My wake up moment was when I went to the orthopedic surgeon July 2020 ready to commit to double knee replacement surgery, and he told me he would not operate until I lost 100 lbs. I am currently down 50+ lbs. Needless to say at the time I was disappointed. I had started eating 2 to 3 pints of Ben and Jerry a week when COVID-19 hit back in March. My logic was if I was going to catch it and die, I would at least be happy for a while. Well I am still here, and hoping to reach the goal by April of 2021. My greatest wish is that the Dr. will tell me with the weight loss I will no longer need the surgery. Wish me luck!
For me it was coming across old pictures of when I would spend all day on the beach being happy then looking in the mirror and going WTF have I been doing with my life.
When I realized my drivers license renewal is next year, and I want that picture to look nice because Im going to have to carry it around with me for the 5 years.
One of my husband's friends is a photographer. He takes gorgeous pictures and manages to capture the best side of people, I hate every single one I am in. I used to be so skinny but now can barely stand to look into a full sized mirror.
For me, it was about 9 months after I had my daughter (2012). I had actually gained almost 10 pounds back from the lowest weight I had gotten to after having her. I realized I needed to do SOMETHING, but I was also no stranger to diets and losing weight.
My local park district was having a weight loss challenge, where the top 3 losers would win money. There was also a class that would meet each week. I thought "why not?" and entered. This was when I was introduced to MFP, and also learned some things about weight loss that I didn't know--like eating more protein! I actually ended up getting in 3rd place, although those extra 300-500 calories burned from breastfeeding probably helped me mentally to keep going.
I kept most of that weight off, give or take 5-7 lbs. Every once in awhile I'd work to get those extra lbs off. Then when the pandemic hit, I could see myself starting to head in the other direction with my weight (much like a lot of people). I figured I had 2 choices: continue eating like that and gaining weight, or try to lose those last 8 pounds or so I never actually thought I could lose (but wanted to). So, I logged back on to MFP last April and have been tracking ever since, reaching my goal weight in September!
last year, after the lockdown, and we had to return to work. i was already overweight pre lockdown, but i came out obese after. bmi above 30. my work jeans do not fit anymore, and i just bought those pre lockdown. and i cant tie my shoes. and i live on the 5th floor. i saw how unhealthy i became, and decided to take action. went around reddit and youtube, found some useful info, and got to work. mfp got a lot of mentions, so i tried it out. best thing ever. tried several workouts for a few months. recently got to weight lifting. started from 90kg, june 2020. now 63kg, february 2021
When I was on my way to work one morning and split my pants because they were too tight. I had to stop and buy a new pair, that wasn't in my budget at the time. I got back in the saddle after that.
I have used MFP for 6 years on and off. I just couldn't stay motivated. My son is the only person who can motivate me. I don't know why. 4 years ago he was somewhat overweight and not happy with himself. He asked me, to do a health challenge with him. We did it for almost a month and I was faithful, nothing could sway me until my dad passed away and off the wagon we both fell. Then this past June with covid raging we decided to give it a try again. I have been able to stick with it this time. He has on and off. But as I started to see significant weight coming off it just motivated me even more. I have since lost 28 lbs. I still have more to lose but feel so much better. It's been slow but after 8 months I'm still at it. I'm so proud of myself!
Talking to my thinner friends on how they deal with hunger 'ya know, the hunger that makes you really nauseous, like your going to pass out and your heart beat likely crazy.' All my friends went quiet and told me they have never experienced that - they are also all nurses, so they were concerned.
I literally never realised that you didn't have to feel generally unwell and tediously starving and loose weight.
Looked it up and yep, that's a straight up hypo response and I am on a path to diabetes. I was 25 at the time (26 now). Realised at that point that I couldn't ignore my bad relationship with food anymore. I needed to start looking into nutrition and not how low I could make my daily calories (and subsequently binge for days afterwards).
Nutrition knowledge has been a game changer. Barely have those symptoms now. To be honest the weight is becoming more of a side note because I just feel better.
...When I fell down at an optician's office and couldn't get up off the floor. They had to close the office, call EMS and they stood me up. I sat down to get my bearings before leaving the office, but because of my feeling mortified that I had gotten this bad, I hurried out... and- Fell again this time on the pavement and hit my head against the curb. The EMS guys had to come back- stand me back up and asked if I wanted to go to the hospital. I said no. My partner came to get me.
