what was your wake up call?

kealambert
kealambert Posts: 961 Member
edited November 12 in Motivation and Support
Hey guys, just thinking about motivation, and what keeps me going. Personally, it was just stepping on the scale to see it reading 301 pounds, when I hadn't weighed that much in 6 years. I knew I couldn't keep going back down that path. Mine was a very basic, not-super-emotional wake up call, but I'm sure there are some here who have had some really intense experiences. I would love to hear what got people making changes for the better; I'm sure it would help some of us keep at it too!
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Replies

  • mdcjmom
    mdcjmom Posts: 597 Member
    For me my wake up call was several things. Seeing the three on the scale in front of the weight was the least of them but the best physical sign

    My first wakeup call was when I realized health wise I have followed my mother exactly. Aka she had her gall bladder out at thirty so did I. She has been diagnosed with diabetes and high chlosterol and all sorts of health issues. That scared me. I am 6 inches taller than she is but we weigh the same that was a wake up call there.

    My 2nd one was looking at my 14 year old son and realizing he is already over 200 lbs and not active at all. I wanted to set a good example for hime and his brother and sisters. The other three are active but getting him motivated is always a challenge and I thought if he saw me doing it he would too.

    And then last but not least beong told I am beautiful for a big girl. I don;t wanna be a big girl...Just beautiful so now is the time to change all that!
  • quietHiker
    quietHiker Posts: 1,442 Member
    For me, it was having pants that I bought 3 months ago (that fit comfortable then) feel tight and leave me with pant marks in my skin from sitting at my job all day.
  • DJdB
    DJdB Posts: 5
    Breaking the 300 lb mark. Then lifting the 40lb bag of dog food and realizing that I am carrying more than this bag of extra weight on me.
  • Boonster001
    Boonster001 Posts: 62
    For me, I will be turning 50 soon and want to go sky diving -- then realized I didn't meat their weight limit! I'm on week three of this journey and want to make it stick this time!
  • Louise1583
    Louise1583 Posts: 97 Member
    I didn't have a wake up call as such, I just got bored of not feeling awesome.

    Feeling awesome is... awesome. Shifting 35lb was the best thing I ever did, and these last 9lb will be the icing on the low-calorie cake for me.

    Keep at it everyone! :)
  • RhinestoneRocky
    RhinestoneRocky Posts: 124 Member
    My first wake up call was seeing pictures of myself at a friend's wedding. I just saw how puffy my face was and how big my arms looked and just sat at my desk and cried. Just thinking, How the Hell did I get to this point?

    Not more than a month later, and five lbs down, my second wake up call was from a friend's sister at a swanky party asking "How does it feel to be the only one like you (fat) here?" She was being intentionally mean and I had no words. Thankfully her cousin spoke up and told her to shove her self-righteous anorexic BS up her bleached b-hole. I felt more determined than ever to lose weight. Lost 40 lbs, got married, went off the weight loss drug then WHAMMO, here I am sitting pretty almost back up to the original weight. Different measurements completely now too. (smaller)

    So THIRD wake up moment was seeing that number on the scale and noticing my dresses feeling a wee bit snug.

    Third times a charm. Now being off phentermine for almost 2 years I'm really noticing just how much that drug messed with my system and how much harder it is to drop the weight with PCOS. But armed with the right tools, anything is possible. :)
  • Italianyc84
    Italianyc84 Posts: 192 Member
    getting GOUT at the age of 26. Having bad pains in my knees and back and terrible heartburn. Realizing that if I didn't get it under control NOW, it would be a million times harder later.
  • chemically_imbalanzed
    chemically_imbalanzed Posts: 13
    watching a co-worker lose weight super fast with sensa. this inspired me to do the same... only a safer, more controlled approach. I didn't want to spend the money on sensa, nor did I want to use the bathroom as much as she does... im fat and lazy.. why would I want to use the bathroom an astronomical amount of times.. thats a lot of pulling up and down clothes!! So.. deciding I didn't want to be the fat girl alone at work, I decided to find me a nice app on the android market.. THANK YOU MFP!! I love scanning my food in with the app!! Now, she is losing with sensa and I am losing with sense! (sorry for when you read this! ha! <3) I'm actually liking exercising.. the initial thoughts are still negative.. ohhh i don't wanna exercise... but once i start.. no wait, i still say ohhh i don't wanna do this... but once I'm done, I feel much better! Then I wanna do it again and again, but I'm usually at work.. so I just get up and walk around the building a lot.. one day my boss is gonna yell at me but until then.. I GET UP AND MOVE!!
  • PrincessLou71186
    PrincessLou71186 Posts: 741 Member
    Being told that I won't ever have children if I don't lose weight. We've been trying for nearly four years.
  • Tajdancer
    Tajdancer Posts: 82 Member
    After a year of unimaginable stress and Prednisone, I got on the scale one day and read 202. Never in my life had I weighed that much. I had gained forty pounds in the space of one year. Now I'm off the Pred, and back on the road to health.
  • juliekbwell
    juliekbwell Posts: 155 Member
    Getting to my all-time highest weight and thinking of my kids. I missed feeling like my old self, vibrant and full of life. Weight really does weigh you down (no pun intended). I was a cheerleader for 5 years (last time almost 9 years ago), but since then I have just slowly but surely 'let myself go'. Time for a change. I want to be HOT again! :)
  • gudiiya
    gudiiya Posts: 116 Member
    What clicked for me is seeing my lil 9 year old girl follow the same steps I was following. I tell her I don't want her to turn out like me and at the same time, I tell everyone that kids do what you do not what you say...slowly I started to get back to the gym. I started to eat right. I figured out what I needed to do for my body to start losing...and I am still learning. I love MFP. I want to see myself at my all time lowest weight as an adult which is only 29 pound away...slow and steady--I just want to be happy and to me weightloss = happiness. For me and my babies.
  • natashahunt2010
    natashahunt2010 Posts: 49
    getting called "tubby tosha" by my boyfriend. definatly openned my eyes. lol
  • csparon
    csparon Posts: 200 Member
    Being told I was too fat to join the Navy in September.

