I was prompted to start this thread after reflecting upon several discussions in this Forum, on 43 Things, and with friends.

Many of us have significantly changed our lives through weight loss and fitness training. What prompted us to take those steps? What challenges did we face? What was the impact on our relationships?

Some bits of my story:
I was never particularly skilled at team activities (baseball, football, etc.) as a kid and was moderately overweight as an early teen. A teacher, along with my classmates, nicknamed me "Jelly Belly"...a name that hurt, but that I accepted because of the attention that went with it.

At some point, I decided that no one would ever call me that name again. I took up jogging and tennis, lost the weight and have been weight- and fitness-concious ever since.

The upside? I'm a relatively fit middle-aged man, healthier than many of my peers. The downside? No matter how well I exercise or eat, or view concrete evidence to the contrary, a part of me still thinks of myself as "Jelly Belly". Running shoes, free weights, charts and pictures haven't made ol' JB go away.

What's the story of your journey to fitness?

Hmmm.....interesting topic. My journey to fitness was a channel of confluence in my life. My lifestyle changed at the same time I retired from my 1st career, and the same time my children reached adulthood, and at the same time my wife started feeling the symptoms of perimenopause. I found that I really needed to be selfish to stick to my lifestyle change...to do it for me, not the job, not my family...but for me. So with all the other things going on you can imagine how difficult the whole time was. Almost 3 years later the peaks and valleys have started to level off. But I'll tell you, I wouldn not change a thing. I'm 45 and I want to live till at least 90, so in my mind I have half of my life to live in this body. I want to keep it in as good shape as possible.

Mark

My entire life I have been heavy set. I remember my mother having to order "Husky" jeans from the J.C. Penny's catalog. I remember being 6 years old and the tennis coach calling my fat in Spanish (lived in Madrid), making oinking noises and forcing me to run ... a lot. Not surprisingly I absolutely hate playing tennis.

In Jr. High and High School I wrestled and played football. I was never a terrific athlete. I tended to rely on my natural strength versus developing proper skills.

For a year in PA. I was an avid indoor climber. Went from 315lbs to 230lbs and was in the best shape (for flexibility and strength) of my life. This happened because I didn't know anyone there so I worked during the day and climbed at night. 4 hours of training x 5 days a week adds up quickly.

Moving back to ND I didn't have the climbing outlet anymore. So I started to gain slowly but surely. Drinking in college certainly didn't help any.

Eventually that landed me at 378 lbs. I started making some small manageable changes then around 365 lbs I found Traineo. Now I am 355 lbs. I am more active now than I have been in the past decade. The HUGE difference is my motivation. I want to be healthy first, fit second, svelte last. I will probably always be a bit heavier set. But if I can walk up a couple flights of stairs without getting winded. Participate in ultimate frisbee, snowboarding, motorcycle racing without being at a gross risk of injury then I will count this a success.

My focus is not loosing weight so much as it is to be healthy and reasonably fit. I want my "lifestyle" to be highlighted by my dedication to eating right and exercising regularly, not the nights I hit the bars or the fact that I used to be able to eat an entire large pizza without hesitation.

For the record ... I just saw myself in the mirror this morning and frankly I am dead sexy. Maybe over lunch I will post a picture.

JAU

Hey, this self-image thing is not just a guy thing! We're all dealing with a lot of emotional baggage that keep us from really loving ourselves. Even at my lightest weight at age 52, I was not happy with my body. But I've been addressing my issues and becoming conscious of all that emotional baggage we accumulate while growing up, including the nicknames and stereotypes, and inherent shame.

So the heck with all that! I'm finally learning to like my body and appreciate its ability to move freely, be strong, walk fast, and sustain me. I'm much more fit than I was as a kid, and I sure eat a lot healthier. I plan to still be hiking, race walking half marathons and hiking mountains 30 years from now, long past all those who intimidated me through my life!

So go for it. You're all wonderful.

