What was your "AHA!" moment?

quirkytizzy

That final push that convinced you that you wanted to be healthier?

For me, it was about the time when I realized I'd outgrown EVERY pair of pants I own. As I don't have money to go buy more, I went and rummaged through my old "fat" clothes at my ex-husband's house, which netted me a SINGLE pair of jeans. I've been in those jeans for something like six months now. (Jean washing sucks. Jean washing twice a week because that's all you can fit into sucks even more!)

And then one day, the cat peed on the single pair of pants I can wear. That very day, I realized I needed to do something. And I so I signed up here.

What was your guy's moments???

reneecgc

My Ah Hah moment was that my back hurt everyday and I had to see the chiropractor way too much. I did not want to be
in pain anymore. Losing weight was the answer.

dorianaldyn

For me it was just stepping on a scale. I knew I'd gained a few pounds but I didn't think it was that much! Needless to say, I step on a scale daily now, ha ha. No more surprises.

Jaulen

For me it was seeing a picture of myself with my kid and thinking "Wow! Who's that fat person with my kid?".....in conjunction with my annual physical for OSHA, and getting my BP, cholesterol, and body fat results and going....."Oh oh! No longer in the lows, I'm now normal! (for bp and cholesterol, and BF was a lot higher than I thought it would be)"

Well, and having a closet full of cute clothes I can't wear anymore.....and not wanting to spend more $ for clothes to fit into.

jacksonpt

Driving down a bumpy road one day, I could feel my boobs jiggle.

Daxgyetmhanaak

A recent picture of myself taken at a family function told me I need to get my butt in gear!

Findingmyathlete

It was when I had been exercising my butt off for 4 months (5 days a week doing bootcamp style workouts and cardio) and had not dropped a pound. I am fat, I need to change that, and I need to get real about my diet. I want my hard work to matter.

So. I changed my diet and instantly started seeing the change.

NiSan12

My moment was when people my age started calling me 'maam'.

tippett610

After having baby #3 - i gained a lot of weight while pregnant.
I have gotten back to the weight that I was before getting pregnant but my shape is different so my clothes still don't fit.:sad:

kimbolay7

Looking in the mirror and thinking I want to wear clothes where I don't have to hide my tummy. But wear clothes cos I love them. Also planning a girls holiday for next year when my best friends are slim, I did not wanna be the beached whale friend!!! I wanted a confidence booster and I'm feeling more and more confident everyday!

MsJulielicious

My super stretch jeans that i had been stuffing myself in... literally. freaking. exploded... I mean my butt and my thighs just burst out of the seams So, I hit the gym for 6 days a week for 12 weeks and lost 20 then signed up on here to lose the last ten

Jaulen

Driving down a bumpy road one day, I could feel my boobs jiggle.

Ah yes, the driving down a bumpy road and feeling jiggle in places that you've never felt jiggle before...I'm with you on that one too.

deb3129

I went to the doctor in March because I was having pain in the center of my chest when I ate. He diagnosed me with reflux, and gave me two weeks worth of Nexium samples. He also explained how I could make dietary changes to get rid of it. I walked out of there, and thought and thought about it. I was 41 years old and 338 pounds. Though it was only reflux that day, I knew that one day it would be high blood pressure, or diabetes or some other illness that I could have prevented. And I did not want to end up unhealthy and on a bunch of medicine for stuff that I could have prevented. I made the decision that day to do whatever I needed to do to get healthy. I have come a LONG way since then!

mell6355

This has been my "you only get one shot at it" year. Realizing that I only have one life to live and one chance to live it, I don't want to look like I do, I want to look in the mirror and like what I see. I also want others to look at me like I look at them, wondering what she does to keep it up, how she fits it all in to a day.

allifantastical

I was sitting at my desk while working and realized my belly was sitting on top of my legs. Never good. I felt like I never looked good in anything and it was actually getting kinda hard to breathe. I watch my grandma with her oxygen mask and 75% of her heath problems are because she was overweight the bulk of her life. I don't want that to be me. I'm almost 26, and it's only going to get harder the older I get.

