Your 'Ah-Ha' Moment

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  • mmat26
    mmat26 Posts: 2 Member
    Was 22, 5 months out of college and went to a health fair at my job-the nurse there told me my blood pressure and cholesterol were on the edge of being high. I had always been chubby but was at my worst weight ever. I knew I had to take control of my lifestyle. 3 months later my bp and cholesterol were where they should be-fast forward to 3 years later I still have pounds to lose but my health is my number one priority.
  • GlamourVintage
    GlamourVintage Posts: 60 Member
    *When was your 'AH-HA' moment that made you decide, 'ahhhm okay it's time to do something about this weight?'

    -My Ah-ah moment is when I told my college teacher that I couldn't fit in the "assigned" classroom seat (with the desk attached). TOTALLY embarrassing!

    *What made a difference this time which differed from previous attempts to lose weight &/or get healthy? (motivation)

    -This time, I am losing weight in order to be healthy while "shredding" fat. NOT doing this for other people or being obsess with only eating the "healthiest and blandest" food nor scale. I can eat whatever I want (without sacrificing my taste buds), only if it''s within my calorie range. Another major thing is, whenever I have a bad day, I talk to someone. I share my feelings and concerns to that person. Once I let my feelings out, I don't have the desire to stuff my face with food.

    *How much impact do you feel that a correct mindset has on the level of achievement?

    -I feel great about achieving small goals at a time. My mindset is completed different, now. Such as not feeling bad about myself when I eat and not sweating the small things. My daily goal (for now) is to stay within my day calorie range..then I'm good! I already lose 7 pounds! :smile: <3
  • scbell5
    scbell5 Posts: 8 Member
    When was your 'AH-HA' moment that made you decide, 'ahhhm okay it's time to do something about this weight?'

    For me, it was when I checked the scale and saw I was back to my post-pregnancy weight from my 3rd baby (at my heaviest without carrying another human). I knew it was time to finally say "no more" to the needle on the scale going up any farther. I'd seen what no eating discipline and no exercise had brought to other moms, and I feared I was headed in the same direction. And I was wearing a size 8 pants, which were getting pretty tight! For me, a short gal with a small frame, that was unacceptable.

    What made a difference this time which differed from previous attempts to lose weight &/or get healthy? (motivation)

    MFP gave me a way to set concrete goals and gave me a timeline of sorts for an expectation to reach my goals. The macros are extremely helpful in making wiser food choices. And my hubby bought a treadmill--running became the perfect cardio activity for me (eventually)!


    How much impact do you feel that a correct mindset has on the level of achievement?

    Seeing small amounts of success is a great catalyst, but the mindset must be solid and determined to maintain progress. A cheat day here or there won't hurt, but without the proper mindset to get back into proper eating and exercise, you will fall right back into the same habits that got you to an undesirable weight.
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
    RaspberryTickleChicken wrote: »
    • When was your 'AH-HA' moment that made you decide, 'ahhhm okay it's time to do something about this weight?'
    • What made a difference this time which differed from previous attempts to lose weight &/or get healthy? (motivation)
    • How much impact do you feel that a correct mindset has on the level of achievement?

    My final AH-HA moment (after many years of false starts & subsequent yo yo dieting) was May 2012 when I finally was diagnosed with Type 2 DM (never was considered pre diabetic but was told for years to lose weight).

    The difference this time I think was finally realizing my mortality (already had years of hypertension & cholesterol/lipid issues & now 5 medications under my belt). The difference was ~ 3 decades of morbid obesity & needing to give myself a swift kick in the a** to get a grip on my life before it was too late. I think I finally 'grew up'.

    Mindset: 100% for me.

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  • KareninLux
    KareninLux Posts: 1,413 Member
    JONZ64 wrote: »
    I knew I had gained 50lbs I saw how fat I was but had excuse after excuse: I have multiple back fusions I can't work out like I used to. I have hypothyroidism it's too hard to lose weight, I have damaged nerves in my leg so I can't run or do anything hard, THEN I went outside with my entire Squadron to watch one of our young Staff Sergeants who had lost a leg in Afghanistan attempt to run on his prosthesis he just got fitted with a day before. This kid ran in pain for a mile from his shop to our main facility. I knew THEN I was just BS'ing myself, so I sucked it up and went home, got my shoes on and went out for a walk/jog, it hasn't been easy and I have had setbacks but I think about that kid everytime I have an excuse

    Love this.
  • mandypink84
    mandypink84 Posts: 1 Member
    My Ah-ha moment was seeing pictures from my engagement party and not liking the way I looked in any of them despite the expensive dress and my hair and makeup being professionally done.

