What was your "AHA!" moment?

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  • mezasu
    mezasu Posts: 42
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    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
    bugaha1 Posts: 602 Member
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    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
    cmacphee3 Posts: 278 Member
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    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
    Michshellars Posts: 155
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    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
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    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
    sandlerlover Posts: 96 Member
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    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
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
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    These stories are so inspiring! Thank you! Keep them coming!
  • EweCreekCottage
    EweCreekCottage Posts: 324 Member
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    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
    clarkeje1 Posts: 1,637 Member
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    Combination of pants not fitting and stepping on the scale. 180 I was like WHOA! what happened???
  • sirthickness
    sirthickness Posts: 133
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    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 :smile: ). 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!
  • meggwtw
    meggwtw Posts: 95 Member
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    I went shopping with my mom and realized I couldn't fit into a size L or sometimes an XL blazer. I told myself right then I would never shop in the plus size department, even though I suppose I'm already at the low end of plus sized. That, and none of my jeans fit except a few I stuffed myself into and they were already a size I never thought I'd wear and they barely fit. I felt ashamed and humiliated, but decided I had to do something about it.
  • lizapettit
    lizapettit Posts: 166 Member
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    Friends tagging me in pics on Facebook.... I hate that! Especially the pics I wasn't even aware of!
  • WhataBroad
    WhataBroad Posts: 1,091 Member
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    Mine is similar to lizapetit's... photos taken at our office party, I thought I looked good but holy!! it was more 'the camera added 100lbs'!! That, and I was just sick and tired of being sick and tired.
  • MissKalhan
    MissKalhan Posts: 2,282 Member
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    Being 200 pounds and watching my mom get gastric bypass. I refuse to be the person that relies on a surgery to lose weight.
  • saustin201
    saustin201 Posts: 270 Member
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    I went into the doctor in February and my cholesterol was 209. She started writing me a prescription and I told her to "Stop". I told her to give me 3 months to get my cholesterol lowered by diet and exercise and if it wasn't lowered by May then she could write me a prescription. By May I'd lost 17 pounds, but my cholesterol was down to 149. She never wrote me a prescription. I've lost 34 pounds and I've plateaued a few times but I am not a quitter, and I never have been. I feel better and have more energy and my blood work is much better.
  • stacy_1971
    stacy_1971 Posts: 104 Member
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    Having my "Big Girl" clothes get too tight and having to buy even BIGGER clothes. Also, like the original poster, only having one pair of jeans that fit. Not fun.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    I had lost about 30 pounds several years ago. I dropped two pants sizes and got rid of all the clothes I had then. So then after a few years the weight was creeping up again and I had two pairs of jeans, and I was almost busting out of them. I sit at a desk all day at work and in the afternoon when I would go to the bathroom, it was such a relief to unbutton them for a few minutes, and rub the big red indentations from the waist band. I refused to go buy bigger sizes. There wasn't just one Aha moment, I knew it was something I had to do, and I thought a lot about it and talked a lot about it. It wasn't until I came on here and started logging that I really became aware of what I was actually eating. I didn't think I was eating a lot, and I wasn't eating a lot in volume, but it was a lot of high cal junk. So, it took about 4-6 weeks before the jeans were no longer torture. And now they are loose.
  • kcoburn327
    kcoburn327 Posts: 111 Member
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    my moment was when during spring break, I was spending time with my kids and it was so hard just to do a few activities with them. When I complained to my husband for the 100th time, he finally told me to stop complaining and so something about it. I joined Nutrisystem and that changed my life.
  • jnp96
    jnp96 Posts: 163
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    When cleaning my shower/bath became so difficult because I was too fat.
  • wonderstruck91
    wonderstruck91 Posts: 107 Member
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    mine was when my BMI crossed over into the "overweight" category. i had a huge issue with this because my parents & family are basically all overweight, and i have a ton of weight-related health problems that run in my family. i knew i didn't want to deal with that, and i was starting to feel bad about myself because none of my clothing fit right or looked good anymore.

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