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

AllOutof_Bubblegum

When I went clothes shopping, and I kept thinking to myself, "WHY does everything look so terrible?? Why can't I find anything cute, what's wrong with all these clothes??" And then I realized it wasn't the clothes...it was me. I was just fat. It had happened so slowly, I never realized it until I stepped back and saw just how porky I'd gotten.

mjmartin77

When I saw a picture of myself and didn't recognize myself. I'm 5'4" and weight around 178 to 181 depending on the day. My ideal weight is around 150.....

TonyPillz

Fat people disgust me , and i ironically got fat and then lost it all again in a year.

People who are fat due to issues with body chemistry is a totally separate issue , people who get fat like i did just eating constantly without worrying about the consequences irritate the crap out of me , so i irritated the crap out myself i took some responsibility.

jmzimba

For me it was when I noticed my clothes are not fighting quite right and I just feel awful all the time. I did not want to have to go and buy more new clothes.

At one point I had lost nearly 50 pounds and felt wonderful I was the smallest that I could ever remember and I had done it with WW going to meetings and it was working. I had lost the weight to look good while on vacation. Once I got back I stuck with the program for a little bit but our WW leader was not giving the group the attention that she should have and decided that I knew enough to do it myself. In hind sight I did know enough but I didn't have the will power needed for the holidays and put on 10 pounds. I have gone up and down for the past several years with the same 30 pounds. Before I met my boyfriend I lost most of the weight again. But since moving in with him I/we have gotten way too comfortable and my clothes that once fit are getting way too snug and uncomfortable again. I know what I need to do its just hard to get myself motivated....

I know this time is different. I'm tired of being so over weight. Granted I do have a lot to lose but just need to take baby steps. I have already given up diet soda as I seemed to be addicted to the stuff. Drinking more water. Just need to fine tune my eating and start working out again and keep with it....

stevee290

One day I had to rock back and forth to get a little momentum to get out of a chair.

JJSABA

When the company I work for decided to take a picture of each employee and post it on the website. When I saw that picture posted online for everyone to see, my heart dropped, and what I knew for years, finally triggered action. I am a firm believer that you can't force someone into being healthy, when the time is right, they will do it themselves, everyone needs their own trigger.

sammharley1

Same with me - a photo of a weekend away. I was distraught!
Well done for taking the initiative! x

BlazeJay83

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??

Same as you but just entered my 30s at the time, wasted half of my 20s a few stones overweight.

theapphaniaa

I realized it was time to change about a month ago, when I thought I was having a heart attack.
Thankfully, it wasn't that serious. I had popped my ribs out of place in my sleep (very bad chest pain).
But the doctor told me one thing that could definitely help is if I lose weight, and I knew it was time to get serious.

HOTMAMANDESQUISE

I am turning 43 soon and I feel the same, I spent my thirties being miserable and its time to wake up. I was a body builder for 12 years before I became a mom and so i knew how to live and eat right, but just didn't. My four kids are older now and I have a little more freedom to think of myself again as Me and not just Mommy. I am horribly 100 lbs over my goal weight, but I know I can do anything I set my mind to doing.

ChelseaWelseyKins

For a while I was feeling flabby and chubby, but everyone else didn't think so, so I figured it was solely me who thought it, considering I've always had confidence issues. But one day my fiance and I were laying in bed and talking about our future and whatnot, when the subject came up about my weight and that I had gained a little lately. It really hurt my feelings, but it was the kick in the butt that I needed to get off my a** and better myself. So far, not according to the ticker, I've lost about 11 lbs and feel so confident. I haven't been in the low 130's for a while and can't wait to see that scale hit the 120's. I might actually cry.

Sometimes even if you think you're gaining weight, another person to let you know may be all you need to get started!

laura2813

I reached the point where I didn't want any pictures taken of me. I wasn't happy with the way I looked and it was affecting the relationship between me and my husband. Although my husband tells me I look fine I think it's more about how I feel about myself.

MrsShell17

Seeing side view pics....I saw the subtle beginnings of a double chin and was like WTH!!! :-/

I know I've gained about 30lbs in the past 3 years but I have always been skinny and trying to gain weight, not the other way around.....after seeing a few pics of me taken over this past weekend, I realize I may have gone a lil overboard! lol So, I'm definitely not tryna be as skinny as I was before, I'm just trying to lose some fat, build some muscle tone and maintain it :-)

WendyZ82

For a long time I had a pair of jeans that were an oversized 20w. I hated wearing them because they were just too big! They were in the back of my closet for years. Last summer I found myself in the situation where they had become the only pair of pants I owned that fit and they were getting tight. That was a wake up to me that I had to do something and now. I must of been in denial because I never realized how big I had got , I just didn't see it until that day. I started walking that day and joined MFP a couple weeks later.

laura2813

Good for you!!

