At what point did you finally decide "this is it..."

Brownsbacker4evr

Well I started getting pretty bad anxiety and panic attacks, and a lot of that stemmed from my weight. Didn't wanna rely on medication and found exercise actually cured it for me. I went from having them nightly to never having them again once I started exercising. Went on to lose over 100lbs, then this time 5 years ago, I injured my shoulder playing football and it never healed right and still is messed up and I went to gain it ALL back and then some. I was at my heaviest--A whopping 354 pounds!

Such a tragic slipping slope to go from the fittest you've ever been to the heaviest you've been. So i've been battling other injuries and Gout sneaking up on me. Been falling in and out of weight loss for about five years now and i've finally buckled down because of the gout. It's absolutely awful. Being overweight itself it increases the chances for flare ups and I figured if I kept letting myself get worse and stop caring, it's only going to get much harder. So THIS IS IT, my final breakdown, im working slowly through constant gout flares, but I've finally gotten the same dedication that I had when I lost the big weight once before.

So you can say my "This is it" is: Life is hard enough, why should I make it any harder myself.

cwolfman13

Wasn't about losing weight necessarily for me. I had some scary bad health markers and was heading fast towards spending a good chunk of the latter years of my life sick at best but probably dead pretty early. I found that proposition to be unacceptable.

Losing weight has been a pretty awesome bi product of rocking my nutrition and fitness, but wasn't/isn't the "end game" for me.

b12arr0

We went to a renaissance festival last month and my 9 year old daughter wanted to ride a elephant with me. While we were riding around the little arena, my son took some pictures of us. Those pictures are the answer to the question. Even being on an elephant, I looked so fat. You look in the mirror at yourself and think, it's not so bad. Then someone takes a picture, and it's BAD.

NikiChicken

I never really had a true "A-Ha!" moment. It was more of a gradual coming to my senses. I was 40 and 3 months away from turning 41. I had just booked a trip to San Francisco for my birthday. I was horribly fat and out of shape. As I started planning my trip, it dawned on me that there was going to be a ton of walking and I couldn't walk a block without being miserable. So I started walking on my lunch hours in preparation of the trip. After about a week of walking, I decided that I should pay a little more attention to what I was eating as well and that is when I joined this site. I set up an account and took the recommendations for a modest weight loss and just decided to see where I could get before I left for San Francisco. My trip was 2 1/2 months away at that point. By the time my trip rolled around, I had lost 25 pounds. I went on the trip and walked so much I lost another 2 pounds. When I got back, I decided that it hadn't been so hard, so I just kept going and kept going. I turned 43 on July 5 and that trip was 2 years ago! I've lost close to 80 pounds and changed my life completely. I'm still 40 pounds from goal, but I don't really care how long it takes to get there because the goal is not the end number, it's learning how to live my life as a "thin" person and stay that way. The end number is just a number.

Vanessa_Ross

My work decided to do a Biggest Loser contest and I saw a picture of myself and new I had to make a change. I mean really I can not believe I let myself get that bad!

Snip8241

Last January I looked in the mirror and thought....I am done. I purchased a bathing suit, goggles and a swim cap and started swimming.

tpeirona

I was the fat bridesmaid at my sisters wedding. I had kept saying, I'll lose the weight before the wedding and for a while I was doing okay, down 5 or so pounds by just working out not watching what I ate. Eventually, I lost motivation and stopped working out, continued to eat horribly and overall just gave up.

My sisters wedding rolled around and I was the largest I'd ever been at 195. Seeing myself that close to the 200s made me say holy crap and I realized that I had to do something. Since starting in mid-March I'm 20 lbs down and about 40% to my goal weight of 145. I will not let myself be the fat bridesmaid again, especially since my other sister is about to get engaged.

Qcrazy

Realizing i'm a food addict. I read Authority Nutrition About How to cure food addiction. Getting rid of all sugars and grain and everything that makes you wanna binge. Ive beat addiction a few of times in my life (caffeine, sugar/carbs, nicotine) So I have learned the secret to addiction is break the habit and never ever do it again. I know that one hit off a cigarette ill be a smoker I know that one bottle of soda Ill be addicted all over again. I know that one piece of bread or cake or anything that has carbs or sugar in it, will mean im back to being another food addict. If I do it once ill do it again so this time I said nope never again.

Tanie98

At what point in your life did you tell yourself "It's time to lose weight" and ACTUALLY meant it??

- I'm 41 and gained over the past ten years... so basically I spent my 30's fat and miserable. I don't want to spend my 40's fat and miserable so this is my main reason for being here. I've decided to make a lifestyle change of counting calories and becoming more active. I didnt get fat overnight and won't lose it overnight. I'm only 4 days in but I feel better already (mentally)..

What about you??

when my clothes getting tight and my jeans couldn't fit and I didn't want to buy a new wadrobe

Eselte

Thank you for all of the responses.. It's kind of nice to know we all have something in common.

cashewmill

My father called me chunky. My dad called me a beached whale. My six year old cousin said, "You look fat!". I was only 10 or so pounds 'overweight' - although technically in a healthy BMI range. For a while, I was just like, "I should go on a diet," As I ate an entire bag of chips.

