Your 'Ah-Ha' Moment

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  • sarahlifts
    sarahlifts Posts: 610 Member
    edited January 2015
    My ah-ha moment came the day I took the left photo in my avatar. It was my sisters Big end of year 35th Birthday bash. She and all her girfriends were having a party 12/29/12 to all celebrate their 35th birthdays together.

    Now, that dress is a size 12 but I was busting out of it. I had to wear spanx, it didnt zip all the way to the top and it was the only thing in my closet that "fit". At the party I looked around at the ladies who turned 35, most looked younger than me. They were in great shape. I always said by the time I turn 35 I will be in the best shape of my life. How was I going to accomplish that simply by saying it?

    Two days later New years eve I joined a gym and started that day and haven't stopped since.

    What did I do differently this time?
    I did the research.

    In the past I low carbed and cardioed with light weight. My (prior) lowest weight was 2007 I was 150 and a size 10

    Now I caloric deficit, no cardio, with heavy weight. I'm currently a size 4, 141 lbs.
    If I get up to 150 now I'm a size 6.

    I'm 5'7 My highest weight was 220 lbs

    My mindset now is not one of a # on the scale or a dress size, its about making gains or getting leaner and getting stronger. Every workout, every meal, every early morning and early night to bed is with a purpose.
  • Maries_wine_calories
    Maries_wine_calories Posts: 152 Member
    My A-Ha moment came on the cusp of taking the Sober for October challenge along with my husband and the friends who suggested we do it- no booze for 31 days, and why not try to eat better while we're at it? So we pushed the "rules" even further at our house and said NO to purchasing any type of fast food/take out for the month of October also. I was pumped to give it a go, but not really convinced we would last all month given our habits. Anyways I thought, best get prepared and appear to treat this challenge seriously-so we went for a grocery shop and I also purchased a scale.

    My devastating weigh-in happened September 29 2014. I joined MFP on September 30th.
    I weighed 203 lbs and it took my breath away. I had never before weighed that much.
    At my OB's office (the day I ended up giving birth to my daughter) in 2002, I weighed 200 lbs and would describe myself in pictures as being "pregnant from my armpits to my butt". Very round, but heck I lost 26 lbs just giving birth so I was "fluffy", new Mom bod-right?

    MFP is helping me with and about this lifestyle change I'm committed to: even though I resumed drinking on November 1 LOL (most days within my caloric deficit). I've stopped visiting the food court while working and can confidently work out what to eat when the occasion presents itself to eat out.

    I'm down 35 lbs and officially back to pre-pregnancy weight- only 12+ years later.

    I'm deciding NO to being overweight every day, and its an easy decision because I can say YES all day long to foods that give me joy while I follow this program. MFP fits my real life!
  • BluFoxxe
    BluFoxxe Posts: 14 Member
    dazwan wrote: »
    Every time I see a photo of myself. Anyone else noticed how a camera adds about 40lbs?

    My moment was when i decided to get dressed up for halloween last year. I put a ton of effort into making my costume (green fairy, made my wings) and the best part was a black corset ive worn in the past that i love. For some reason, i didnt do a dress rehearsal before halloween night and just put everything on 30min before i had to leave. A year ago i could lace my corset almost fully closed. That night the ends barely made it to the sides of my body!! It was a scramble to make a substitution and i had a second realization: most of my nicer clothes didn't fit me well anymore either! The whole night i felt massive and self conscious.

    The icing on the cake was the pictures taken that night...the camera adds a ton of weight, but if i weren't so huge to begin with, the pics wouldn't have looked that bad.

    So now ive invested in an activity tracker, this website, and getting healthy!

  • TitaniaEcks
    TitaniaEcks Posts: 351 Member
    Weighing myself. Seeing how badly all my clothes fit me, if at all. Seeing myself in the mirror. Seeing how fat my arms and face looked in pictures.