    What made a difference this time was it was about me... not trying to impress someone else, not trying to make someone jealous... it was 110% for me. I wanted to not just lose kilos but also be more toned, stronger and fitter. I think what made it different this time was I've had a few major life changes currently and adding a clean diet and going to the gym straight from work (joined the gym and removed all excuses) just got lumped in with everything else. And you know what... I'm enjoying it! It's not a chore this time which is why I think I've failed previously.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    I don't know if I necessarily had one ah ha moment. I had a series of them, usually seeing my picture. We took a trip to Disney world and every picture of me I just cringed and shortly after I started with mfp. I'm looking forward to another Disney trip this December being 80 pounds lighter. :) Also I kept having this experience of my heart doing this weird fluttery thing. I read it could be stress related but another part of me worried that as I entered my thirties that my poor health would start to catch up to me.

    I think what made the difference for me this time was the cico mind frame. I haven't excluded any foods from my diet. I eat anything I want. I just eat less of it than before. Because of that, I don't find myself having intense cravings for foods that ultimately lead to me binging on them and then quitting all together. Also calorie counting makes me feel really in control. If I go crazy and eat tons of food one day and I step on the scale and see a two pound gain, I know now that the math isn't there. I didn't actually gain two pounds. It's so much easier for me to recover from that stuff now and just move on to the next day. The lifestyle I have now is something I could do forever. In the past my diet was so restrictive that yes I could lose weight easily but I couldn't stick with it.
  • ginalove1960
    ginalove1960 Posts: 60 Member
    I'm 5'8" tall and female. I weighed two hundred pounds. That was way too much, when I hit that mark.
  • ginalove1960
    ginalove1960 Posts: 60 Member
    JONZ64 wrote: »
    I knew I had gained 50lbs I saw how fat I was but had excuse after excuse: I have multiple back fusions I can't work out like I used to. I have hypothyroidism it's too hard to lose weight, I have damaged nerves in my leg so I can't run or do anything hard, THEN I went outside with my entire Squadron to watch one of our young Staff Sergeants who had lost a leg in Afghanistan attempt to run on his prosthesis he just got fitted with a day before. This kid ran in pain for a mile from his shop to our main facility. I knew THEN I was just BS'ing myself, so I sucked it up and went home, got my shoes on and went out for a walk/jog, it hasn't been easy and I have had setbacks but I think about that kid everytime I have an excuse

  • ginalove1960
    ginalove1960 Posts: 60 Member
    Good for you!!!!!
  • Sausis
    Sausis Posts: 4 Member
    bevhols wrote: »
    I am 74 years old and lead a very active lifestyle ... Keeping my weight down and staying physically active is critically important ...
    Bottom line, even if you've had an AHA moment and then slipped, start over again.
    That's fantastic :) Good luck to you and your husband!
  • lizwooshy
    lizwooshy Posts: 110 Member
    edited April 2016
    I knew I had been gaining weight my senior year of college, but really didnt care, and I was too stressed with finals/ internships/ job interviews/ planning my after-college move to devote too much worry to the weight gain. Also, my tits had grown quite a bit and I was enjoying that aspect :)

    It wasnt until looking at pictures from my best friend's grad party in June that I noticed how big I really had gotten. I was the biggest of all of my girlfriends, by a lot, when I had previously been the most fit. That was the wake-up call needed to put my health back on priority.
  • MrBlodudel
    MrBlodudel Posts: 13 Member
    The number on the scale (122kg). This confirmed what my family has been trying to tell me for ages.
    I never really realized it physically because I was always lazy, never injured and only wore baggy clothes.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I was about to have to go up another size - one I hadn't been to before.
    I joined MFP because I wanted to use my own approach to losing weight and I joined a gym that was a block away .
    I changed my entire lifestyle. That is the reason I'm successful.
  • kronin23
    kronin23 Posts: 59 Member
    When I see myself in a mirror
  • schuff55
    schuff55 Posts: 1 Member
    RaspberryTickleChicken wrote: »
    I obviously have far too much time on my hands as another question out of sheer curiosity has been nagging away at me ... so here goes. :D
    • When was your 'AH-HA' moment that made you decide, 'ahhhm okay it's time to do something about this weight?'
    • What made a difference this time which differed from previous attempts to lose weight &/or get healthy? (motivation)
    • How much impact do you feel that a correct mindset has on the level of achievement?

    Here I'll start this one:
    • My 'AH-HA' moment was when I saw that my blood glucose level was 101 mg/dL and the normal range was 70-100 mg/dL.
    • My motivation this time was not about making that silly little # on the scale go down, but it was about fighting off an impending diabetic future if I did nothing. The thought of all the complications that comes with diabetes. ie. kidney functions, amputations, blindness, etc. petrified me.
    • For me, the mindset of 'oh I need to get healthy' rather than 'lose a few pounds' oddly took the pressure of me to 'loose X weight by X amount of time.' I looked at it as I have a lifetime to continue to reach for my goal. So the weeks where I was loosing mere fractions of a pound didn't bother me because progress was progress. <3

    If I'm not posting this correctly in the correct spot I apologize. My aha moment was similar to yours except my glucose number this year was 124. My doctor said just lose 5 pounds. I didn't have a lot of body frame weight to lose but I have lost 14 pounds in a month and a half. My goal is to reach 180 pounds which is two pounds away and then maintain that weight while eating healthy.

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