That AHA moment: What made you start?

drenergy

1.What was the turning point for you?
For the first time in my life, I realized my BMI was "overweight." It's a stupid thing because BMI is a terrible indicator of health and so is just looking at your weight, BUT I knew it was just one of many signs that my health was slipping as I headed farther into my 20s. I felt sluggish and gross all the time, and I was a smoker. Smokers know it's bad for them, trust me. I felt like an idiot every time I had one, but I figured I'd "do it later" and get better habits "later." Well, at 25 I realized that if "later" didn't turn into "right now" that I'd easily let a decade pass me by while I sat around eating nacho cheese, smoking cigarettes.

2. When did you start this journey?
August of 2011 when I started couch to 5k. Changing my eating habits came a while after that. I started losing weight and then stopped after a few pounds and couldn't figure out how I could run 5 miles but couldn't lose 5 pounds. Well, then I cut out the chicken wings and fries after every softball game and things got better. haha

4. Where are you now?
Well, I had a baby, ran a marathon, ran tons of half marathons, and my weight has been up and down. Except for pregnancy, I've never been overweight and I've stuck to being really active, even if my eating habits haven't always been totally consistent. More than 2 years post-partum, I'm pretty consistently in the mid 140s (20 lbs down from where I started), can run several miles no problem, and feel great.

4. What keeps you going?
My son. I want to model good habits for him and to make it 'normal' to be active, eat a balanced diet and a wide variety of yummy foods, and I want him to feel good about his body and abilities.

jenniferinfl

1.What was the turning point for you? It's ok if it was a series of events
Getting a fitbit. I lost all the weight years and years ago by extreme dieting. Like a can of soup and 40 calories of yogurt per day kind of dieting. Then, I got married and my new spouse wasn't thrilled that we couldn't ever like order a pizza. So, then I would eat the pizza and then not eat for 48 hours to make up for it. Anyways, very disordered eating. I did keep 100 lbs off for around 10 years, but, then gained it all back in a few months after job loss in 2008. I've tried losing the weight a couple times since, but, did the same stupid disordered eating. I really wanted one of those devices that they wore on the biggest loser. Everyone says it's just calories in and calories out, except, oh yeah, how in the world do you arrive at your calories out if you are anything but sedentary? I thought fitbit was just a glorified pedometer. Anyways, spouse surprised me with a fitbit blaze that does the heart rate and everything on April 1st as an early anniversary gift. It's not perfectly accurate, but, when paired with trendweight to see my actual achieved deficit, it is really consistent for me. I finally know that mystery part of the equation, calories out. Everyone used to tell me I was sedentary but it turns out that I'm not. So, with my activity, I can eat 2000 calories per day and still lose weight. I'm not starving and I'm trying to quit being that crazy person I used to be. I was one of those fat people who did eat my vegetables everyday, walked a lot and only really had junk in some kind of moderation, so, I always had good labs. It used to be fun to see my doctor be surprised by them. lol

2. When did you start this journey? April 1, 2017

3. Where are you now? 14 lbs down, 14% of my weight loss goal achieved, 89.4 lbs to go.

4. What keeps you going? How easy it is. I could do this for life. I do log everything, but, it only takes a few moments to do so. I'm only hungry right when I should be, cause it's lunch time or dinner time, I'm never starving. When I go walk 30,000 steps at a theme park I get to eat like 3000 calories and still lose weight. If I want pizza, I can go jog for an hour and have that pizza. As I get closer to goal I may even drop my deficit a bit and keep going slow and easy.

Smaya29

1- I wouldn't look in the mirror for more than 10 seconds a day. I dreaded it. My facial features seemed so unfamiliar like I had pumped some air in it to make it look like a balloon. I had to go buy a new pair of jeans and ended up buying size 16 US... THAT was a huge blow. Size 12 to 16 in a year and a half?? How's that possible. There was a time when I felt like I was at my heaviest and had to buy size 8 jeans. I started hating shopping for my clothes because none of them would look good on me anymore. Felt constantly bloated like a whale. My legs ached, I felt sleepy all the time. Really really low energy. So I decided to come back to MFP for the third time around at 157 pounds.

2- May 23rd, 2017.

3- Dropped down from 157 to 152 (I'm 5'2 and want to be at at least 125 pounds)

4- the person in the mirror who I can hardly recognize. Where did that curvy body go? Where are those big beautiful eyes and the petite nose?? And that double chin that's becoming quite obvious!!! Sick of feeling tired and achy.

TheLaser

Mine is not a radical weight loss story, just a story about trying to be the healthiest and fittest me I can be:

1.What was the turning point for you?
I've done this twice. I did a challenge with a swim team for a month, then kept going and got down to my goal weight. About a year later I was pregnant, then pregnant again. I'm finally back in a place where I have more control over my time and just restarted seriously again. I saw some awful pics and also couldn't properly button a pair of shorts from last summer without looking like a squeezed balloon.