    There was never really an "ah-ha" moment. I knew what was happening the whole time I was gaining weight. It's just that one day I finally said "enough!" and went on a diet.
  • Bizurke51
    Bizurke51 Posts: 190 Member
    My ah ha moment occurs at the gym. I was doing an hour of cardio and my mind drifted to how cubby I was. I hadve always been activity but my diet was always terrible, I just ate what I wanted. I then thought ya know, if I ever just ate less I'd drop weight in a snap, so I said let's try it for a month and see what happens, I started that night. Instead of eatting 2 cheesesteaks, I ate just 1, the following day I started logging everyday and eatting healthier. 315 days later I am 56lbs lighter :)

    The difference to me was MFP, it gave me the blueprint I needed and made life easy.

    Motivation was the same as always, I want to look better, it has to happen.

    Now I just need to focus on maintaining
  • cdwhipple
    cdwhipple Posts: 1 Member
    My Ah-Ha moment was when I retired and found that I finally had time for me. My all time high weight was 225, OMG, I had lost the weight before with the WW program but it had been approximately 10 years, I felt so bad and was not happy with myself at all. So I started off NOT eating all the JUNK we use to eat at work and was on my treadmill 1 time per day. I could only walk 15 minutes. But I started losing and that was my motivation. I kept track of my weight here on MFP and 10 and 1/2 months later I have lost 55 pounds and I am walking on my treadmill 2 times a day for 65 minutes each (4 miles each time) I am at the1st goal my Doctor set for me and I am so proud of myself.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
    My biggest Ah-Ha moment was Christmas Eve 2012...I knew I needed to lose weight and get in shape, but when I stepped up on to the altar area to play my horn and a sharp pain went all the way through my hip, I knew it was time. I lost the 46 pounds and have kept it off. My next Ah-Ha moment came in the summer of 2013 when I realized I had to keep moving to not only keep the weight off but get a good nights sleep. I regret every day I don't do both - eat healthy within my calories and move enough to rest soundly. I am strength building with Barre3 and working on a slow but steady routine to continuously build / keep long lean muscle.
  • sunnydays851
    sunnydays851 Posts: 116 Member
    My aha moment? When I found a tape measure lying around (and just my luck, one for measuring body circumference, too!) And I wanted to just mess around with it. Just for laughs. I don't remember what it said, but I knew it wasn't healthy. It took a while after that to find MFP but ever since that day I've been self conscious about my weight, for the first time in my life. I was THE fat girl, and I hated it. I was ashamed that I didn't notice. Every one of my friends were skinny and I was the FAT, UGLY girl who made them look better by comparison.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    A really horrible photo.
  • laoryn
    laoryn Posts: 11 Member
    HaibaneReki wrote: »
    my "aha" moment was seeing this picture
    one 2009, other 2011