It started off when I was younger just enjoying the fact that I was a strong kid - then I had massive troubles with my knees during my teens (14 - 19) - which meant that really the only thing that made sense and that was possible was to train weights - but i was always depressed and unhappy with my body because of the knee thing and my biggest regret ever is that I didn't learn about nutrition and diet back when I was training hard from 17 - 19. All those sessions in the gym and then practically starving myself to achieve a miracle body fat drop/ muscle gain programme.... what bull.

Now I genuinely lift for the love of the sport - i love seein my weights/weight/muscle mass/fat % progressing, the kick I get out of breaking a personal record lift, or really feeling/looking big in the mirror, or seeing an extra bit of conditioning coming out is what I do it for. For me its a liftstyle that i've totally submerged myself in over the last 2 years and has given me the greatest sense of self-worth and purpose that nothing else has quite come close to.

Nick

Well most of my life I have been "Fat" But I mostly remember being made fun of from middle school on. I weighed 250Lbs. around the age of 13 I want to say. I was always eating I loved food. Then I got to age 18 and weighed 320Lbs. I got married at the age of 21 started to lose a little I went down pant size. Then my wife decided to leave me in July of this year (2006) and I had enough of being "Fat" plus I found Traineo I decided to change my diet learn some stuff about the foods I used to eat and now am sitting at 275Lbs I feel great and people keep motivating me. I hope to weigh 250Lbs in February when I turn 24. I am going to buy a new digital camera soon so that I can see the changes that everyone else sees.

Wish me luck for turkey day!

My mother was widowed just a little after she was 50. Both my sis and I were married when my dad died. My mum lived alone. Losing a loved one is hard anywhere. In India, conventional Hindu thinking adds some unique challenges. She found solace in food. Later she told me, she would overcome loneliness and sorrow by stuffing her face. She would grab anything, even jaggery, and eat uncontrollably.

A few years after she was widowed, my mum's friend, a doctor, signed her up for a health check. My mum had high cholestrol levels. She was overweight. She had restless leg syndrome that prevented sleeping peacefully at night. The doctor advised her to switch to a low fat, healthy diet and exercise everyday. The implications of poor health dawned on my mum.

She cleaned up her act, literally overnight. It was like a switch being flicked. She ate completely clean. She walked everyday. She lost weight. She looked happier. Her restless leg syndrome was a thing of the past. Her cholestrol levels became normal (she does not take any drugs to control them). She had more energy during the days. She slept better at night.

Around the same time, my husband too became fitness aware. From being an overweight couch potato he transformed himself. He was passionate about fitness and would prod me gently from time to time to do something about my fitness.

My sis who has a metabolic disorder decided she was going to fight very strong odds to achieve a healthier and better looking body.

I was a chubby child, who lost the fat at adolescence. I had always been a slim person upto my early thirties. I under ate (not dangerously, but definitely at levels that qualify as poor nutrition) and did cardio more or less regularly from my teens through to my late twenties. I was in my mid thirties at the point when everyone around me was cleaning up their act. I had stopped exercising. I was missing meals and eating the wrong foods. I was oveweight for the first time in my adult life. I realized I was aging too.

I was inspired by my loved ones to do something about my own lifestyle. So I went back to exercising and switched to clean eating. I lost the excess weight quickly and maintained my new lifestyle for about three years. Recently I fell off the wagon briefly. But I am back in the saddle now. I like how agile, strong and full of energy my body is when I exercise it regularly. I enjoy the feeling of well being. And I like how a healthy lifestyle makes me look.

For me, the fitness journey was full of love and support. My mum who had moved in with me would cook me delicious, low fat food. My husband hired me a personal trainer. My sis and I would message each other the "weight of the day" each morning. Every gram and inch lost, hers and mine, we celebrated. My niece encouraged both of us.

NYCinephile, this is such a great thread.

