Remember the day you said enough is enough?????

Kkmama

July 20, 1996. I turned 29 and realized that my life was not what I wanted it to be. I signed up with Weight Watchers and lost just over 50 lbs (233 down to 179). I felt amazing. I met the man I would marry and he was not that into working out and I let my new lifestyle fall by the way side and gained it all back before our wedding the following year. On my wedding day I weighed that dratted ol' 233 again. Up and down on the scale for the next 10 years.

I was convinced I was a weight loss failure, even went to see an specialist who said there is no reason on earth why I shouldn't be able to lose weight.

Finally I heard my 6 year old daughter talking to my husband, who has since become a marathon runner, about how fat Mommy is. It broke my heart, I want to be hero, someone she looks up to.

This time it is different. I also have "end stage" arthritis and was told that I need to have knee replacement surgery. I am 43! That is way too young! The Dr. told me every pound I lose will be 4lbs of pressure on my knee.

Here I am today... 10 lbs down with another 50 to go! My daughter loves working out with me to the Wii. It is different this time.

Thank you for generating this post Polo!

blueyed_girl

I don't think I had a OMG moment! I have always battled my weight as my family has. My biggest fear is to be 300+ lbs and have numerous health problems because of it(ike my family). I am not motivated easily BUT if I can get my mind set on something then I go at it full force. Well I'm there! I am tired of being overweight and want to lose 50 more lbs. On Dec 7, 2010 I decided I was giving up Mtn Dews. I drank about 3-6 a DAY! YIKES!!! I gave them up cold turkey. I'm not sure the exact date but around Dec 27, 2010 I stepped on the scale and had lost 7lbs since giving up the dews. I WAS SHOCKED!! I also had started to make better food choices. On Jan 1, 2011 I started a workout program and a few days later a friend of mine turned me on to this site and I LOVE it!!!! I would like to lose 50lbs by June 2011. This site is helping me with my food and exercise. I love that I can track it all on one site. This is a great tool!! I will need any support and encouargement I can get. I welcome it!!! I also am joining the Y in my town this week! I went for a one day pass and LOVED it!! I am super excited about my journey. I know it didn't get it over night nor will it come off overnight.

CricketKate

This is suchb a great idea! I'm sad to say that I haven't quite had that ah ha moment yet. I worked really hard to lose my pregnancy weight after my 4th baby. When he turned 1, I started letting my eating habits slip. He's now 20 months and I'm up 30 lbs. and 3 jean sizes. I know that I need to change, but I haven't gotten my "moment" yet. Maybe this will be it?

aippolito1

YES! I remember! Tomorrow I will be in the same situation I was a year and a couple weeks ago when I first decided it was time to get healthy again. I'll be so glad to step on that scale in that doctor's office, TWENTY pounds LIGHTER. :bigsmile:

I feel so proud of myself with all I've accomplished this year. I'm running, I did my first 5k in 43 minutes (and that's including a LOT of walking!) I'm lifting weights that are 7 lbs heavier than I started with... I feel good when I see myself in those big mirrors at the gym. I wished to be closer to my goal or past my goal at this point but I had some setbacks and I'm committed and set out to get to that goal this year!

MyaPapaya75

I dont remember the date but the picture is in my profile..I was at my sisters babyshower "eating" someone took a picture ..when I saw it I was horrified...I never realized what I looked like and avoiding any full length mirror never helped.

Sweet13_Princess

My day was when my dream wedding dress came in, the largest size available in the style that I fell in love with, and I could barely get it zipped! I knew I didn't want to feel stuffed into it on my wedding day or feel like a fat slob anymore. So here I am..... I've made a little progress since September, but am hoping to see even more progress now that the holidays are over. Five months until the big day!

