What was your "moment"?

ElusivePete

I'd been trying to get healthy for a few years. I'd been steadily increasing my activity levels until I was hitting the gym and doing karate several times a week. I'd improved some of my eating habits a little, but the bottom line is that I was still overeating so I wasn't losing any weight.

The real "moment" came when I was diagnosed with fatty liver disease. I'm teetotal (for various personal reasons), so the condition was entirely the result of my weight and diet. It's not a dangerous condition on its own, but in some people it can lead to very serious issues in the future, so it was a bit of kick up the butt!

That was around june/july this year. I started on MFP shortly after that and it's been going great. I've lost around 14kg (~31 lbs) so far, and my last blood test showed that my liver function was back to normal. It also showed that my glucose levels were normal too, whereas previously I'd be borderline diabetic my whole life.

I've got a long way left to go, but I actually feel like I have a definite and achievable timeline for it now.

glitzy196

my moment was also a picture a friend posted of me at her sons birthday. OMG it grossed me out..that was so not how I saw myself!!!

and my second moment came about a week later...we took our son to a cave at silver dollar city and we walked down about 100 very steep graded stairs.. (not meant to be climbed up) but anyhow after we entered the cave my child freaked out and was too scared to go any deeper so I had to turn back and take him up alone..just me and him in the woods and the steepest stair case I have ever seen. Well I had to stop at least 5 times up the stairs and my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I'm talking I was afraid of how I was going to get my 4 year old back up..he was climbing them fine. Freaked me out.

minimalistmom

My first "moment" was 7 years ago when I got my wedding photos back and I saw how HUGE I was. I was 268 lbs.! I ended up asking myself, "How did you get so fat?" My second "moment" came after the birth of my second child. I realized I wasn't getting any younger and my husband is an active man (doing yard work and things) and ate health. Why shouldn't I be like him?

I original joined MFP almost 2 year ago and lost 20+ lbs.. Though I also have quit on and off. 1) After a bout of cellulitis, 2.) After I found out I was pregnant with baby number three, and 3.) I was bullied. But I'm back to stay this time, because once you realize how important it is to be healthy, you never want to go back to your old lifestyle. You'll have your slip ups, but those are okay.

Seesawboomerang

I had been dissatisfied with myself for some time, but it was a really bad photo that did it. I had been on a long walk on a lovely day with my husband and son, was so content, and should have been radiating that happiness. But I just looked uncomfortably fat.

cuinboston2014

It's so funny how so many of these are pictures. I had always been fat - pretty fat - and knew it. But I didn't realize that after my daughter was born I gained so much weight. I looked at pictures when she was just 3-6 months old and saw me and thought "well i just had a baby and i'm a single mom"

it wasn't until a year later after I kept gaining weight that I had to videotape a presentation for school. I noticed that 1- I had no neck it was just fat. 2 - i had no shape, i was just fat 3 - i don't look or sound credible because i'm too fat.

I also realized that being a single parent meant that I was the only parent to look after her. If something happened to me, then what? I dropped most of the guilt and along with the guilt came most of the weight. Now, maybe, I can drop the rest of it as I drop the rest of the guilt......hopefully....

I have lost 100 pounds but I do still have "moments" that remind me I want to get these 30 pounds off. Like seeing pictures of all my friends in bikinis and I'm still in a tankini and embarassed. Or goign to running expos knowing that at best an XL will be the only thing to fit. I do have a bigger build but there is no reason I won't be able to comfortably fit into a size L running clothes someday

shrinkingbrian

On February 14, 2012, I played hide and seek with my son who was five years old at the time. When I was hiding, he found me and said he saw my tummy and said “You are too fat Dad.” This statement by my son really resonated with me -- “Your too fat Dad.” It had been several years since I had stepped on a scale so I bought a scale and on February 17, my weight was at 405 pounds. My grandfather, who suffered from obesity and was a heavy smoker, died of a heart attack at age 47. I didn’t want to leave my wife and child from this mortal life at an early age. I have since lost 215 pounds and have now reached my goal weight of 190 pounds at 6-0 in height. I'm now working on some fitness goals.

mustgetmuscles1

Saw the pictures of myself at a friends wedding and it really hit me how big I had become.



It really bothered me but I kept it to myself and didnt really know what to do about it. The "moment" happened in Costco when my wife was carrying our 1 year old daughter around. She had probably been carrying her for around 30 minutes when she asked me to carry her for a little while. It was not more than 5 minutes before I had to switch arms then after a couple of minutes more I started to sweat and get short of breath. Carry a 20lbs kid for about 10 minutes was seriously more than I could handle.

After telling my wife how I couldn't carry the kiddo anymore I ask her if we could join a gym. It was a very low point feeling that weak.

