What was the moment? When did you decide to take back control?

OhioViking79

This is not my first time on MFP, and so this is not my first sort of AHA moment either, but it's probably the most emotional one I've had:

I went hiking and really struggled to make it a mile. At the end i broke down and cried, more upset with myself that i remember being in a log time.

It hit home harder than it probably should have, but i recently lost my dad, and he was the one that always encouraged me to enjoy being outside (we used to hike for hours when i was a kid), and here i was, struggling to make a mile loop......
i was ashamed and embarrassed, not to mention overheated since i dress to cover up, not to handle the nice summer weather....

Yeah somethings has to give, and it's going to have to be me.

haku23

I got stretch marks on my lower stomach, and I cried. I have stretch marks everywhere else, but they're old and faded; these are new and red and honestly ugly as heck. I know that they'll fade, and I knew I'd gained some weight but I weighed myself and I was 240 pounds which is as big as I've ever been. It's not surprising I've gained weight since I can't go out due to lockdown, but I've always been overweight so I didn't really notice it. That I didn't have stretch marks on my stomach was somewhat of a matter of pride to me; it was something that I didn't feel I had to worry about since I've basically hovered around the same weight my whole life, but I guess that's what happens when you take things for granted.

shaeir

I was never too bothered by weight, just a bit on the bigger side of average. I was active - I could out hike and out run most of my skinny friends. I figured I was 'fit fat', I come from a long line of big woman - I am by far the smallest. And then I was diagnosed as Type 2 diabetes. I spent a day crying and feeling very overwhelmed and then realised this is still in my control and I can maybe turn this around - so here I am. Down 13lbs since diagnosis, realistically another 30 to go to hit my goal weight. More important though, I feel in control of my health.

worsthorse

it was a two moments for me... i was re-organizing an online photo album and came across a pile of photos from my last trip to Nepal... at the saddle of an 18000' pass, carrying loaded duffel bags into a clinic tent, climbing up a long, steep, rocky gorge to the next pass, loading up horses with gear, etc. it suddenly hit me, i don't think i could do any of that right now and not because i am old or injured or ill, but because i am not doing what i need to be doing.

the second moment happened about a month later. i was getting a couple of daily reports on covid, one of which listed each new death in my state. almost every one included the phrase, "had underlying medical conditions". and the thought hit me, if i don't keep taking care of myself, that could be me way before it needs to be me.

the first moment helped me re-boot, the second to stay the course.

ghudson92

When I decided to start living my life for me and no one else.

dts_90

Literally 8 days ago after 30 years of neglect.

Looking forward to the future!

gracie245

It was a few different things: not being able to wear sundresses I'd made, becoming unwell with autoimmune diseases, seeing my ruddy face in a bloody zoom meeting. But the motivator was reading a book called 'Conquering Fat Logic'. It's not for everyone, but it was frankly written. And the writer said something like 'stop telling yourself you can't lose weight. There's lots of evidence that people do lose it and keep it off.' All types of people, not just those with a few pounds to go. The evidence is here on MFP, that that continues to be a motivator and reinforcer, too.

brendog79

I just had it. On may 19th I weighed in at 382lbs. Afraid to get up to 400. My weight had jumped 12lbs in two weeks and my quality of sleep and energy level was very poor. Would wake up every 1 to 1
5 hrs through out the night. Couldn't stay asleep more than 2.5 hrs. I probably had a bout with sleep apnea because of trouble breathing while asleep. I've lost 38lbs down to 344 and feel and sleep way better. I recently got remotivated after I told a co worker I had just lost 32 lbs in a month by just dieting and she thought that was being lazy by not working out. I want to silence the naysayers who think I can't keep it up and my roomie doesn't think I'll lose 48lbs in 3 months to get down to 300.

tuckerrj

brendog79 wrote: »

I just had it. On may 19th I weighed in at 382lbs. Afraid to get up to 400. My weight had jumped 12lbs in two weeks and my quality of sleep and energy level was very poor. Would wake up every 1 to 1
5 hrs through out the night. Couldn't stay asleep more than 2.5 hrs. I probably had a bout with sleep apnea because of trouble breathing while asleep. I've lost 38lbs down to 344 and feel and sleep way better. I recently got remotivated after I told a co worker I had just lost 32 lbs in a month by just dieting and she thought that was being lazy by not working out. I want to silence the naysayers who think I can't keep it up and my roomie doesn't think I'll lose 48lbs in 3 months to get down to 300.

Love your goal to lose 48 lbs. Consider being careful with time-tables. 16 lbs a month, or 4 lbs a week are VERY aggressive goals at any weight. If you do it in 6 months it would still be AWESOME!

tuckerrj

May have posted this already, too lazy to check, , , but when I retired I gained 8 pounds in 8 weeks and "POW!" the switch went "on". I knew I'd have to do something. So spent the next 14 months losing 70 lbs. My deepest hope and sincerest prayer is that that switch never goes "off". I'm not exactly sure how to prevent it, because it has gone off in the past. I'm logging my intake accurately everyday, weighing every morning and exercising at least 60 minutes a day in an effort to keep the switch "on" all the rest of my life.