But then I changed. Nearly 10 pounds down and just need to lose about 2 more pounds.

phoenixx866

I was at McDonalds with my fiance and I was eating my usual fish sandwich with medium fries and a diet Coke. A woman walked in... Well, she had to walk into the door sideways holding onto her husband/boyfriend/male companion, who was also large. She huffed and puffed and hobbled up to the counter and ordered two 20 piece chicken nuggets, 2 large fries and a large Coke just for herself. She couldn't fit into the booth or the chairs at the restaurant, so the male with her went to the car and came out with a special large chair for her. As she was almost finished eating (and my fiance saw my eyes fill with tears) she said she was still hungry and ordered 4 cheeseburgers to go.

When they left, I cried. I cried for her, I cried for him, I cried for myself and my fiance (who is about 150 lbs overweight himself). I started my journey the next day.

sassyjae21

For all of my teens and twenties I was obese, but didn't mind. Seriously. It felt normal for me and I didn't have any problems with work, friends, relationships, clothes, etc. I had loads of energy and was GENERALLY healthy. I had no health issues, normal BP and blood sugar and periods, didn't take medicine, etc. But...yes I was very obese.

Then at 30-32 I started a new career and gained 40-50 lb mainly from stress eating and having $$ to dine out all the time. I turned into a type of person I'd never been before...I had trouble walking up stairs or long distances. My ankles & feet swelled in the summer. I felt gross even in my baggy 3X tops. It was just time for change, I couldn't continue feeling "like that". I started hating every non-face pic of myself and hiding even from fun social outings...I had always been obese but never "like that".

So I lost 45 lb before joining this website (through exercising a LOT more and laying off the Starbucks) and I kept it off for a couple years.

At that point, I was back to my normal self. Fat & happy. Really. I wasn't miserable. The only problem I had was being embarrassed if my boobs and belly were touching the table when my friends insisted on a booth, or cringing at full length photos because was I really THAT much bigger than all of my girlfriends?!? But I felt great.

Joining My Fitness Pal for me was a great thing because it has taught me a lot about what I actually eat...calorie wise and nutritionally. I have not had any problems at all losing 85 lb since I joined in March 2013. It has honestly felt much easier to me than the 45 lb I lost before I joined, when I was clueless about calories and thought cereal with milk was a light healthy breakfast. Now I'm at my lowest weight since middle school (I'm 37).

I you.

carnavore

Before my gain weight I was at an ideal 165-170 lbs. weight range and running half-marathons but after getting promoted at work, traveling a lot (due to personal and work reasons), having a crazy schedule and 2 major injuries....I was at 216-215 and decided enough was enough. I had barely passed my Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and barely passed the Army height and weight standard.

So I started eating a little better for about 1 week prior to coming on MFP and went down to 210. I'm by no means new to working out or nutritiont but having this community and it's support has really made a difference.

Right now I'm currently at 208 after a little over a week on MFP but my pants fit a little bit better, less snug and I feel tons better.

Also I had paid my trainer 20 sessions and I was just wasting my money, instead now I'm actually getting my money's worth!

inneedofanap

I was at McDonalds with my fiance and I was eating my usual fish sandwich with medium fries and a diet Coke. A woman walked in... Well, she had to walk into the door sideways holding onto her husband/boyfriend/male companion, who was also large. She huffed and puffed and hobbled up to the counter and ordered two 20 piece chicken nuggets, 2 large fries and a large Coke just for herself. She couldn't fit into the booth or the chairs at the restaurant, so the male with her went to the car and came out with a special large chair for her. As she was almost finished eating (and my fiance saw my eyes fill with tears) she said she was still hungry and ordered 4 cheeseburgers to go.

When they left, I cried. I cried for her, I cried for him, I cried for myself and my fiance (who is about 150 lbs overweight himself). I started my journey the next day.

Wow, I could feel your emotions as I read this.

kevlarmenace

A little late, but when I looked back at my old pictures and realized that I used to have a defined chin, and medium shirts hung off of me. I was ashamed of my gut everywhere I went and even the biggest pants I owned got a little too tight.

Pirate_chick

When I saw the pictures from my cousin's wedding. But it took me 4 months to actually do something about it.

Eselte

I don't "feel" as big as I look in recent pictures. So seeing recent pics of myself was a huge slap in the face!

GiveMeCoffee

A few things happened all during 1 hospital stay:

When I had to call my kids and tell them we wouldn't be having our Christmas celebration because I was back in the hospital, that was kick #1
Then my doctor says we're going to have to keep you on oxygen 24/7 kick #2
Finally kick was my nurse in ICU who told me flat out you are too young to be this sick, most of your issues are because you're fat.

Got out of the hospital and started the day I was released

kluvit

I realized that my scale was "stuck" making me feel okay about my weight even though my clothes were getting tighter. Then once I got a new scale and my "real weight" was the heaviest I've ever been. Everything else in my life seemed out of control, but I realized/decided that I could control what I put in my mouth. And, this time, it made all of the difference! Two years of success and counting. Loving my new wardrobe, liking my body, liking that the physical aspects of life in general are easier, liking that people treat me differently. I heard or read somewhere that "nothing tastes as good as thin feels," and I am now a believer! I still enjoy my food, but I've found a way to have both!