent but never got much under 200.

Then about a year or so after getting married I looked in the bathroom mirror and realized I could no longer see my collar bones. Until then I'd been in denial about how much weight I'd gained and always thought I could just jump right back on the weight loss wagon whenever "I was ready." But in reality I'd gained 30 pounds and was at my highest weight again. It was devastating to me and I knew I had to change something. I always had excuses about why I couldn't do this, or needed to do that. If I just had this then it would all be easy, blah blah blah. Finally I understood it wasn't going to be easy, but I had to do it anyway.

I've got a crushed disc in my spine... I broke my tailbone as a kid, big busted all my life, then just big. Dr's dont know for sure what happened exactly, but my back is really messed up!

I've had 4-5 epidurals for the pain in the last two years, now I'm trying NOT to have back surgery. My weight was at my absolute highest.

Fear of surgery.
Feeling very OLD at 40. I was severely delusional, I had always been 'cute, and a little big'. Now I was old, decrepit, and just BIG.

Vanity was a big part of it. I wasn't feeling cute, anymore.

Two things finally did it for me.

1) This photo, taken Dec. 2009. I remember thinking how cute I must look in my plus-size Christmas t-shirt....:(
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...wPics004-2.jpg

2) Seeing my fiance's mother (who I have known for at least 25 years and has always been massively overweight) laying in bed in the hospital barely able to breathe or able to walk due to issues brought on by her weight.

I joined here 1/11/2010, joined a Biggest Loser contest at work and haven't gone back to the old ways since.

I feel awesome!

Quit smoking and gained six pounds in the first few days. Could not believe that I was really thinking of going back to smoking as a weight management tool. Knew something had to give.

This is really lame, but my knees hurt!

There are other reasons too, I mean, I want to like the way I look, and I want to feel healthy and live a long time.

But what actually got me trying to change things were my knees. They started to ache all the time, and I kind of equated my weight to carrying a child around with me everywhere. I always just thought well I can lose the weight later. But then I was thinking how am I going to lose weight if I can't walk!? I've only lost 15 pounds but they've already gotten way better (I have a secret dream of becoming a jogger, I'll get there yet)

For me what started it this year has been my inability to get pregnant. We have tried for 6 years with no luck. Started infertility treatments, those get expensive fast and I realized I HAD to do something about my weight. Then we had a miscarriage and that has only added fuel to my fire. I don't want to be infertile anymore. I am not saying losing weight will fix it, but as long as I do everything in MY control I think I will feel a lot better.

Really an accumulation fo things for me, and the pounds just kept adding on because my focus was on other health issues. I think the main three though are
(1) although photos of me are a rare thing, with cameras on the phones, etc people are taking them more and more; I'm always the biggest person on the photo (and by far!)
(2) went to Costa Rica with my family, and couldn't do most of what I wanted to do because of back pain, which I attribute to extra weight and lack of exercise and
(3) My 'girls' were big by the time I was 10, and I haven't seen my stomach for nearly 40 years, until I had a bilateral mastectomy in July. Hello! I'm not planning on reconstruction, I don't want to wear prosthetics, so my best bet at looking better and feeling better is to lose the tummy and tone up allover!

I went through an awful breakup with my ex of 3 years. My high school sweet heart who I was with from the age of 16 until I was 19. After he left I did some soul searching and realized that I had no idea who I was anymore. At a time in my life when I was supposed to be figuring out who I was and enjoying time with my friends, I wasted being depressed and with someone who didn't deserve more than a second glance from me.

When he and I met I was probably around 160, then gained to 234 in less than a year. I remember the first time I actually looked at myself and I was shocked by how my body looked. I was dealing with a lot of self esteem issues from emotional abuse in the relationship, but regardless I knew that I HAD to be healthy. So... I started. And that was that.

Realizing I have an extremely limited life because I let my self image bog me down so much. Unable to remember what it's like to be skinny, while only being 20 years old. Heh!

I hope I am not out of line to say this, but I'm impressed with you younger folks who are getting a handle on this issue now.

