Your "enough is enough" moment

RealWorldStrengthLLC

What was your enough is enough moment that finally put you on (or back on) the path to fitness?

Mine was 2 moments combined within about 3 weeks of each other.

First, was snowboarding with my brother. 7 runs in one day about destroyed my legs. When i was fit I used to be able to do 20+ runs a day for 3-4 days in a row before needing a break. The second was my first time back on a dirt bike in 5 years - a 20 mile trail ride had my legs and arms so tired and cramped it was pathetic. Again, I used to be able to do 60+ miles in a day for multiple consecutive days.

About 2 days after that dirt bike ride I looked in the mirror after a shower, got and got really angry at myself for letting this happen. Later that night, I went to the gym and rode bike for 30 minutes. The next day i put myself back on a lifting routine. That was in April. Started tracking food in August.

wmweeza

I got very sick with a stomach infection that made it hard to eat or breathe (stomach acid would come up and spill into my lungs). I got the eating part healed but not the breathing, and through many doctors appointments it was made clear that I wouldn't get better unless I lost my extra weight. Since I've grown used to breathing ....insert laugh here ....I chose to dive in and lose the weight. The only really scary part for me is if I gain the weight back the excess fat will encroach on my stomach and lungs AGAIN, and I can't go through this ever again ( the last 3 years have been HELL) so I have no choice but to keep it off FOREVER. I am fighting hard, and so far I've lost 80 lbs!
As hard as it's been truthfully I never would have lost my extra weight had I not had this to go through, so it's a weird blessing. I just have 40-45 lbs left to go.

elisa123gal

The good old photo. Seeing myself full length from the side in a photo, I realized how wide I was. I knew it was lose the weight or turn into a typical fat middle aged women. I took a before picture in my underwear.. looked at it each day. It is amazing how that works like magic.
I got on a healthy eating plan, and now I feel and look like my younger self. It's been amazing to lose the weight.

Whatever motivates you. use it!

Machka9

It's usually when I hit a certain weight. I reach that point and think ... yep, time to tighten up the eating and get exercising more.

RelCanonical

I couldn't sleep because I just felt so uncomfortable in my body.

Cassandraw3

For me, it was a job change. I finally was able to balance work, gym, and home life. Even with working out again, the weight was creeping up do to the job change as well. I went from a job on my feet all the time with no time to think about snacks or food until lunch to a desk job that brings in junk food all the time. After a few months of watching the scale creep up a couple pounds a month, enough was enough. I did not like what I saw in the mirror nor could I fit in a lot of my shirts without a visible muffin top.

rsclause

It was when my son poked my large beer gut and asked "when is it due". I lost 50 pounds and my gut only to gain 30 back. I have now shed 18 of that 30 and only have a little gut to go.

Kalex1975

Being unable to walk to my car without losing my breath. It got me to finally go to one of those weight loss clinics where they were unable to get a reading of my blood pressure because it was too high. They urged me to go to the hospital. Instead, stubbornly, I went to one of those emergency care places who also had difficulties in getting a reading and told me to go to the hospital. I finally acquiesced and went. I was referred to a cardiologist who attempted to get my BP under control but was unable... which led me to a 10-day stint in the hospital because of congestive heart failure.

I guess I needed a really big enough is enough moment!

hearingyou2

I reached a point of feeling so uncomfortable, exhausted, miserable and felt like I was just bursting out of myself and my clothes in spite of having to buy all new things over and over. I worked with a trainer who had me log my food in this app every day. The accountability helped, so did the gradual exercise. I began to be able to move better and I began to have more energy. Month by month it got better and I steadily lost weight, gradually and safely. I lost enough to feel that my face looked better. I lost enough that I could wear some smaller clothes and I gave away the biggest ones. I had a ton more energy. Everyone noticed how much better I seemed and looked. I was able to ride my bike a lot with my husband on vacation and I have continued to work out with the trainer. I gained some when I stopped logging and started to eat a bit irresponsibly again. I didn't gain it all back and now I am back at it again. I keep thinking about my health and I have a lot of concerns still that will be addressed by losing weight. Being overweight correlates to headaches, skin tags, cancer risk, strain on joints, strain on heart, higher cholesterol, higher blood sugar, heart attacks, strokes/TIAs, hearing loss, shorter life expectancy. At least risks of all these things and much more. Wanting to feel GOOD and not wanting to feel BAD is motivating to me. Also, the before pictures are still there to look at and they are shocking and quite motivating too! I haven't done the after shots but maybe I should now because I already look so much better and that would be motivating too.

arobey11

I had lost over 40 lbs and had a bunch of clothes that I loved and looked really good in at my new weight. Then I gained about half of it back when I stopped logging/caring for a year and a half, and I felt terrible about myself. Couldn't fit in most of my new, cute clothes, didn't want to take pictures of myself because my face had gotten fat again, and I just didn't feel good about myself anymore. I stewed in disappointment and failure for about two months before I finally just said "I've done this before, I can do it again, and this time I'm not going to negate my hard work just because I feel like eating all the pizza and cake." So far I've been back to logging for 3 weeks and it's going swimmingly, so I feel good about myself - it's amazing what a little self control and hard work can do for your self-esteem!

cheryldumais

Several things finally got me on the right track. One was that I was getting close to 60 and I didn't want to have a stroke. Another was the fact I was working with female prisoners as a volunteer trying to help them see their addictions got them where they were. It dawned on me what a hypocrite I was! The last was a couple of ladies in my prayer group losing weight and I figured if they could do it I could too. By the time I turned 60 I was 100 pounds lighter.

estherdragonbat

I was 5'3" and 254 lbs, just gotten a diagnosis of "Chronic Venous Insufficiency" from a vascular surgeon to explain why I'd gotten cellulitis, which had led to lymphedema and a leg three times its normal size with a weeping wound that wasn't healing. (It took multiple courses of antibiotics and daily visits from homecare nurses). He told me that there was no way to cure the condition, but it could be managed with compression stockings and weight loss.

