What was your turning point?

Eddieray616

mine was at a wrestling seminar with Kid Kash. he showed me how out of shape I was for the wrestling industry and that if I wanted to make it to the big time I had to drop the weight. although I tried to lose weight prior to that, i was far less motivated and did so kinda half arsed. after that moment, I waited till the end of the month to start properly and haven't looked past since. now i'm far smaller (though nowhere near my goal) and it shows in the ring. I realized just how much my weight was holding me back.

Slinky_BraveHeartBunsOfSteel

The photo of me on the left. :blushing:
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RozzeleS

Getting on the scales and flying and going upto 17st (238lb) I knew I was big but a big shock and my naive 15stone that I roughly expected.. I vowed to change and now 158lb and still counting

Revolutionwithin

When I realized that I was upset over the fact that some people in my life never treated me the way that they should, and looked at myself and knew I wasn't treating myself the way I should either.

Keepcalmanddontblink

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

I went to visit family and had to fly to get there. The trip there, I could barely squeeze into the seats. I was SO uncomfortable and embarrassed and didn't want to say anything to my husband about it.
My dad is getting married in May and I am flying to Florida to be in the wedding. I just wanted to be comfortable in the seats and not be squeezed in and unable to breath.
Also I will be 40 in a year and decided I needed to make a change so I won't enter into my 40's unfit and uncomfortable.

boiseemily

Hitting 200 pounds felt like a sin to me. When that number turned into the lowest point of my fluctuating weight, I said no more. Now having almost made it solidly below the 190s, I never plan on seeing that number again.

Oklahomared58

I am hesitant to post this… but here goes.
July 25th, 2010 I stepped on the scales and weighted 282. 27 days later my wife of 33 years died. That day ended her 10 year battle with breast cancer and her life-long battle with obesity. Like me, she had been overweight almost all of her life, she had been 100+lbs heavy since she was a child. She had all the weight related health problems; type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, joint problems, reproductive issues, stomach problems, etc. In my heart I feel the weight kept her from beating back the cancer that eventually took her life. Met her at when I was 16, moved in at 17, married her at 18, and now she was gone. Everything we had planned and saved for, to do later in life was gone too.
I felt that if I didn’t change something, I was next; and both of our lives would have somehow been a waste.

ValeriePlz

I want to thank everyone who posted in this thread. Your stories are so moving.

For the first 20 lb., my motivation was almost hitting 200 lb. on the scale.

Years after that, I was motivated to lose the last 20+ after seeing my college friend lose 80. I thought, if he can do it, so can I. To all of you who have lost: you never know who you are motivating, so thank you again for sharing your stories.

atfirstblush

Not fitting into my clothes for work. They were tight and I had nothing else to wear and I refused to buy a larger size. That same day, someone posted a photo of me on their Facebook page and I looked awful. I vowed to stop eating all the sugary, carb foods the next day and I did. I started eating right the very next day, that was exactly 5 weeks ago..

atfirstblush

Wow I'm so sorry about your wife. That is a life changer.

sarahnimal

When I had a body scan / evaluation and they told me based on my BMI, weight, energy level, muscle to fat ratio, etc that I have a body age of 37. I am only 24 years old, sluggish, overweight and unhappy. So I've begun Herbalife (almost 2 months ago) and I'm a happy girl! About 7 lbs down already!

noor_v

Bump for later... need to get back to work now...

fireytiger

There were two turning points for me, and even with those, it still took me a couple months to get it together and really change. I knew I was overweight, obese even. I was depressed about how I felt, how I looked, and watching the numbers on the scale go up and up. I had recently been diagnosed with PCOS and my doctor put me on 1000mg of metformin a day, which I (foolishly) thought would help me lose weight on its own but it didn't. It did stop me from gaining uncontrollably though, although the scale did continue to rise. My cholesterol is and has been high for at least the last 5 or 6 years, and for someone under 30 years old, that's just plain unacceptable. But, I kept telling myself that I didn't look too bad, even for a fat person, and I wore my clothes well and all. 230 pounds was bad but hey, at least I wasn't as bad as the rest of my family (yet).

Then, over this last Christmas, I really really wanted to have a family portrait in front of our picturesque fireplace, with me, my husband, and our three cats. Our good friend who did our wedding shoot came down to take them, and while the pictures were fantastically done, I was appalled at how awful I looked. I had a double chin in most of my photos despite doing my "chin up and out" head pose that usually hid it. In the best photo, I was sitting next to my husband, him facing forward and me sideways, with my legs behind him, and even from the side I looked huge. The beautiful family pictures that I wanted so badly to hang up in our living room, instead were posted on Facebook, our friend thanked, and then shoved in a folder on my desktop somewhere. That was the first real wake-up call.

The second wakeup call was very close to the same time, I found that only one pair of my size 18 pants that I had JUST BOUGHT fit me anymore. They were tight and I was miserable wearing them. I lied to myself and thought maybe some of them shrunk, so I went to the store and tried more size 18s. I couldn't even get them close to buttoned. I had to buy size 20s. They looked like clown pants to me, and I've never felt like such a loser.

