What was your wake-up call?

19TaraLynn84

Just out of curiosity, what served as the 18-wheeler hitting you head-on to let you know you needed to do something about your weight? I had a couple, but "the one" was when I saw a picture of myself and couldn't believe I had let myself go that far. That, and running out of clothes to wear and not being able to afford bigger ones.

seltzermint555

I went on a business trip at my heaviest and felt seriously out of breath and in minor pain (calves and ankles) from going up and down lots of stairs and rushing to meet the train with my boss, who was an older, rather sedentary yet normal weight woman and unaffected. I'd been obese for my whole adult life, but was always one of those people who felt energetic & happy, had great lab work, and was constantly told I "carried the weight well". So for me that was a huge wakeup call!!!

I changed my diet a bit and started walking a lot immediately after. I didn't discover MFP for 4+ years but I did manage to lose 45 lb during that time and I consider those pounds my greatest success, even though the last 63 lb lost (on MFP) have been a bigger loss in a shorter period of time.

Pictures definitely played a role, too. I worked at a job where they took photos of us ALL the time at banquets, staff meetings, team building day, etc, and then posted the photos all over the place. I was used to being around 260-270 lb and seeing myself only in flattering selfies or group pics where I was tucked behind others, so when I saw myself at 307 lb in tons of poses...I was totally mortified! Actually though that was just more depressing and upsetting than motivating. The business trip is my wake up call "moment".

kaypee65

I had bloodwork in December. My cholesterol is high and I was clearly pre-diabetic. Worse, I have incomplete lupus so my risk for heart disease is significantly elevated.

It had become hard to lose weight out of a desire to look good. But it's damn easy to get motivated when you're looking at a heart attack in the next five years! For me, I'm exercising and eating a very healthy diet so I can have a long life without a pile of meds. Losing weight is just the cherry on top.

Peacockbutterfly

I have had many moments in the last few years where I have had enough with my weight and have wanted a change. Recently however, I went to the doctor in the first time in years, and my blood pressure was through the roof. I have been avoiding the doctor for years because I know all they would say to me is that I am unhealthy and need to change but I just wasn't ready to hear it. I am terrific at ignoring problems but my blood pressure was higher than my fathers who is twice my age and also very overweight. I am hoping this is the wake-up call that may actually wake me up.

starrylioness

My husband, a friend and I were moving a new sofa into our house. I was just doing some basic lifting and I started having chest pains and turned stark white in the face and could hardly breathe. I ended up having to lay down on the couch with my feel elevated, nearly having a panic attack because of it, because it REALLY scared me. I saw an ER doctor about it and they never understood why it happened, saying my heart seemed okay but they told me I had to lose weight. I looked at my husband then and there and realised I had to do something.

AsaThorsWoman

I was an adoped child. Starting in 2008 I started unraveling the mystery of my unknown past meeting biological siblings. In June of 2012 I finally got to meet my biological aunts and grandma. We all looked exactly alike, and acted the same way, too!

That day I found out about some medical family history I had not previously known of. All the women in my family had diabetes and emergency hysterectomies!

That was the first day in a long time I weighed myself. 245 lb!

Holy crap! That was more than when I was pregnant! I was determined to change the fate of the family, the family history, and not pass it to my kids, not become diabetic.

Flash forward a year in half and I'm down to 185, and they call me "skinny minnie" and in that family I am!

rhalse

Turning 29. I was so disappointed in myself for spending practically my whole 20's overweight and I decided then that I wouldn't do that in my 30's. I lost all my weight by the time I was 31 and then I got pregnant and had my two beautiful kids. Thankfully I didn't gain all my weight back, but I want to get back to where I was.

monkeywizard

I've always been a big guy, and I didn't have an actual "wake up call". I have tried the diet/gym thing before but got tired after a while. Plus the last few Dr's visits he said I needed to lose weight.

What prompted me to start? A gift from my in-laws.
They had both been doing Nutri-system to lose weight for my brother-in-law's wedding and had success. After the wedding my MIL went into maintenance and FIL quit. They still had a lot of food left over and asked if we wanted it, so we said yes, and my MIL came over and told us about the plan. We have an anniversary coming up in March so we figured to give it good 3 month try.

After a week I saw some positive results & I wasn't hungry or miserable (and the food was actually not too bad) so I decided that I wanted to give it a full go and start doing the gym thing too. It's been a great change, my wife said that I'm looking smaller & dieting & exercising together has brought us closer together.

BrotherBill913

I've had a few " wake up calls" but the one that got me to embrace change was when I split the back of my shorts alllllllllllllllllll the way down the center while picking up a bag of dogfood at Wally World. I think they heard it 3 aisles over!!! lol......