I have twin daughters that are 18 and I spent 15 years of their life being a single mom. During that time I tried to teach them they need to first be happy with themselves before they can be happy with someone else. The flip side to that is my problem. I am VERY independent and don't have to have someone so it makes it hard for my husband now. lol

thatgirlkellib

When I figured out my hormones where making me insane...from a crappy diet and being 211 lbs, I didnt smile ever.
The other aspects in my life were great, but I simply couldnt be happy with me so I had to change my self.

xxxpeacekeepxxx

I've always been over weight. I recently went to the doctor's and got weighed, blood work done, etc. Well I went back yesterday and the blood work wasn't good. My triglycerides are double what they should be, along with other things and my doctor was worried. I am only 19, I don't need this for my life. I've been trying to lose weight, not really trying, but just going through the motions. But that was the final straw yesterday. I don't want to have to worry about that. I want to go to the doctor again next year or another time and see things be normal.

kjstaley70

For me it was moving closer to my mother who is house bound due to not taking care of herself, not watching her diet and being inactive. I thought I want to be able to have fun with my grandchildren one day and not end up in a wheelchair at 70. It was a good wake up call. It has not been easy because my eating habits have been bad for years. I always tell people I am in better shape at 43 than I was at 23 though and that is a big start!

Good luck! Keep moving forward no matter the obstacle! :-)

MichelleKacz

My weight has been up and down my whole life (my mother is obese and I developed bad habits from a very early age), but the penny really dropped for me when I got engaged. I was 105kg at the time (230lbs) and the thought of having everyone’s eyes on me literally scared the crap (diet) out of me! Unfortunately I hadn’t lost much weight by the actual wedding day itself, but I was on the right track and felt much better about myself. 10 years down the line, I couldn't be more proud that I made the change, it’s honestly been the best decision of my life.

likitisplit

I couldn't walk a 5k. Everything else that I felt ashamed by or hated, I could ignore or reason my way around. Being confronted with the physical inability to stroll for 3 miles was a "Do not pass Go" moment.

Brinray

I am too broke to buy new clothes. I can lose weight or go naked. I choose to lose weight and then go naked! Best of both words.

dj59lane

When I saw a picture of myself and didn't know who it was. It was a shock-- I had always been overweight but that was awful Still have about 10 lbs to go. But doing it healthy and smart over last 2 years is so worth it

catb58

I kept saying "as long as I don't go over XXX lbs, I'm ok." But the number kept going higher. My blood pressure was good and the bloodwork from my yearly physical was mostly good, too. Everyone in my family has Diabetes II except me...all 3 sisters, both parents, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins. I have celiacs so I convinced myself I wouldn't get Diabetes because I don't eat all the breads and pastas they do.

I switched to a different department, where the hours made working out more difficult. I still had lousy eating habits. The "big" clothes that had gotten maybe a little loose were now getting snug. So...here I was: 55, overweight (FAT), and working in a job where it's relatively important to be in decent shape.

Then I saw some pictures from last summer. I'd been feeling pretty good back then, had been bicycling 20, 30, 40+ miles a couple times a week and using an elliptical machine most nights at work and putting in 5-6 miles on it. But I hadn't been eating right. So all the exercise did little to help me lose weight. It was horrifying to think I'd been wearing bicycle shorts (spandex :noway: ) and thinking that I looked ok. I don't generally like pictures and if someone takes a picture, I seldom look at it.

In the middle of May, I took both bicycles (road and mountain) into the shop for tune ups, talked to my doc and threw away my fat food. I just started cutting out junk food. Then I found MFP and signed up, as well as buying a Fitbit. My ticker says I'm down 17 lbs, but I'm actually down 38 from my high weight. My work pants are 2 sizes smaller so far and today I am picking up smaller shirts. This is only the beginning. As I've started losing, going to the gym, riding 50 miles at a time on my mountain bike (and had to buy smaller cycling shorts!)...I'm only getting more determined to keep going until I'm fit and at a healthy weight.