Shannon

anniebr

When I go to work everyday and help people get off drugs and alcohol and I can't even put the fork down for 24 hrs without using food to deal with me and life. My cousin knew that I was living in shame and quilt and told me about this web site, I once again took my will back and tried on my own, cause you know I can. Well, back up again to quilt and shame cause I should be able to do this on my own. I am committed this time. It feels good to know other people who are trying to get better. I hope I can make it tonight and not overeat to deal with the stress and loneliness i live with everyday. thank you for allowing me to share. PEACE

anniebr

that is so cool

kimmiebear70

This particular time it was back in November 2010. I was following my oldest daughter's 4H group in the local Christmas parade. We were the first group in the parade. From the git-go, I started following behind. The smaller kids like my daughter were riding in a horse drawn wagon with the bigger kids, the leader, and a few other parents following behind on foot. The further down the parade route we got, the further behind I got. It was horrible. I used to be able to walk and walk and walk. After a while, I actually fell out of the parade because I was holding the rest it up. There was a HUGE gap between our group and the next. I DID finish the parade, but I felt miserable and humiliated. I vowed then that next year I would finish the parade WITH the group.

Just after this I decided to step on the scale and see just how bad my weight had gotten. The day before Thanksgiving, I weighed in at 301lbs. That day I began to change my life.

kendf60

Mine was the beginning of June 2010. It was at the Dr's office for a stress echo test to screen for heart problems. I turned 50 1/2010 and have a family history of heart problems. It began with looking down at the scale and seeing 263.5. I had been successful at avoiding the scale for some time. Next came the treadmill. About 4 minutes into it, I was already breathing heavy when the Dr told me to stop because my blood pressure was sky rocketing. He ordered a few more tests and sent me home. I went home and decided to start eating healthy. I read up on nutrition and reading labels then spent over 3 hrs grocery shopping to find new things that I would like and be able to stay with long term. I still could not exercise until I passed a few more tests to make sure my heart was ok though. Luckily I passed the tests and was able to start exercising too. I've worked up to walking between 5 & 6 miles a day and have lost 63.5 lbs now. At 5'10", I still want to lose another 20 lbs, but with the healthy habits I've developed, it isn't as intimidating as it was last June. MCP helps me not only track my calories, it also helps me stay on track with cholesterol and sodium for my heart. I also use Nike plus to track my walking.

melanielockard

this time around july 2010, we had a family gathering and my neice took a pick of us sitting around talking and posted it on facebook, i was looking through the pics and was horrified!! i seen a very unhealhy person looking back at me i just sat and looked in disbelief. I wanted to be able to run and play with my son. so i started watching what i ate exercised here and there and lost 20lbs. So last week my bff asked me to be her maid of honor, so now more than ever i need/want to get back in shape for me and my son. i am loving this site, anytime i think i just want to go bing eat, i just come here now and i get motivated to go exercise! thankyou!

Veggie_Eloise

Mine was right after my birthday last year.
02/12.

Pictures were developed.
First time I had saw myself not pregnant.
My husband actually thought I was still preggo in the pictures.
Then I pointed at the cake in the background.
I just saw a sad uncomfortable looking young woman.

It was around 262ish pounds I said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

kthom

My moment came in May 09 when my mom, sister and I all weighed in on my wii fit and I weighed exactly the same as my mom! My mom has been fat for thirty years and although she is 4 inches shorter than me it really opened my eyes to weigh the same. Thirty three pounds later I feel more my usual self. i always said I wouldn't let myself gain more than five or ten pounds before dealing with it but graduate school and full time work let me gain forty pounds before I could give my weight the attention it deserved. Nearly at my goal and it is so nice to be able to tell my patients to exercise and lose weight without feeling like a hypocrite.

spennato

Mine was in July, I was taking my son on an amusement ride with my wife and the safety would not close because I was too big, but I continued to gain until one day (10/18/2010) I stepped on the scale and weighed in at 309lbs. That was the day that I found MFP!!!!

Nurse_Christy

My moment came in December of 2010. I was weighing on the wii fit, and my little mii got bigger according to my weight. My 8-year old daughter said, "Mom, your mii's so fat her belly's hanging out from under her shirt!" Ouch. I then asked my husband, who is notoriously honest, "Am I fat-fat, or pudgy-fat?" He said, "Um, fat-fat." Ouch again. I decided then I'd had enough. I was the heaviest I've ever been in my life, even heavier than peak-pregnancy weight. Time for a change.

treetz1979

Thank you for this post....I've had two slap me in the face with my own fat moments.