Until I got that diagnosis, my GP had me on near-total bed rest. He was afraid too much walking around would overheat the leg and prolong the infection, so until the vascular surgeon figured out what was going on and cleared me for walking, since I don't drive, I was either having to wait for my husband to get home from work and chauffeur me about, push me in a transport chair we borrowed from a friend, or take taxis everywhere. It also meant timing my showers for right before the nurse visits—and sometimes they'd call to say they were coming when they were five minutes away. This went on for over two months.

I took a hard look at things and decided that I didn't want this to be my life. That was almost two years and 106 lbs ago.

Pootler74

arobey11 wrote: »

I had lost over 40 lbs and had a bunch of clothes that I loved and looked really good in at my new weight. Then I gained about half of it back when I stopped logging/caring for a year and a half, and I felt terrible about myself. Couldn't fit in most of my new, cute clothes, didn't want to take pictures of myself because my face had gotten fat again, and I just didn't feel good about myself anymore. I stewed in disappointment and failure for about two months before I finally just said "I've done this before, I can do it again, and this time I'm not going to negate my hard work just because I feel like eating all the pizza and cake." So far I've been back to logging for 3 weeks and it's going swimmingly, so I feel good about myself - it's amazing what a little self control and hard work can do for your self-esteem!

This. Pretty much word for word! Lost 100 pounds. Then I got cocky because I was still losing or maintaining while not logging. Thought I had cracked it and I would just be a normal size forever with zero effort. Ha! Life, illness, injury, work, holidays, not giving a hoot, another injury and then a fabulous relationship soon fixed that misconception, and here I am, one size (okay, nearly two sizes) bigger and who knows how many pounds.

It's okay though. I seem to have learned enough on the way down to not gain all the weight back. And I also learned (from my many mistakes) how to control myself around food better on the way back up.

It took a few enough-is-enough moments this time to make me get back on the wagon, some of them pretty cringey and upsetting. But it was when I started thinking like my old, obese self that I really frightened myself into sorting myself out: not wanting to have my photo taken, not wanting to go out or meet people, or do things. That was really scary. The old, obese me was depressed and a bit of a shut-in. The new, healthy me had a great life, full of friendships, joy and activity. I really do not want to go back to being the way I was before. I'm lucky that I still look a reasonably healthy size and I do feel mostly good about myself. I don't have so far to go. And to be honest, even though I was still at the top of the healthy BMI range, I was too skinny before, so I have even less far to go than before. :-)

It's really three steps forward and one back for me when it comes to food, but I get better every time. :-)

tinkerbellang83

I'd ignored a niggling back pain from a fall injury that got worse and worse until one day I bent down and was in agony trying to get back up, the chiropractor patched me up temporarily, but I knew I was at the point where my weight was exacerbating my recovery from the injury.

So I started watching my calories and strength training, got some gait analysis done and treated my over-pronation. I lost about 20lbs and found my love for exercise again, started jogging, hiking, rowing, etc, got around 40lbs off in total and then I've kind of been focused more on fitness than weight and swung up and down the same 5lbs for about a year (Guess I know maintenance isn't going to be an issue .

Whenever I get into a bit of a rut, I think back to the pain and frustration of not even being able to put my socks on and feeling every bump as I was passenger in a car on Irish roads (not a pleasant experience, some pot holes could be mistaken for lakes).

ata1anta

I detailed mine here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10062989/why-did-you-come-to-the-conclusion-to-lose-weight/p64 (very long story).

The short form: MVA and trying to heal with a "Jabba the Hut" body. When I was able to walk again, I joined WW. I'm down 75. I KNOW I have to log my food and MFP and WW are what I'm using to do it. I'm also liking the "new me" - goes out and does rather than waits for someone to do. We were sitting in the living room and BF said that he'd need to go get some more wood for the wood stove (it was chilly last week). I grabbed a log carrier and loaded it up! Old me wouldn't have done that. (especially since the log pile is down the street).

Miss_Snow_White

When I cried (total total meltdown/crying yelling/throwing stuff.. the works) because we had a friend's wedding to attend and all of my dress clothes made feel uncomfortable and embarrassed to even leave my house. Every dress I put on made me look 7 months pregnant and im certainly not pregnant. I don't even have kids lol

RealWorldStrengthLLC

sarahbums wrote: »

For me it was when i landed in rehab for the second time in less than 6 months because of my drinking. That year I'd been through a lot: I'd attempted suicide, graduated college, been diagnosed with a brain tumor, had surgery, and moved back home. I'd gained about 25lbs in a few months from drinking so much and knew i was inching towards the 'overweight' category if i didn't change my ways. So I did. It probably saved my life.

I understand the drinking issues, as well as the mental health. I had a huge problem with alcohol for many years. The only thing that stopped it was 8 months forced sobriety combined with being diagnosed bipolar, which once I was put on meds, my desire to drink til I black out pretty much vanished since I was no longer self medicating something I didn't know I had.

If I hadn't stopped, I'd probably be nearing the early stage of cirrhosis at 30.

Blythmag

The camera...it never lies

JeromeBarry1

It occurred as I was kissing my wife at midnight of December 31, 1999, January 1, 2000.
"Self", I said, "You lived to see 2000. Now act like you want to live to see 100."

MaxineMarieM

Now! My pants are tight!