What Was The Turning Point For You?

ChloMonster

For me it started with quitting smoking. I had asthma, was more than 100 lbs overweight/morbidly obese, stressed out to the max, fatal family history hanging over my head. For Valentine's Day 2009 I decided I would love myself enough to take care of myself and quit smoking. It was the best decision I ever made and started my being aware of the state of my health in general. In 2010 I joined WW and learned so much about diet and what I was putting into my body. I lost 62 lbs and 43 inches. The first 4 months of 2012 I sat back, maintained, and finally got my motivation back at the end of April. I will be 40 on June 8th, and hope to spend the year learning to be active and reaching my goal weight. My asthma is all but gone now, my stress level has really improved with exercise, and my blood work looks great!

jhamlin6668

February 21, 2001, 330 lbs - Gastric Bypass Surgery
February 2002 - 175 lbs - felt like crap
May 2010 - weight 294 - doctor wanted to put on me on blood pressure medication. I had always prided myself (falsely) that well, I may be fat, but at least I don't have any "fat people" diseases - high bp, diabetic, etc... Well, that false pride has been my kick in the butt. I refuse to go on bp meds (it is only about 15 pts over normal, so it's not like I'm going to drop dead in a month. I just don't want to be on meds for something I can fix myself)) so I have made drastic changes. I don't feel deprived (yet), I've been doing it for a month and have lost 14 lbs. My skin looks better, I am even taking better care of my home, body, and clothes.

nrvo

I have a lot of knee problems and have had surgery on one of em.....didn't really help much though. My doc said that losing 1lb of weight alleviates 5lb of stress on my knee, so I am trying to get to the point where I can walk around comfortably.

Plus my work clothes were getting super duper tight, and it's cheaper to lose weight than to buy all new clothes

NA_Willie

When I thought I was just a normal fat guy (5'5" 250) and found out a few months ago my Dad had high blood pressure so I made an appointment with a doctor and mine was 180/100. Ive dropped about 40 lbs since then (3 months) and am trying to get to 180. For any concerned parties the blood pressure is fine now.

Scheherazadea

I'm a big fan of Hervé Léger dresses, but the weight I've gained in the past 3 years has made it impossible for me to feel comfortable wearing one. Now when I wear one of those form-fitting dresses, I see a body that doesn't feel like it belongs to me. At one point, I even told my boyfriend that I wanted to get liposuction. In fact, I looked up the best plastic surgeons in my area for a consultation! That was it for me. I'm still very young and I never, ever even entertained the idea of plastic surgery, and now I want to get procedures done on all parts of my body?! I needed to regain control of how I looked, so hopefully in a few months, I can fit into those Hervé Légers again.

chezmama

Looking at pictures of myself from a side view and I don't have a neck. I hate my double chin...and when I got too fat to even wear some of my necklaces, I thought "This is crazy! It has to change!" I was working on it a few weeks before I found MFP, but joining MFP is when things really clicked for me.

chezmama

Looking at pictures of myself from a side view and I don't have a neck. I hate my double chin...and when I got too fat to even wear some of my necklaces, I thought "This is crazy! It has to change!" I was working on it a few weeks before I found MFP, but joining MFP is when things really clicked for me.

Midori_i

I'd been unhappy with my bad physical shape for years, hated always doing worse than everybody else in gym class back in school. Hated looking at myself in changing room mirrors. Never wanted my photo taken. But the turning point for me was three months after I found out that I was going to move to California and three months before I actually moved there. I met a guy from there, really liked him, and knew that in three months time I'd see him again there.
I decided to be a slimmer me by the time I'd start my new life there and when I'd see him again - and I was.

He and I didn't make it in the end, but I continued to watch what I eat and to exercise just for me, and I've kept exercising and eating healthy for the past three years. I gradually started to eat too much again, and didn't have much of a motivation to stay skinny in cold, rainy England, but now I'm on here to get my California weight back.

SweetLe

As embarrassing as it is….It was last summer, I was at my local amusement park with my daughter. She wanted me to go on the slide with her…heres a picture of it (http://www.knoebelsfun.com/pics/skyslide.html). Well I agreed, as I got to the top I realized how narrow it is but tried anyway. Well as you can guess…I got stuck. Not only was it a disappointment to my daughter, my family was there to see me struggle to make it all the way down. As silly as it may sound, that ride haunts me and I never EVER want to be in that situation again.