I know this might sound patronizing, but please bear with me. :) As difficult as it is to lose weight at any age, time is not on our side - the older we get, especially women, the more recalcitrant our bodies get about giving up that extra weight. Metabolisms slow down. Years of carrying around extra weight makes our joints ache, making exercise that much tougher.

Not to mention how many of us look back at our young adulthood, and even some folks who are happy with their lives wonder if they could have been even better had they not spent those years being fat.

I myself am fast approaching 40, and while I have no qualms about growing older (I keep hoping that wisdom will turn up sooner or later ;)) I know that I do not want to enter my 40s with this same weight (and then some!) that I have been trying to lose ever since I was 16 or so.

And as busy as life feels when you are in school or working your first full-time job, believe me it doesn't get any easier as you get older. More demanding jobs with more responsibility, kids to take care of, aging parents to take care of - whatever it is, life never makes fewer demands on you as you get older, only more.

So I'm delighted for you folks who have the sense to handle the problem NOW, when your bodies are more resilient and most of your life stretches ahead of you! Best of luck to you.

Now get off my lawn! :D

Originally Posted by carter:
I hope I am not out of line to say this, but I'm impressed with you younger folks who are getting a handle on this issue now.

I know this might sound patronizing, but please bear with me. :) As difficult as it is to lose weight at any age, time is not on our side - the older we get, especially women, the more recalcitrant our bodies get about giving up that extra weight. Metabolisms slow down. Years of carrying around extra weight makes our joints ache, making exercise that much tougher.

Not to mention how many of us look back at our young adulthood, and even some folks who are happy with their lives wonder if they could have been even better had they not spent those years being fat.

I myself am fast approaching 40, and while I have no qualms about growing older (I keep hoping that wisdom will turn up sooner or later ;)) I know that I do not want to enter my 40s with this same weight (and then some!) that I have been trying to lose ever since I was 16 or so.

And as busy as life feels when you are in school or working your first full-time job, believe me it doesn't get any easier as you get older. More demanding jobs with more responsibility, kids to take care of, aging parents to take care of - whatever it is, life never makes fewer demands on you as you get older, only more.

So I'm delighted for you folks who have the sense to handle the problem NOW, when your bodies are more resilient and most of your life stretches ahead of you! Best of luck to you.

Now get off my lawn! :D

I completely hear where you are coming from. I don't know what course my life would've taken had I stayed obese. I do know that my life changed in every single way as I inched closed to being at a normal, healthy weight. I really can't explain it other than to say that I was free from that burden and therefor able to move on to bigger and better things. It was a big monkey off my back. A lot of people do not let weight hinder them, but it had been such a burden on me from childhood and I do believe it affected many aspects of my life- mostly just the confidence to accomplish certain goals. I can't say I would've been able to do a lot of things I've done over the past 6 years had I not let go of the weight at 22. It was probably the most freeing experience of my life. Liberating, even.

You know, I am pretty happy with the life I have created. I have a wonderful husband, beautiful, healthy daughter, a very fulfilling job as a nurse in the NICU, own my home, can afford vacations, have 2 darling doggies who I love to death. So all in all, I am content.

HOWEVER, I have fought this obesity every step of the way, have been every weight from 150-350 since I was a teenager, and it breaks my HEART how many miseries I have suffered because of it. The last 3 years or so have been the worst. I was always a fairly active fat person with pretty normal labs/BP at the doctor, didn't have any major mobility issues, etc. Then I ballooned up from ~280 up to 350 in the last 2-3 years, and OMG!!!!! BP going up, knees killing me, barely able to go to work let alone be active with my daughter, clean the house, etc. And I am only 39 years old!!!!!! I was feeling like a very obese 80 year old!!! I made the decision to really do this weight loss thing the right way, and I'm on my way back down. I haven't felt this good in a long time, and I've barely even scratched the surface yet. So I guess you could say I let it go on long enough and let it get bad enough that I scared the crap out of myself.

I hope getting that close to the edge of the cliff FINALLY got it through my head that I will not suffer this any longer. NEVER will I be like that again, and I'm going to lose the rest or die trying!!!!

