I don't know how helpful this will be, but I was overweight (not quite obese) from about age 8 to 24. At 24 I had a major personal event (end of a long-term rel

I don't know how helpful this will be, but I was overweight (not quite obese) from about age 8 to 24. At 24 I had a major personal event (end of a long-term relationship and end of my life as I had it "planned"). I can't say this was completely a conscious choice, but I turned to exercise as a way to cope. I had always been somewhat active (into sports), but now I got into jogging,then running, then weight lifting. It was therapeutic. I lost a lot of weight. Too much, at one point (hence the weightlifting). Point being, I'm in my late thirties now and have kept it off despite that initial emotional motivation being long gone (I'm happily married with kids, love my life). I don't know that I could have done it without the initial emotional shock, but I do know that before that I thought being fat was part of who I was, and I now know that clearly wasn't true.