    Lost the weight and joined November 9, 2011.

    Ship date July 10, 2012 :laugh:
  • joannea1988
    joannea1988 Posts: 73
    my profile pic, , and my periods stopped because i was so heavy , i want to be the best mom to my daughter
  • Enonoid
    Enonoid Posts: 136 Member
    My wake up call was seeing my cholesterol >200. Had to get a handle ono that and quick. That was Jan. 4. As of Feb. 26, it is 184.
  • csparon
    csparon Posts: 200 Member
    getting called "tubby tosha" by my boyfriend. definatly openned my eyes. lol

    Aw I hope he was just playing lol, my fiance and I call each other fatties when we eat too much food but we're just playing.
  • MadeInDR022
    MadeInDR022 Posts: 260
    Seeing stretch marks on my stomach...yea, I know its weird but I felt devastated lol
  • LittleMiss_WillLoseIt
    LittleMiss_WillLoseIt Posts: 1,373 Member
    I definitely had a wake up call and I will always remember it. I went to my dr for a routine check up. I hadn't been on a scale in over a year. I knew I had gained some weight, but when the scale read 300. I was in complete shock. That alone made me realize I had to definitely make a lifestyle change. Not only did my weight made me realize, but my blood pressure was high and my sugar was higher than normal. My dad has diabetes so this definitely worried me. From that day on, I knew I had to be committed. It's been a year now and I am 65lbs down. It definitely should be more, however, I lost sight of things and lets things bring me down. NOT ANYMORE NOW....I went to the dr today and not only is my blood pressure excellent, but my sugar was also. This made all my motivation come back...:)
  • pogojr
    pogojr Posts: 83 Member
    The final trigger was when my OB/GYN offered to write a letter of recomendation for me to have gastric bypass surgery, when I was not asking for any kind of weight loss advice.
  • coraliethomas
    coraliethomas Posts: 336 Member
    When I realized that I didnt have any pictures of me with my 4 year old this christmas... purely because I wouldnt let anybody take my picture. I realized how selfish I was being, because I can never get that exact moment back, and I was depriving her of photos of us as a family on Christmas day.
  • Classalete
    Classalete Posts: 464 Member
    A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
  • lesliemifflin
    lesliemifflin Posts: 56
    my wake up call was waking up in the hospital because i kept passing out. medical issues that kept viciously cycling around because i wouldn't get my weight managed ...after 5 trips in 1 year i decided that was absolutely absurd and i started taking action. i have an ovary disease that makes me have to work 10 times harder than the average person, but it is so worth it!!! to anyone whose struggling or hitting a peak, JUST KEEP GOING. once you get back in the swing of things, you NEVER regret a thing!! good luck to everyone!
  • unmitigatedbadassery
    unmitigatedbadassery Posts: 653 Member
    Having a stroke at 27 and making a promise to change my life to my mom the week she passed.
  • csparon
    csparon Posts: 200 Member
    The final trigger was when my OB/GYN offered to write a letter of recomendation for me to have gastric bypass surgery, when I was not asking for any kind of weight loss advice.

    Wow, that's intense. Both of my parents have gone through that and I am terrified of that surgery. Glad to see you have lost 30lbs though :)
  • Fockertots
    Fockertots Posts: 221
    getting called "tubby tosha" by my boyfriend. definatly openned my eyes. lol

    I hope he's now your EX boyfriend...
  • mountaingirl222
    mountaingirl222 Posts: 88
    My wake up call was being diagnosed with fibromayalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. Dr told me if I lose the weight I wont feel as bad as I did. With every pound gone the pain is less excruciating.
  • swycoff17
    swycoff17 Posts: 50 Member
    My wake up call was looking down at the scale and seeing 198. Being an athlete most of my life, I hovered around the 140's and early 150's....but a few years of not exercising and all the sudden that's what happened.
    I told myself I was NOT going to hit 200 pounds. Each pound I get farther away from 200 the happier and more proud of myself I get.
  • ZumbaBeast86
    ZumbaBeast86 Posts: 96
    My wake up call came right after my brother's wedding. Literally, the next day. Pictures of the wedding party and from throughout the evening were posted online and I was so disgusted with how I looked. I feel ashamed of the fact that I let myself get THIS bad and that I looked that way for my only brother's wedding. I found MyFitnessPal a few months after the wedding, and I'm pushing myself harder every day every time I see one of those wedding pictures. I'm never going back to what I was, because it does not define who I am.
  • jfcarlson713
    jfcarlson713 Posts: 108 Member
    Going to bed one night and feeling my stomach flop over to the side when I rolled over. That was May 14, 2011. Proud to say I'm down almost 50 pounds (for some reason I've been self-sabatoging for the last month - joined a gym this week.) NO MORE EXCUSES....It's up to me!!!!!
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