I also admire the younger girls who are getting a handle on this now. It does nothing but get MUCH, MUCH, MUCH worse!!!! Trust me, you don't want to go there. You go, youngsters!!!!

I just want to support what Carter said. I don't know if it's the advantage of having the internet to share knowledge or what, but I am very encouraged to see the self-awareness that some of our younger members have...

Although, Carter...

Originally Posted by :
I hope I am not out of line to say this, but I'm impressed with you younger folks who are getting a handle on this issue now.

Can I count myself as one of the 'younger folks' even if I'm older than you? (I'm 49) :devil:

I'm 47 and have ranged from 'fairly slender' to 'a bit fluffy' to 'plump' until about 7 years ago, when a series of back injuries and the accompanying lack of mobility started me down the slope to true obesity, and quitting smoking 1.5 years ago put the gain into hyperdrive. I didn't really feel "obese" until relatively recently, but the signs were there - short of breath, creeping blood pressure, sore knees and hips, etc... but the last straw was an impromptu finger prick at the Dr.'s and a somewhat elevated blood sugar. That was my "Oh CRAP!!!" moment. I started my weight loss journey within days and already feel worlds better after losing only 25 pounds. I sure do wish I had learned about "portion control" and 'emotional eating' issues when I was younger. The things that we take for granted.....

This is a great thread. :)

I've been trying to lose weight since I was a teenage (not that long ago... I'm 21), and I've always tried to do it because of vague reasons, like I didn't want to look fat, my friends were all skinny, etc.

Then this year I stepped on the scales and saw that I had passed the 200 lb mark. In fact, I'd gone to 207 lbs. That scared the crap out of me. I was considered obese and was frighteningly close to morbidly obese (a BMI of 40 or more - I realize BMI isn't always accurate, but I'm a chick with a regular frame, average muscle, etc.). That was my trigger. I thought, "****, I'm not going to be able to play with my kids I'll be so large." And I don't even have kids! I could see the future, and it was horrible.

I started that day trying to lose weight. I've tried before, but I haven't had this kind of determination. I changed my eating habits cold turkey (4 months in and it's still going great - so long as I treat myself once in a while!). I'm not really struggling at all yet, but I'm on the lookout.

Also, something another poster said came to mind. "Fear of running into old friends and having them wonder what had happened to me." Crap, that'd suck.

And to another poster who encouraged young folks to get a handle on our weight now, I have to say I agree. I thought to myself, how am I going to do this if I'm 50 and 400 lbs? (A weight I can easily see myself getting to). And then I realized if it got that bad, I might not make it to find out.

Thanks for bringing this up, OP. And thanks to others for their great insights.

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, went on synthroid, and I shed close to 30 lbs (without any real effort) in a year and a half. I started questioning why I was comfortable being fat and wasn't putting any effort into it, since I finally could lose weight...and the REAL answer just p*ssed me off and freaked me out at the same time.

The weight is just another "wall" to keep people at a distance and to minimize unwanted attention. It did genuinely start because of the thyroid, but emotional eating pushed it over the edge.

I was letting a worthless POS and a bad event continue interfering with my life a decade later...and I'm not willing continue allowing that to happen.

For me, it was the last 20 pounds I put on after my second pregnancy. I spent about 6 years at about 230 and actually felt pretty good, no general aches and pains or real physical limitations. I actually exercised pretty regularly, I just wasn't careful about what I ate. During my pregnancy I ate well and kept up the exercise but after delivery I couldn't keep up with that and caring for a newborn, older child, household, etc. So I put myself on the back burner, ate a ton of crap and didn't exercise and gained 20 pounds. And those 20 pounds have brought a ton of issues-I'm constantly tired, sweating, always hot, never in the mood to go anywhere or do anything, and I've got a whole 1, yes 1 pair of pants that fit me that I wash and wear over and over because I refuse to buy another pair while I'm this size. I want to buy nice pants that don't have to stretch to kingdom come to fit me comfortably. I want to go a day without sweating while I'm walking from the house to the car. I want to be able to get in the floor and play with my 10 month old without having to rearrange my fat rolls. Basically I'm tired of feeling this way and it's very motivating.

