What was your bottom/ah-ha moment....

betsymill

I've been struggling the past few weeks (ok, two months) with getting motivated and telling myself tomorrow is my day and ultimately I fail and disappoint myself.

I was just wondering...........what was your bottom and/or ah ha moment (if there was one) where you said enough and started your weight loss/exercise journey?


(I should also not try posting when I first wake up)

lwoodroff

when I had some lovely photos done with a friend, when they arrived a few weeks later I said 'I'm never going to look like this again'. Totally shocked - especially as it was a day when I'd had fun, been happy, felt pampered etc and 'at my best'. and I had a moon face staring back at me. I still have that pic on my phone to remind me, I don't even recognise that girl any more!

I was also sitting and watching my kids instead of joining in, and I hated that. My aim has always primarily been to be fit and healthy rather than a certain weight - so now I'm just under the top end of 'normal' BMI (which was a huge change from 29.9!), but I can run up the stairs without getting out of breath, and enjoy my life and theirs. The challeng is keeping it there. Maintenance is far harder than the loss was!

You can do it - every decision is a new one and can be good, even if the previous one was shockingly poor! You don't have to wait for the next day or the next week to make a good decision about food or exercise.

Oh, and motivation is a myth - but you can have determination. For me routine was very important - if it's Monday at 6.30pm then I'm doing XYZ. I also found a personal trainer invaluable to kick start fitness improvement as it pushed me beyond what I thought I could do - which is exactly what your body needs to change!

emma7437

No one exact moment for me, just a long time of feeling not happy with myself. Getting a personal trainer was what worked for me. I told myself that it simply had to work, because if it didn't then I would be forever overweight and that made me worry. Luckily it is working.

Remember this journey is small steps. Rather than having a succeed or fail mentality, can you set yourself small goals? Today I won't eat chocolate, today I won't snack after dinner, today I will walk - whatever you need for you. Not sure if this will help, but if it does, then I am pleased I wrote it.

Good luck, it is hard but well worth it : )

ClairBears84

When I met my Now boyfriend, he was the first person who I really wanted to be my absoute best for, when I saw our first pgoto together "I nearly died" I was shocked at how far i had let myself go , even though i had already lost 6kg before I started this new journey. I knew I had to do this to be better healthier for me, for him.

I always start these things and never really makeit work for myself. This time I am!! I am an additional 8kg down and I feel great, so far mybiggest pants was a 22 i now were a 16. Still got 16kg to go atleat.

I have HORRRRIBLE before photos at home that remind when i loose focus too!

Its a lifestyle change, embrace it and love it!

blackcoffeeandcherrypie

For me, I was getting gradually more and more depressed as I couldn't squeeze myself into my favourite clothes and beautiful sexy underwear anymore. In terms of motivation I record weight loss TV shows and when I'm due a workout I watch them and they inspire me to go get on the treadmill, etc. The Biggest Loser really motivates me to get out of my chair :-)

triheart

There was lots of build up "moments" - even my "fat clothes" getting too small, seeing pictures of myself/avoiding the cameras, etc., but the ultimate moment was going to the doctor's office for a regular check up and seeing that number on the scale! I actually cried right there in his office!! That appointment was April 26, I started MFP April 27, and I'm up to 37 pounds loss now! I can't wait for my follow up appointment in December!! LOL

jennielou75

There were 3 main ones.
1. I was walking to the station after work eating a banana when a woman said to her little girl 'If you eat too much you will look like that fat lady'.
2. Having to lift my stomach in the shower to clean underneath it. I was only 36 and felt so unnattractive.
3. Having a surgeon tell me I had 5-10 years to live if I carried on abusing my body.

