What was your "moment"?

margelizard

When I moved to the US from the UK, I was hoping you use the change to switch things up and finally lose weight. At that point, I was hovering around 176 lbs. However, after a rough and stressful start here, I packed on a lot of weight and ended up at 200 lbs.

I stayed that way for three years, until I changed jobs at the beginning of 2013. The increased enjoyment of my job made such a huge difference to my motivation and there were some workplace incentives to exercise i.e. free healthy snacks for going out and walking. Then I joined the Kansas governor's weight loss challenge with a team from work. In the first five months of the year, I lost about 20 lbs.

After the challenge ended, I started losing motivation and I forced myself to get back on the horse and keep going. That's when I started taking things seriously and I haven't looked back since. Yes, I have my weeks when I don't do anything, but I'm growing to realize that that's ok. So since January 2013 I have lost 47 lbs and I feel amazing!

I wouldn't have believed that something so simple as switching jobs would have done it for me, but here I am

LearnFromTheRed

Getting out the scales one day and discovering the number started with 11 stone...

AddieOverhaul

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:

I agree, you don't even really look 40. Amazing!

TCD01

thx bossladyd. It feels great to be on this site n have lots of support. =]

bf43005

Mine sounds a little silly after reading some other posts. But my moment was when my husband and I went on a cruise to Alaska. I brought a pair of hiking pants that I had only bought the year before and they didn't fit. Not, they didn't fit comfortably, like I couldn't get them up my legs they didn't fit. I was devestated that I had only just gotten these pants and that I hauled them all the way from Pennsylvania to Alaska for no good reason. I was actually mad that I tooks pants on a vacation for no better reason than to go sightseeing.
I came back from vacation and tried to cut down on eating sugar, soda, etc. I wasn't super succesful for about 9 months. The beginning of the next year when we got our tax return back GYM MEMBERSHIP was the first thing on the list, for both of us. We got a two month weight loss class free when we signed up. The trainer that we met with once a week introduced me to MFP and I have logged in 600+ days and lost 20+ lbs. Going to the gym started me on eating better and watching what I eat. MFP did the most to show me how many calories I was actually eating in a day and I was shocked.
I can't say I still make all the right choices, and I know there is more I could be doing. But I also know that I'm much happier than I was. Not just because I lost weight but because of how I feel physically. I run up and down the stairs like it's nothing. I come home from working and do all kinds of things around the house when I used to come home and lay on the couch because I was "tired" from the day. I have so much more energy that sometimes I scare myself.
I love the new me!

sreed016

I was the chubby girl all my life. I met and married my hubby who loved me just the way I was and I really believed he always will.

In 2010 I finally decided to get in shape and lost almost 35 lbs. I was 5'8" 134 lbs and wearing a size 4. I looked and felt great.

That was a hard number to sustain and slowly the weight came back on. I'd lose 10lbs here and there for important occasions like a wedding or such but still fit in most of my skinny clothes. I figured as long as I could wear some of my newer clothes I wouldn't be near my old weight.

Recently I stopped wearing all but a few stretchy dresses and had to buy a new pair of jeans several sizes up.. I still thought I was ok until last week when I was sitting in bed reading and realized my double chin was resting on my cleavage and I had nothing to wear to work that fit. Ugh that was it for me.

I am 2 days in on clean eating and started working out again. I haven't weighed myself because I can't bear to see if I am back to that dreaded number.

Going to stick it out a few weeks then weigh in and reset my counter.

I am going to be 45 in January and want to give myself the gift of being a fit me again. Wish me luck!

Zelinna

Mine was the very form fitting dress my friend chose for her bridesmaid's dresses. I hated how big my hips looked in that dress and I was determined to do something about it.

