What made you decide to lose the weight?

hillbillycyster · 10-07-2003, 04:11 PM

I'm just starting to get serious about losing the weight again. I have over 130 pounds to go. I've slacked off for the last couple of months and really need to get jump-started again.

I'm just wondering what made you decide to lose the weight?
Was there a particular moment that it just clicked?
What reasons are you continuing to try to lose/stick to your diet?
How do you STAY motivated?

Just hearing from some of you will be a big motivator in itself.

Thanks in advance!!

Armastama · 10-07-2003, 04:36 PM

First of all.. congrats on losing 55 pounds and so many inches!! thats great, I bet it feels fantastic too

Here are my reasons:

1. Watching my father turn into a diabetic and NOT changing his life around. At first he was just on metformin and now he has graduated to insulin shots. When he was first diagnosed he did start to eat better and lost some weight which allowed him to stop taking his meds. Somehow this incredibly intelligent man just didnt get this simple premise and he is now worse than ever. Had he just stuck with it, he wouldnt be where he is today.. this was totally within his control. Its painful to watch this happen and be utterly incapable of changing it. I dont want to get diabetes.. I wont get diabetes.

2. Watching my grandmother grow older and have increased difficulties because of her sedentary lifestyle for her entire life. She had never worked her muscles a day in her life and now at a ripe age of 88 and being in relatively good health (no diseases, accidents, etc) she is deteriorating because didnt have a good base body to work with as life caught up with her. Now I look at it like I need to bulk up before I have no choice!!! Who cares about being muscular?? I want to be able to enjoy every year I have on this rock and as with most of your physical body.. if you dont use it, you'll lose it.

3. I want to wear cuter clothes

They just dont make a lot of cute clothes for people over a size 14.

Ive only been on one diet my whole life, when I was like 13 or so my dad and I joined WWs. I guess I lost weight but really, there wasnt too much to lose. I really got turned off of "dieting" from that, it was too structured.. I couldnt remember what I was supposed to eat and when, how many points is this? Besides, I just dont have the mentality to pay attention to any set plan of eating. I just needed to figure out what would work for me. Now Ive really set my mind to paying attention to what I put in my mouth, remembering to take my meds (the hardest thing in the world for me to do!!) and now Im working on getting back into the habit of moving my body more often. For me its all about starting a habit.

Good luck!!!

jana1323 · 10-07-2003, 05:03 PM

My #1 reason is diabetes and heart disease runs in my family.

#2 I saw a picture of myself and my two best friends together this summer. They are small and petite and I am not anymore. I was at my highest weight and I just couldn't believe that girl in the picture was me. It was a shock to see how big I had let myself get. So right then and there I decided I was going to lose weight and nothing was going to deter me this time.

Tracyarts · 10-07-2003, 05:03 PM

I had been "morbidly obese" for a long time, and for a while was involved in the "fat acceptance" subculture and keeping myself totally invested in remaining fat. (I had myself convinced that weight loss would be too "hard" and that I would "probably fail, because diets don't work".) I also was in deep denial over the reasons why I had reached such a frightening weight.

I had myself believing that I was so fat because I had PCOS, and thyroid disease. That somehow, I was not in control of my body and the weight either just magically sprouted onto my body out of thin air, or when I actually did allow myself to acknowledge that I overate, I convinced myself that it was because of the whole carb/insulin thingie. I couldn't "help myself" so it "wasn't my fault".

Deep down, I knew that people my weight do not live normal lives and they generally decline very early in life and are denied most of their life potential due to obesity related health issues, mobility loss, and social difficulties. But I had not gotten disgusted with myself enough to actually do what needed to be done. I just knew that my life was not going the way I wanted it to, and I could not get it back on track without losing a lot of weight.

Well, I played that game for a while, and wound up with type 2 diabetes, severe edema in my legs, chronic lower back pain that seriously compromised my mobility, and an all around diminished quality of life.

One day, I just got freaking fed up with being so fat and all of the negative things that it caused. I decided that I was OVER it, and I was ready to do whatever it took to get the weight off. And I started making the necessary lifestyle changes that would lead to weight loss.

The reasons why I keep up with the healthy lifestyle are simple:

- I want to live as long as possible.
- I want to be as functional as I can for as long as possible.
- I want to no longer be limited by health/mobility/social issues.
- I am better than this and I deserve more in life than an obese body can give me.