I am so grateful for my second chance I will not allow anything or anyone to stop me from achieving my being healthy goal.

evademers

I am turning 40 in 6 months and i want to be healthy happy and lastly have a bikini body...lol My turning moment was I was put on meds that made me gain weight and after being thin my whole life I decided since i wasnt going to change my meds that i better start eating heathier and get my body moving!! Now I am addicted and have finally found something I love to do for myself and my mind. Its a great stress reliever and you will feel sooooo good once you take the first step!! You can do it do it for you health first the rest will follow i always say MIND BODY and spirit!!!! Today is the day take your first step, youll be glad you did

wjkfloyd

Seeing pictures of myself on a cruise...knew I had to do something.

shanlc77

my moment was when i found out that my dad's sister was going to pass away due to heart/diabeties related problems. This will be his second sister in less than 4 months to die of the same issues. I was heading in the same direction as they were and I dont want my dad to live through that with me.

tarisaralonde

We were at work and one of my coworkers mentioned the MFP app. So I downloaded the app and started doing it for a couple of days. Then I thought, AHA! This is so easy. If I'm on Facebook everyday on my phone, I could use this app everyday on my phone as well. Then I did it. 100+ straight days now and still counting. 30 lbs lost.

Tinamac1

Photos of my dads wedding. Just a few weeks ago my brother come to me and was like "Oh my gosh you have lost so much, I saw the photos of the wedding and wow." The wedding was in 2009 I think.

Mpol2

Emma, that is GREAT advice. Small goals are doable and you have to pat yourself on the back for every little one you achieve. Baby steps. We have all been on that "I blew it so I will eat everything ang start again tomorrow" roller coaster a million times. If you make a mistake, say oh well and get back on track right away. The trick is to on track more often than off track.... Not to be perfect.

shyeban

I got a phone call to say that my toddler had an "episode" and an ambulance had been called - I ran the whole way and it almost killed me. That was the beginning of the end of my unhealthy lifestyle.
That and my morbidly obese mother visiting.

Catalpa62

A friend asked me to be in her wedding. I said yes, of course, and went to go get fitted for the dress.

I was a size 18 when I thought I had been a size 14, at most.

I came home that day, stripped down, and looked at myself. *Really* looked. What I saw was unacceptable. That day, I found MFP, and I've never looked back.

Good luck on your journey!!

petechiae

I didn't step on the balance for a very long time. Maybe 1 year. And what I saw completely shocked me.
Now I know that numbers don't mean anything, that the scale can lie... but that was just way too much.

jakidb

ironically it was when my friend Vann sent me an invite to join MFP; I've been hooked and motivated ever since!

clbowman11

I had just bought a bunch of size 13 pants a couple months before and was growing out of them, like I seemed to do a little at a time since I was a size 5. And we had no money to go buy new clothes for me. So, I buckled down. I've lost 11.5 lbs and tomorrow will make 1 month for me. (: those size 13's are loose on me now and I almost comfortably fit into AE size 12 (: I'd told myself after my daughter was born I was gonna get skinny. Skinnier than I'd ever been but that didn't happen after the c-section. So, almost 16 months later I decided it was time. (: Better late than never.

Ghkffb56

Mine was just last week... I Had goals.. that turned into dreams... been pretty sick, i felt like i was cutting myself short and using it as an excuse not to reach my goals... but then a very special person in my life told me i was worth more and to stop being a sad c@nt. O_O thats when i was like oh lawd.... and now im back on track to competeing. ^^

minkakross

My doctor diagnosed me with Diabetes in December apparently she had done it 3 months earlier but hadn't told me, only added more meds then on a follow up visit in Dec. I saw it in my chart and realized if I didn't get serious I was going to put myself in an early grave.

I was 35 when I had my first child and 38 when I had my second, I figured if my girls waited as long as I did to have kids I might not meet my grandbabies so I guess I had found my long term motivation to reverse my poor health in hopes to live long enough to meet the next generation.

majikmiker

Hmmmm.....There are so many moments.

Like going to a restaurant and they either have only booths or their chairs are bolted to the ground, so we have to go somewhere else to eat because I couldn't fit in the chairs.

Or anything to do with flying. You could see people cringe when they came down the aisle and saw me sitting by the window, and then having the armrest dig into my leg the entire flight.

Or walking through the mall and seeing teenagers and kids laughing at how big you are.

Or having to watch my kids ride all the rides at the amusement park and me just take pictures.

Or not being able to wear my wedding ring because I couldn't get it on my finger.

Only buying my clothes off EBAY because even the Big and Tall store didn't have my size.