(1) At night out with friends, I thought i was looking great (two Thanksgiving Weekends ago). Then I saw the FB pictures. I looked so uncomfortable and like i was wearing clothes way too small for me.

After that, my wonderful husband nursed my pride back to health telling me how beautiful I was and that i dont look like the picture showed. But then (2) that Christmas at my parents, again, i thought I looked great. We were all hanging out with my family having some beers and playing cards. As i stood next to the table, by my dad, my dad glanced over to me and, in front of everybody, looked at my muffin top and said, "damn, daughter, are you pregnant again?!?"

Everyone laughed except me, and as my husband caught me eye across the room it was all I could do to not run away crying. I was devastated. i kept in until we got home and i just felt...broken and exposed.

Since then, it's been a battle more emotionally than anything. The hard part isn't losing weight, it's losing the emotional baggage that I hid behind so long. I am doing better now with the "lifestyle change", but it's such a battle every day.

Glad to read that others are experiencing the same, i never want to feel so damaged, hopeless, and miserable again!

k2d4p

I don't remember the specific day, but I had recently found out I was pregnant with my 2nd child and had not lost all of the weight from my 1st. I knew that I had to gain weight because I was pregnant, but I was bound and determined to lose weight after I had him.

schotas

The day after Thanksgiving 2010. I had started running in 2005 and had run 3 half-marathons (my last one being Jan. 2010). I took some time off from the training schedule because I had lost my passion for running. However, I didn't stop eating all of the carbs I had become accustomed to eating while training. Fast forward to Thanksgiving day, I ate/nibbled all day long on whatever I could get my hands on. My clothes were feeling tight. I had a horrible muffin top. I was beginning to look like I was smuggling an innertube under my t-shirt. Fortunately, I found MFP the day after Thanksgiving and decided to start then. I have since lost 8 pounds and am thrilled. I am beginning to run again and enjoy it.

Best of luck to all of you, MFP'ers! I am so motivated by all of the great stories out there! Keep up the great work!

IreneAdler

Late December of 2010--I had spent some hard-earned money in September on new work clothes that would make me feel fabulous. By December, I was needing to unbutton my pants to sit comfortably, just like my mom and dad have to. And then I had a look at where I stood on the scale, and I am just between "overweight" and "obese". Morbid obesity runs in the family, so if I'm going to stop myself from ending up like my beloved (but fat, unhealthy and in pain) relatives, I need to lose at least 30 pounds NOW!

ZebraGlee78

A month ago today. 12/09/10. My best friend came over to take holiday pics of me and my husband (and our pups), and I looked so fat. I hadn't taken any pics of myself recently, and I thought I was "on the right track." I was partially, but since then, I've lost 20 lbs (10%)!

Fgillies

I dont remember the actual date, but i know i was 23...and something had to change. I was Always the funny one ( still am ) but inside i was dying....not only physically but mentally. I've had a long journey, down 113 lbs. I have maintained my weight the last 5 years, but i have those last 20 lbs to go...It's a daily struggle, and now that i'm close to my goal, i see myself becoming harsher about those areas i never noticed before! It's a mental game too, no doubt about it!!! I think the success stories are so great, sometimes i forget that i too, have had success this far!!! Thanks for sharing everyone!!

downtome

I decided enough was enough when I found out my ex-husband, recently divorced about 2 months ago, has a new girlfriend! I sure as heck don't want to be left behind and that has motivated me more than anything. I decided to take charge and get serious and do something about it!. Enough of feeling down and out and left out, no more. I want to to get to 155-160 pounds by Feb. 2012. This is my time to reinvent myself and become the person I know I can be. There is a skinny version of me in here somewhere?! This all happened on Thanksgiving, so I started the day after, now it's just over 6 weeks later, down 25 pounds so far!

jantawa

I have to tell myself every single day that enough is enough as I don't want to lose sight of why I not only want, but need to lose weight. I know that a lot of the additional weight that I carry is in emotional baggage that I have to learn to get rid of as well as I am sure it has
played a huge (pardon the pun) part in gaining weight to begin with.