Doing much better now.

curlylocks69

We all know when our weight is creeping up. Mine had been for just over a year. It's typical to need to size up my pants but then it became my shirts being too small. I had an idea of what my weight was, but never really wanted to look. Well, you know how you prepare a number in your head and think you're being realistic.....well, it was still higher. Enough so that I realized it was about the weight I would be at immediately after giving birth! You ladies know what I'm saying! The baby only weighs a little bit, but we're still a lotta pounds over our starting point! So.....after the shock wore off, I got serious with MFP. I had dabbled before and not had much success (duh....dabbling isn't going to do it).

I've only been doing this a week, but had also checked into the Paleo eating (btw, www.getcrocked.com is a great site for some easy crock pot paleo recipes). I have been encouraged by some relatively simple efforts yielding results so far, but more astonished by how much better I feel! I hadn't felt *bad*, but didn't realize how much better I could feel! Nearly zero wheat and minimal dairy seems to be helping. Don't get me wrong, those things will never be totally out of my life, but seeing them as a treat instead of a staple is a step!

The crazy thing is, the last times I have focused on weight loss (still never with this much to lose), I used Weight Watchers. I have a friend now that is using WW online for $20/month. We had lunch together last week and split a salad. She was fumbling for how to log it, while I plunked in a few of the high hitting ingredients and was set! Oh yeah, and it's free!

tottie06

Hey everyone!
I was reading over some blogs and success stories this morning and realized that most, if not all of us, had a "moment" that changed the way we thought about things. Most of us can pinpoint the moment we decided to make a positive change in our lives in order to lose weight, get fit, or whatever your goal or journey may be. I'd love to hear what your "moment" was

I have always wanted to grow my hair out. Finally, it's past the small of my back.....only to cascade over back fat.

rlmetz23

I love reading all these stories!

My moment was when my Doctor told me that if I started a Gluten Free diet and started working out I could possibly get off all my medications and maybe even have a chance at kids! So I will do ANYTHING to be healthy!!! So Here we go!!!!

Feel free to add me! I love a little extra motivation and encouragment!!!

rachel4304

The family photo in the courthouse the day I adopted my stepson. One of the happiest moments of my life and I look at the picture of me and it makes me sad. I still love the picture, it was a great day but its my motivation that I'll never be that way again.

leehgee89

My moment was when I realised I was in my early 20's and I was missing out on life experiences because I was too big or felt too ashamed to do them. Also, I was in my early 20's and I was well on my way to being dead by my early 30's. So I decided that I was 'taking back my 20's' and now they're mine and I am loving every single second of them!

AlyssaBotbyl

I'm one of the people you look back at high school photos of and go "OMG look how skinny she was! What happened...."

My weight gained started with the typical "freshman 15" in college, although I only attended for the first semester. I was always used to being thin and eating what ever I wanted, but as a naive 18 year old, I didn't account for all the actual exercise I was doing all day when I went to high school. The three years following my return home, I ended up gaining about 75 lbs.

I've always had problems with my health but it wasn't until this year when I realized how bad my health actually became with all this extra weight. My heart got much worse, I developed asthma, became lethargic, and my over all mental health took a dive from depression and self pity.

I /actually/ got started losing weight this October because I was just done being embarrassed over what I ate, wore, how heavy I'd breath when doing simple activities, and being sick of hearing stupid obvious but painful comments about all of those things.
Since then I've also been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis which hasn't been fun at all. All of my health problems can be cured/ treated with just eating properly and getting a decent amount of exercise during the week. I'm also doing this for my self esteem and to set a good example for my friends and family who are also dealing with the problems of being heavy. I don't want to go back to being "skinny", but I do want to look in the mirror and actually smile again.

So far I've lost 14 lbs since October 15th. (Which has been about 2 1/2 lbs a week) and I'm finally seeing results! I may be doing great on my own, but I'd still love friends who're willing to do this with me

HollisGrant

Such great stories.

My "moment" was mid-February 2013. I went to the Division of Motor Vehicles to get my driver's license renewed and couldn't believe how awful my photo looked. Awful doesn't even describe it. I looked like a fat old man instead of a woman -- big fat cheeks, a bowling ball head, chopped off "old man" hair. Triple ugh. For the record, I was 58 years old and looked 78 in the picture. That was it for me. I wasn't ready to give up on life and turn into a fat old woman.

I lost my wonderful husband a few years ago and gained a lot of weight from grief eating, sitting around eating junk food. Every time I went in the grocery store or drug store I would leave with a candy bar or a huge bag of buttered popcorn or ice cream or all three. I'm 5'3" and not sure what I weighed in February -- somewhere in the 180s or even 190s.

I began to walk to work instead of taking my car. Then I started walking to other local errands like the bank. I live a five minute walk from a national park with beautiful nature areas and began to walk there three miles a day. In a few months I was walking 8-10 miles a day on the weekend. I took a week off in July and walked over 100 miles.

