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

Nan_

I would be "good" for part of the day and then "mess up" by eating a donut or something, so then I'd just eat whatever I wanted for the rest of the day. My thought process was that I had already screwed up and ruined my diet, so I told myself "I'll start fresh tomorrow" but tomorrow never came. One day I "messed up" my diet again but instead of saying "tomorrow," I said I would start back on my diet right then and there. No more tomorrow, there was only today. That really helped.

I had several moments, such as every Sunday when I tried to find something that fit halfway decent to wear to church. But I remember going to a memorial service and I had my outfit all planned out the night before. I went to put it on the next day and it was too tight. My clothes had been getting tighter and tighter lately and I knew I needed to diet but just kept telling myself "tomorrow."

I was panicking because it was getting later and later and I HAD to get to that service. Everything was just too tight. I knew I was in trouble then. I don't remember what I finally managed to wear but I do remember how upset I was that I couldn't find anything to wear on a day that was already stressful.

RhonndaJ

Didn't have one.

I had to go in for a combination endoscopy/colonoscopy and it struck me that if I was ever going to start clean, so to speak, that might be the right time for it. I had absolutely no faith that I could keep with any plan for very long, god knows I hadn't in the past.

But I'd found MFP months before, and my sister had mentioned that she and her daughter were doing well here, so I thought... what the heck. What's the worst that will happen?

smc1277

Just looking at myself everyday in the mirror, or I should say avoiding looking is enough of a moment.

KLovesTy

seeing myself in our family photos.

msemejuru

My son was looking at old photos my parents dropped by during a visit. It showed my husband and I before kids hiking, camping and rafting. My son asked "Who's that" and pointed to me on a bike racing. He had never seen me active or that thin and didn't recognize me. It was time to get more active and change some habits so he could meet the "real" me. Now I'm alot more active but still chubby as heck!

headoverhills

I hated having my picture taken, because the pictures showed a different me than the one in my mind... Absolute bottom was when the snooty nurse practitioner in my doctor's office looked at me disapprovingly (she's in her 20s, I turned 50) and told me that according to my BMI, I'm categorized as obese.

emilym_3

When I decided to actually look at the scale at the Dr's office instead of turning my head away and saying "Don't tell me... I don't want to know" And I was 296 pounds... I said to myself.. That is it.. I am NOT going to be 300 pounds!

That was another for me as well! I wasn't going to hit 300!

Mich4871

I've never been thin/slim or at the right weight for my body. By the end of last year, I was approaching 41, had two little kids (almost 3 yrs and an 18 month old) and was weighing the most I've ever been in my life. I couldn't keep up with my kids, was always tired and all around feeling awful about myself. Decided to take action and stick to it. As the weight started to fall off, and I started to have more and more energy and more importantly more patience for and with my kids, I just became that more determined to not only be healthy for them but for me too.

I started seeing a trainer at my gym 2x a week, and was going one additional day during the week until I started to become addicted to the exercise! My husband had given me the go ahead to do the 5 week program with my trainer.... that was 7 months ago and I still see him 2x per week and work out now 5-6 days a week. Started running and ran my first 5k this past May and will be running another one at the end of next month. As a SAHM, I feel like I've finally found that "me time" that everyone said I needed to find. It's my escape from the stress and craziness of being over 40 and having two crazy toddlers!

WRXymama

1) When I looked at pic from my 35th Birthday party and couldn't tell where my chin stopped and my chest began.
2) Feeling out of place because I'm the "fat friend"
3) My daughter telling me that she was worried about me not taking care of myself...she was 7 at the time.

melyhegedu

This last Wednesday I woke up feeling bloated and sick after eating half a salty, greasy pizza the night before. I got on the scale and it read 200.0 for the first time ever. I have logged in religiously for the past 2 days, gotten out to exercise both days and am not going to stop until I reach my goal weight. I am sick of: feeling tired, puffy face, back fat, bloated stomach, low self-esteem. Goal #1: log in every day and exercise every day for 3 weeks. I am not going to get on the scale until then.

rebelandduke

I started gaining weight the minute I hit 30... I'm 35 now and 53 pounds heavier. When I had to buy a new wardrobe for the 4th time and started seeing fat rolls on my back I knew I had to do something. I was no longer wanting my hubby because I felt huge, and when I went to the Drs office and was weighed in and saw the number they wrote down I was CRUSHED. I got a Living Social deal that night that offered $78 for Weightloss MD and I jumped on it, figured it was a sign. I'm pumped ready to lose and even bought a treadmill and put it in my living room so there'd be no excuse. I'm almost through with my first week and have lost 4 pounds so far. I know I can get back to being happy. Not high school skinny, but a nice healthy weight for a 35 year old!

vcferlita

The full length mirror at Kohl's :sad:

HelloSweetie4

When I noticed my size 16s getting tight. Around the same time, my mother found out she's pre-diabetic. I didn't want that happening to me.

luckypoisonivy

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)

Mine was a combination of 2 things. Seeing pictures of myself at my daughters first birtday, and trying to ice skate with my husband. Between those 2 I was disgusted with myself and decided enough was enough and it was time to get healthy.

betsymill

Thank you all SO MUCH!! A. I thank each and every one of you for being so candid and sharing. B. I know I'm not alone C. I know I can do this!!

thomassd1969

Not wanting to be fat and uncomfortable anymore.
Feeling sick and bloated all the time.
Hearing myself accept myself like I was and always wishing I could be thinner, Dont wish just Do!

lisa27midd

I just started, so this moment is fresh in my mind. I was honored to stand in my cousin's wedding in Jamaica. We had a blast in paradise. I had been working out for months before we left, and felt semi OK with myself. We got home and everyone started posting pictures on facebook, and I was completely embarassed. I need to make a change. For my physical and mental health. I've been obsessed with my body and weight for my life. I can remember at 25 years old. I loved my body. I weighed 139 lbs, and I carry weight well, so I was actually, for once satisified with my body. I want that feeling back and am determined to do it the right way. I've spent my life starving myself to be skinny, and I need a change. I plan another all inclusive vacation next year, and my goal is to be happy there as well as with the pictures upon my return!!