How do I stay motivated? Even simpler. Food is not better than being smaller. There is NO food on this planet that is worth giving up the health and life quality benefits I have reclaimed with weight loss. The pleasure of eating the food is not as great as the pleasure of living in a smaller body. Therefore, there is no legitimate reason for me to consider choosing food over a better life.

Tracy

KlassicalKat · 10-07-2003, 05:07 PM

What made me decide to lose weight?

1. Seeing myself at my top weight in photos! SO big! I cried, but then got busy exercising.

2. Hoping that it would help with my PCOS-y irregular periods somehow (it did...after I lost about half of the 24 pounds I have lost so far, they became regular for the first time in my life!)

3. Having scary heart palpitations often. (Now I only get a few before AF time).

4. Wanting to see my son grow, up, graduate, get married, etc.

5. Being frightened that I was out of breath after climbing short flights of stairs.

6. Wanting to be in good shape to face the unknown symptoms of menopause and old age to come (I am 46).

7. Being sick of everyone saying "You look just like your sister!" ( I really did when we were both 200 pounds). Now I am hoping to help her lose weight, though, because her health is beginning to suffer from it.

8. And YES, wanting to buy cute clothes! FUN!

9. Wanting to get pressure off a hemangioma (abnormal yet benign growth of blood vessel cells on the back of my left ankle). The pain did go away after I lost some weight.

10. Wanting to get more weight off now to perhaps ease the pain of the inflammation of a bone spur on my right heel.

11. Looking nice for DH...although he has loved me through THICK and THIN...literally!

12. My mother was overweight and died of a heart attack in her 60's. I miss her. I want to live longer.

...and probably many more, but I had better stop here as this is getting long!

Kathryn

Juliekaboolie · 10-07-2003, 05:18 PM

I would have to say that my decision to lose weight/be healthier stemmed from a series of moments all building up. The biggest reason I want to lose weight??...

#1: So I can live a quality life and hopefully live a long time.

#2: So I can feel like 'me' again.

#3: Fear of getting diabetes... fear of dying...

PaintedDaisy · 10-07-2003, 05:28 PM

Being diagnosed with PCOS and IR.

I did not want to develop diabetes so that was a motivation. But also, it had another effect. For the first time, I realized that there *was* something wrong with me and that's why normal dieting never worked. I was convinved that since dieting (mostly calorie restriction) didn't cause me to lose weight, why bother? Too much effort for no results. But after the diagnosis and understanding how blood glucose and insulin work, I realized that my body had a real problem and I wasn't normal. Suddenly it made it very easy to want to treat the medical condition not my supposed "lack of willpower". I just looked at it in a different light. Some people can't drink milk, others can't eat nuts, and still others can't eat a lot of sugar. I just happen to be one of those people and so be it. It became a lot easier when I *knew* it wasn't in my head and the low carb diet was just part of my "medicine".

Smaller motivations include wanting to not look frumpy all the time (I'm 23). I wanted to buy cute clothes. I also plan on TTC soon and I want it to be obvious I'm pg, not just look massively fat.

christyz · 10-07-2003, 06:48 PM

I'm just wondering what made you decide to lose the weight?

For me, I always thought my Dr harped so much on weight, yet it didn't seem to bother him that i never menstruated. I determined to focus on HEALTH. My big goal was to start menstruating again on my own (no more provera!). I decided the best way to promote health was to exercise, so i started there. I began walking about 20 mins a couple of times a week. I slowly moved to to 35 mins 3-4 times a week. Now I'm rollerblading 7km- 5x a week. It was really gradual. I also finally got the whole diet connection. My Dr kept bugging me to lower my carbs and i thought it was a load of bunk, until I started reading about insulin and it's affect on hormones like androgen & testosterone. My big goal wasn't really weight...if I was fat forever. so be it. There would be benefits to my heart and mind and that was what I was working toward. As I worked toward my goal of health, my weight took care of itself. After a while, I started liking how good I felt, and didn't crave the things I used to, so it made it easier to stay with it. On this forum, I constantly get the impression that girls think (and our Dr's tell us) "I'll be healthy when I lose weight". I think it's the other way around...when you get healthy, you're body will be the weight it is supposed to be.

