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

lenac03

When my friend’s (then) 3-year-old asked if I had a baby in my big belly.

RockingWithLJ

When I couldn't fit into my favorite outfit.
Now I can't fit into my favorite outfit but it's because it's too big. I'm waiting for my tailor to be back to work so I can have it taken in.

fitnessjustin01

In my 20's I had brain surgery. One of the most painful experiences in my life. The doctors explained the importance of a healthy lifestyle and how it can improve recovery and healing.

ktmiowa

lovin_soul wrote: »

Covid, and I was still obese and with many high risk factors. The least I could do was try to try to save myself by getting healthier.

This. Woke up one night with vertigo and decided that night that i was taking my health back. Covid would probably kill me due to my weight and blood pressure and I was scared straight. 29 lbs down since May 27th

jeallenster

When I started working at home because of the pandemic I didn't pay attention to how much I was eating. I've been a big guy my whole life, but after a couple months at home I started noticing that I was much more tired and it felt like a chore to walk up and down the stairs. I weighed myself and to my horror I had gained about 15 lbs in a very short period which put me at my heaviest I've ever been. Since then I've been counting calories, meal prepping, cooking every meal from fresh ingredients and taking evening walks. So far I've kept myself slightly under my calorie limit every day and I'm almost 20lbs down! It truly is about forming habits and paying attention to the portion size of your meals. So far so good.

charmmeth

jeallenster wrote: »

I weighed myself and to my horror I had gained about 15 lbs in a very short period which put me at my heaviest I've ever been.

This! Unlike you I am still trying to shift the last 1 lb of those 15 lb gained, and then I am aiming to lose another 15 lb to get me back where I was four/five years ago.

pizzafruit

I broke my leg New Year's Eve day. It took me until March to get released and back home. Recovery was therapy once a day. The remainder of the day was spent sitting in a wheelchair. On one of my trips to see my surgeon I read the medical records the rehab center sent with me and I saw the words "morbidly obese". I was horrified and insulted. How dare they say I'm fat. I'm not fat; I'm morbidly obese. I struggle using the stairs and by the end of the day I'm really swollen. The words morbidly obese carry alot of weight. I know my weight is a major contributor to my pain and I'm determined to get back to where I need to be.

mggriso

When my surgeon implied that unless I lost 15kg I may be refused hip replacement surgery. 2.1kg lost in 3 weeks so still have a long way to go.

newlifenewrules

I thought I had covid. I might have - I don't know. Kept wheezing - for weeks. That, plus my knees are killing me. There is way too much weight on them. I couldn't get up the stairs at my dentist office without searing pain every time I take a step. Then I took my own blood pressure expecting it to be low like it usually is and it wasn't. I woke up one day earlier this month and said enough - I want my life back. I don't want obesity as a factor that can give me covid. I want to have healthy joints so I can be active. I want to live a long time.

saltysparkle

When someone who has known me my whole life gave me a huge hug and congratulated me on my pregnancy. She has known me forever, and she's normally very tactful and would not have made the assumption if it did not look so very much like I had to be pregnant!

alisampm

I turned 40 and then realized that I was getting stretch marks on my tummy. Time to take back control of my health. Down 35 since February and just started running again after a LOOOOOONG break.

farmermariepier

When I realized that I did not want to go outside of my apartment because I felt ashamed of how I looked.... An old friend had reached out to me on Facebook and I was avoiding responding because I knew he would want to meet up. And the only reason I did not want to see him... was because I did not want him to see me with 30 pounds over from the last time we saw each other. At night I told myself, this has got to stop !

sjeagen7

when my weight was creeping closer to 220 and I had to get shots done in my lower back for pain.

riverad6

When my husband asked me to take a pregnancy test because my stomach was so much bigger 😭 Then I realized a few weeks later that I was almost at the weight I was when fully pregnant with my daughter who is now three years old. Six pounds down, six more to go and feeling much better.

abdulsamadx

I was the skinniest guy in school; an easy target for the school bullies. Then, when. I was in uni (about 2012) I watched undisputed 1, recollected my school (and some uni) memories and got Inspired. All of it seems kind of melodramatic now but looking back, I am glad those negative memories drove me towards the current lifestyle. Now it's all about being a better version of myself with every passing day irrespective of how it all started. 💪

cherylr421

I had my colonoscopy a couple of months ago and apparently I had a adipose tissue in my colon (a fat glob) and that really shook me up. I have been prediabetic for several years. It ocurred to me that I may be building fat around my organs also. I also am having issues with inflamed muscles so I chose to follow the Mediterranean Diet.