HERE'S TO KEEPING THE SWITCH ON ! ! ! 🤞🙏

lorrieannoberry

I have always been a yo yo. up and down. So like so many I have had many moments but always went on strict 'diets' and if i fell off the wagon just with one food i didn't think i should have then i just quit. This past January it finally sank in that one candy bar didn't make me fat. So today I know i can have things i like in moderation but not every meal every day and i didn't fail when i did have it. This is my life to enjoy but also my body to be healthy. I think i really GOT it. Prayers for you all.

Carp614

I got sick in January, like super sick. For the first time in my life I lost muscle, strength, and stamina from being sick. When I tried to do ten pushups in a row and couldn't I decided that was unacceptable.
#canofworms.

Ryals_Cori

When this guy I had just started dating told me he usually doesn’t date “thick” girls and although I was nice and had a great personality I was just physically not someone he would ever be with.

charmmeth

Colivarri wrote: »

When this guy I had just started dating told me he usually doesn’t date “thick” girls and although I was nice and had a great personality I was just physically not someone he would ever be with.

You what? So why was he dating you in the first place? ("Thick" where I come from means stupid!)

Bari_Tone

OP asked the question "When did you decide to take back control?" - My first thought was I was always in control...I simply picked a different destination.

But to answer her question - it was when I put on my fave pants and they were tight. I said something that "rhymed with bucket" and started that very second.

chris5602

Summer weather - no shorts fit and I wasn’t happy in my bathing suits. Started wearing loose dresses and realized it was just allowing me to get bigger. Decided to take control.

tsbowman1124

Multiple things. I no longer buy lace up shoes because I can't reach my feet to tie them. My weight is now double my weight when I met my husband 40 years ago. I was underweight at the time but I'm still 100 pounds overweight and at the current trajectory I'll top 300 pounds by the time I'm 60. I get winded walking around the block. I'm tempting fate since diabetes runs strong through my family. I'm not healthy, I don't feel good and I can no longer blame recovering from pregnancy (youngest is 19), recovering from chemo (3 years ago), or lack of time. With stay-at-home I have plenty of time to work in some exercise and eat healthily.

CloneSN

For me, this latest time (i've done this before... sadly.) it was while i was on Rona stay-at-home orders and i went back to the heaviest weight i've ever been in my life. Even before the time that i decided to really take my life back. I knew something had to be done and i really got the kick in the rear i needed when i heard the most recent SModcast episode hosted by Kevin Smith and his guest was Ethan Suplee. If you know both of their stories, you know that they both lost a lot of weight, Ethan especially. I was so inspired that i decided to even ditch just staying under my calories for the day. I essentially cleared my refrigerator and pantry and i'm only doing meal replacements, and vitamin supplements during the bulk of the day, and pre-made healthy meals for dinner. Along with that, i'm pushing myself to do an hour of hard cardio and some weight lifting at the gym. I'm seriously not going to stop until i reach my goal weight (which i haven't done since joining MFP all those years ago), and from then i'm promising myself to maintain and not let myself go again.

sharpsmith13

When I got sober. I ran from fear for over 37 years using alcohol. I was a "functioning alcoholic"...I've run 7 marathons and started a small business. But I never felt truly healthy. Now, with almost 11 months of sobriety, I appreciate life. Being present each day is something I haven't done since I was a kid.

I'm ready to do whatever it takes for mental, emotional, and physical health. I am grateful for this program and for everyone who takes the steps to reach their goals.

osier5

The straw that broke the camel's back was in 2018 I went to CO with my husband and friends for the weekend and I could not finish the hike we were doing. Even though I was heavy, I had always been able to hike and walk but on that trip I just couldn't. Everyone else on the trip was super fit. They were very kind but it was super embarrassing. I had to face the fact that my weight was holding me back.

grizzlykouba

Seeing how people reacted to a "pandemic".... Also, between the abuse I received as a child, and further head trauma throughout life, my brain is dying. Seizures have started now. There a few hikes I want to do before it's too late.

aplaw87

I'm a habitual yo yo dieter. I'll diet & exercise, get to my goal weight one year & then go back to my old habits only to regain the weight again.

There have been many things that re-motivate me, but most of the time it's when I can't fit into my clothes. I don't want to go out & buy bigger clothes, yet I'm miserable in or just flat out can't wear the ones I have.