It was my 2nd daughters approaching 1st birthday. Since I knew that she was my last child, and I had always said that once I was done having kids, I would get back into shape, I knew I had wasted enough time. I never wanted to be the fat mom - I'd settle for average!

Great thread, mrstanya.

Over the years, I had problems with emotional eating, habitual eating, and eating because I was hungry a lot (mainly because of trying to eat low-fat and high-carb, with disastrous results). Recently, my life has been more happy and stable than ever before, and I know now that many high-carb foods cause cravings. At 260 pounds, I was fortunate not to have any serious health effects yet, though I have a lot of heart disease and diabetes in my family so I was probably a time bomb. (I was also having bouts of knee pain.)

I knew from previous experience that any diet attempt would fail if I wasn't ready to commit. On Dec. 29, 2008, against all logic and experience, I decided that I was ready. I made it to Onederland on Sep. 28, 2009 and lost 77 pounds in my first year of this new lifestyle. The strangest thing about this dieting experience is how traumatic it *hasn't* been. (Maybe more about that in another post.)

I'm sort of an introvert. I rarely go out to the bars like other 22-year-olds do, but one of my closest friends was having a going away party since he was moving out of state. My fiancé wanted to go. So I agreed. We went to this bar that was packed, wall to wall with people. Everyone bumping into one another. I tried to stay out of everyone's way, but it's impossible when you're in a place that busy. Even if you weigh 120 lbs. So, while I was making my way through the crowd, coming back from the bathroom. Some guy turned around and said "Hold on dude, SOME FAT CHICK IS PUSHING ME!" Oh, so the five other people within the 3 feet we were in weren't pushing him? Just the fat chick. I felt devastated. I couldn't even do something as normal as go to the freaking bar with friends without being terrified that someone's going to make me feel like crap for being over weight. I decided I wanted to be able to socialize without being terrified of other people making fun of me. I mean, I'm 22. I'm an adult. I should be able to quit making excuses.

Originally Posted by carter:
I
I myself am fast approaching 40,

Ok, here I am thinking you're referring to ME as a youngster, and you're FORTY?!! You are NOT old!! I will be 36 next month and I feel like I'm doing this in the MIDDLE of my youth! ;) Seriously, this weight loss has brought back my youth and I am not old! Our metabolisms haven't shut down yet! Slower perhaps...but not shut down.

As for me, I had no trigger. I've been trying to get this weight off for 10 years as I saw it piling on. It's just that I had a few to things to learn before the weight would come off. I had to learn patience, above all else. I had to learn that weight loss was 80% diet and only 20% exercise, no matter how much you work out. I had to learn about calories, a message that was lost amidst all the low-fat, low-carb but eat-as-much-as-you-want diets. :rolleyes:

I'm always interested to read people talking about their "trigger moments," because for me there wasn't really a moment like that in terms of deciding to lose weight. It was the experience of trying out the LoseIt app on my iTouch, struggling to stay at 1600 cal/day for 2 weeks, and actually LOSING THREE POUNDS. (I know I sound like an advertisement, but since LoseIt is free I don't think anyone's going to pay me to do that. Also, it's not MELTING AWAY like all those blinky ads for acai berry juice promise, it's %*! work.)
:) It was that first realization that I could actually do it that started the, er, obsession as some of my acquaintances now regard it.

Up until that point I seriously didn't think it was possible for me to lose weight. I'd been heavy for 15 years even though I exercised and ate "healthy" (junk food was never in my house and I didn't eat out that much). And all sorts of newspaper and magazine articles and TV shows were telling me it was almost impossible to lose weight, some people are genetically programmed to be overweight, blah blah, and so I figured it was just my natural state.

