What motivated you to make a change?

Lynne_K

Full Member
Further to the thread about your reasons for being overweight, I thought it would be interesting to hear what made you finally say "enough is enough" and make a pledge to yourself to lose weight and get the body you've been dreaming of?

My reasons are that I've been seeing myself in photographs over the festive period and I just did not like what I was seeing. I thought "Oh my god, how did it ever get this bad?". I feel unattractive and lousy and I'm starting to pick up joint / tendon injuries that I never used to. It's got to the point where I see beautiful clothes in River Island but know I can't buy many of them.

I'm a size 18 in jeans but can no longer fit into River Island size 18 jeans (unless they're the slouchy fit).

The final straw for me was recently a woman was arguing and swearing with her son in the street and although I made the briefest of eye contact with her, she remarked "What are you starting at, you fat (effing) cow?". It really got to me and made me think "My God, that's how people actually see me?"

So anyway, it was a mixture of a whole bunch of things. Onwards and upwards though, eh? First proper weigh-in on Monday. Bring it on!
 
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Good question.
I'd hated photos for years, too, but it was stepping on the scales and finding I was just one pound off of 1? stone ( ;-) ) that slapped me into action.
 
im turning 25 this year and i know thats not old, but when i occasionaly venture to town for a night out, i feel fat compared to the young skinny youngster, plus clothes dont look right on me, i sick of just wearing joggin pants or jean and a jacket to hide my belly, i feel like im not dressing my age but older..

what really made me decide is enough is enought was the work xmas do pic, i had a dress on that i thought i looked great in and felt great, but when i looked at the pic the next day, i felt sick they were horrible,i looked a mess. i cant beleave i let myself get 4 stone over weight

hence my reason to join SW
 
I just happened to weigh myself one day when I was at my parents' house, out of curiousity. I was shocked to see I was 13 stone - my heaviest. It was the shock I needed to do something about it. I also had constant back pain which I put down to my job. Since losing weight it has gone completely.
I never want to see 13 stone on the scales again!
 
I was starting to hate all the pictures taken of me as I hated how I looked and when all my clothes started getting a bit tighter I thought enough was enough. Always tired and grumpy as well so hoping this will all change with eating proper food and exercise :eek:)
 
Exactly the same as above- I didn't weigh myself for years and pretended that I was born to be this size and tried to accept it. One day I weighed myself and was nearly 19 stone. I cried for the whole day and couldn't believe I had let myself go to such an extent- I joined SW online the same day and never looked back
xxx
 
It was some pictures a friend took and it was one of those sideways pics and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Also it was the feeling of being tired all the time, no energy and being unhappy which reflected in dealing with my family members (always moody, bossy, etc). Still have some of those, but much better :)
 
I'm the same as everyone else.I have done that whole kidding myself that everything is fine for a while but I know that I have just been lying about how things are.I actively avoid social situations because i feel "on display", I have binge eaten at home alone as I have been too ashamed to eat infront of others, I wear clothes that fit rather than the ones I want to wear and I hate photos of myself.In fact I am just realising how many parts of my life does affect and I don't want it to be that way anymore!
 
Seeing the flab poking out either side of my bra strap and realising I needed to go up a size because I'd put on so much weight.

Ironically, also, starting a relationship with someone several stones overweight. I didn't want people describing us as 'the fat couple'. I thought if at least one of us was normal weight they wouldn't do that! But OH is losing weight as well now!
 
A few things . . . .

~ My asthma has got worse and I can only atribute it to my huge weight gain.

~ I have been diagnosed with a type of arthritis, not disimilar to rheumatoid arthritis and I know that being overweight is not good for my joints.

~ I convinced myself to weigh myself and then I saw it in very clearly.

~ I'm only 21 and I want to be healthy and happy. I can't be happy while I'm this fat. :(
 
:cry:the straw that broke the camels back (ironically) is my back pain. im 32 and on morphine and using a walking stick. i saw that reflection in the mirror. where once stood a girl who ,whilst overweight, loved taking care of her appearance with nice clothes, makeup and jewellery, now stands a messy haired, grey skinned, obese mess with a walking stick. can't take that anymore.
 
Last year was a tough year for me, had two overian toumours, two operations, and the stress on me and my family waiting to see if they were cancer, dreadful time, all clear up to now, and menopause no doubt ....knocking on my door as we speak...lol, so im 40 yrs young and sometimes life has its way of telling you, so i want to be healthy and happy, and be around for my family x
 
When a v good friend of mine who i hadn't seen in a while who knew i was trying for a child ( although they wouldn't of known i had been told i can't have children recently) said to me "oh congratulations" in the middle of the street, i asked why?, when they rubbed my tummy and said "the baby in there of course" i then had to tell them i have since been diagnosed as not being able to concieve and that "baby in there" was just too many bottles of vodka, chocolate and takeaways!
 
I've known for a long time I needed to lose weight and have wanted to do so but have lacked the motivation. Recently put on another few stone and enough is enough.

I went with my family to Winter wonderland on Christmas Eve and although did manage to go on the rides I wanted to it was a tight squeeze. I was dreading being told I had to get off as I was too fat, although I did see the funny side, next year I want there to be no doubt I will fit in and even leave room for someone next to me!
 
With me it's a bit different as I used to be quite a bit bigger (over 21 stone..) after moving to London (and being really poor!) I lost a lot of weight - from being a size 28 to a size 14ish.

After I started getting more money, and then meeting and moving in with my boyfriend it has been slowing coming back on over the past few years without me really noticing that much - I've always had a wardrobe full of different sized clothes and blamed it on each shop having their own sizes, as you do.

What has motivated me is that I wanted to go back on the pill (to help with my 'star weeks' :D) and for the first time my blood pressure has been too high.

I've also had back issues which although I've tried to blame it on me lumping things around at art college, is more likely to be down to my weight.

Add to that a horrific drunken picture of me side-on sitting down with twelve hundred rolls of fat and here I am!

Oh, and I'd also like to blame the trend for leggings - damn you elasticated waists!
 
A number of reasons, which I will list below. The last, however, is the one that has really got me going:

1) My boyfriend and family begging me, because they are worried about my health.
2) A dreadful experience I had recently as a bridesmaid, where the dress didn't fit on the day, and was so tight I couldn't sit down.
3) The fact that I want babies in the next few years.
4) The fact that I have a bad knee, and am starting to get a bad back.
5) A recent appointment with a liver specialist, where I was told I might have non alcoholic steato hepatitis.

Of course, the thought of looking nice is a bonus, particularly as I love clothes and make-up, but for the last few years have enjoyed them as a spectator rather than as a participant. However, I don't take enough pride in my own appearance for that to be sufficient motivation to lose weight. My hope is, however, that the more I lose, the more I do start to care about how I look.
 
looking in the mirror on New Years Eve and finally realising how round my face had gone!! And looking in the mirrror after doing my make up and hair and not feeling as good as i usually do :(

So SW here i come :D on my 4 day and loving it x
 
I went to the doctors 6months ago for a repeat presciption of the pill, and he very nearly refused to give it to me as my BMI was nearly 31 and he said the risks were just too high. I cried after and thought he was the worst doctor in the world, just being mean and trying to scare me... but then a few months later something clicked and i realised he was right!

I feel like this is the first time I'm going to lose weight to be healthy and more for the right reasons, not just because i want to look good in a little black dress (though of course thats motivating too!).

Good thread! x x
 
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