BlindHog25

I've tried different weight loss plans, losing up to 40 pounds each time, even with doctor prescribed weight loss medication. Metabolic life actually taught me how my body reacts to different food and I lost just over 40 with them but it came back. My moment was this summer when none of my clothes would fit and my 9 and 3 year took to calling me fat. Yes I'm fat but carry it fairly well and still strong underneath - just a flab and that donut around the belly. I joined a gym for the first time in 15 years last April and made a good attempt - lost one pound in three months working out 4-5 times per week but still drinking liquid carbs. Since school started back up, I've gone 5x's per week, cardio every day, strength 3x's per week and occasionally hit it twice a day - I'm trying to make that today.

Not really an exact moment, and more of a boiling over point. When I started realizing that *I* was now the fat guy in the room, I didn't like it and set out to finally change my life. I guess being older has helped as well, since I don't give a damn what other people think about the big sweaty guy about to pass out....I'm doing it and already lapped everyone sitting on the couch! I'm down about 22 pounds but in the last three months I've lost 4" in my waist and wearing pants that I haven't worn in over 10 years....I actually put on a pair of slacks and found a receipt from 2004 - the last time I wore them!!!

MyFig

My moment was when I could not run for two miles without STOPPING every 3mins or less! I'd also notice about 20 Ibs weight gain, but that didnt bother me so much. What really bothered me was the fact that I used to run for miles and i just thought "****. I am out of shape! I need to change this, period!" Every since the changes, the weight has been coming off quite nicely!

Slaintegrl

Can't really say that there was one specific moment - there were a lot of moments leading up to a decision to start eating more healthily and that led to getting on a specific plan which is working great for me. A bit of my story. About a year ago, I was approaching age 64 and weighing almost 350 pounds. I was losing the ability to walk and had to go to a motorized wheelchair. I had arthritis, fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol. You name the morbidity - I probably had it! I was on many, many pills each day. Blood pressure meds, diabetes meds, pain meds. With all of this, I was still working every day.

I had been working with a professional organizer over the past several years and slowly she had become so much more than an organizer - she became a life coach, a motivator, but most of all a great, supportive friend. She's very much into natural foods, eating healthily and was slowly trying to help me make changes in my lifestyle. With her encouragement, I began eating more fresh foods, less processed foods, less drive-through foods, more lean, nutrient rich foods that were lower in calories. She researched, made suggestions, took me shopping, got me almost completely off carbonated drinks. Thanks to her guidance and constant "being there" for me, I've gotten under 300! Still in the wheelchair but gaining energy and slowly reaching the point where (hopefully) I can start to decrease some of those meds (I've already been able to reduce my insulin by several units each day and my blood sugat is now running 90 to 102 in the mornings - down from 130's). And I recently turned 65 - an age that, frankly, I never thought I'd reach. Probably some people I've known over the years thought the same - I know some doctors who almost surely would be surprised.

smantha32

Mine was a really horrible photo. And this whole process is taking much longer than i want it to, but quitting out of frustration won't get me anywhere, I know.

medaud10

My initial moment was when I hit 200 pounds. I said enough and started making healthy choices and exercising. Then found mfp. Got to my goal weight (lost 65 lbs.) and then started losing control again this summer. I got to the top of the size I was in and I refuse to go up a size again. I am back on again and feeling better.

SavingSierra

I realized I didn't really have a reason to be self-sabotaging myself.

fruttibiscotti

My moment was when I discovered LCHF diet. I discovered it on a business trip to Scandanavia, where it is even prescribed by doctors and even the Swedish food and nutrition governing body is prescribing it as the best way to cure obesity and related ailments like diabetes. When I got back home, I did a bit of extra research on the diet and then decided to take the plunge. In the first month of the diet I didnt only lose weight, but noticed that my skin had cleared, breathing was better, nighttime asthma went away, had deeper sleeps, heart palpitations stopped, had more energy throughout the day and best of all I was not ravenously hungry. It was a miracle that I stumbled across this diet. Was it fate or Gods angel who sent me to Scandanavia to discover this? I was doing MFP for a LONG time and struggled so much, losing and gaining and losing like one month up and one month down and then next month up again. And during that time I was so hungry I could have eaten my own arm. Today, my weight is a steady decline downwards, and it doesn't feel hard at all! It's incredible how well this diet is working for me now!