I decided in the new year that I was going to get it together and lose the weight, but I had a few false starts. It wasn't until mid February that I finally cracked down, because I started going back to taekwondo. It was so hard to get back into it after over a decade and 70 pounds gained that I figured, how can I do all of this without at least TRYING to lose weight too? Am I gonna let all this sweat and hard work go to waste, and stay fat and unfit forever? So here I am.

navygrrl

My dad died the day before my birthday. He had a host of weight-related issues that contributed to his death. I don't know why it took me so long to finally get serious about getting healthy. I stepped onto the scale one morning and realized that I weighed more than I did when I was 9 months pregnant with my daughter (who was 9 pounds, 7 ounces at birth!). My fat pants were too tight. At that moment, I think it all just hit me, and I knew that I had to make a change.

I started out at the beginning of March with Sparkpeople, but then a friend recommended MFP to me, and I've found so much information here that I've pretty much moved here permanently. Sometimes I get overwhelmed when I see how far I have to go, but I know that at least I'm going in the right direction.

wozkaa

My babies had their 1st birthday late last year (twins, born December 2012) and I think there is 1 picture of me with them. I have them both on my lap so you can't really see the horror that I have let myself become. Then there was Christmas, and there are a few truly awful pictures of me.
I realised that there are so few pics of me with the girls while they are little, and I don't want that to be the trend as they grow. I want them to have pictures of them with their Mother.

EllenTebbits

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.

EllenTebbits

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.

This is incredibly touching. Thank you for posting.

CherylP67

This photo was posted to Facebook and I couldn't believe how bad I looked.

DblChinz

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.

I found out my cholesterol was high over a year ago, just now starting to do something about it. went on a shopping spree yesterday and found out i wear a size 3x... i've been squeezing into an xl or 2x for some time now. i am with you, i want to wear cute clothes and be healthy. can't believe i waited this long

choppie70

When I had my gal bladder out, the images showed that I also had hydronephrosis (enlarged kidney). I went to a Nephrologist and they ran many tests. The nephrologist told me she thought my kidney was just shaped that way and that the pain I felt in my back was the result of extra weight.

I went right to the store and bought a new pair of sneakers that day!

On a side note: It was not the extra weight causing my back ache... the nephrologist missed that I had a 22mm kidney stone that had lodged in my ureter.

BodyByBex

My divorce. Photos from my former brother-in-laws wedding(I was 240 lbs)! A doctor telling me that despite how well I carried extra weight, I was pre-diabetic.
When I moved in with my parents I knew I NEEDED a job and I NEEDED MFP to try again. I will make my goal this time. I WILL maintain. I WILL NOT let outside influences bring ME down!

crazybookworm

A Christmas family photo. I never realized I was THAT heavy. After seeing the photo I stepped on the scale and saw 252 lbs. I changed my life the very next day!

Zikhona123

My 8 month old baby. After she was born, i told myself i want to be a good role model to her and be able to run around playing with her.

And i want to wear whatever i want.

DellaWiedel

My turning point was severe gallbladder pain. (Seriously the worst pain of my life, I felt like I wanted to die...) I haven't had it taken out. An ultrasound showed no gallstones, and I'm trying to manage it through healthy diet. So far I've had a big reduction in the pain through eating healthier. I'm 5'5" and was 191 lbs. to start, I'm now down to 176 lbs. My goal is 150 lbs. But for me it's not all about weight loss, it's about health too. Besides the gallbladder problems, I also have migraine issues, and I'm finding a healthy diet helps with both. Also being on MFP helps, since I have others to encourage me to keep going.

Tashac17

Yesterday was a turning point when my partner said he did not want me to go through another summer of me crying as I can't find nothing to wear as I feel fat. He said he had watched me for the last three weeks and all I done is eat crap and sit on my back side so now I need to take control. Just under 200lb and 5ft 4, I can't fit into most of my wardrobe and walking up stairs I'm out of breath. It's time for a change and it starts now. Roll on summer when I with look and feel better

Tifftiff321

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.

Me too! I'm gonna get there this time I can feel it! My turning point was I guess I just woke up one day and said I wanna take care of myself cause I'm getting older and I wanna look in bathing suits!

WW_Jude_V2

A co-worker/friend came up to me one day in the office. She put her arm around my shoulders and whispered the words I desperately needed to hear: "Judy, I love you but you're too fat." She then kissed me on the cheek and said she would do whatever she could to support me while I got healthy.

When I tell this story, some people have a really negative reaction, but it's truly what I needed - the unvarnished truth.

We still work together - and she still checks in with me often. It's been 6 years since that first comment. She's still supportive and doesn't let me get away with ANYthing....which is why I'm here. She wasn't accepting any excuses for a seven pound gain, regardless of why it happened! LOL

Lindzpnc

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.

my PCOS mostly went away after losing most of the weight... just had a healthy baby girl she's almost 4 months now... I feel ya- totally hoping the best for you babywise

eherte

Hearing my doctor say that I fell into the obese catagory. My mom is obese, very ill, and has been most of my life. She isnt even 50 yet and will be lucky to make 60. I dont want my son growing up with seeing me like that. I decided to stop using my fibromyalgia as a crutch to explain why i wasnt taking care of myself. My boy and I deserve better.

BL_Mark

This was my "Oh Hell No!" moment... I still have no clue who this guy is and how he got to be so big. It's embarrassing.