What was your turning point?

KariOrtiz2014

I know that I'm posting this under "Success Stories" but this is for all you Champs and Champs-to-Be!!

What made you want to change course? What was it that made it enough!

I'm starting my journey again but I'm not failing no more because I'm changing. I'm evolving and turning into the person that I want to become.

Its so funny though because I seem to live in La-La-Land. I tell everyone (family, friends, coworkers and even my supervisors) about my plans for weight loss.

I look at clothes and I think to myself.. "I can not wait to come back for you"..

If you see me now, I'm a regular mom. I wear the same clothes that I have been for years. But my weight loss is going to bring out the "shopaholic" in me. Oh man, how I'm going to love to go shopping. Oh and I've never been a "dress or skirts" kind of girl but lately that's all I've been looking at. Dresses!!!!

Clothes is ONE big motivation for me.. and it works!

seismicmuffin

I donated blood and I found out that my cholesterol level was SKY HIGH. I think I was in shock for a week. I knew I was overweight but I didn't realize what else it was doing to me. I'm with you on the clothes thing! i can't wait to wear some cute stuff without being self conscious.

matchbox_girl

I've had many, but the most recent one was the pictures I saw after our trip to Vegas. Just......ew.

JulsiePie

When my husband and I were talking about losing weight (like we always would nonchalantly), and then it became serious......he grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes and said "I'm overweight, but you're the kind of overweight that people die from".

That was March 10th, and that's the day I joined MFP.

I needed that wake up call and to see his real care and concern for me made me realize that being super morbidly obese wasn't just affecting me, it was affecting him and could possibly end my life sooner if I continued in the direction I was going.

sch1994

I woke up one day and thought, my boyfriend deserves someone beautiful and I had let my self go, That and it just hurt to do anything, it was just not comfortable anymore!

hellohappycarla

I am now VERY HUNGRY FOR RESULTS. Ive never had that before, yes, I wanted and hoped to lose weight in the past but it's only now that I feel like I really want to see my body change for the better. Now I have real commitments and I feel bad whenever I don't hold up my end of it. Now I understand what being accountable means and that really pushes me to keep going.

allstatemom

When I saw the pictures of me at my daughter's wedding. I knew I was over weight but I had no idea how bad I looked.

establishingaplace

Believe it or not, my turning point happened because of Instagram. I was posting some food pictures, because you know that's what you do when you have an IG account, and before I knew it I was searching for and following accounts that posted nothing but pictures of healthy food. My daily life became full of gorgeous pictures of fruits, veggies, "clean" meals, meal preps, etc.

I realized along the way that I had always been looking at pictures of thin and/or fit women for inspiration, but that doing so made me feel worse about myself because I was so far from that. But food is easy to copy, and I could set a goal of "my next meal" rather than "x number of pounds." At the end of last year I did a 90-day "clean" eating challenge that was successful in some ways and not in others. The biggest thing was shifting my focus away from the body-negative chatter in my head. That nonsense was getting in the way of very real health goals.

Through IG I also discovered IIFYM and decided I wanted to that instead of restricting food groups, so here I came and the rest is history in the making.

PunkyRachel

A personal side note, I have PCOS (Google it if you don't know what it is) and it caused me many health issues. I ignored my health for years despite being told I need to lose 50+ lbs from the doctor that diagnosed me 9 years ago. I pitied myself and let myself just continue to gain more weight. About 3 years ago my dad had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery, followed by lots of physical therapy. I thought I lost him, and he survived the whole ordeal and is healthy now. This made me realize life is too short to wallow in self pity. I could be the next one in the hospital. So I picked myself up and began trying to get healthy, I researched my PCOS, I found people on here with it and got ideas on how to take control. I even went to a doctor and got tips and medicine to help treat my health. Slowly I've gone from 230lbs and a size 18/20 to 150 and a size 6/8, I only want to drop 20 more lbs. My next goal is to have a baby now that I'm finally healthy and got my PCOS mostly under control.

daw0518

I don't think I ever really believed that losing weight was more about eating at a deficit than anything else. Over Christmas break I found the 'What Will I Look Like?' website & was totally blown away. It really hit me then that I had been making this far more complicated than it needed to be, & I decided that when I got back home after the holidays I would make a serious effort. Now it's been almost 100 days & I have no intention of going back to my old ways.