I found MFP in April and began to log my food and exercise. MFP has given me back my life, from the great diary to my wonderful, supportive MFP friends. I've lost about 50 pounds this year, counting about 10 lost before I joined MFP. I weigh 136 now, have grown my hair to my shoulders, and don't even look like the same person. I've also gone back to college for enjoyment and have almost earned another degree. I am guilty of age prejudice and thought I would be too old to do well in school (I thought I wouldn't be able to remember anything), but I have a 4.0 average and have made the Dean's List, so I'm having a blast.

laneer75

I've been overweight/obese for all of my adult life. The last time I was in the overweight category was ten years ago ...
Most recently I had three "moments" that spurred me back into trying again.

1. My dad dying at 68 of a heart attack/complications
2. Getting back together with an old bf, and our desire to have a child together at some point in the future, and
3. About two months ago when I was babysitting an 8 and 10 year old girl and we were playing Simon Says. The ten year old girl told us to hop on one foot ... and I could not do it. My ankle just could not support me. If I have a child of my own someday, I want to be able to play with them and be active with them. The only way for that to happen is for me to lose weight and become more healthy.

lighteningjeanne855

Let me summarize why I joined MFP in July of this year:
I'll be 60 in two years;
I weighed over 300 pounds:
my body's organs and extremities were showing damage from being diabetic for 20 years;
and it was difficult to move around in my daily life, due to arthritic knees.
My mom and her father only lived to 71 and 67, respectively.
I was retired, but ready to begin a new life with 'my someone'. (He makes life worthwhile again!)

Some time ago, I had read that food cravings and overeating are caused by food allergies.
I took inventory of the foods I binged upon: sugar, wheat, corn, rice, potatoes, legumes, and dairy.
As I did my research, I found that many of these foods can also cause 'inflammatory diseases'
such as arthritis. I found a life style which took all these difficulties into account: Paleo!
I renounced everything but dairy.

Nowadays, I rarely experience hunger, or crashes from eating sugary foods.
Both the numbness in my feet and the pain in my knees have improved.
I've lost 44+ pounds in 120 days with the help of MFP.
I can eat like this, forever, I'm thrilled to say.

Best wishes to all of you on your Weight Loss Journeys.

Dougf90

A month before my 21st birthday (June 11th 2011) I was 370lbs and I was not happy with my life. I had many realizations up to that point but I lacked the mental maturity and strength to figure out and stick with a solution to my problem. I guess you could say me maturing mentally on that day and beyond was it for me.

MeRoHa

The day I learned my older brother had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He had smoked all his life. I am a non smoker, but thought about how my obesity was probably going to eventually cause my death unless I did something about it. I started on this weight loss journey in July with the assistance of MFP shortly after I learned of his diagnosis. He unfortunately passed away in September. It was too late for him to make a difference about his diagnosis, but I can make a difference in my life by eating healthier and getting daily exercise.

jennifer_417

Let me summarize why I joined MFP in July of this year:
I'll be 60 in two years;
I weighed over 300 pounds:
my body's organs and extremities were showing damage from being diabetic for 20 years;
and it was difficult to move around in my daily life, due to arthritic knees.
My mom and her father only lived to 71 and 67, respectively.
I was retired, but ready to begin a new life with 'my someone'. (He makes life worthwhile again!)

Some time ago, I had read that food cravings and overeating are caused by food allergies.
I took inventory of the foods I binged upon: sugar, wheat, corn, rice, potatoes, legumes, and dairy.
As I did my research, I found that many of these foods can also cause 'inflammatory diseases'
such as arthritis. I found a life style which took all these difficulties into account: Paleo!
I renounced everything but dairy.

Nowadays, I rarely experience hunger, or crashes from eating sugary foods.
Both the numbness in my feet and the pain in my knees have improved.
I've lost 44+ pounds in 120 days with the help of MFP.
I can eat like this, forever, I'm thrilled to say.

Best wishes to all of you on your Weight Loss Journeys.

Ok, can I just say that you do NOT look 58? :noway: :flowerforyou:

missbirrell

I lost a lot of weight in 2006, then put most of it back on since 2010.
This time around, several things:
- We were on holiday and I walked up a steep hill, got out of breath and got crippling chest pain. We called an ambulance because I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack. I do have something wrong with my heart and though it's not life threatening, losing weight would be good.
- I started having problems with my stomach a few months ago. I got stomach pain a lot and severe chest pain when I ate, meaning I couldn't eat proper meals for a while and had to substitute with high calorie/fat/sugar snacks. Doctors thought it was my heart, then ulcers, then Crohns, more recently they think it's probably severe IBS and my heart problem but I figured if I ate less, I might be in less pain.
- I'd been saying "When I lose the weight..." for months and was awake one night in pain, again, thinking, when with that "When" be, why can't it be now?

I joined MFP a while ago and tried then but couldn't stick to it. This time around, a blog friend started MFP at the same time and that spurred me on. I thought, I'll be damned if she'll beat me!