I have been so much more successful ignoring magazines and TV on weight loss since then, and reading 3 Fat Chicks. The stories of people on here have been so inspirational, and all the tips and support have been just as helpful especially in the early days of desperate cravings. I think the weekend I discovered the site I literally went back and read all the archive pages of the Calorie Counting forum, and over the next weeks many of the other forums. I still don't understand why more media doesn't come HERE as a resource.

A few things did it for me. :) Let me share.

First, it was a guy I was very interested in two years ago, started talking to me on Facebook. I had gained maybe 30 lbs since two years ago. He sounded like he liked me and couldn't wait to see me. Well, as soon as he saw me once in real life, he stopped talking to me completely.

Another thing that triggered it, I was looking at my old pictures from maybe about 2 years ago, and my brother (who is trying to lose weight with me) was like "WOW, you look SO skinny." And I looked at him like... "What? I still look like this don't I? Have I really changed that much?" to which he answered "Do you want my to lie or be honest..."

Also remembering when I hit 150 lbs, thinking to my face "Don't worry, I'll never let myself go over this, if I do, I'll lose it." Remembering that when I was 180 lbs. And I thought, if I thought that 30 lbs ago, and didn't stick to it, I'll be over 200 lbs in no time, and won't do anything about it. So I decided to stop lying to myself that "I won't go over this, ever!" and just LOSE it, and become my ideal weight.

Part of what triggered me was seeing very unflattering vacation photos of myself. I've been lucky enough to do a lot of traveling, and it was pretty devastating to see those once in a lifetime photos ruined by my weight. Like me and dh in front of the Eiffel Tower. Beautiful memory, but not such beautiful pics. What a shame!

The biggest motivator probably is my husband's health. His whole family is diabetic and I feared he was on that path as well. Every greasy, fatty meal I fed him felt like I was literally killing him. I decided that if I didn't care about my own weight, I should at least try to cook healthier for him, because I didn't want to lose him. We have lost weight together ever since.

Originally Posted by Eliana:
Ok, here I am thinking you're referring to ME as a youngster, and you're FORTY?!! You are NOT old!!

I didn't say I was old. ;) But to be specific, a few folks had posted above me who were 20 or thereabouts - those are the people who inspired my comment.

My husband finally (after 8 years of marriage) that he would, in fact, like to have children "someday". I was like "Look, I'm 32, and if we decide to do this, I need at least a year, maybe two, to lose weight, and then another 9 months to prepare, so if by "someday" you mean "bring the baby home in 2 or 3 years" the time to decide is now. And since I am not getting younger, we need to do it if we are ever going to". He thought for about 2 minutes and said "Ok, Let's start then". I more or less rolled off the bed and got on the exercise bike. 15 months and 135 lbs later and we are half way through an IVF cycle (wish us luck!)

What amazes me, in retrospect, are all the things that WEREN'T triggers. I made so many compromises, accepted so many limitations, lived with so many anxieties and humiliations . . . I really don't understand how I lived like that, or why it was never bad enough to make me lose the weight. I think the difference is that I cared enough this time to do the research and I learned a great deal, instead of just trying to suffer through it. And that early motivation certainly helped.

mine was when i was gettin ready for work and putting on my size 16 work pants that had gotten tight and my belly bulged out the front and sides and i said to myself... " ok, ill go ahead and get the size 18's and start a diet again! And i sat there for a minute and thought to myself... this has been one of the many excuses thats gotten me to this weight! I would eat and eat for emotional reasons and boredom and felt depressed all the time. Finally i made a resolution to myself and give myself a gift that i truly need! A big swift kick in the *ss! And i have never been proud of myself more than i am now! Less than 10 lbs away from my #1 goal!!!!!

I'm 18 and I've been overweight for years. Almost everyone in my family is overweight so I was definitely raised with bad eating habits and no self control when it comes to food. I'd often find myself up at 3AM scarfing a french bread pizza and a bag of chips with a soda. My self esteem is so terrible that I didn't even care.