The next morning, I tried to stand up to go to the bathroom and fell again. Couldn't get back up. Had to have EMS come back over to get me... and this time, I asked to go to the hospital. They ran test after test, finding that I have several issues with metabolism including both hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome. I also have severe depression (no kidding, right?) -- people have always made fun of me. I stopped looking in mirrors years and years ago...so I didn't really know how bad it really was.
And I wouldn't have accepted it in my mind if I had been directly confronted by a mirror or picture of myself.
I weighed 555 lbs that day in the hospital. I was admitted and stayed in the hospital for 4 days. Then released. It was that moment at home that I decided that I had to do something about it. I searched online and found MFP and decided it would help me be realistic about what I was eating and find a way to lower the amount of food I took in.
Since that day back in May of 2017- I have lost 272 lbs with no skin removal yet. No bariatric surgery although my doctor keeps recommending it to me and referring me to surgeons.. I know it might help, intially. But I am in this for the long haul. It might take me longer to reach my final goal, but I haven't seen this side of 300lbs since I was in middle school. So, although I am not yet at my goal weight (which for me personally is 200-220lbs...) I am getting there slowly, but surely.
And, even though my knees still are messed up, severe arthritis in both of them and my hips and back, I CAN WALK WITHOUT MY WALKER now. Yay! I will keep working on this. I will not give in again to the food- because the pain I lived in all my life has been a hell of my own making. I will keep on doing what I am doing until I reach a more reasonable weight. My doctor says to me all the time: "You are amazing. You are my inspiration and I hope will inspire others. You are at a "manageable" weight now." I feel proud talking with him. Not embarrassed. And even though I have hanging skin that is unsightly, it is healthier than the weight I carried around for my entire life.
@hrbulmer As I was reading your post, I was thinking, you are amazing, and read a few more sentences down that your doctor voices this, as well. Just had to tell you..you are amazing!
We had had the kids and grandkids over for a birthday barbque for my husband and I realized I didnt enjoy myself because of my health. I have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and hypothyroidism, bulging discs, bone spurs, mild scolosis.. I decided that I needed to get healthy and do what I could to improve my health and to enjoy life again. I lost 135 lbs since that day 10 yrs ago and have kept it off until covid. I have gained 10lbs back in the last year so i am back on here again, before my weight gets out of hand again. I have lost 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks, it's a start.......
I have been overweight for a good 20 years and fine with it. Then covid hit, and life lost all meaning and I ate a lot. The turn around point was three fold:
I felt my double chin against my neck when I was laying down to read (ick)
that prompted me to get a scale.
THAT showed me I was officially obese.
And, okay, 4. The studies about obesity being a risk factor for severe covid were all over the news.
I am now NINE pounds from healthy weight (though more from ideal) and much happier (and less panicky) in general.
My husband and I both decided when we both noticed we were constantly feeling bad, .clothes looked bad on us and we just were "fed up!:" We started last January. Subsequently, he has lost over 100 lbs and I over 30 lbs (I didn't have as much to lose) and we both feel much better! He did almost no exercise at the start, then we adopted a dog and walk him daily. It really helps motivate us to help him get his steps in!
I've posted here before and realized there is one other "moment" that really had an impact on me. It was a news article about how a weightlifting grandmother beat up an intruder in her New York apartment. She was 82, currently a competitive powerlifter, and could deadlift 235 at a fairly small physical size.
Always before I had though "I'm too old to really become strong, I need to focus on other things" and then I found out that she started her lifting when she was in her sixties or seventies. Not when she was young! And that made a light switch flip inside... "if she can do that, then it's not too later for me." Then the weight loss challenge started at work and I decided to give it my all and the rest is history.
WELL.. I had the moment hundreds of times in my 29 years of being obese and morbidly obese, and MORBIDLY morbidly obese. But the one that sparked my current weight loss was a video I stumbled across while browsing youtube, downing a 2 liter of diet coke and a plate of torino's pizza rolls to distract myself until I could fall asleep (depressing, I know). I watched a success story on a guy named wettyb from bodybuilding.com.. he was fairly similar to me but with a much more difficult situation financial situation and some health issues that made things much harder.. watching him struggle and work his *kitten* off shedding the pounds and being able to re-enter society just.. spoke to me. It's what I always wanted.. I wanted to live, go out, drive, have a job, hang out with friends. But I had given up and hid away from the world for 13yrs after dropping out of high school. So I cut soda from day 1, downloaded mfp and just watched what I ate while researching and slowly adapting little changes and small walks with my pups around the yard.. and here I am 🙂. I honestly never expected it to work. I assumed I'd just be a sad sack for a few more years and pass in my sleep or from a heart attack. I was in a bad place. I hope your journey is going well! And my sad little story can motivate you in some way 😜. Have a great weekend!