I was on the verge this year of just buying a "few" more comfortable summer clothes bc there's no way I'll be able to get into most of my summer clothes this year. In the meantime, my husband & I just bought another motorcycle after selling our previous one two years ago. The last time we had one I was about 40 lbs lighter & could really enjoy riding. There was actually space between the backrest & my husband then. Now I just feel miserable on it bc I'm heavier. It's uncomfortable & squished- & this is a much larger bike! So that was the breaking point for me this time.

homegrown_hometown_girl

Decided to take control of my life after my 2nd child turned 1 and i was weighing in at 250lbs and wearing a size 20 in jeans and a 2XL in shirts.
I refused to be the overweight mom and that i needed to start working and taking care of myself.
Happy to say 2 years later i have dropped 60lbs now in a size 14 in jeans and size L in shirts.
Still have roughly 10lbs more
to lose before i reach my goal weight.

starrjulia8

I had quit smoking the previous year. It was picture of myself a gender reveal party for a friend when I looked at myself and was not happy. I went out the next day and bought a scale. I realized that I gained 50lbs in 8 months! I had to do something about it.

freshstart180213

Honestly it wasn't exactly a moment. I am always trying to keep some control of my weight, as I love my food, however I have a busy lifestyle with my kids and their activities. When we went into lock down 21 March I was determined to home-school and keep things as normal as possible. At first I was doing really well, keeping on top of everything and actually I was so busy I was losing weight. Then as time goes on the eventual drag of lock down and things started to fall apart. Home-schooling got less and less as I was burnt out. My health started to flare (I have Crohns) and I think I just got depressed and wasn't taking care of myself. The cupboards and snacking being readily available the weight I had lost I gained back plus a few pounds extra. A few weeks back I just decided I don't want to go back to the school run in September and be really unfit as getting everyone back into routine will be hard enough, without looking and feeling awful. So I started exercising but it wasn't working instead I was yo-yoing because I was still snacking so that's when I knew I needed to get back here as taking responsibility for what I am eating helps me. So far im 4.5 lbs down and have around 12lb to go

JojoInTheForks

My cousin said, casually, while telling me about a girls weekend she was just on, something about weight loss being self care. And it wasn't directed at me; it was simply in passing. But it was a lightbulb moment. I always say I don't have time for self care -- thinking about massages and pedicures and self help books. I'm down 18 lbs since June 1st and it doesn't feel like work. It feels like love. And believe me, I never EVER imagined I would ever utter those words lol.

gewel321

I had two moments that kickstarted two different weight loss journeys. The first happened 6 years ago. I had taken my family to a local amusement park. I asked my then 4 year old son if he wanted to ride a specific ride. He responded in all of his innocence "momma you can't because your belly is too big" I decided that day that there will never be an activity that my son wants to do that he can't because his mom is too fat! Within 2 months I had completed all the steps to have my gastric sleeve. I was 400lb on surgery day. After a year of work (yes even with a sleeve you still have to work to loose weight) I was down to 198.

As the years went by I stopped doing the things I did to loose weight. I ate more and not healthy. My stomach has stretched out and I can eat almost the same amount of food as before the surgery. I was in a very stressful demanding job with no downtime at all. I was working all day every day. On call when I wasn't in the building. It also didn't help that I was miserable there. I decided that enough was enough and I got another job that I absolutely love. After being in this job for 2 months I looked at myself and realized that I had gained 50 lbs. I got on MFP and have been working on it ever since (except the two months I really slacked during COVID when the hospital was crazy). I am 37lbs down with 41 more to go until I hit my goal weight.

BreeBeas

I got out of breath while cleaning my shower.

dsc84

I've always fought to not be like my family in anyway. I'm the black sheep of the family I guess you could say. It has always been a driving factor for me watching my parents fail in so many ways from financially to the way they take care of themselves. I come from a long line of large people. Growing up I hit crazy growth spurts and as such I could eat like crazy and lose weight like it was my job. Because of this I was always smaller by a lot compared to them. I always carried that with me, that as long as I was smaller than they were I would be ok.

I started looking at pictures, and came across one where I was starting to take on the shape of my older brother who I was standing next to and it just hit me, that if I kept the way I have I would be the one thing I never wanted to be. Exactly like my family. I have a long way to go, and I have done well only to burn out before, but I'm more driven now than ever.

When I hit my goals it will allow me to be more involved in things that I would typically sit out because of my size. This means more time with kids, more time with my wife, and more time enjoying things that I haven't enjoyed before.

OkieFitness

I was the “skinny guy” most of my younger life and didn’t really start putting on the pounds until after 40 with the creeping midlife spare tire most guys get. So it’s been quite the struggle compared to the younger days when I could pig out at the pizza buffet and not gain a pound! January of 2018 I stepped on the scale and weighed nearly 200 pounds. Totally unacceptable. Life is a gift and one should not abuse it or take it for granted! I felt bad and my health number indicators reflected that. To put that weight in perspective when I was in my late 20s, I felt my best. I was working out, played soccer, and was a svelte 160. So my fitness journey reboot began after that Feb.2018, age 55 scale shock. It’s been a rollercoaster ride since - all my fault because of poor choices in diet and exercise - but I’ve recently broken through one stubborn plateau (the 190s) and I’m heading for the next - breaking into the 170s - which I haven’t been at in decades. My lowest so far recently has been 181.4 - tantalizingly close to that short term 179.9 goal! - but I’ve pivoted back up to the mid 180s. I’ll get there but I’m obviously going to have to up my exercise game and pay more attention to what I eat. I’m amazed at age 57 what my body will allow me to do! My LT goal is 165.