Good job to everyone who is currently using, just started, or maintaining on this site. I've just started today, and I already enjoy the support and tips I've been getting. I'm glad I had my "moment" because it took that one moment to get me here!

MissChibs

I was just tired of feeling ugly and unhappy. I was tired of not having any confidence.
Whenever I think about stopping, I think about what all those kids would say to me throughout my school years. I want to prove them wrong.

AsiasMommy

When my size 18's started getting too tight. 20 pounds had just snuck up on me after the baby came, I was depressed while she in the hospital over a month. I saw that scale say 254 and broke down that was limit I had to change!!!

Sarahsmiles0875

When I went to the doctor's office and she circled my age and my weight....not like I didnt know how old I was or how much I weighed, but having it pointed out to me like that...it hit me like a ton of bricks!

HeinzPrincess

Prior to my MS relapse last fall, my MS was my excuse for not doing anything I did not want to do.....

I had a relapse with my MS and was on steroids for about three months.
Even though I was careful about not giving in to the food cravings I still managed to gain twenty pounds...

That put me at 200.. (I had never been there). I could not fit into anything in my closet and I was not about to shop in the fat women's section..... I was miserable and every joint in my body hurt.. but I just whined about it and did notthing.
My then two year old grandson wanted me to read him a story on my iPad and he climbed up into the recliner and tried to sit with me, but we did not fit side by side.. so he sat on floor instead.. it broke my heart.
The next day I joined MFP and quit smoking..... that was February 2012. I am forty pounds lighter and my now three year old grandson, climbs up into the recliner now and says "Amma, Amma-- we fit ! We fit!!" and I say, that is because "Amma is smaller" and he says ' Yes, Amma is smaller and I am getting bigger" All the reason in the world for me!!!!!

That made me teary-eyed!


Mine was last winter. My bf's 9 year old daughter put her arms around me in a hug and said, "I can reach the whole way around!" My bf said, "Does that surprise you?" and she replied, "Yes, because she's fat!"

Vansy

I had gained 5 pounds back this year and I've been meaning to get rid of it. Last week [while out of town] I had eaten poorly and had a really intense workout and felt sick to my stomach and disgusting throughout the entire workout. That was my last straw -- enough is enough. So I'm back on-track and realizing the bad things I had been doing to my body. Hopefully those last 10 pounds will be gone in no time.

Sthrncupcake

This picture, my sister tagged me in on FB....I instantly cried at how I had let myself go! Started THAT day!

abnerner

I saw a photo of myself from a friend's daughters birthday party.

I can remember not only did I have the button on my jeans undone, I also sat up super straight in my chair to reduce the muffin-top I had. Needless to say it didn't work, the picture was posted on FB and I untagged myself....and I NEVER untag myself in photos.

I joined MFP 5 days later.

Skinny_Jeans_Soon

When my husband (who was also my first/HS Sweetheart) told me I was fat and he wasn't attracted to me any longer...sigh.

MaryRegs

when trying to tell my mother that her "simple" method of keeping herself healthy set off an explosion in my brain-I, too, had the power to get and stay healthy...started then and there....

LoosingMyLast15

i turned 40! seriously i hit 40 and was like forget this i don't want to be fat anymore i'm done!

bodiva88

It wasn't really a bottom. It wasn't really an ah ha. Two years ago my best friend sat next to me when I was getting ready to leave (I visit him and his family abroad every 1 1/2 to 2 years). He asked me, for them, because they love me and want me around, to try to at least get off the bus a block early. Or walk a block further to it. Anything to get me started in the right direction. And I wanted to do it for them, but I couldn't. This spring at my physical my dr. and I were talking about my new iPhone, which I love and she said, "You know if you love your iPhone so much, maybe this will work for you. It's working for some of my other patients." And she told me about MFP. So I downloaded it. But didn't start using it right away. Then I realized that I was starting to avoid things I enjoyed because I felt too ungainly. Or I worried when I was out about falling or tripping. And I realized this was only going to get worse as I get older. So 6 weeks after putting MFP on my phone I started to use it.

That was Memorial Day. I've gone from swimming 2 half hours a week to swimming 2 half hours and 1 hour and biking 2 half hours. And I set up for calories to lose 1 lb a week, but that's a lot of calories at my weight and my new activity level. And I reached out to my friends to see if anyone else was on MFP and there is a nice group who are banded together on this at various stages of the process. It's been easy so far. I know it will get harder. But I feel I finally have the tools and the will FOR ME to do this.

dsn1118

Mine was a combination of a few things.

1. I was running out of sizes in my favorite store.
2. The picture of me in my profile (left hand side).
3. The big one... my husband had noticed for at least the second time, that I wasn't wearing my engagement ring (which is slightly smaller than my wedding band). He asked me, "Don't you like wearing it anymore?" OMG, that about broke my heart and I knew I needed to do something.

So the ultimate gift to myself when I finally get to my goal weight, I'm getting both wedding band and engagement ring sized down. :bigsmile:

olee67

I tore my pectoral in January 2010 and that started the spiral. I was afraid to do anything to reinjure myself and the weight kept coming... I couldn't see it with my own two eyes, but, "playful" comments would come from my friends and I started to feel myself withdraw from life... On a whim... I took a picture of myself (the one in my profile at my biggest) and was shocked... What I saw in that picture I couldn't see with my own two eyes... It was then I decided it was time to get things turned around.