agggie550

I was on a business trip for work, in Oakridge, TN. Staying at an extended stay suites or something dont remember exactly what hotel, but this hotel room had a freakish amount of mirrors, and I had just gotten out of the shower, and between the mirror above the sink the mirror above the dresser and the mirror on the door i managed to see myself at like every angle all at once and i was like WOW I am way to fat, so the day i got back from teh business trip i started changing my life and within a year i had lost 130+ lbs.

msshiraz

I have had many in the road to getting fit- but had hit a plateau for months and months! Very active, but nothing was making the scale go down. I have a bunch of clothes someone gave me exactly one size smaller than I am. Washed and folded and ready to be worn any day now . Then in 2 weeks, 2 pairs of my regular pants split! I had a choice- do something or go buy more big girl pants. Option B wasn't acceptable. Also- when you grow out of a size- get rid of that outfit- doesn't matter how much you like it, unless you know a good tailor and are taking the size in, just donate it. It will force you to not go up in size again without shopping.

Got back onto the MFP diary- been entering daily- consistently- (this was a challenge before). Saw exactly where I am failing........food, of course, my diet was pretty much back to pre weight loss- the only reason I wasn't gaining was all the classes I do. So- long story short- the last 2 weeks since the pants ripping day- I have lost 11 lbs.
I am going to stay on track, I am becoming too aware of all the calories in everything- and that is a good thing. Also doing a challenge with family is helping us all.

Jaredsmom18

When I was on travel and almost couldn't get the seatbelt on the airplane to buckle. I was mortified and decided enough is enough something has to change. That was a few months ago and I finally made the step to make the change!

darthmolly

When I realized that food was no longer spiraling me into panic and body image issues/obsession - that I could stop when I was full, and that I could really tell if I was full or not - and there was no guilt or shame! That was the moment where I began to wonder if I could start working with my body rather than against it, and if together we could explore what exercise and a meal plan would mean. When I found out I was actually loving my body no matter what its size, and that it was time to start treating it, gently, like I loved it I knew I could finally have a realtionship with food again rather than feeling like I am constantly arm wrestling with urges to binge or purge, and that exorcise is now about what feels good and is fun rather than some body image thing.
I just want to love myself like I deserve to be loved - this time its all about what is good for my body, soul, and mind, and it has made all the difference in my motivation and anxiety levels.

MamaDecato

When I put on my husbands sweat pants and the waist was too tight...
He is an ex-football player and gym rat who is more muscle than fat........not a good day....

darthmolly

When I realized that food was no longer spiraling me into panic and body image issues/obsession - that I could stop when I was full, and that I could really tell if I was full or not - and there was no guilt or shame! That was the moment where I began to wonder if I could start working with my body rather than against it, and if together we could explore what exercise and a meal plan would mean. When I found out I was actually loving my body no matter what its size, and that it was time to start treating it, gently, like I loved it I knew I could finally have a realtionship with food again rather than feeling like I am constantly arm wrestling with urges to binge or purge, and that exorcise is now about what feels good and is fun rather than some body image thing.
I just want to love myself like I deserve to be loved - this time its all about what is good for my body, soul, and mind, and it has made all the difference in my motivation and anxiety levels.

This has been a ten years in the making aha moment - with lots of therapy by the way - for anyone out there struggling with ED. My behaviors stopped five years ago, and it took me another five to be psychologically stable enough to be doing what I am doing now.

mezasu

Stepping on the scale for the first time in a long time and seeing that I weighed over 10 pounds more than I thought I did. I had been calorie counting before, but had never been fully committed to it and I cheated and made excuses for myself A LOT, and I exercised on occasion but clearly it wasn't enough to counter all of the junk food I was eating. I decided to turn that devastation I felt on the scale into motivation; I knew I had to make a change to ensure that I would NEVER have to see that number again. I was also diagnosed with IBS a little over a year ago and was told that if I don't get my diet under control it would never get better, and that was enough to make me never want to eat fast food again!

bugaha1

I knew I needed to lose weight and I wasn’t sure when I was going to start or how. Then my daughter was talking about a calorie reduction diet she was going to do to lose some lbs. I just said I'd do it with her and I'm so glad I did because I feel much better already and at my age you either fix it or get ready for the other side of dirt.

cmacphee3

The first time around it was when I went to a lecture for a class I usually didn't attend (the textbook was word for word for the lectures) and I could not flip the desk table up because my stomach was too large.