Hurricane722

I had been leading an unhealthy lifestyle for a long time. Despite the fact that I ate quite healthy, I really was not exercising regularly enough, was partying and drinking too much, having ups and downs with bulimia, and I just felt terrible not only about my body but also about my life. I also had/have an extremely high stress career and faced some very serious/life-threatening medical conditions last year which put me completely out of commission for months. When I was weighed at my doctor's office this winter and I was over 250 lbs, I was absolutely appalled. I am 5'1. I still am appalled. I started keto and IF in the beginning of June and added in the gym 4 days a week in mid-June when it reopened. it took me a few months to accept responsibility and face the scale and the fact that I am way, way overweight. It's been so slow so far... I am embarrassed to even be putting it out there how much I weighed and how far I have to go, so I am thankful for MFP and how non-judgmental people are as well as supportive. It is encouraging and I hope to meet people for inspo to keep this going long-term. Thank you for reading!

28Haveitall2020

tonygermano2 wrote: »

At 435 pounds at 41 years old, even though I'm 6'3", I pretty much had those moments every waking moment of my life. Constant pain all over my body, clothes not fitting, not being able to keep up with two little kids, a SECOND blood pressure medication added, not being able to buy a small, manual transmission car becuase I LOVE driving, fearing death and not being there for my wife and kids, etc, etc, etc... You name it, I had those moments almost every second of every day.

Im now 45 pounds down. I know I have a long road and I'm not sure what's keeping me going. However, I know that recently, this quote I came across..“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons” has really resonated with me, and become something of a mantra that I keep saying to myself when I'm fighting cravings, old ways of thinking, or just the demons. It actually re-motivated me because the lay-off from work and the stress and sadness that came with the pandemic had me really down, and moving away from healthier habits.

I love that quote. Thanks for sharing

applekandi

This was fairly recently (I am just starting myfitnesspal). I snapped out of it when I was informed by my doctor that I was pre-diabetic . At this point I had already lost about 20lbs just from an increase in activity at a new job, but I was still feeling drained and exhausted all of the time. I have 100+ pounds to go, but I already feel better because of the way I am eating.

NannersBalletLegs

I was doing really well and got back to a healthy BMI back in 2017, but then I slacked off and gained half of those pounds back. I had all kinds of excuses and told myself I didn't care and was tired of obsessing over calories and how I looked, etc. Then, last month, I developed some breathing problems, and I was really scared it might be Covid-19. I got the test, and it wasn't that, thankfully. But it made me realize that I was just really out of shape from being so inactive for the past year or so. At that point, I decided to put my foot down and get back on track. This time around I'm focused more on fitness and strength training for sustained fat loss (trying to up my TDEE), and I am being a lot less restrictive with my diet. It was too easy to get discouraged when I was eating 1200 cals/day and would hit a plateau. I was too focused on what the scale said. This time, it's more about health. Now, I'm eating more and the scale is still going down.

Danisha43

When I hopped on the scale one day and it read 269 lbs. I knew I had to to do something.

Germank106

In November of last year I sat on the Computer and, without warning, started sweating profusely and getting incredible dizzy. Every time I so much as blinked it felt like the floor was rushing at me. DH called an Ambulance and several hours later I was released without a diagnosis.
The doctor told me that he thought at first that I had a stroke, but now was not sure. My systolic blood pressure (the top number) was sky high (196) and he thought I needed to be treated at least for that. He also thought I have some heart issues and kindly gave me a script for a beta blocker (Metropolol).
I have no insurance so following up with a regular doctor is out of the question. The clinic here is asking for $200 just to walk in the door and there is only one low-income clinic 20 miles away and they are not accepting new patients. The medicine took care of the dizziness and I let this go for a few months.
Then something finally clicked in my brain and I knew I needed to do something other than to feel sorry for myself and complain about all the things I CAN'T do. Instead I started focusing on the things I CAN do.
I started talking to friends and family to build a support system and then did a lot of research into different eating plans. One of our friends had bariatric surgery last year and he became my mentor. I can't have the surgery, but there is no way that I cannot eat as if I couldn't have it.
I started with a clear liquid diet for three days, progressed to regular liquids for three and soft foods for two. That alone made me feel better, no more liver pain for me. It also made me much more aware of portion size. I'm continuing the bariatric diet with very high protein and small portions and lots of liquids. For the first month that means not much calories, but lots of nutrients. I don't get much exercise yet because it is still super painful to do, so I keep Calories low.
It seems to be working for me. I am not hungry; I learned to drink first when I feel "empty", chances are the empty feeling goes away. I have regular meal times now instead of cooking/eating willy-nilly throughout the day. DH has been super supportive. Previously when I was on a "diet" he would bring home Pizza, Burgers, Tacos. Now he picks out recipes for me and with me and told me he was proud of me for doing this. I'm truly blessed. I'm down to six pounds (280 from 286) after 2 weeks and see no reason why my goal of losing 110 pounds by Christmas of 2021 is not attainable.

corriemumma

When my 6 yr old said to me one night... “mommy, did you know some ladies are skinny and have flat tummy’s?” 😕😧

springlering62

This isn’t a “take back control” moment. I’ve already done that.