Not being able to play hockey with my 15 year old son, or go for walks with my daughter.

Then there was all the medical stuff. Perhaps the rock bottom was the sleep apnea and having to wear a mask at night to sleep. Uggghhhh....I hated that thing. :ohwell:


BUT.....that's all changed now, and I'm hitting the amusement park with my kids for the first time in probably 10 years next week!! They are my inspiration and motivation. :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

majikmiker

Mine was just last week... I Had goals.. that turned into dreams... been pretty sick, i felt like i was cutting myself short and using it as an excuse not to reach my goals... but then a very special person in my life told me i was worth more and to stop being a sad c@nt. O_O thats when i was like oh lawd.... and now im back on track to competeing. ^^

AHHHH....one of those friends that doesn't hold anything back I'm guessing.....lol. Gotta luv em.

cartrat

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cartrat

fat clothes started fitting too snuggly.

then my boyfriend proposed to me.

i didn't to be a chunky bride and also, didn't want to become a fat wife. even though we plan for the wedding to be over a year from now, i wanted to start losing the weight and know i could maintain 'til the big day and beyond... since that's where the real struggle begins for some...

i love my fiance to death and believe that keeping myself healthy shows respect for not only myself, but for him. i don't want him worrying about me or get to the point where he says, "baby... those pants don't really fit..." i gained 10 lbs the first year we dated--all happy weight of course--and while he never said anything and still considered me physically attractive, it will only get harder to lose weight if i let too much time go by. so i started the second week in july

RAWRFEARME

my ah ha moment i'll admit was only a week ago! i've been off and on with dieting for a wile. I walked by a mirror about to change into pajamas and just thought,'I'm 40 pounds over weight' so instead of changing into some PJs i put on some jogging clothes and went for a 30 minute jog/walk. Then i put alarms on my phone, 6:55 Look in mirrior, 7:00 go jogging, 7:30 you can go home now. Having your phone bug you till you do something you need to do makes me run everyday

sherim71

Mine was a picture with hubby in February when I weighed 221 pounds - my highest ever. I looked at that picture and thought "OMG I'm a fat person." I had a double chin. My upper arm was huge. I also had noticed that when I was driving I could feel rolls of skin touching the insides of my arms. I hated it. That, and the medical issues I had been experiencing, sent me over the (good) edge.

victoriaannewilliams

I've been on MFP for at least a year, and I would be good for a week, and then terrible on weekends, and would feel so guilty and just come back on here every once in a while. Then I found this girl's blog: undressedskeleton.tumblr.com and I realized that could be me! She went from in the 200's to the 115's. I don't want to be that skinny, but I would like to be around 130. After looking at that I said enough with the excuses, if I'm doing it I'm going all in. I quit drinking sodas, and just had a cup of coffee with a serving of creamer so I wouldn't have terrible headaches, and now I don't even need caffeine! I weighed myself everyday and saw the scale go down, and that kept me motivated!!!

bluebird321

Looking at some christmas pics and seeing Fred Flinstone next to my wife.

Sister_Someone

We had a physical in my school and I was the heaviest out of 24 females in my class.

alpine1994

Honestly I just woke up one day and knew. It was time to change.

Of course like most people, I wanted to give up at every tiny set-back. What keeps me going is that after I had lost a good amount of weight and toned up, I got fitted and bought a bridesmaid dress for my best friend's wedding in 9 months. The consultant at the dress store said it's IMPOSSIBLE to have the dress "let out" if I gained weight because of the type of fabric/cut, but it can be taken in. It's a size 8, the smallest I've been in my adult life. I have put it on twice since then for reference, and it's getting a little loose
I keep in mind that if I give up and gain the weight back, I won't be able to be in her wedding.

blueroses_78

my moment was when my husband snapped a pic of me when I wasn't paying attention. I was drinking a soda pop, and surfing the internet. He meant to get a pic of our small son in his playpen (next to me - we were watching videos earlier), and I saw how I looked...it was terrible. That was it for me. I am NEVER going back. I have worked myself hard and I'll continue to do it until I get to my ultimate goals.