In school, my nick-name was 'Butty' for two reasons. One, my surname was Bhat - Two, I was overweight.
The world is not kind to fat people and children can be ruthless. I was teased mercilessly and was treated like a second class person in school both by teachers and peers. I was never asked to take part in class activities, never invited to bithday parties and had no friends.
I hated my nick-name. My youger sis who also inherited my nick-name as we went to the same school actually was proud of the name!
My schoolmates still call me Butty when we bump into each other but somehow it does not hurt now! Now, it is just a name they know me by and their voices hold no malice when they call me by it.
And now, that I have lost weight and have kept myself healthy and fit, I also actually look better than most of my classmates.
The very class-mates who gave me the name now, look far more middle-aged than I do. They have put on weight and hide their bodies in tent -like outfits.
They marvel at how I look and say I look better than I did in school.
But when I look in the mirror I still see a fat person. I see excess fat everywhere. ( except on my calves and fore-arms ) I do realise that this is because of years of being overweight that my mind just cannot accept the newer, better looking me.
But thankfully, being level-headed, I have learnt to accept and love myself just way I am. I try my best to look better but realise that at my age ( 43 )there is only so much I can achieve by natural means.
I also made sure that my daughter learnt healthy eating habits so that she will never have to face the kind of ridicule that I did.
My daughter as a result has never had weight issues and at seventeen, is a perfectly proportioned, beautiful and confident young lady.
I may never be happy with the way look but if I can keep diabetes at bay, I will be happy.

Ten years ago, I had some sort of "Aha!" moment, and started paying attention to what I ate, and doing some exercise, and I managed to drop 80 lbs. It was good. I was wearing clothes that I loved shopping for, I was flexible, I was happy. I divorced my abusive spouse, and went to college, found a career, found true love....

And now, here I am, married 7.5 years to the best man in the world (really and truly), in a job that I really do enjoy, and I'm back where I was before, weight-wise! WHAT THE F**K HAPPENED?!?!??!!!

Okay... sorry about that. I just really don't get it. *sigh*

Anyway... Yes, I had a lousy childhood, bad experiences, poor self-image, abusive mate for 21 years, yada yada yada... while I am NOT belittling the effects of that, I want so much to just get PAST it, and get this flab OFF MY BUTT! I know I can do it! shoot, I did it GREAT 10 years ago!! Now, I've spent 9 months going to the YMCA from 4 to 6 days a week, doing 30-45 minutes of cardio, plus 2 or 3 days a week of some weight work. I've lost a grand total of ... are you ready for this?.... 10 lbs.

I drink abundant water (really, I do)... I am vegan, so I really do emphasize the fresh fruit/veggies in my diet; no animal fats; I avoid almost all bakery goods, most snack foods, and I drink very, very little alcohol.

So, yes, I'm venting a bit here.

On the plus side, I've pulled my blood pressure down from 180/140 to 118/80 on average (and made my doctor cut my meds in half... until I can get him to take me off them entirely), and my cholestorol levels are enough to make him wildly jealous! I'm also completely enviable on triglicerides, glucose, etc.

Sometimes, I feel like I had one chance to lose weight, and I blew it completely by letting it all back on.

Oh, I should qualify that. When I lost the 80 lbs, I was no where even close to a "normal" weight for my height... but, I was finally under 200lbs, which I haven't seen in years. To be "normal" weight, I have to lose about 130 lbs...

Well... I'm working at it. Really.

