When did you know?

zharptichka

So there are a lot of you out there with amazing success stories but also a lot of you (like me) who have tried multiple times to lose weight and for whatever reason got off track. My question for those of you who are succeeding now was there a particular moment where you realized that this time was different/ would be successful? Did the process feel different from the other times you tried? Or did you just sort of realize you were actually doing this one day? Did something in particular help you when you finally succeeded?

For me, it's early days yet but this time feels different/easier somehow than before. I've managed to say no to things that other people were eating without really regretting it. I've also done between 20-60 minutes of some kind of activity every day and I'm actually enjoying it. I just feel a little more at peace with myself I guess. I'm sure at some point it will be hard again but I'm hoping by the time it happens this behavior will be a habit.

tracykreczmer

It did. .I wasn't doing it for a guy or to look better in pics I was going to turn fifty and I thought if not now when..I felt horrible. .and I didn't diet..I just started to exercise. .and when the clothes started to feel loose I got on a scale. .never weighed myself ever..then I joined this site because I needed to know what I was eating...

What a wake up...

But its a lifestyle change..to me a diet means a death..

And what we are doing finally is living..

Living for us..for these bodies that are so amazing.

Every day we exercise..we eat right we are giving ourselves life..

That's the difference looking at it as a good thing! Great question!

ogtmama

For me it was when I hit my first stall (2 weeks), it was like a quiet peace, I looked at the scale and thought to myself "oh well...it will come off eventually, I know my numbers" and sure enough it did.

Every other time I tried to lose weight I did it by trying to eat perfectly clean, quite certain that every "mistake" I made was the end of the whole process. Realising that this is my life from now on and not just a job to be done has made all the difference.

middlehaitch

I only tried once and it took.
I was so disgusted with a photo of myself there was no way I was going to fail.

Cheers, h.

JeromeBarry1

I'm not even to my goal weight yet, and I "knew" it was going to succeed by the time I'd reached a 20 lb loss. A couple of years ago I stepped on the scale at my Dr's office and they recorded that I'd lost 10 lb in 3 months. The Dr asked me what I had done and I answered, "I don't know." Three months later, I'd gained it all back. I still didn't know. With mfp, I know.

PaulaWallaDingDong

When I started using MFP. I didn't know how it was going to go. Calorie counting was just something I hadn't tried before. I did it, and it worked. End of story, pretty much.

Bxqtie116

I would start then stop for years. I would lose 10 lbs then I'd stop working out. The end of 2014, I was sick and tired of myself looking and feeling the way I did and vowed to begin losing weight for 2015. I started off just walking, then a month later I joined a gym and haven't looked back since. I didn't like to take pictures and hating looking at myself in the mirror. I used to get attention from guys but that stopped as I gained more weight. So I'm slowly getting my confidence back, I'm not afraid to take pictures and I'll get an occasional smile or nod from guys. I still have a long way to go, but I vow to NEVER be the size I was ever again.

mysticatgal1

I stopped denying a ton of problems i ignored previously. I would workout but not diet or do low carb diets imagining a day I could eat what I was before a diet. I was never quite sure how to get there or how to get there faster.

xvolution

For me it was more of a "I have to stick to this to improve my health" than a "I'm getting better so I'm sticking" thing. I ended up in the hospital for a few weeks due to my bad health habits, and after that I vowed to never end up like that again. That motivation seems to be helping the most, as so far I've lost 69 pounds since that incident.

kellyiris6

For me, my ah ha moment was when my friend asked "have you been gaining weight?" And I burst into tears. At that moment, I was the heaviest I'd ever been (204 lbs at 5'8") and part of it was due to me being in the hospital and bedridden recently. She's an honest friend and tells me the truth, but it's motivated since to lose that weight. I jumped onto MFP and realized I haven't been eating healthy and learned portion control. I've lost 12 lbs, but still have a ways to go. Currently at 192 and would love to be 140lb. I'm happy with my progress so far

maidengirl_

I tried to lose weight before but didn't stick with those programs because it was food I didn't like and workouts that were too hard for my fitness level.. it was also really expensive (Weight watchers, Jenny Craig, Curves, etc.) and I didn't think I could do it by myself because I didn't know what I was doing or what to eat. All my doctor had to tell me during a physical was that I was Class I obese and pre-diabetic. I think I cried a little bit because I didn't realize how bad it had gotten. I started small and now I am 35 pounds down in 7 months. You can do so much more than you think you can. You just have to work for it and stick with it.

kommodevaran

I have had several particular moments.

