When did you know it was time for a change?

MissGeorgiaPeachy

For me, it all started when I went to the doctor and had to be put on blood pressure medication at 30 years old. You would think that would have been enough to make me change how I was eating right then and there, but unfortunately it wasn't! Also, let me say that I have always been chubby/fat. I was a fat baby, a fat toddler, a fat child, teenager, young adult... I've never been thin. Ever.

I am lucky enough to have a sweetheart who has always called me beautiful every day, no matter what I looked like, so I went along thinking "Why bother? I love food! I'm not an emotional eater, I just eat for the love of eating food and my honey loves me no matter what!" I thought if I went on a diet I would be unhappy, so I continued to eat and continued to gain weight. (LOTS of weight!)

A year later I was struck with the most God awful pain imaginable in my foot. Convinced it was just a sprain from swimming and jumping around too vigorously in the pool, I just ignored it. I figured it would get better on its own. It didn't. I went to the ER and was told "It doesn't look like a sprain, it's just swollen." and they gave me an ankle brace, some lovely, lovely pain killers and sent me on my way. It healed up in a few days and I was glad it was over. I couldn't stress to anyone enough how painful it actually was and felt much, much WORSE than a sprain and nobody could understand why I couldn't just get up and hop along. (Hello! Pain in foot plus weighing a ton!) Alas... just as usual, I went right back to my old eating habits.

It wasn't until a few months ago that I had finally had enough. Once again the pain set into my foot and I couldn't walk (this was the third time in 6 months!). As it turns out, I had inherited Gout from my father...or maybe just from being overweight, we're not really sure. The only thing I kept thinking was "If I were thinner, it wouldn't be so hard to get around in this much pain." I know it sounds ridiculous because Gout hurts no matter what you weigh. I started taking sodium pills and tried to get as much salt as I could out of my diet...

Then I took a flight to visit my mother. The whole time I was waiting in the terminal I would think "What if my seatbelt doesn't fit? What if they make me buy an extra ticket? How do I tell them it doesn't fit? What will they do if I can't afford another ticket?" It was embarrassing to even THINK about! Sure enough, I got into my seat and the seatbelt wouldn't reach. I struggled and struggled to get it fastened so I wouldn't have to embarrass myself, thanking goodness the guy next to me was looking out of his window and not paying any attention to the seatbelt wrestling... I huffed and puffed and broke a sweat and FINALLY got it fastened and could breath a short sigh of relief... but it dug into me for the entire two hour flight. As it turns out, the guy next to me actually had MY seatbelt pulled across his lap and I was trying to fasten HIS into mine... but still. Every flight I have ever taken has found me lengthening the seatbelt to the very last place and even that is embarrassing. I thought "For once, I would like to take a flight and actually have to tighten the seatbelt."

That brush with embarrassment over my size and weight was the last straw! I started to change how I ate, but I wouldn't weigh myself because I didn't want to get discouraged and I wasn't really noticing a visible change, but then a good friend told me about this website. What a Godsend!!! She had lost 80+ pounds herself, so of course she knew what she was talking about.

I joined, I figured out my calorie allowance, I learned how to read labels and never put empty calories into my body so I would always feel satisfied and never hungry and I am completely awestruck by the results. I've only been doing this for a week, but I have changed the way I eat entirely. I don't eat anything I don't like, but I'm finding that I like a LOT of healthy food and contrary to what I always believed, a diet doesn't mean you have to starve yourself!

This website and my results combined is the first time in my life that I really feel like "I can do this!" I have NEVER felt so healthy, energetic and food conscious. Plus, the community here is SO motivational. Everyone is so supportive and when I had a bad day this week, I posted in the forums and every reply helped me get past the cravings a little more.

It has only been a week since I joined MFP, but I have already lost 8 pounds and an inch off my waist! Everyone here has helped me find foods that are low cal that I actually enjoy eating. I don't have to give up my love of food. I just learned to love different food! I will never, ever, ever, ever go back to the way I was eating again. EVER! I'm addicted to how good this feels. I think back on all the fast food and fattening junk and it never really made me happy. Most times I felt sick afterwards. I can't put into words how GOOD my food choices now are making me feel and I don't skimp on deliciousness! (And I haven't had Gout since changing my eating habits, woohoo!)

Anyway, sorry for the rambling... I'm really hoping I can stick to it and I do believe I can! I've noticed that my eating habits have also inspired people around me to make conscious choices.. even my fiancee who is a notorious junk food fiend!!

I was just wondering if anyone else had any stories to share about when they finally got the point where enough was enough.

sgk0411

when in labor I had to say I weighed 227.