Rae,
I believe you coz I've been there.
You CAN put your past behind you and work on your future.
My childhood was no cake walk either. I still can find plenty to complain about in my present life.
But I have decided that I AM GOING TO BE HAPPY INSIDE. No one and no situation can change that.
You need to grab that inner happiness and hold onto it.
On the weight front, don't look at the big picture. Take it one week at a time. Say to yourself - I will try to lose __ lbs in the next seven days and take from there.
Make a written note of every morsel you swallow and add up the calories. Then see where you can shave a few calories off. Do this for a couple of days.
Then begin to write what foods you will eat for a day the night before. Include the portions and the calories. Add up the total calories you have planned and keep it in your head. The next day when ever you are tempted to exceed what you have planned, a little voice will tell you to stop. LISTEN to that voice. Drink a big glass of water instead and get busy with something else.
Similarly write all the fitness activities you do everyday. Calculate the calories you have burned. It is a great motivation!
This forum is the right place for support. I joined just a few days back and can already see the needle on the scales pointing south.
I also use the 'my weight' , 'my workout', and 'my diet' options on this website to religiously log in my progress every day.
So when I am tempted to stray, I think about that graph. Not wanting to the graph to show slip-ups keeps me from slipping!
Sounds like a lot of work but it only takes a few minutes ( under five ) and you are worth that much effort.
Good Luck!

I've felt I was overweight for a long time, but never felt the inclination to lose weight. I didn't weigh myself, just made the assumption that I was getting bigger.

My friend decided he was going to run a local 10k, and I said immediately that I would join him (I couldn't have him with all the bragging rights). I weighed myself before we started training, and I was nearly 18 stone even at 6ft 2 that's pretty bad.

We trained three times a week, and last may we did the 10k. We weren't fast, but we did it...and we got a medal ace. I went home..weighed myself, and I was down to 17 stone. Ace.

I did no more training over the summer, but the weight continued to drop off. I am now down to 15 st 9, and have decided to get back to training. Not because I want to lose weight, but because I want to be fit...and after two weeks it feels good. I enjoy the adrenalin rush, and I enjoy the improved sleep.

I'll be using Traineo to track my fitness progress all the way to my next 10k. It's not about weight any more...It's about fun...and I think that's the biggest change in my life.

My doctor told me that I'd be dead within 5 years if I didn't lose weight. He was surprised that I was still alive. My blood tests were horrible, my BP was high. He said that because during my youth, I was fit and active, that possibly saved me from premature death, heart attack and stroke.

My doctor is about my age (middle aged) and laughed while he said "Dave, what are you trying to do? You have a family." He made me realize that I was living my life like a selfish fool. I drove home that day and sobbed in my office for about 30 minutes while looking at baby and family pictures.

Ever since, I was determined to stay around for my family. They are my driving force.

@Dave O: A very powerful story, and one that reminds me of the impact of my actions on those close to me.

From about 9 years old, I was the "fat kid." I got teased and remember going home practically in tears about not having any friends becasue no body wanted to be friends with the fat kid.

It was better than that in middle school and high school because I developed a smoothness about me, and was, besides my personal hatred of my body, very confident. I had girlfriends and the like, but was still always at least 40+ lbs overweight.

I played basketball in high school (I'm 6'6")(and was actually cut from the basball team because I was too fat). Suprisingly though, my senior year of high school I was playing basketball and lost about 40 lbs. (i didn't realize it at the time becasue my self image was so poor). I weighed in around 215 and wasn't lifting weights, or excercising outside of basketball practice and games and things.

Obviously after basketball season i slowly put all my weight back on and continued on to college where I ended up at the time of graduation 305. I never realized I was 300 lbs. my girlfriend at the time (fiancee now) loved me anyways, but the first time I stepped on a scale that I knew was accurate and it said 300. I was sick of being the fat kid.

Graduation time was Summer 05. In January my cousin, fiancee, and I all startred watching we ate and used each other as a support gorup. My fiancee and cousin both lost 10 or 15 lbs in 3 weeks. I was jealous I lost 3. But I stuck with it after they slowly gaveup and reverted back to their old ways.

Now I weigh 231lbs. and my BF% is about 21%. I'm aiming for closer to 10-15. A six pack would be great. I do want to prove everyone wrong in my family that keep saying No one in our family is thin, no one has ever had a 6 pack.

Also, my family keeps saying how thin I am, and I understand relatively I am much thinner than I was before, but I also think they are used to looking at fat people. When I have a 6 pack (goal is before next summer) they won't know what to think. And maybe they'll pay me to help them, haha.