What was your ahh-ha moment that made you decide to lose weight?

luluinca

For me it was spending the better part of a year being ill. I'd remained pretty active my entire life up until that point but I learned that inactivity and eating only things that taste good at the moment could really pack on the pounds. I had also used a back injury prior to that illness as an excuse to cut back on exercise so when I got sick I was already about 30 lbs over my normal adult weight. The two combined helped me pack on about 70 lbs more than I needed to be carrying around.

Once I felt better I couldn't wait to get back to the "real" me. When something is taken away from you, even something you don't necessarily use that often, you realize how precious it was.

Now that I have my health back I'll never take exercise for granted again!!!!

At my age mobility, agility, strength and stamina are all terribly important. I don't plan on losing sight of this again.

RodaRose

I planned a trip to see my extremely fit brother who I had not seen in years. He has a wacky work schedule so by the time he and I made the plan and I flew up to see him, I had lost enough weight to feel comfortable with myself and his activities. We had a great time.

marekdds

Was so fat, I was having trouble getting out of the tub. That and a vacation planned with my very fit daughters for my 60th birthday, I would never have kept up with them if I hadn't done something about my weight.

E_Brault

My Ah Ha moment came when I realized there was and end in sight for completing a doctorate in education. I successfully defended my dissertation on August 8th. I have lost 43 pounds so far and I will participate in the graduation ceremony at the end of October.

marekdds

E.Brault. That is totally cool! I remember graduating from dental school. Things to be proud of. Good for you!

nikkib0103

E_Brault wrote: »

My Ah Ha moment came when I realized there was and end in sight for completing a doctorate in education. I successfully defended my dissertation on August 8th. I have lost 43 pounds so far and I will participate in the graduation ceremony at the end of October.

Congratulations on all fronts!

E_Brault

Deleted

patrickjd9

Having trouble flying, especially getting comfortable in airline seats. I avoided it for several years.

MSDave

The suit I wore for my son's and daughter's college graduation ceremony. That same suit fit easily 2 years earlier at other daughter's graduation, but barily fit this time. I realized that I had been kidding myself into thinking I've been losing weight.

fiddletime

I gained 22# last year after losing 20 on MFP in 2013. It was soooo easy for those pounds to fly back on. I realized that I could easily gain another 20# in half a year and the sky was the limit if I didn't get serious about getting it off and keeping it off. At 60 I want to be able to exercise hard and pretend I'm 40. 12 pounds lost to date and so far so good as I do feel like I'm 40 again!

marekdds

congratulations! Maintenance is just another term for eternal vigilance.

beverlyjlarson

Mine was looking at vacation pictures of myself and my Grandkids. I bairly reconised myself. I had no idea I looked so bloated. I was so embarrassed I was going to delete the pictures. Instead of deleting them I keep them on my phone. Now when I'm feeling discouraged I look at the pictures and remember what it was like to be so overweight and tired.

marekdds

I keep my fat pics for motivation too

sunman00

mine was a gradual build up; various thoughts; main one was that my Dad died aged 51 so I'd been thinking a long time to do it.
My nephew had lost some weight, I asked him how, he said, 'eat a little less, exercise a little more', simple & controlable, I signed up to MFP the next day, 52 weeks, 52lb.

E_Brault

sunman00 wrote: »

mine was a gradual build up; various thoughts; main one was that my Dad died aged 51 so I'd been thinking a long time to do it.
My nephew had lost some weight, I asked him how, he said, 'eat a little less, exercise a little more', simple & controlable, I signed up to MFP the next day, 52 weeks, 52lb.

Impressive! Congratulations.

kyedo

I think I just had that "A HA" moment, but mine was really "Oh $%!T, I have become one of those people always making excuses!!!"

I have been on here for a few years, up and down with my weight, which directly corresponds to how well I track and how dedicated I am to exercise. However, I am very good at making excuses, whether it be "This is an important event so go ahead and eat anything" to "I will exercise tomorrow or the next day or next week"

I think that the only way for me to be successful is to make this happen everyday, and stop making excuses and just do what I know is right. MAKE THE RIGHT FOOD CHOICES AND BE ACTIVE.

marekdds

very true, kyedo, excuses are killers!