Mrsshellers

When I stepped on the scales and realised that in under 10 months I had piled on a stone in weight (14lbs) - and I have gone up a dress size. I got engaged at Christmas and want to make sure I lose this weight and keep it off for my wedding next year

_eislek_

At the house where I babysit, there is a mirror in the foyer. One day I looked in the mirror at my stomach and thought EW. This is not attractive. I was about 138-140 then. That day I decided I had to change what I was doing and I haven't looked back since. I usually get into a healthy kick for a week or two but I started being better to my body in early April and I'm still going and don't plan on stopping!!! I never want to go back to feeling ashamed of my body.

roseannericke

I think photos do it for most of us..but my turning point was the epiphany that I was squeezing into a pair of jeans...just because going out and buying new was too much work....because when I looked in the full length mirror I was disappointed at how I looked and then the spiral continued and I was in a bad mood cause I felt horrible about the way I looked...needless to say, I am SSSOOOO glad I found this sight...it helps me keep things in perspective!!

krevelle65

I blew a blood vessel in my eye. The doctor told me all the possible causes, blood pressure was the likely culprit. I had to go on blood pressure meds. I hate taking pills. My doctor sent me to a dietician. I lost 20 lbs. in eight months. Over the winter I gained 10 pounds back. I decided not this time. 2010 was the first year I can remember weighing less at years end. I was going to keep the weight off and start a new tradition of not gaining it all back plus. I now weigh 264 I have two more pounds to get below my last summers weight. I have tried fad diets. I always gain it back. This time I am trying to get in a exercise and diet schedule I can live with for the long haul. I would love to see the other side of 200. I have a boss that had the by pass surgery, He went from 340 to a current 180 but eats nothing but crap. We go in his office and he will be spiting whatever junk food he has been chewing on in the garbage. It's gross! If ever there was a poster boy for not having the surgery it's him. There are no quick fixes, I put on this weight a few pounds per year since Sept 1986 (before a got pregnant for my daughter ,@ 120) Hopefully it won't take that long to take the weight off. I would like to start dating and go traveling but my weight slows me down.

Ali_TSO

I want to start a family and never saw myself 350 lbs and pregnant...but in order to get pregnant at all, you have to actually be able to have sex with your husband...if I'm being honest. It's next to impossible. I'm now 346 lbs and he's roughly 420 lbs. I figure if I'm REALLY serious this time and buckle down and we start seeing results, then maybe he'll follow suit. I worry about him. He smokes too. Also, we're moving to GA to be nearer to friends and family in about a year, and I want to start really TRYING for a baby then. And I want to be one of those families that gets out and DOES things together...

SuzMac1981

I was never inspired to lose weight. I continued to eat, continued to stuff my feelings down into my stomach via food, and I was fine with it. I thought that if someone would love me, they would love the fat me. I continued to destroy myself for 5 1/2 years after having my daughter and I gained 100 pounds in those 5 years. I continued to have that destructive mind-set and never really wanted to do anything about it. I was addicted to food (and I still am).

One day, as I dropped my daughter off at school, a little boy said "wow, your mom is SO fat, she is really, really huge" and I wanted to die. I literally wanted to lay down right there and just die. I knew I was fat. I knew I was super morbidly obese but I NEVER wanted my daughter to hear about it. And now that she's school-aged (and kids have no censorship or know better about saying these things out loud), it's happening.

On that same day my work sent out an email about "Shape Up the Nation" a challenge we, as a hospital, were going to participate in and they were looking for participants. I signed up.

My start date was March 7th, 2011. I found MFP that same day and I haven't looked back. I've lost 55 pounds in less than 3 months. My work challenge has been over since May 15th and yet, here I am, going and going and going! I WILL continue to lose the additional 130 I'd like to lose. Even at that weight, I will still be obese. At that point I will want to lose about 50-75 more pounds but I need to get to that big first goal before I focus on that REALLY long term goal.

One step at a time.... I can do this. Here are my stats:

Height: 5'8"
SW: 436.4
CW: 381.2
1st GW: 250
Ultimate GW: 175

sunshine__angel

Wow, everyone who posted - thank you! You are truly an inspiration. Everyone here has a reason why they want to get better with eating habits and exercise and life a healthy lifestyle. Reading what made everyone say, "Enough is enough" motivates me SO much!

Thank you all again - I will refer back to this thread ANY time I need some inspiration!!