    Really? You're adorable in those pictures. I of course haven't seen any 'skinny' pictures for comparison, but you still look good.
  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
    • When was your 'AH-HA' moment that made you decide, 'ahhhm okay it's time to do something about this weight?'
      There was not one thing, but there were a number of things that sort of added to me thinking "I do not want this" I guess the main reason was to get some level of control back in my life. My work had gone through a restructuring and I felt as if I was just a little rubber duck on top of a sea full of waves that I could not do anything about.
      I knew that as I result of that feeling I was using food as an emotional sedative and that this was having less than desirable side effects. So I decided that I needed to take control back in the one area that within those big seas I could influence and that was me, myself and I
      I also suspected that (apart from the emotional sedatives in the few months before MFP) there was not much wrong with my diet. I know this now to be true, as I have not had to change much, just a better look at portion control.
    • What made a difference this time which differed from previous attempts to lose weight &/or get healthy? (motivation)
      I always knew that logging for me is a wonderful tool. Up till I found MFP it always worked for a few weeks, but then the chore for find the paper and don't get me going on going through those lists of calories. Too time intensive.
      So I searched the net and found this. As it is cross platforms, huge database and barcode scanner and has apps there is no reason to ever not log.
      The other thing that helped was noticing after a few weeks that I was able to cope so much better with teh fall out and increased workload after the restructuring that I felt I wanted to keep up with it.
      Last but not least, it is not a diet, but a lifestyle that I love and had in the days when I felt great.
    • How much impact do you feel that a correct mindset has on the level of achievement?
    A lot. I am doing this for me, not to please anybody, but for me. I want to be healthy and I do not care what others think.
  • prettyleelee
    prettyleelee Posts: 236 Member
    Here is my AH-Ha moment:
    On the early morning of March 19th I received a horrible phone call from a very close friend of mine at 4am. It was one of the hardest phone calls I have had to ever receive one of my best friends was gone. We had been best friends for 20 years (I am only 31 he was 35 at time of death) he was my brother my back bone and everything in between. We found out he had been diagnosed with sleep apnea the Monday before his passing so he was not on a machine it hadn't came in yet. He had gained a lot of weight in about 6 months 75lbs +/- we were told people with sleep apnea gain a lot of weight due to it. None of us had any clue he had been having health issues he never shared them with any of us. The night of his death he had been drinking celebrating St. Patties day and his vacation from work. A few friends helped him to bed that night and that was it. At 3am when they went to check on him he was gone there wasn't anything anyone could have done to bring him back. We have been told because he had sleep apnea he just stopped breathing and his body couldn't start back up again. So 6 days later I had to bury him in the ground and give my final good byes it was absolutely horrible for me.
    One month later I went to the doctor because I had gained 25lbs in two months after changing nothing in my life habits no extra foods no extra laziness nothing. My doctor decided to do a whole run through on me see if there was something there to explain it nothing everything was normal. She than told me she thinks its sleep apnea and I need to go for a study. That was it that was the last day I was going to live unhealthy. I was and will not watch my family/friends/Children/Loved ones go through what I had just watched close friends go through. The next day I went to the gym and I starting running again. I started tracking absolutely everything that I eat I am not perfect but its better than nothing. One month later I am down 20lbs and refuse to look back. I still have to go in but I do know sleep apnea can improve and diminish the healthier you are. I plan on being under 200lbs by the end of the year or close to it hopefully but only time will tell.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,415 Member
    I love this thread. All of my AHA moments involve doctor visits, with weight loss or gain as a symptom, so not as much heroic epiphany and happy ending as many of you. But I love reading about how well everyone has done!
  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    • My Ah-Ha moment was at the beginning of 2014 when I was lying in bed, heart killing me and I said to myself: "If I don't lose this weight I will definitely die this year". Quite depressing really!
    • This was my first real attempt. It was certainly helped by going on anti-depressants at the same time, got my head in the right place! Getting on the scales each day and enjoying the gym just started to motivate me more and more!
    • It has everything to do with it! If your head isn't in the game, you'll wander.
  • DataSeven
    DataSeven Posts: 245 Member
    In late 2013 I started to get mobility issues with one of my knees, and this prompted me to make the decision to lose this weight. I was super-obese and now I'm just regular obese. I still have far to go but I no longer have pains in my knees.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    WOW! All these wonderful shares! TYVM for keeping this thread alive guys <3 ... hope others who are not quite there yet will be able to get some nugget of wisdom to help them along.
  • tom_ridley
    tom_ridley Posts: 2 Member
    After years of "you should drop a few pounds" and "pre-hypertensive" and "pre-diabetic", all of the pre's turned to Actual Diagnosis of hypertension and Type-2 diabetic. As the Doctor wrote out the prescriptions it started to get real. On that day A1C 8.9, Glucose 216 mg/dL, BP 150/108. I felt like my 81 yo Dad at the age of 50.
  • Wookinpanub
    Wookinpanub Posts: 635 Member
    ~Being disgusted at photos, not wanting to look in mirrors

    ~feeling depressed getting dressed for work. I had a terribly fat face/neck and trying to button a dress shirt just made my fat pop over the collar.

    ~winded walking up two flights of stairs from work parking garage

    ~ couldn't jog more than 50 yards with my daughter

    ~ knee and joint pain getting out of bed or squatting to use turlit

    ~ difficulty clipping toe nails

    ~getting weighed in at the dr. and seeing it steadily increase over the years

    ~poor performance in the sack

    ~being told I was a "big guy". I was skinny but athletic until mid-20s and I guess I envisioned myself as still somewhat athletic looking

    ~Day 2 of diet facebook friended by an ex (20 yrs ago) who is now a fitness instructor and I didn't want her to see I had turned into a big fat guy.
  • faithyang
    faithyang Posts: 297 Member
    edited June 2015
    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

    Great post @RaspberryTickleChicken, some good questions there to gain some insight into yourself.