I'm having somewhat of a vacation next month, and I realized that something needs to change. First I thought that maybe I'd just lose a few pounds to boost my self-confidence next month, but then after reading about it I started to realize that I need to make a lifestyle change. I'm still young so hopefully I can start early and get to a normal, healthy weight with better eating habits by the time I'm 20. Not only do I need to lose weight---I need to start taking care of myself better and stop letting myself go because of my weight issues! Right now I'm terrified of even going out and trying to get a job because I get nervous around people. I've never been a very social person but it's gotten MUCH worse with the weight that I've gained. I've been dieting for around a week now and am already feeling better now that I'm doing something about it!

Awwww Linsy :hug:

My trigger was one night, when I was scarfing down snickerdoodle cookies and I just started crying. Since I have been big for most of my life, I have always felt that I couldn't be taken seriously in life of my weight. I ate, and I did care but I didn't do anything about it, I just wanted to be slim because I felt that smaller people had it so much easier. I feel that skinny people don't have to work as hard to be taken seriously in society. It hurt me that my biggest flaw was on the outside and people chose to look past me because of it. I am a good person, I am not mean, I am giving, accommodating, supportive and positive.

After crying my eyes out, I took the rest of the cookies and flushed them down the toilet. Yes, I wasted money but I was tired of food controlling me. I was getting closer and closer to 300 lbs and I only saw myself only getting larger!! I started my journey in late July and I have currently lost 14 lbs. I have never lost this much weight ever and I hope that next year, when I am 25, I will start living instead of hiding because of my weight.

What a fabulous thread! I have read all of our stories, and am inspired by the courage each one of you demonstrate. I feel like I can relate to part of everyone's story.

I made the full committment to lose this weight on December 1, 2009. I had a few key triggers - none of which spurned me into immediate action, but all of which accumulated & meant I had to get on with things.

1. I had just finished weaning my 2nd baby (2 kids, 21 months apart in my late 30s!), and therefore had no more excuses left to just eat whatever I wanted.

2. My second child is a girl, and she appears to have her mama's love of food. I've listened to family members tell me how chubby she is (she is NOT - at 2-1/2 years old, she's under 50th percentile for weight) and have grown increasingly angry over it. In these moments, I realized that my own eating habits would indeed influence her even more than my son, and that if I didn't demonstrate healthy living, she didn't stand a chance. I was overweight & unatheletic during my school years (obesity didn't arrive until after college), and have some real emotional scars from it. I knew I needed to do everything I could to LIVE the life I wanted for my kids...not just talk about it.

3. I learned that my HS-aged niece was battling (still is) a very serious eating disorder. The 1st day that I realized it, I became so ill that I cried & could barely eat for 2 weeks. I then understood how disgusted she must have been (and may still be) by me physically. How I was the person she did not want to become. How she was likely extremely embarassed by me. In my head, I had this wonderful relationship with her, but in reality, I had to come to grips that not only did I not know her, she didn't know me.

4. I started into couselling the autumn before I committed to losing the weight. It was extremely painful for me as I was going through a major depression. After a few, in-depth sessions with a therapist I really liked, she let me know that she & her husband were moving to Florida. I could not bare the idea of going through the pain again of starting over with someone knew, & I felt the 1 thing I could control was my weight issue. I had hoped that would be the cure-all (which of course it isn't). It was a start.

5. I'm turning 40 in a few months...'nuf said ;)

6. Lastly, I spent a BOATLOAD of cash on a program up-front. I am cheap. I do not spend $$ on myself. It nearly killed me to sign over that money for a program that seemed a little to the left of normal. There was NO WAY I was going to be unsuccessful after having shelled out that cash! So, I went heads-down, followed the program (kicking & screaming most of the way) and lost almost 60 lbs in 6 months.

I have to say that I do not feel I could have done any of it without the incredible support of my awesome husband. He has stood by me, supported me, given up chips with me :), and even lost over 20 lbs. himself. He is my rock, and I know what a blessing I have in him.

Whew. I've never vocalized any of that before! Now, of course, my goal is to not come out on the other side of winter & be completely embarassed by having regained all this weight again! I'll be here posting regularly & focusing on fitness goals now. This next phase is even more scary than the first (losing) as it doesn't come with nearly the same amount of immediate gratification. It is, however, a blessing to demonstrate to my kids the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. We talk about nutrition all the time & they love watching me get exercise (and joining in, too!). So, the pain & tears & comittment is worth it, and I will continue to do this for ME and for them.