This is a “strengthen and resolve” moment.

If you haven’t had your moment yet, allow me to share this one.

I visited a morbidly obese, close elderly family member today. They are bedridden from diabetes, and receive 24/7 care at home, including diaper changes and feeding, since they lost use of hands and arms as atrophy moved up their body from their feet, due to lack of use .

To my horror, there was a large bruise on their forehead,”which the nurse anxiously explained was due to this person being so large, that the night nurse lost her grip trying to roll her over at night and the patient whacked their head on the hospital bed rail. (Which, I might add, was the first thing I guessed when I saw the bruise. I know how well this team cares for my family member.)

Ask yourself. Is this the future you want for yourself? Being trapped in a bed for years? Being fed whatever someone feels like cooking you and having to be grateful for it? Having to ask someone to answer and hold the phone for you? Being stuck in an endless, endless loop of TV crime drama and infomercials? Being attached to a tube and having someone you met an hour ago know wipe your bottom and change your diaper?
Wiping out your family finances and worrying what will happen when the savings are gone and the house has been sold? Placing this burden on your children? Being constantly angry, depressed, perpetually needy?

Wishing you had lost weight years ago? Well, as I had to tell them, it’s a little too late for that now.

I don’t mean to sound cold, but if anything would ever motivate me to stay on track, this was it.

Annie42019

@springlering62 My strengthen and resolve moment today for my keeping up my 75 pound loss over a year ago that article today saying that if you are obese aCOVID vaccine may not be very effective! Never mind that almost every person under 75 in the COVID obituaries appears clearly obese in pictures ( like 99 percent....sure that Broadway Star is an exception, but the odds are clearly better if you are thinner )

Christofu

Two incidents in one week: 1) a wonderful work colleague, younger than me, died of a massive heart attack and 2) I was at a hang gliding training session and a student my age nearly fainted after two small runs. He had 3 valve replacements in the last three years. With heart disease in my family, I finally came to terms that I was being selfish being overweight and putting myself (and therefore, my family) at risk.

Sand_TIger

springlering62 wrote: »

Ask yourself. Is this the future you want for yourself? Being trapped in a bed for years? Being fed whatever someone feels like cooking you and having to be grateful for it? Having to ask someone to answer and hold the phone for you? Being stuck in an endless, endless loop of TV crime drama and infomercials? Being attached to a tube and having someone you met an hour ago know wipe your bottom and change your diaper?
Wiping out your family finances and worrying what will happen when the savings are gone and the house has been sold? Placing this burden on your children? Being constantly angry, depressed, perpetually needy?

Wishing you had lost weight years ago? Well, as I had to tell them, it’s a little too late for that now.

I don’t mean to sound cold, but if anything would ever motivate me to stay on track, this was it.

Hooooly moly. I totally get this. I've done caregiving in the past (fortunately not the intensive stuff) but I also saw how obesity complicated my grandmother's care, quite significantly, toward the end. I don't think she would have had nearly as many health issues had she been at a healthy weight. She struggled with that pretty much her whole life. I refuse to live that way and I certainly refuse to die that way. When I started having trouble walking, that wasn't really an aha moment, but it sure lent fuel to the fire when I really did start losing in earnest. Today I had to walk more than usual and it was blissfully easy.

QuinntessentiallyMe

I was 37. I was nearly 300 lbs. I was nearly out of my size 24 pants. My doctor was about to prescribe insulin for my Type 2 Diabetes that was getting worse. I felt diseased, monstrous. I walked stairs with a cane. One night in July of 2017, I just had enough. I had lost weight before, I knew it was going to take a high protein/low carb diet, plus a good amount of exercise. I haven't missed a day on MFP since. 117 lbs and 14 sizes down, plus a normal A1C to show for my dedication and efforts. Hitting rock bottom saved my life.

vannahsanders

I got so tired of eating like crap all the time that I didn't want it anymore. Especially once I looked at the scale and realized I had gained 20 pounds in a year. With two autoimmune diseases and being a mama with 3 beautiful children, I knew I couldn't live the way I had been living; and change never felt so good.

jmakleanaddo

It used to be a break up from a controlling but now honestly it's all for self improvement and better mental health. It's always been a passion of mine but lost site of it for a while.. No matter however because I took the necessary steps to find myself and this passion again.