    My AH-HA moment:
    Was when I saw pictures of myself with my then partner and my sister. He was half my size, she was half my size, and I was two of them put together, with long stringy limp hair I hadn't cut in years, a round moon face that made my eyes disappear and even more behind very nerdy spectacles because I had no self-esteem to speak of, and no development of any fashion sense because of my weight, and a massive, massive, massive body with rolls of fat just exploding out of a turtle neck and too-big jeans screaming for help.

    It was terrible, a wake up call, because yes I had been fat for most of my life, normal weight at one point (teenage self-consciousness) but never ever been this fat in my life.

    The Difference:
    Consistency & Never Giving up long enough to find that "lightbulb" method that works. I had already lost a substantial amount of weight from implementing a consistent exercise routine, eating less and making substitutes to everyday things and still allowed me to eat out everyday. My weight had stalled and I didn't want to give up eating out, so there was a bit of a stand off there as it was painfully slow weight loss that kept going up and down even after I cut off one or two days I ate out and ate at home.
    It was when I went on an extended travel trip that involved alot of eating (and very random, but very high-vol walking) that I realised my body had gotten used to the diet/fitness routine.
    You "know" things from reading articles but you 'realise' it when you go through it.

    I incorporated deliberate overfeed sessions (I call them 'reset weeks' which are separate from my 'cheat days' that may involve a week of changing up my exercise routine as well) That's when the weight just melted off like butter.

    Impact of mindset

    All I can say is....the mind makes it happen. Without the mindset that leads to an iron clad motivation to keep getting up and trying and trying and trying - while BEING at least at some level positive and determined, it is VERY hard and in my case, almost impossible to lose weight and have lost the weight.
  • faithyang
    faithyang Posts: 297 Member
    shifterbrainz wrote: »
    When I was at work with the radio playing. I don't know if it was an advertisement or a talk show or what but it was just background noise, "blah-blah-blah". For some reason, the "noise" cleared and became a couple of doctors talking. One said he was seeing a dramatic increase of chronic illness in his morbidly obese patients under 40. The other replied it was more dramatic that he had no morbidly obese patients over 70. I thought, "hmmm . . . interesting." then just went about my business until a cold chill went down my spine when the reality of what they were saying finally hit me :-\ I don't think I said "Ah Ha" . . . more like "Oh S**t" :#

    Those random moments when your brain actually registers the gravity of something said that applies to you so personally are really strange aren't they?!
  • mrssynysterduck
    mrssynysterduck Posts: 1 Member
    Weight loss has always been a hard journey for me. I would lose weight and it would always come back. My ah-ha moment was a couple months ago. A few things contributed to it, the typical low self esteem and insecurities. But in the beginning of this year, two things happened that honestly kicked my butt into gear. February I went to the doctor with stomach pains, they sent me to ER. Turns out I had gallstones, the doctor told me I have to change the way I eat and recommended surgery. So I changed my diet but I still didn't exercise. Around the same time as my gallstone attack I was scheduled to go for a check up with my lady doctor. I was asking her why my husband and I were having trouble TTC and she told me it could be many things, but my weight was definitely a factor. She mentioned me being over weight multiple times and I came home and told my husband, I need to do more, anything to help us become parents. So I started going back to gym every other day. I cut almost all fat and sugar out of my life and started eating smaller portions. Since then I have lost almost 20 lbs and I know have more to go. With all this said, I have to say I can't ask for a better husband because he is doing it right beside me.
  • stacymichellesarver
    stacymichellesarver Posts: 6 Member
    My moment was when I got on the scale and it said 253 which meant I was closer to 300 than 200. I am now down to 186 and only have 46 more pounds to lose to be where I want to be.
  • noclady1995
    noclady1995 Posts: 452 Member
    I don't really remember what finally got me off my bum. But I'm glad I did! It's been an eye-opening journey.
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  • Jutsunomiya
    Jutsunomiya Posts: 4 Member
    I saw a photo of myself from a recent trip to Mexico- playing with my son in the ocean - in a BATHINGSUIT!! I looked like the broad side of a barn! When we got home I weighed myself for the first time in over a year and weighed 192!! That was it. 6 weeks in, MFP, fitness tracker used daily, moving everyday - down 12 pounds. I've never counted calories because I thought it was a pain - but now I love having control with MFP!

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