2. When did you start this journey?
I don't know exactly what my starting weight was for this round because I didn't have a working scale. I got one about a week in, and it turns out I was at about the weight when I started MFP the first time (136.6 lbs). I guess that's where my body just wants to rest at. It's not a terrible weight but I feel huge and lethargic at that size.

3. Where are you now?
In the last thirty odd days I have lost about six pounds. My goal is to reach and maintain at 121-2 lbs. My short term goal is to drop under 130 by the end of May.

4. What keeps you going?
I feel SO GREAT! And I look great in my clothes! I'm dreaming about shopping again and all the new styles I can wear this summer. I love feeling so energetic. And I can actually feel myself shrinking. It's only 6 lbs but I already feel much lighter and freer.

Great work, everyone!

jacquih2981

1.What was the turning point for you?
I got to 282 pounds and had to wear elasticated everything. My ankles swelled up by almost 2 inches from morning to evening and heartburn kept me awake most nights. I tried an exclusion diet and realised i could lose weight and improve my health.

2. When did you start this journey?
1 May on MFP logging food and exercise. I ate more and moved less than I realised. By a lot. A whole big lot.

3. Where are you now?
I have dropped 8 pounds and increased my step count from 4k a day to 9k. Not there with the nutrition but one step at a time.

4. What keeps you going?
I keep getting PBs at the gym, I am moving more, I feel great. I might be able to wear the green dress without looking a bag of spanners. In time I could get back in my corset and still breathe, I could wear my heels again without my knees whingeing, I could do all my yoga poses, I could wear clothes that were not elasticated again, I could dance the night away without looking heart attack red and sweaty

EDTake2

1. Turning point - I had not realized how big I was until my brothers wedding in 2013. I was 227lbs (my highest) at the time and the wedding photographer did not want to take my pictures. The whole wedding I was in 5 professional photos, and that's because he had to take them.

2. When did I start - right after the wedding. September 14, 2013.

3. Where I am now - from September 2013 to July 2015 (sister in laws wedding) I went from 227 to 182. It felt great and I was in a lot of photos

EDTake2

Not sure why part of 3 and 4 were cut out previously, but here is what I wrote:

Part 3: since then I gained 20 lbs, got to comfy with myself and stopped cc. End of 2016 I was at 202 lbs. in January of 2017 I started MFP and I am down 13lbs (188.4 lbs as of this morning)

4. What keeps me going - my family and health. I need to set an example for my kids, and live a long and active life with my husband.

Aarjono

1.What was the turning point for you?

It was a domino effect of things, and this will probably be TMI, but here goes.
I've gained weight steadily for about 10 yrs and for the last 5 I've had terrible GERD, with a constant cough that sounded like I had TB or lung cancer. I never had high BP or pre-diabetes at my physicals, which to my dr was unbelievable. But then my weight started to affect my mobility. Last summer, I developed problems with my feet, and I hurt my knee in a fall, so walking was extremely painful even with orthotics and braces. My orthopedist wanted me to see a vascular dr for my pitting edema, and I couldn't bring myself to go (denial and let's face it, fear). I was on arthritis meds, and stomach meds. I took steroid shots to get me through a trip to NYC and marching the Macy's parade with my son's marching band in November 2016 when I was at highest weight (267). I felt horrible. Every day was a struggle. In March 2017, I cut my foot really deeply, requiring 8 stitches. When it happened, the blood was *so* viscous it didn't look real, and it scared me, because all I could think of was that high blood viscosity is associated with diabetes. When I went to urgent care for stitches, my BP was high (150/90, and I don't get white coat hypertension). Right about the same time, I felt sick whenever I ate, and every night I was in terrible pain, throwing up undigested food, what looked suspiciously like coffee grounds. Again, it scared the ever-loving crap out of me, because my ex-husband died of esophageal cancer 4 yrs ago. My life flashed before my eyes, and in that life I was physically crippled, with high blood pressure, diabetes, and other things unthinkable, and realized my children would definitely be orphans if I didn't finally *do* something.

2. When did you start this journey?

End of March, 2017. A friend had been suggesting forever that I try eating vegetarian for my GERD, so when my son left town for spring break, I downloaded 2 weeks worth of 1400 cal/day vegetarian menus, went shopping, and started logging my food religiously on MFP starting April 1. My GERD went away within the first week, along with that horrific cough and the vomiting.

3. Where are you now?

I'm down 25# from November, and 15.3# since March and logging in MFP. I have 77 pounds to go, but I'm taking it 10 at a time.

4. What keeps you going?

The facts that I don't miss meat, and I don't feel deprived while staying within my calories. How great I feel physically. My GERD is gone. My stomach doesn't hurt. My limp is gone, and my feet and knees don't hurt anymore. I feel better than I have in *years*. My mind feels more "present". Even my kids have noticed a change in me. My youngest is about to move off to college, and I want to be able to enjoy finally being on my own. I want to hike the Appalachian Trail. I want to be able to take my future grandchildren camping and hiking.