Honestly? Hearing about otherwise healthy but overweight people that I know die of Covid. I have 3 young children and I will do absolutely EVERYTHING within my power to be here for as long as possible for them. The pandemic feels so out of my control but THIS is within my control.
@hrbulmer As I was reading your post, I was thinking, you are amazing, and read a few more sentences down that your doctor voices this, as well. Just had to tell you..you are amazing!
I could’nt agree @MaggieGirl - @hrblmer, reading your post I was just going wow, wow after each obstacle you’ve come across. I am in total awe & inspired to do this after a bumpy weekend Thanks for sharing ❤️
Replies
My local park district was having a weight loss challenge, where the top 3 losers would win money. There was also a class that would meet each week. I thought "why not?" and entered. This was when I was introduced to MFP, and also learned some things about weight loss that I didn't know--like eating more protein! I actually ended up getting in 3rd place, although those extra 300-500 calories burned from breastfeeding probably helped me mentally to keep going.
I kept most of that weight off, give or take 5-7 lbs. Every once in awhile I'd work to get those extra lbs off. Then when the pandemic hit, I could see myself starting to head in the other direction with my weight (much like a lot of people). I figured I had 2 choices: continue eating like that and gaining weight, or try to lose those last 8 pounds or so I never actually thought I could lose (but wanted to). So, I logged back on to MFP last April and have been tracking ever since, reaching my goal weight in September!
I literally never realised that you didn't have to feel generally unwell and tediously starving and loose weight.
Looked it up and yep, that's a straight up hypo response and I am on a path to diabetes. I was 25 at the time (26 now). Realised at that point that I couldn't ignore my bad relationship with food anymore. I needed to start looking into nutrition and not how low I could make my daily calories (and subsequently binge for days afterwards).
Nutrition knowledge has been a game changer. Barely have those symptoms now. To be honest the weight is becoming more of a side note because I just feel better.
The next morning, I tried to stand up to go to the bathroom and fell again. Couldn't get back up. Had to have EMS come back over to get me... and this time, I asked to go to the hospital. They ran test after test, finding that I have several issues with metabolism including both hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome. I also have severe depression (no kidding, right?) -- people have always made fun of me. I stopped looking in mirrors years and years ago...so I didn't really know how bad it really was.
And I wouldn't have accepted it in my mind if I had been directly confronted by a mirror or picture of myself.
I weighed 555 lbs that day in the hospital. I was admitted and stayed in the hospital for 4 days. Then released. It was that moment at home that I decided that I had to do something about it. I searched online and found MFP and decided it would help me be realistic about what I was eating and find a way to lower the amount of food I took in.
Since that day back in May of 2017- I have lost 272 lbs with no skin removal yet. No bariatric surgery although my doctor keeps recommending it to me and referring me to surgeons.. I know it might help, intially. But I am in this for the long haul. It might take me longer to reach my final goal, but I haven't seen this side of 300lbs since I was in middle school. So, although I am not yet at my goal weight (which for me personally is 200-220lbs...) I am getting there slowly, but surely.
And, even though my knees still are messed up, severe arthritis in both of them and my hips and back, I CAN WALK WITHOUT MY WALKER now. Yay! I will keep working on this. I will not give in again to the food- because the pain I lived in all my life has been a hell of my own making. I will keep on doing what I am doing until I reach a more reasonable weight. My doctor says to me all the time: "You are amazing. You are my inspiration and I hope will inspire others. You are at a "manageable" weight now." I feel proud talking with him. Not embarrassed. And even though I have hanging skin that is unsightly, it is healthier than the weight I carried around for my entire life.
I felt my double chin against my neck when I was laying down to read (ick)
that prompted me to get a scale.
THAT showed me I was officially obese.
And, okay, 4. The studies about obesity being a risk factor for severe covid were all over the news.
I am now NINE pounds from healthy weight (though more from ideal) and much happier (and less panicky) in general.
Always before I had though "I'm too old to really become strong, I need to focus on other things" and then I found out that she started her lifting when she was in her sixties or seventies. Not when she was young! And that made a light switch flip inside... "if she can do that, then it's not too later for me." Then the weight loss challenge started at work and I decided to give it my all and the rest is history.
86 pounds gone - 20-30 to go!
I could’nt agree @MaggieGirl - @hrblmer, reading your post I was just going wow, wow after each obstacle you’ve come across. I am in total awe & inspired to do this after a bumpy weekend Thanks for sharing ❤️