The second time was just seeing myself get so high that I was closer to my first high weight than to 200lbs :S That freaked me out.

This time, I didn't have an aha! moment, I just gained 60lbs out of a high level of stress and decided that before I got back to where I came from I better stop myself.

Michshellars

I love reading all of your stories. We all do have that moment. For me, it was about a month ago when I went to the doctor and was shocked by the number on the scale. Last time I had been to the dr, 2 years before, I had been 16 lbs lighter. The doctor never says anything to me, not sure why, probably because I carry it well or maybe he has other things to focus on. I've really been trying to change my diet and not eat huge portions like I was accustomed to, and cutting back on my snacking. Slow and steady... It would be lovely if weight would disappear overnight, but I didn't gain it overnight and I sure am not losing it overnight. Keep up the great work, everyone!

TR0berts

For me it was just stepping on a scale. I knew I'd gained a few pounds but I didn't think it was that much!

Yep, me too. I went to the doctor's office and the scale was either 194 or 196 lbs. For a 5'8" guy, without a lot of muscle, I said to myself something I can't repeat here. That was 2-1/2 years ago. Down to a healthy 153 lbs now.

sandlerlover

I really had two moments close together... I wanted to make my boyfriend a collage of photos of us but realized I looked "huge" in all of them. And the ones that I looked half-way decent in I'm holding my neck in a funky angle so I don't have a double chin. Then the mega moment was getting on the scale and seeing I was 4 pounds heavier than when I was pregnant with my son.

I started by quitting my pop habit then got back on here for real!

quirkytizzy

These stories are so inspiring! Thank you! Keep them coming!

EweCreekCottage

The beginning of Oct 2012 I accepted that a very important person in my life- well that their boundaries of forgiveness was truly forgiveness and in accepting that I could forgive myself and stop punishing myself.

so the next door neighbor happened by and had at that point lost 90 due to an gastric sleeve- in talking to him it was the first time I thought hey I'm not scared of this I could do this- 3 days later I had an appt with the Gastric Surgeon and started the process.....
then my darling dh found a support group on the web for gastric sleeve surgery patients and someone posted 6 - 10 different handbooks from across the us of pre surgery and post surgery must do's I read every single one cover to cover and I kept hearing that small voice inside myself u can log your food you can count calories you can watch your carbs and protein why get your guts cut open ... see so many of the after do's are parts of living a healthy life that a nutritionist would tell you to do anyways .... so I called stopped the process started coming here daily logging food moving my big butt riding a bicycle (just did 10 miles Sunday woot woot) and lifting weights it is slow my body is changing gaining muscle but I am 30 days from 48 and on 4 meds - I am doing good I have changed my living way
Thanks MFP thanks MFP friends

clarkeje1

Combination of pants not fitting and stepping on the scale. 180 I was like WHOA! what happened???

sirthickness

So many: I blew my knee out at work while jumping into a window. My uniform was getting real tight and my duty belt was at it's limit. On a follow-up appointment for my knee, my Dr. told me my cholesterol was too high and said I needed to lose "at least 15 pounds" (well, I've hit that mark ). I used to shy away from the camera because I didn't like the way I looked. My daughter took a photo of me while I was bbqing this past summer and posted the picture on facebook. When I saw it, I was stunned and decided right then and there it was time! I've been stagnant for about 4-5 weeks, but I think that has to do with the fact I was rehabbing a sore shoulder. I just started lifting again about 2 weeks ago and am anticipating some more loss. Shooting for a goal weight of 180ish. Good luck to everyone!