Lyadeia

I always hated the way that I looked, but the physical side of it was never actually enough fo rme to do anything about it (which I guess it why my current goals are still not fat loss related, but more sports oriented). For me, I went to the doctor when I was 25 years old and found out that I had high cholesterol (among other things). And the fact that I couldn't run a mile in under 13 minutes without feeling like I was going to pass out and die didn't help matters, either. I wanted to get in shape to make my health better and to be better and doing things (like run faster). Of course I wanted to look better, but if that's my only motivation I will just sit on the couch cause I'm happily married and he thinks I'm beautiful anyway. :flowerforyou:

Pirate_chick

For me, it was seeing the pictures from my cousin's wedding (on my profile) last September. Those pictures made me realize I hated how I looked and wanted my exterior to reflect how I felt, awesome. I completed my first 5k the week before, I felt great and was genuinely happy for the first time. However, seeing that picture was a slap in the face. I made a folder on my computer marked before, and forgot about it. I joined a gym in November as I wanted to run an entire 5k, but wasn't really serious about going. On January 8th I opened the MFP app and started logging. I have not stopped. I am 41lbs down and don't see myself stopping until I reach my goal. I started going to the gym regularly and I feel great.

allietuge

My best girlfriends gender reveal party was my turning point. I saw a picture that was taken that night with all my girls and I just cried. I felt that I didn't look that big and it was just horrible! I have that picture on my phone and I look at it everyday to remind me why I'm changing my ways for good!

blackmax78

In the hospital for 3 days hooked up to insulin drip for the first night and antibiotics for all of it, finding out I had diabetes. No one to blame but myself. A lot of anger and self hate going on right then and for the next couple months. Had suicidal thoughts, very depressed. dropped 9lbs a week for 3 weeks, then found mfp.

8 months later and off all medications, blood sugar under control.

katznkt

Mine was a double whammy of buying (finally admitting) I was a size 20 on my 26th birthday, and then also getting a scary health screening at work where I was in the at risk category in everything. Blood pressure, weight, hip to waist, cholesterol, you name it and I failed.

It finally clicked how big I had gotten and how little I would get to live and enjoy my youth. I finally decided that no temporary pleasure of putting something in my mouth was worth living life like that.

I decided to find out about weight loss surgery. I found out, but found out that for insurance to cover it I'd have to stay that same weight got three full months. That was almost enough to make me suicidal because of how unhappy I was. So I decided to give it one last all our nothing go on my own. 6 months later and I'm down 75 lbs and thinking about entering maintenance in another 15-20. No surgery, just me. Changing my own life before I lost it.

StevenH74

I can connect with practically every post above.

What annoys me is why I left it for so long, why did I not notice/ignore it when I was 95-100-110kg etc etc.....

But that was then and this now; from today (and I have said this so many times before) I am really gonna do this.

It is my 40th birthday on August the 1st and I want to have a party and I want friends who haven't seen me for a while to be wowed by a new me. Not for any self gratification or something but I think if people notice and comment then I must achieved something right?

Thing is, am I now spending too much time here on MFP when I should be out exercising?

wendyg311

Bump for later....gotta go to work:sad:

mspoopoo

Ended up in the hospital is how.
Decided I would rather live than be lazy and shovel food into my gob.
Don't want my toes to fall off.

WelshPhil1975

I have neglected my weight/health for years. My wife and I separated (although still live in the same house) a couple of years back and it has taken me a while to get into the mindset of doing things for “me” instead of for “us”, and now that I have, the first thing I want to do (for me) is to get thinner and healthier before I hit 40 next year, so I can enjoy my life and my childrens' lives in a better state than I have always done up to now.

It’s only been 5 weeks so far and I have got a long way to go but I already feel far healthier than I ever have done before.

And (I guess like most people) I wish I had done this sooner.

LindaDee1969

When my husband and I were talking about losing weight (like we always would nonchalantly), and then it became serious......he grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes and said "I'm overweight, but you're the kind of overweight that people die from".

That was March 10th, and that's the day I joined MFP.

I needed that wake up call and to see his real care and concern for me made me realize that being super morbidly obese wasn't just affecting me, it was affecting him and could possibly end my life sooner if I continued in the direction I was going.

That is genuinely touching! And I felt my heart thud when I read this. I get it!

LindaDee1969

I look at clothes and I think to myself.. "I can not wait to come back for you"..

This actually made me giggle! At my size if I said this it would be a threat to the cloths in question.. Loved your post! Thanks!!!

dawnmcneil10

I've been trying to figure out my turning point for years. I'm really not sure what started it, I've been on this journey for almost 14 years and have had many life changing events so it's like I gravitated to a healthier lifestyle over time. It could have been my wedding day or the photos fromthat, the horrible car accident, could have been a loved one becoming a quadrapalegic who would now need my care, it could have been topping out at 233 pounds, could have been the photos I had to take of the physical damage to my body from the car accident or maybe it was a combination of all of those things. All I know is whatever started me on this road is welcomed to my life. I've lost 85lbs since August of 2000, it's been a slow road but I'm grateful for that since I have learned so much about myself. I did this without drugs, without surgery, without supplements it's all come from finding healthy foods and eating them (I was a meal skipper) and movement.