I have lost a significant amount of weight twice. My first trigger was in 2001 when I realised that my UK size 20 clothes (US 16) no longer fitted me. I was not prepared to go up yet another size.

My more recent trigger, after a long period of regaining weight was August 2009. I had swollen ankles with pitting edema and I was noticing some breathlessness after mild physical activity such as walking up one flight of stairs. I went to get checked out by the doc who sent me for various cardiac and other tests, and told me to lose weight.

I whined a bit about how I'd lost weight in the past and regained, but I took heed anyway, going back to following the Weightwatchers points system and reintroducing regular walks into my life. The hospital tests turned out OK but it was a wakeup call for me that if I didn't have serious problems now, they might occur later. I wasn't feeling good and I felt older than my age in the mid-40s. Although I did it for my health and fitness rather than to get into a smaller size, I absolutely love having a greater choice of clothes again. I only regret leaving it so long to get back to sensible eating.

Originally Posted by Shmead:
What amazes me, in retrospect, are all the things that WEREN'T triggers. I made so many compromises, accepted so many limitations, lived with so many anxieties and humiliations . . . I really don't understand how I lived like that, or why it was never bad enough to make me lose the weight.

This. While I'll often list 3 things that got me started this time those reasons had always existed, so I can't say a trigger really motivated me. Just finally put it all together from what I had learned about myself and my body over previous attempts and did all of them at the same time.

Originally Posted by alisonlerae:
We went to this bar that was packed, wall to wall with people. So, while I was making my way through the crowd, coming back from the bathroom. Some guy turned around and said "Hold on dude, SOME FAT CHICK IS PUSHING ME!"

Did you punch him in the face?! OMG. How DARE anyone EVER say that to ANYONE. Lord, help me and my temper. :D


Anyways, I don't know that I had a trigger, so to speak. One day I got up and just... decided. I was done. I was doing being 'big'... I've always been the big friend, the big cousin, the big... whatever. I got boobs at 8. Also, I wanted to show all the people in my family that despite my success (house, car, husband, job, friends) I was MORE than the big one. One day they WILL BE SORRY they treated me so badly all those years. They will have nothing NOTHING to say to me or about me in a negative light. Stupid jerks. :lol:

Originally Posted by carter:
I hope I am not out of line to say this, but I'm impressed with you younger folks who are getting a handle on this issue now.

I know this might sound patronizing, but please bear with me. :) As difficult as it is to lose weight at any age, time is not on our side - the older we get, especially women, the more recalcitrant our bodies get about giving up that extra weight. Metabolisms slow down. Years of carrying around extra weight makes our joints ache, making exercise that much tougher.

Not to mention how many of us look back at our young adulthood, and even some folks who are happy with their lives wonder if they could have been even better had they not spent those years being fat.

I myself am fast approaching 40, and while I have no qualms about growing older (I keep hoping that wisdom will turn up sooner or later ;)) I know that I do not want to enter my 40s with this same weight (and then some!) that I have been trying to lose ever since I was 16 or so.

And as busy as life feels when you are in school or working your first full-time job, believe me it doesn't get any easier as you get older. More demanding jobs with more responsibility, kids to take care of, aging parents to take care of - whatever it is, life never makes fewer demands on you as you get older, only more.

So I'm delighted for you folks who have the sense to handle the problem NOW, when your bodies are more resilient and most of your life stretches ahead of you! Best of luck to you.

Now get off my lawn! :D

Carter, I literally laughed out loud at this post. You're hilarious! And I agree with every single word.

For me, I guess I just got tired of wanting to be thinner and wanting to lose weight and wanting to feel better about myself and wanting to have a small waist and stomach etc... I guess asked myself (one random Sunday evening), "Wait, why can't I get this?? I CAN have it if I just get off my butt and do it!". I joined Weight Watchers online that night and I haven't turned back since.