BokBagok

Had two. One about a month ago when my father had emergency quintuple bypass surgery, and the second just yesterday when my doctor put me on daily meds to lower my cholesterol.

cathylopez1975

My 'moment' came in the winter of 2012. My mom died from liver failure/cirrhosis caused by fatty liver caused by being overweight and sedentary (and she also was diabetic with high blood pressure). Her last few years were miserable - doctor appointments, tests, and hospital stays. Her quality of life was very poor.
And I saw myself going down the same path! I was obese - 40 bmi, 234 lbs. at 54 years old with heart issues and type II diabetic. I decided I had to do something. I scheduled and appointment with a well recommended endocrinologist but couldn't get in until July. If she couldn't help me I was ready to do gastric bypass. She sent me to a diabetes educator/nutritionist and prescribed a different diabetes medication. I began the meds and a basic 1200 balanced diabetic diet September 1, 2012 and just took off. I was ready to make this work! I put aside all junk food, sweets, desserts, and salty snacks. I cut portion sizes way down. And the weight started to drop off. In almost 15 months, I have lost 84 pounds - with only 6 more to goal. The last pounds have been slow going, but it's no big deal. It will leave eventually. The changes I made have become habit! It's been a lot of work, but well worth it!

Cristlefir

I had a pre-moment and the real moment. My pre-moment was in the summer of 2012. I just had a very basic dislike for my body and the way clothes fit, how much weight I'd gained, etc. I was the heaviest I'd been (153lbs). I had a sit-down with my father (who is the tell-tale story of "I was fat, out of shape, on a bad health track, and got my crap together") and spent 8 months working my butt off. I got down to 137lbs! I felt great, but never appreciated my body. Once I finished Grad school, moved in with my boyfriend, and started a new job, my workouts just stopped. I gained all the weight PLUS MORE back! From May 2013 until November 2013 (just two weeks ago) I gained about 20 pounds.

My actual moment was a few weeks ago. I was putting on a pair of my size 10 pants, which I had just bought a couple of months ago because my 8's were too small and I had only one pair of 10s, and they were beginning to fit snug. I looked at myself, the way my new 10's fit, and said, "I cannot keep getting bigger. I can't." I had watched myself gain weight over six months, cried about it, lamented about it, and finally just stood there looking at myself thinking, "This is it. I can't do a single effing thing but work out and eat right. I've done it once before, I can do it now. I can't stop. I have to do this."

I've worked out more in the past two weeks than I ever did when I lost the first 15lbs. I work out 5-6 times a week instead of three, I monitor my eating, and I have a HUGE body of support, from my AWESOME friends on this website, to my family, boyfriend, and RL friends at home. It's still hard, and I get frustrated, but I'll be damned if I turn back. I feel an unusual sense of dedication that I didn't have before. I'm in it for the long haul now!

caj45

My "moment" was after my husband told me he was interested in persuing another woman, who was thinner and more attractive, but he didn't want to because he loved me and we had a lot of years together he didn't want to throw away. I was lost in my own issues and self loathing about my weight and the me he fell in love with had disappeared. We are back on track now and I made the decision for myself because I hated being that person who hides away from the world.

WeoooBeans

To be honest, I wanted to join the Army and I need to lose weight, that's when it started. When I actually started caring about nutrition and health and how it affects me was once I got to where I'm living now... I just didn't like how I couldn't keep up with everyone else in my unit. Now I'm one of the stronger people here

JustYandy

I would always tell everyone "I can get in shape if I want too? I just don't" Because before I went from a size 14 pants to a 9....in 6 weeks of working out and watching what I ate...I lost inches and only 14lbs quick when I put in effort then I stopped for yrs...someone would mention here and there that I should work out or stop eating out I just didn't care cause I knew I could loose it if I wanted to with no weird diets or starving just simply workout and be active...Then I wanted to one day and started because I wanted to quit smoking and drinking...