• The first one, I think, was the "anticlimax" when a friend explained to me, as the "lifestyle change" feeling I had been looking for, never seemed to materialize, that it was just a sign that what I was doing, was going to stick.
• Then the deep realization that there is no wagon/track/horse/whatever. It's just "life".
• Then the surreal feeling from noticing that education and liberation from dogma had influenced my eating habits, attitudes and food preferences, and that I overall, automatically, had started to make better food choices without thinking about what I "should" and "shouldn't" eat.
• Then I realized that I didn't worry about regaining anymore - I just have to keep doing what I am doing (but if I stop doing that, I'll regain. But I don't think that will pose a problem, because I like what I'm doing. Maintaining weight and good health is just a pleasant side effect).
• Then I was made aware of why I had this uneasy feeling whenever I ended a meal without being stuffed. Remembering and realizing how tense eating situations really were when I grew up, made me finally challenge that, and I don't feel compelled to stuff myself anymore.

Gallowmere1984

middlehaitch wrote: »

I only tried once and it took.
I was so disgusted with a photo of myself there was no way I was going to fail.

Cheers, h.

This mirrors my own story, to a degree. I did see a climb from the mid-180s to mid-190s at one point. However, that was still nowhere near my starting 265. Once I saw 195 show up on the scale, it was back to a proper deficit, and now down into the low 150s. I am determined to never again be the foul behemoth that I once was. Failure is unacceptable to me.

KhadijahSmith

When I realized I had fallen in love with exercise. In the past I had known people like that, who never missed their "gym time" and were passionate about it, but I thought they were nuts: How could anyone ENJOY that? But now I am convinced of its benefits and dedicated to my workouts. And with that piece of the puzzle in place, weight loss has become painless. Results are more than just numbers on a scale, but also include building muscle, strength, endurance, and losing stubborn mesenteric fat.

geminiswede

I got a food scale. I bought one on clearance and was like "this is dumb and still won't work", and yet...here I am. That combined with paying attention to how certain foods make me feel. This is realizing the difference between "I'm hungry" and "I'm not full" combined with knowing there are some things that taste delicious, but my stomach hurts afterwards so I decide they're not worth it.

I'm a little past my halfway point now, and as of a couple months ago regular exercise has helped too. I'm in such a habit now that unless I'm taking time off for an injury, I don't feel my best if I skip a day. I took yesterday off the gym because I had a dentist appointment and then somewhere to be just after, but I ended up going for a walk in the evening anyway because I just felt weird without exercising.

dutchandkiwi

This time I had a method that I knew worked for me (logging/writing down) combined with direct access to a calorie data base and always ready to log.
Journalling always worked for me, but the looking up in tables and where on earth did I put that book think did not. MFP was just the method I liked, combined with ease of use and being able to see my days logging etc (appealing to the inner geek), I knew this would stick

Mirasaki

For me the turning point was when my doctor said my BMI was too high for the combined contraceptive pill. In England if your BMI is over 33 then you're not allowed the combined pill, and this was the first time I was ever medically too fat for anything (I'm in my 20s). Some other people have touched on this but I thought if the first thing is being too fat for oral contraceptives, where does it stop? Does it stop with diabetes, heart problems, being 25+ stone? Enough was enough and that gave me enough to take it seriously and do it for real.

I'm having a hard time with a serious plateau at the moment after moving house and starting a new job, but looking back on my progress is what keeps me going.

SezxyStef

MFP did it.

Not just the site but the people on the site who educated me on food and nutrition etc.

I was encouraged not to label foods as good and bad and not give up my favourite foods.

Anytime prior I thought I had to not eat this or eat that etc.

and most importantly I learned how to live in maintenance...

cross2bear

I need knee replacement surgery and was told to lose 20lbs. So I have lost almost 100. I am on the list, waiting for my turn. I dont think my surgeon will recognize me. But basically, I have been successful at weight loss before, using a food journal. This, paired with the scale and the calorie counting, just seemed to click with me and the weight loss has seemed to me to be almost effortless - I still eat all the food I love, but less of it, and have been rewarded with lower weight. Maintenance is another story - I am hoping that everything I have learned over the last 9 months will help me to keep weight off. Its where I have struggled in the past.

laur357

I finished all those things that made it "too hard" and ran out of ways to excuse myself and keep putting it off.
I finished college, got my master's degree, relocated, had a stable position in my chosen career (and not three at a time!), had PCOS under control, didn't have pets/children/a significant other taking up my time - so there was no logical reason I couldn't get my *kitten* together and take care of myself without giving up again. There were zero excuses for me to be so morbidly obese. Figuring out that I wasn't some special medical anomaly and could in fact lose weight was also eye opening.

I didn't want to go my entire life without actually living, sitting in my apartment with no family, away from friends, not doing anything. So now I'm just doing it. The first 25ish pounds came off from weight watchers (I'd never been able to lose for than maybe 5-10 myself), then the next 35 from MFP. The last 50 is going with MFP and now includes running (what the hell?), complete with family members staring in disbelief.

JeffreyBurkhalter

I had a small life changing event that started things. I knew it was going to stick as soon as 20 lbs came off and people started treating me differently. I had forgotten what it was like to walk through a grocery store and have people turn their heads.