What was your wake-up call?

fayefayee5

there have been several.

One was getting asked "when are you due". I blushed, and quietly said.... "im not pregnant, im just big".

Ugh I wanted the ground to eat me. I think the poor costco worker did too!

lpshizza

Seeing my engagement photo's....I started working out the next day!

alexanderzamani

Realising I was in my physical prime in terms of age and in the worst shape and heaviest I've been. Knowing I'm not getting that time back really motivated me for sure.

rabblerabble

Late 2012 they started a wellness program at work where we started by having an assessment (weight, body fat%, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc) and my numbers were all terrible. Got me motivated to eating and exercising in a healthy manner. They discontinued the wellness program at the end of 2013 (most in the office weren't as enthusiastic about the program as I was) but I'm now down over 75 pounds (some before I joined MFP) feeling much healthier and am now in maintenance mode.

Down from 40 inch to 32 inch pants and able to wear L (as opposed to XXL) shirts now. Nice when I see a fun T-shirt that I want to usually find it's in my size (when in the past, they invariably didn't have it in my previous size).

knra_grl

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.

My story is pretty much the same as yours :flowerforyou:

Ele353

I've always kind of known I was overweight, but didn't really want to deal with it. Until two things happened: 1. My big sister got married and I saw the pictures and I looked huge and 2. I had some blood tests done and bad cholesterol way up and the good one way down and also the sugar in my blood was elevated. So, to put in a few words, I would surely become per-diabetic and diabetic in no time if I continued that way.

seasonsanna

im a vintage clothing dealer and I was getting really sick of not being able to wear any cute clothes after having 2 kids back to back, so I started atkins. lost 20 or so pounds and just couldn't deal with life without carbs. so then I moved on to HCG. and I lost 60 lbs, but was really really really cranky and had such a hard time not being able to treat myself AT ALL during get togethers with friends, and sometimes I would give in and have just a few bites of something and gain a bunch of weight overnight. the longer I was on it the more I started getting really sensitive to just eating in general and gagging down an apple or my allowed 5 bites of chicken or anything on the very restrictive food list was like hell. not eating and having no energy was also like hell too. it was hellish in general.

so then I just said 'screw it' and quit trying. decided im just fat now, that's it, better get used to it. and i sort of did.

i decided i wanted my kids to start eating better, so i started cooking at home more. not all the time, but most nights a week. after a few months i weighed myself on a whim and i had lost weight. without even trying! awesome! then i tried on one of my 1950s "skinny" (skinny being skinny for me, so still BIG) dresses and it almost fit!

so i cut down on some stuff. no more ice cream EVERY night. waited an extra hour to eat at home instead of grabbing a burger and fries and THEN ALSO making dinner. WOO! it worked! more weight lost!

so here i am, almost a month later, but actually trying. still treating myself, even a little every day, but also moving a lot more and giving myself much more healthy options. it really still doesn't feel like work, and i am feeling way better

havocgx011

realized when I couldn't walk up 4 flights of stairs without stopping I'd fallen a long way from what I was. Used to be a gymnast who represented my province and even managed to get a gold in it but here I was unable to walk up 4 flights of stairs. So i quite smoking and started working out and watching what I eat.

christopherphillips1983

I spent most of my life as a really flexible person. I decided I had to do something about my steadily-increasing weight when I realized I could no longer bend my legs well enough to put my socks on without having to seriously try.

tgrey4

Several different times in my life.

1. My brother, when we were both around 10-12 years old (I the older one) literally poking my stomach rolls which fell over the strap of my seatbelt. Calling me fat.

2. Around 14, asking my mom what these lines on my thighs and butt were -- then bright purple and looking like bolts of thunder -- and hearing her say that I was becoming bigger as I got older. I can't remember just how she phrased it but it regarded becoming "womanly" and growing more fat. I didn't want to be womanly if it meant "growing fat."

3. Most recently? Having my friend take my photograph to show my outfit to a friend away, and just being a little shocked at how my full body appears head-on. Thighs, arms, stomach, moonface, etc.

Edited to add that I have never been overweight or heavy in my life. I just want to get down to a lower weight, get leaner, and feel better about my body and how I move. I've had issues with eating in the past, and these instances are some that provoked that, but I'm in a much better way now. I am motivated by my career (which relies on performance/my body in great, fit shape) and by feeling healthy and happy.

Jeanet69

When I looked in the mirror and saw a matching (double) chin!!!

vanillacoffee

A co worker moved from one store to the store I was working in with two other girls, and he told our male co workers he didnt want to work there because he had to work with all fat girls.

He is certainly the one with the problem, but I decided then & there I did not want to be known as the fat girl. Ever.

tgrey4

A co worker moved from one store to the store I was working in with two other girls, and he told our male co workers he didnt want to work there because he had to work with all fat girls.

He is certainly the one with the problem, but I decided then & there I did not want to be known as the fat girl. Ever.