4492

There has been many I mean many of those days, and by me still having the weight on me I guess enough wasn't enough. I stopped drinking after years of abuse, I use to say that that was the reason I couldn't lose weight. I haven't had a drink in 8mths. and I am still close to my all time high 271. I just turned 36 and I thought that that would be my milestone but that was a month ago and I was 267. In 2005 I was 240, in 2002 I went down to 208 and in 1997 I was 175. Today I am 263.2 and don't understand why. I like that lady's post about cal. in<cal. out or something like that. I once was told that a champion is made up of losers that never quit. Call me a champion because I am still on this journey.:noway:

wiseg2

Mine was 5/10/10.

I'd had a baby on 3/23/10 and lost my dad on 9/4/09. He had a heart attack and had struggled with his weight for a long time. He lost a lot of it and was only 54 years old.

I hated how I looked in the mirror and I didn't want to leave my kids without a mom. I was also having numerous health problems. I weighed in at 297 lbs the day I left the hospital after having my daughter. I know I can't ever go back to the way I was.

November 2010 was a really bad month for me because of all the stress. I slipped up a bit and gained back 2 or 3 pounds but I'm fully back on track now and I feel great. So far I've lost 82 lbs and I'm almost halfway there.

NYIceQueen

Like some here, I didn't really have an AHA moment, it was more of a progression. Those who know me know my marriage issues and health issues, but for those of you who don't I've been here off an on for a long time. In July I had a total hysterectomy after they found a cancerous area. So I was laid up for a while. And now my lupus is getting worse (heart, lung, possible kidney/brain involvement), to the point where I've now started Methotrexate injections -- this is a drug that is sometimes used as chemo for cancer patients. I also just found out there's a chance my once-gone brain tumor is back. :mad:

My reasoning for losing weight is that with all my illnesses the less weight on my joints the better it'll be for me in the long run. But I'm also on chronic steroid therapy for the lupus, which makes it hard to lose the weight. I've found myself slipping these few wks with how bad I've been feeling -- lupus and the meds are making my hair fall out, for instance. The day of my first dose about all I could hold down was ice cream. There are days my husband has to almost carry me up the stairs or walk me from the couch to the bathroom. So depression sets in and I go back to bad habits, ie cokes, etc.

So I guess here's my new AHA moment. I don't like that my weight loss progress has slowed/stopped and I need to pick myself up and go back to what I was doing diet wise, even if most days I can hardly move. That any little bit I can do is better than nothing. To allow myself a few treats here and there, but not fall completely off track. So I'm renewing my committment to at least eat better, eat balanced, and just see what comes next.

polo571

Everyone thanks for posting to my topic. Please add me as a friend and lets start pay it forward nation!

Heinz57

I was at the fair with my family and my oldest daughter who was 8 at the time had to ride all the rides alone because I wouldn't fit on them. That was the 1st time I realized. I lost 60 lbs. and was feeling good. Then we had our son and after 10 months of not getting a full night sleep I had thoroughly given up. On 1/3/11 I decided that since none of my old fat clothes fit and i am 10 lbs. heavier than my old start weight...350...I am done with it. Some of the people at work started a weight loss group so let's go for it. Good luck all.

karenjoy

Can I just say two things -

First one - you are all so WONDERFUL and I LOVE reading your stories and send you all much love and best wishes. :flowerforyou:

Second - I don't know if it is a cultural/language issue, but I have NO idea what 'pay it forward' means and what is pay it forward nation please? I have never heard the saying before and it is meaningless to me so I am not sure what it is you want us all to join? Thank you :embarassed:

ifeelsqueaky

My moment was over this last Christmas when I was feeling thoroughly miserable. I ate crap and all I did was sit around and I felt it. I felt really lethargic, had headaches and generally felt like rubbish. I was also speaking to my boyfriend's mom who's recently lost weight through Weight Watchers and it made me realise how much better I felt when I was lighter. I am determined to change my habits for good this time so I am trying hard to reduce the amount of junk I eat. So far it's working - I had a 3 pound loss in my first week. I just hope I can keep it up!

Everyone on this thread has been so inspirational so far by the way, it's truly motivating to read everyone's stories.