EmmieBaby

When I got food poisoning from the junk food I would always go too (KFC)

Wookinpanub

I am similar to the OP. My 30s and 40-42 was a time of very limited exercise and very poor diet and I gained weight over time. I was a yo yo dieter over the years with some diets only lasting 1/2 day. In 2005 I was 205 after one successful fasting diet losing 25 lbs but gained all that back plus another 25 lbs. I got up to 255. Below are some of my triggers:

> Ex-college girlfriend facebooked me and she is a fit trainer now. I certainly did not want to her to see me as a borderline obese guy.

> my older brother died of a sudden heart attack, he was is good shape for his age tho.

> did not feel good about myself

> clothes did not fit me right or look good on me.

> winded after walking a couple flights of stairs in my work parking garage and I could feel a throbbing pulse in my neck from the exertion.

> After looking at pictures of me (of which there are very few) I said "Am I really that big?"

> I had some digestive issues from the greasy food I would eat a lot and my car and office at work smelled from the constant farting.

> trouble tying shoes or cutting toe nails

> trouble wiping

> inability to jog more than 40-50 yards with my daughter who wanted me to run with her.

> poor sexual performance/endurance

> At family or social events trying to find a couch with a throw pillow and using said pillow to help hide my belly while sitting.

I could go on and even after all this ^^^ ugliness I still find my addiction to food to be a struggle.

TeachTheGirl

My husband signed me up to a weight-loss challenge. I was mad, but I went because I didn't want to disappoint.

I did it all for the wrong reasons, but I found my reasons along the way and I have not looked back since.

CupcakeCrusoe

I told a friend to disown me if I got over 200. Went off to college, no scale, not a lot of mirrors. Doctor's appointment: 217.

I was shocked, of course, because I'd always been big but never considered myself -that- big. Started on FatSecret the next day, and moved to MFP a while ago. I'm not there yet, but I'm making the changes to get there.

serafinelaveaux

I've decided, and meant it, more than once. It's several years later that I kinda forget why I did it in the first place.

When I got on the scale at 19 and it said 151 and I cried, realizing I was closer to 200 than 100. Lost 30 pounds.
When I went back to college at 26 weighing 200 and got a lot of skinny new friends, and was ashamed of being the fat friend. My friends didn't care, but I did. Lost 50 pounds.
When I was 35 and 249 and decided to spend some time backpacking in China. Didn't want to be the "Fat American" so I lost 45 pounds. Not that the Chinese were impressed by my reduction in *kitten* size, everywhere I went I got stares and disgusted proclamations of how fei I was.

Along the way there were all those moments of can't put my shoes on without sitting on the couch cross legged, throat feels like it's squishing closed when I lie down, out of breath crossing the parking lot, only shapeless ugly clothes in my size, but for me none of that was really bad enough because once I'd lose enough weight that they were no longer an issue, I forgot what a PITA they were and went back to old habits and not paying attention. After all, in your head you're never as fat as you are on paper, right? Unless I saw a photo of myself, it was like I didn't really get how big I was, and I was never one for junk food or sweets so in my head I was doing just fine.

This time was actually different. I just kinda said, what the hell. No fanfare, no gung ho motivation, no ceremonial throwing away of the so-called bad foods. Food was never really my problem anyway. Lack of activity was. Made a few changes, then a few more. Took up an activity I actually love (MMA) vs trying to make myself believe I actually enjoyed walking or aerobics or sitting in someone else's sweat at the gym. It seems to be sticking this time because I'm at the marker where I usually call it good and quit, but instead I'm ready to see the next 40 pounds go away.

Eoghann

I think I've posted this before somewhere. Basically it was a matter of my mental image of me catching up with reality.

I'd been gaining weight steadily for the last few years and I did know it, but mentally I was still the skinny guy who walked a lot.

This last winter I noticed that shoveling snow was a lot harder than I remembered and that a nagging shoulder injury (from the snow shoveling) was taking a very long time to go away. But that still didn't do it. In the end it was two things:

- Mid-March I got on the scale and weighed in at 201lbs. Which may not sound like very much to most guys but for me it's an astronomically high number. I have a naturally skinny build and I'm not athletic so none of it is muscle.

- Then I got a FitBit and discovered that I no longer walked a lot but was down to 2,000 - 3,000 steps a day.

TMM211073

On my 39th birthday (October 2012) I decided I didn't want to be 20stone plus when I hit the big 4-0.... On my 40th birthday I was 15st 3lb, I had done it, I am still on my journey, but I am almost at my goal now, only 14lb to go.... xXx