Was there a particular moment that it just clicked? No. For me, it was just some slow realizations set in, and weight was never my bottom line. Over a period of 2 years, my bloodwork started getting better, the weight starting dropping slowly and that helped to keep me doing what i was doing.

What reasons are you continuing to try to lose/stick to your diet? I'm at my goal now, so I'm now in the maintainance stage, but I am determined to keep this body forever, and keep the benefits to my health that have resulted.

How do you STAY motivated? I kept motivated by telling myself that no matter what the scale says, I want to live a healthier, longer life...for me and my kids. As I started feeling better and my hormones started regulating, I knew I would never want to be back where i was, and it helped to keep me moving in the right direction.

All the best, HillB!

gdesigngirl · 10-07-2003, 07:05 PM

I have been "waiting for it to click" for YEARS now! YEARS! Just hoping one day I would wake up and be completely motivated -- that I'd finally be able to put all the pieces together -- that suddenly I'd know what I need to do. I am FINALLY realizing, it's not going to "click" -- that each day I just have to try to do my best. That my working on each little piece of the puzzle it'll eventually come together and that I have to focus on myself and taking care of myself each and every day.

This has been a very hard lesson for me to learn.

Maddy · 10-07-2003, 07:12 PM

I think Julie summed it up for me "I want to feel like me again"

that is exactly what I have been saying since I gained this extra weight. When b/f tells me I look fine as I am I always say "but I want to be me again"

Yes, that includes my health obviously, when I eat better I don't get the brain fog, I love to be able to think clearly, I want to have energy and enjoy activities but yes, I also want to lose weight and it is important to me.

P.S. I just have to add that Tracy, your post is very motivating! I think I shall be rereading that a few times!

christyz · 10-07-2003, 07:23 PM

Maddy: I used to say "I want to be me again" too and at one point I realized didn't like what that implied. Even obese, I was still me. I had the same dreams, goals, desires fat as I had thin. I don't like to portray myself as a different person then as I am now, because my heart was always the same. YOU are still YOU. Don't discredit yourself by saying you'll be more you when you're thin...I am living proof that this is not so. I still have the same insecurities and the fundamentals of my life are exactly the same.

It's ok to want to be more healthy and balanced, but your character doesn't change according to the scale...you are you...as much now as you will be then.

The body is just the carrying case for the soul, and that has never changed for me...it just comes in a different package.

Maddy · 10-07-2003, 07:45 PM

What a beautiful sentence "the body is the carrying case for the soul"........ that has quite made me tear up!

You have some very valid points Christyz but, although I am still the same person in a lot of respects, I am not in a lot of others.

I no longer agree to go out on the town at the drop of a hat; or to a club with my friends. I do go, but heck, the time I spend shopping for something that is "flattering" or makes me feel confident. I can outwardly portray that same confident girl, in fact friends have been quite surprised when I tell them how I feel. But internally, I am not quite convinced.

I am also not the same girl with b/f. I no longer casually wander around with few clothes on with careless abandon, lol!! I unconciously cover up more.

I completely agree that we should be comfortable with who we are, regardless of our size. And I would probably tell everyone else that, however, I cannot quite convince myself...... I suppose in a way I am worried that I will become "comfortable" with myself and then never make the necessary effort to change.

Moonshoot · 10-07-2003, 08:02 PM

I ate a pint of Blue Bell Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream in one sitting and it made me have diarrhea(from Glucaphage) so badly all night that my back hurt.

I said, I don't want to feel this way or put my body through this ever again.

christyz · 10-07-2003, 08:19 PM

Aw honey, now you're gonna make me cry.

My point is that YOU haven't changed..just your PERCEPTION of yourself has. Walking around naked in front of your b/f and parading on the town are not fundamental to who you are, they are related only to how *you* see yourself. Just like walking around like a goddess in front of your man isn't who you are, it is a response to how you see yourself. YOU haven't changed...your response to yourself has. I see a distinction.

Thanks for a neat conversation.

KYBluegrass · 10-07-2003, 08:53 PM

Well, it was pretty much an issue my entire life. From puberty on, I began to gain, and couldn't even maintain my weight eating one meal a day. I know that some of you can understand this statement...I would look in the mirror, and think, this isn't me. This is not who I am supposed to be.
I guess the dx made me focus my efforts on one thing at a time, and the rest has just been the journey to get back to myself, the person I knew was always in there.