What got you started?

[Fatgirlslimforsummer]

Was just wondering what gave everyone the kick up the backside to shed the pounds? For me it was a family photo, a reunion with family I hadn't seen since my wedding led to a photo I should cherish but all I see is me and my belly looking AWFUL!! So the weight has to come off! going to print it out and stick it on the fridge!!

[RobLandsdown91]

Hi,

I was an MFL teacher, I was only in my first year and some of the students teased me pretty much immediately (I don't blame them - they'd probably never had a 28st teacher before), I was also beginning to develop the usual health issues and something clicked in my brain that told me I needed to change, I go into detail in my blogs here: imgettinglessfat.wordpress....

I'd tried many times before, since I was 16 or 17 to lose weight (I'm 24 now) and failed but these past 7 months havee been steps in the right direction.

All the best,

Rob

[LessToLose 4lbs Restart April 2024]

I felt very ill over summer and then was weighed by a nurse at a routine check-up and was horrified that I was the highest weight I had ever been. Someone told be about the NHS 12 week plan and after a bit of wavering I finally signed up in September. Not looked back since!

[IndigoBlue61]

I have arthritis and had quite a minor operation in June last year Having always been 'plump' but fit and active, I had gradually become less so due to pain in my ankle, and, looking back, was actually quite low, especially as I made the decision to give up the job I loved as I couldn't pull my weight 😕 Boredom led to eating and further weight gain.

The operation, whilst helping, was not the miracle cure I had hoped for. I could still only walk a few metres and that was painful. the surgeon told me I will need further surgery, and being overweight is especially hard on ankles due to the mechanics of how they work. I left feeling very down, and realised that the future I had planned was not going to happen as I wasn't going to be able to walk. A visit to the nurse at my GP practice to remove the stitches put me onto a scheme run by my local hospital called "healthy helpings". As a life-long dieter I was quite sceptical, especially when we were told how much we could eat, proper food, decent sized 'helpings', even BREAD!!! Just limited portion size, sensible quantities. Calorie controlled.

We were advised to aim for 5% loss over the 8 weeks, 10% over six months. With nothing to lose I did it, and, shock horror! I lost weight! Not startling amounts but I lost. More to the point, the eating plan is great, nothing is banned, and for the first time in my life I am starting to believe that I really can do this for ever 😊

That was August last year, I am 12kg down (almost 2stone) and half way there.

Sorry for the long post! 😊

Onwards and downwards 😊

Anna

Ps oh, the surgeon has discharged me 😊😊😊

[sueper]

Mine was a little different. I heard on the news that being inactive was worse for your health than being obese and that just 20 minutes of walking a day could significantly improve your health. So I started walking (very slowly) and then things just fell into place

[Hidden in reply to sueper]

Well done you,as you have realised just 30 minutes walking is a sure way to helping shed the weight. Vary your route an you wont get bored also take your camera if you have one , this detracts you from a routine.

[audibabe]

It was few things with me one was everyone was dieting and loosing weight was sick of hearing it lol...next was my knee always hurting ...next was hate way i look ..

So I had a massive word with my self and just started a whole new change .

And now I've got going i'm good with it ...

[DartmoorDumpling Restart Feb 2024]

Mine was chatting to a cousin I hadn't seen for some years and planning to meet later this year to go riding. Some poor horse would have had a shock if I turned up weighing over 15 stone!

Also, my ability to work was being affected by the pain in my knees and hips - purely due to the load I was carrying! I was taking pain killers daily and struggling to sleep at night. I thought is this what my old age is going to be - no long country walks, no horse-riding, and injuring my insides with too many pain-killers?

Sometimes, you just make that decision to get the problem sorted - and I have decided enough is enough. I have lost the first stone of 3 and already feel so much better - no painkillers, walking 3 miles without discomfort. Still planning to get out on a horse - but hope to lose another couple of stone first.

Finding the very friendly online support from this site, (and an online calorie diary) has made it all possible.

[Jesterpuss1]

Hi my kick came after a blood test showed I was borderline diabetic! I've been a yo yo dieter all my adult life - but no more! I feel better after losing my first stone! And I luuuuuuv this forum and all the great people!! 💋

[Hidden]

Hi,

To be honest, I have very low self confidence and my other half is really very special so I just wanted to look and feel as good as I could for her

Which is soppy but hey it worked

[Gonti 10 kg]

I had 10 private counselling sessions to get help with a really bad relationship crisis. In the sessions we didn't once mention my weight but somehow talking to someone got me started on lots of positive changes. Eighteen months later I feel better about myself than I have for years. Am also fitter, healthier, a bit slimmer, doing different work with nicer people, much poorer but hey...the list goes on.

[Garfield_123]

It was a few things. A rather horrendous photo of me in a dress posted on twitter, increasingly bad feet, and the realisation that I could no longer fit into any of my clothes. But it was something I read that said a person is at their optimum capacity for health at age 27 (my next birthday) which made me finally go for it properly. I set myself the challenge to get below 15 stone (out of obese category) and to be able to run 10k by the time I got to 27, and to be back at a healthy BMI before I left it (by turning 28)

[telute]

I'm early thirties and have a very lovely boyfriend who at some point in the next few years might want kids - and if I'm honest there's no way I'd want to be four stone overweight and pregnant . Plus I got tired of trying to dress to disguise how much I weigh and had one of those light bulb moments where my brain just figured it would be better to spend that energy on losing the weight rather than disguising it.

[Ros1]

I decided to retire at age 60 so that I could spend more quality time with my husband and help to offer support to my mother-in-law. I decided that I need to get more healthily by dealing with some health issues. I knew that if I didn't start to control my bad eating habits it would kill me early. I was 22st 10lbs when I started this journey, but with some ups as well as downs, 2 and half years later I now weigh 13st 10lbs. We are the only ones that can change are lives and only when our state of mind is in the right place.

[Fran182716]

It was last spring, I had just had continuous viruses from Christmas to Easter and was feeling ill and exhausted. My GP ran a load of tests and found some slightly off liver function ones which she said might be a problem or might be just because I weighed 3 stone too much, so I went off and lost half a stone and the tests went back to normal. A couple of months later having unconnected tests for a long term issue with my salivary glands they found I have an immune deficiency hence all the viruses. Coupled with having arthritis in my feet and wanting to reduce the load on them because I love walking, it was health issues that sparked the weight loss. I lost a further half stone last year then the weight loss stalled, but I kept up the healthy eating as I want to give my immune system the best chance it's got. Now I'm slowly tackling the remaining two stone !☀️

[ElleH]

I have a big milestone birthday in September - 60! I want to look and feel better than I do now x

[IndigoBlue61]

Loving this thread 😊 Such uplifting and inspiring stories 😊 Keep them coming!! 😊😊😊

Thank you all

Anna