Ugh, the patriarchy. I get it. I also get not wanting to be "that girl" anything. I'm so sorry.

margaretha30

My wake up call was when I looked in the mirror and I didn't recognize the person on the mirror. It's funny how everyday you wake up in the same body and never really look at it. Since I had my three beautiful girls I dont take many pictures or look in the mirror because I gained 65lbs,

RisyaLifsheTova

When I went to SIX FLAGS in Denver and I couldn't fit on the ride that just had a lap bar that goes across the group of people I was sitting with in the pirate ship Recently, not fitting in the swings at Disney California.

imjolly

I stepped on a scale and realized I weighed as much as I did when I was 9 months pregnant, except I wasn't pregnant this time. Plus my blood pressure was elevated and I don't want to take medicine . So here I am and I am here to stay.

helenoctober

My old jeans (add me people! helenoctober)

justjumpit278

When I realized I was dangerously close to being back at my highest weight. Realizing jeans I wore 2 years ago don't fit over my hips anymore. I've tried tons of times before, but this time I'm serious!

harmonyhoran

When I started putting on weight AFTER I had lost all my baby weight (when my son was 15-18 months it started creeping up. Everyone kept asking if I was pregnant again which I wasn't (although we were trying which made it a bit tricky) and I got sick of it. So no I'm not pregnant yet but I don't look it either. I am lighter and than I was before baby. In fact, Im almost back at wedding weight, 5 1/2 years ago and I was a pretty skinny 21 year old back then

victoria_1024

Like many of you, seeing pictures of myself was a wake-up call. For some reason I never feel like I'm that overweight... I'm a healthy individual and still pretty young and I stay active with my kids. But seeing myself in pictures is always a shock.

Sexythighz

My rock bottom point was when I broke the 200 LB mark on the scale which Is something I haven't seen in years. I was in such denial for so long. All the signs were there that I was blowing up but I continued ignore them all. My jeans kept getting tighter and tighter and I kept blaming the tightness on the dryer or said oh there tight due to water retention. All Lies!

Short_scrivy

My wake up call was playing at the park with my daughter. We "race" and I'm was left out of breath with a headache after too short of a distance

Rdlm1001

My mother has had gastric bypass and continues to struggle with her weight. In my early 20's I got up to a size 16. That isn't really big, especially given my mom was a size 30 before surgery but I realized that if I didn't pick a weight and get my self down there and stay, I could very easily be in trouble. I am 5'10". 170 is my "either I cut an arm off or go on a diet" number. Normally I am happy at 158-162. (dream weight, 150-153) I am 2 years away from 40 and my cushion was starting to look a bit tight so here I am. Calorie logging is the only thing that ever works for me. I have always weighed myself daily and when I get close, I start the logging.

AyaRowan

I'd always been overweight, ever since I was a kid. Highest weight was 318lb when I was 20 years old. Had some health issues with Intracranial Hypertension and almost went blind. Lost down to 300, and a couple years later down to 290. January of '13, the scale had climbed back up to 303lb.

But my weight or how I looked was not what made me start to lose, what finally flipped the switch with me was how I felt. Tired all the time, no energy to do anything, legs and joints that were so unaccustomed to activity that they'd feel stiff and rickety when I got up after sitting for a long period of time.

And I took a minute to sit and think...and realize it wasn't going to get better. As the years passed, not only would I feel worse, but it would get even harder to lose the weight that would make me feel better. Realizing that the extra weight was a bomb and it had already been ticking for quite some time is what made me finally take care of my health.

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sandhusaab16

I have group of 6-7 online friends from facebook...we all used to chat all days..we had never met each others..once one of our member invited all of us to his brother's marriage...this was going to be our first meet ever...i was so excited but it all ended up being disappointed because they all criticized me saying that i look really fat and should do workouts, running blah blah blah!

i was hurt but i didn't showed it..i was like i still don't care..but well i wanted to change myself ...


Marriage was on 6th of october 2013...i went to gym on 7th of the october...i started doing hard work and the exercises but found no result for first 15-20 days...i was really sad and depressed...i consulted a friend of mine who also used to look fat but transformed really well..He told me that all you can do is hard work, slowly but surely results will come out...

Well that worked and i went down from 107kgs to 77 kgs...

walleyclan1

When I realized my "baby" was almost a year old and I was still calling it baby weight and wearing maternity clothes.

altunyay

My Body!
It started producing GAS and pressure inside making me uncomfortable. I was also feeling not healthy. It was making me be weak. I was not able to use my regular skills. I said STOP!

daw0518

Some night after Christmas, I was up late browsing the internet & talking to a friend on Skype when I came across the What Will I Look Like? website. I guess I had never seen before & after pictures of someone at my size, & was completely blown away, as well as inspired! I told my friend we should do it, so we did! Now we've both been diligently logging into MFP & restricting calories for over a month & have no desire to turn back! In it for the long haul! Woo!

lizcraft

I hit rock bottom. I was under so much stress with personal and work issues. I just went through a huge break-up and so I prayed to God to give me a sign that would wake me up and get my butt up and going and on track. I was sitting at 4:30am at work on lunch journaling and T-25 came on the tv. I could not take my eyes off the tv. I saw the results and wanted it more than I have ever wanted anythig in my life. So I ordered it.

I am on day #3 today.