To anyone reading this thinking wow how did you stay motivated for so long? Well it isn't so much motivation as my body learning new habits and liking the extra energy, the added strength and so on.

LindaDee1969

The point I knew was trying on wedding dresses. I couldn't hardly believe I allowed myself to get like this.
Not to mention the health risks. I used to be what I thought was attractive women.
As you can see no longer. The weight has made me into some hideous creature I don't even recognize.
I've posted a before pic. Well kind of a before pic. I was still packing a huge amount of weight. I just totally went past some threshold. These pics are roughly three years apart.


Before


NOW

Point202

For me it was looking back through old pictures. I was scrolling back through old Facebook pictures, and there are some there from about 6-7 years ago when I last successfully lost some weight. I was easily 40lbs lighter than I am now. I did a little side-by-side comparison of then versus now and was shocked at the difference in my face in particular. I think I have gotten used to how I look now. Even though I looked at current pictures of myself now and think, gee I've put on some weight, I never thought about how much. Our scale battery had died who knows how long ago. What really motivated me though to get off my butt was finally getting a new battery for it and stepping on the scale. I knew I was over 200lbs, but had no idea how far over 200lbs I was...

irNathaniel

Recent holiday photos - Clothes - Partner - Sport - Excercise


Everyone has different motivational Goals, as soon as you find yours, it becomes easy.

fishermanmatt

Sitting at home alone on my birthday in 2012. My birthday fell on a holiday and the office was closed. I used to love going into the office and working. Working kept my mind busy. If my mind was busy with work it didn't have time to think about how lonely and depressed I was.

So anyway, I'm sitting at home alone with my thoughts which was never a good place to be. Incredibly depressed and lonely, I had thoughts of suicide. Back then my mind went in that direction often. I turned 37 years old that day and had been having suicidal thoughts on a near daily basis for 25 years. Suicide by cheeseburger wasn't working fast enough. I was miserable and just wanted it all to be over.

My weight and fitness had always been at the center of my issues. Knowing this I needed to give getting fit an honest try. If I tried and failed (which I fully expected to), I could end it and feel justified doing so.

It's been nearly two years and I'm down nearly 200 pounds. Things are going well.

krokus99

Seeing some photos of myself. And then one day the scale was in my way and stepped on. 89 kilos... That was 28 days ago. That was the day I joined MFP.
I lost 6 kilos since then.

RossUK88

This picture was my turning point.
(I'm on the left)



Going back to Newquay in 2 months time to retake that picture after losing around 12% body fat.
Still not at the end of the journey and never will be but i'm well on my way

MamaRiss

My daughter has issues with food. She is almost 6 and still fearful of trying new foods, only has a small number of foods that she will eat, and we keep seeing that list of acceptable foods get smaller. So in my journey to help her with her issues, I started seeing my own problems, not the same problems, but just as concerning. Then helping her get dressed one day I saw that she has started developing the same shape I have, with a bulge around the top her pelvis. This is thing I hate most about myself, and seeing it form on her, made me realize that not only do I need to change the way we eat, I need to change our activity levels. I'm trying my hardest to be a good role model for her, hoping that as she see's me add more activity into my daily life she will join me. And it seems to be working, we play games running around the yard, tag and races. She likes to see how fast she can run. We've added a couple new foods and condiments to her repetoire, and even managed to bring back an old favorite. While I have cut my portions to normal sizes, and added in more nutritous foods.

She really is my biggest inspiration and motivator. And I do not want to cause her to develop the same issues that my mom did for me. We are working together for a healthier, more active life

elghee123

I thought the idea of clothes but no, it was BURNOUT and STRESS.

The thought of everything, I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to take in control. I have to do it. I needed to be in control of my life. I love life and enjoy every bit of it.

Doresoontobehealthy

My turning point was my last vacation when I went to the Dominican Republic. On the plane ride I was sitting in a sit where the armrest didn't come up. The entire flight the armrest was digging into my thighs. It was so painful I wanted to cry. While I was down there I met a couple and decided to go snorkeling with them. We were on a speed boat and I couldn't even pull myself in the boat. I felt like a beached whale when two men were pushing me into the boat. It was horrible and embarrassing for me. I swore I would never travel like that again. I came back determined to become a healthier person. It is all about evolving and changing bad habits. I don't think I could ever be that person again. I know I wouldn't want to. Good luck everyone. I know we can do this.