TheMrsCole

Mine was also a picture. In November 2011 I took a picture with my siblings whom I believe were both bigger than me (I am the baby) and once I saw the picture I was so ashamed. I was the largest of the group by far. I didn't realize I had a belly and I was wearing clothing that was not flattering at all. This is when I decided it was time to change for good.

ofccat

Photos and my kiddos. I knew I was heavy but never really looked at photos of myself as I hated having them taken. Once I did I was disgusted and shocked. I didn't realize "i was that heavy". My kids are all little and I knew I needed to set a better example and get my health back in control

mumtoonegirl

my husband and I were on our way to a concert in Toronto, just the two of us (our daughter was with her grandparents for the night) and we started talking how I felt I had lost myself, I hated the way I felt (had high BP) and looked and was scared for the future. I told him that we needed to reevaluate our finances and change so we could afford a gym membership.

I had a friend who was a former couch potato junk food junkie now a fitness and health food guru, she totally inspired me, I knew if she could do it I could to! And the next day we went to the local Y and joined the gym and made fitness part of our daily lives.

My friend was an amazing source of support and knowledge and now 18 months later I am fit, healthy and in charge of my life!

mumtoonegirl

oh and also I looked back recently at some old pictures of me 3 years ago (not that a lot existed because I would make my DH delete every picture he took of me) and was SHOCKED how big I used to be, it came on over years, I knew I was big but was amazed how big I was - why had NO ONE said anything!

TheEffort

There were several things that should've been my wake up call such as hypertension and a mild heart-attack but it was the image in the mirror that I got tired of seeing the pushed me forward to where I am today.

Victoria2448

A picture and double digit sizes...never again!

tmarie514

I had lost a significant amount of weigh back in 2009-2010, but have slowly been putting it back on. As I've gained the weight, I paid attention to how I felt about myself with each added pound and found that the worse i felt about my weight, the worse my anxiety got. It impacted what I was and wasn't willing to do with my husband and kids, it impacted how I acted when we went out, it impacted me at work, and it impacted the way I let others love me. I realized the truth behind the statement that if you don't love yourself, others can't love you....they can, but you won't accept it. Since I love my husband and kids more than anything in this world, I realized that it was time to start getting back into shape so that I could gain some confidence and lose some anxiety. Also, my daughters both tend to be on the heavier side for their age. My oldest especially. I don't want her to look back at pictures and resent me for her weight now or ever. I want to raise them to be healthy now and carry that into their adulthood. Luckily, the whole family is on board with exercising together, so it's not only rewarding, but it's fun, too!

craftywitch_63

I'm a little hard-headed so I required not one wake-up call but several. I've done the yo-yo dieting thing for years. I always figured that if I worked out regularly (I hit the gym six or seven times a week) I would be okay. I've had high blood pressure since I was 33, and am now diabetic (my A1C isn't too high so my doc agreed to wait for a couple of months to see if I can control it with diet and exercise instead of medication) but even that wasn't enough to get through to me. Wake up call number one was noticing that my "fat pants" are now waaaaay too tight. :embarassed: Wake up call number 2 was also a photo. I usually avoid cameras but my daughter and I went to the Nutcracker ballet just before Christmas and had our picture taken. OMG I had no idea! I looked like a marshmallow stuffed in a dress! My last wake up call came recently when I heard myself referred to as "fluffy." :sad:

CynthiaT60

I have severe (bone on bone) osteoarthritis in one knee, walk as little as possible, am dependent on car/bike to get around (and an elbow crutch if I do have to walk). Injections don't work. Not the way you want life to be in your early fifties. The orthopedic surgeon - I was at this point counting on a knee replacement - bluntly said he'd do it after I lost AT LEAST 19 kg. (He'd do it now, but "I'd guarantee the knee as far as the door.") I cried. Drove around for a couple of hours, crying. Felt like my back was to the wall and was even considering weight-loss surgery, which I would definitely rather not have.

Cried the next time I went to the gym and the gym owner's been helping me since. Since discovering MFP it's all going even better. Can't begin to explain how much better I feel.

I've had reasons up the wazoo to lose weight, of course, but the I'm-standing-with-my-back-to-the-wall feeling seems to have done it for me.

keith0373

A birthday picture of me cooking crab legs where I was fatter than the crab pot!

Phoenix612

My wake up call was when I went up to Tennessee for Thanksgiving to see my dad's side of the family. I had just lost my job the previous year and was pretty depressed, which led to me being a couch potato and eating whatever I wanted. It sounds crazy but even though I knew I had gained some weight, I never looked at a full length mirror/picture or even at a scale during that year.

We took family photos and when I got back home and loaded them to my computer I cried. I ended up gaining 40lbs and HATED the way I looked.

That's when I started my journey!

Butyou

I kept complaining about how I felt/looked. To the point it where I was driving people away from me. Then I decided a year ago to change my ways. Start doing instead of talking about. I lost 30lbs in 8months in then I lost track once again and know I've got to drop a few pounds a gained back.
No more of feeling down about my weight and telling others. I just want to feel good and be healthy.
Thanks