What was your wake-up call?

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  • kallisto208
    kallisto208 Posts: 44
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    My dad had "a widowmaker" heart attack about a year ago and I found out how prevalent heart disease ran in the family. Everyone in my family was obese and it really was an eye opener that I probably should really get my weight back in check now before I was older and it was too late.

    Additionally, I was near fatally ill 2 years ago and having all that excessive weight was certainly not helping me heal any faster either, it just took a long time for me finally realize what the doctors were saying and put it into practice, and I'm doing it now.
  • justaskforbrandy
    justaskforbrandy Posts: 90 Member
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    I weighed more than I did when I was 9 months pregnant.

    My clothes didn't fit. I was still wearing my maternity pants... and my daughter was 13 months old!!

    I had to miss out on certain events (my friend's wedding) because I had NO nice clothes that fit.

    I never wanted to leave the house. I was depressed, uncomfortable, and disgusted with myself.

    THEN I saw a picture a friend had taken of me... that was the last straw! I became dedicated to a healthier lifestyle on October 8th 2011 and while I have had some slip-ups and made a lot of horrible food choices along the way, I am 37 pounds down and smaller than I have been in over 6 years!
  • cannonfury2006
    cannonfury2006 Posts: 27 Member
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    heart/chest pain and severe shortness of breath
  • LeanerBeef
    LeanerBeef Posts: 1,432 Member
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    My wakeup

    http://askbeef.com/2012/09/08/facebook-helps-people-lose-weight/
  • CassandraM22
    CassandraM22 Posts: 89
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    I've always been heavy. I was born with a bone disease and at the age of 5 I was sat down. I wasnt allowed to play, or run, or do anything kids did. As I got older, I got scared I'd hurt myself, that transferred into me sitting all the time, not moving, scared to move and eating anything I could get my hands on. I'm emotion eater and I've been through some excruciatingly rough times.

    So on my 32nd birthday I wanted to go on a cruise. This was in June. It was a 3 day cruise, on the second day I had to spend half our cruise money to rent a wheelchair. I came home, weighed myself for the first time in YEARS. I was 337lbs. I couldn't even enjoy my birthday and my sister had to roll me around so she didn't have a good time either. I've ruined a lot of things, but I'm changing them.

    I'm down 20lbs in two months. I weigh in now at 317lbs. I will lose more.
  • roohill
    roohill Posts: 87 Member
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    In 2009, after giving birth to my son, I developed postpartum cardiomyopathy ( pregnancy related heart failure) Believe it or not, it's taken me almost three years to actually remember that I do want to live a long life, and get off my rear and try to help my body, and my heart make that want happen.
  • lumyrainstar
    lumyrainstar Posts: 36
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    Over the course of my teenage years I was on seraquel and gained 150 pounds. Since then I gained more. It was when I realized I wore the same five outfits over and over and that my "big" clothes were now "small" clothes for me that I knew it was time to change. I'm the heaviest in my life and I need to change that. I'm 22 and I want to change while I'm still young. I think I can do this. I have 200 pounds to lose I weigh 401.8 at the moment. I think I can do this I just need some motivation and to learn about eating right. I am so confused about it. I'm always under my calorie limit and my other limits but how Do you eat healthier when most healthier things are low calorie? Ah. Anyway that's my goal and my wake up call.
  • viad25720
    viad25720 Posts: 57 Member
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    My wake up call-even though he loves me and all I felt like I was starting to look real gross for my husband.....and I felt like crap!
  • LCgymnast
    LCgymnast Posts: 258
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    I was tired of not being active. Being that person who needed a larger size than others or looking in the mirror and what I say I didn't like at all. Now people (mostly in part to this site) take notice of my new figure, but most importantly I just feel a lot better. I have more energy and am not as tired or sluggish. I love it!!
  • chizumlassstar
    chizumlassstar Posts: 49 Member
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    My wake up moment, I've had a few.
    1) I had a man ask me when I was due, (although he said it in spanish so I didn't understand it till later I had someone translate
    2) I could feel my "chins" wiggle, I see that its really not that bad but it is the part of my body that I am most self concious about
    3) My medical facility started a new thing where they print out a graph with your weight on in and it was at the highest it has ever been in my whole life.
  • VirtuallyAmy
    VirtuallyAmy Posts: 30 Member
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    I was not always heavy. Ironic; I was under weight most of my life and thought I was fat. Circumstances I do not want to go into made me actually fat. Right into obese and the mental hell that goes with it. I did start to work on it but it was not taking. Exercising and having problems with my bladder when bouncing was a beginning. Severe, crushing chest pain that made me start to black out when I was alone one day was the last straw. Heart attack? Do not know. But it runs in my family and I am not going to do that. A friend died of diabetes and I do do not want to end up there either. So I decided that I can could end my current life that way, or by my choice. Either way, whatever I was doing was to end whether I liked it or not. New life instead of death seemed best. I had a good start and then found MFP. Major help. I am 1/4, maybe 1/3 of the way there since the start of the year. Ups and downs. But the old me is dead in the good way, not the final way. Keeps me going. And ironic, I will have a better view of myself then. Crazy family messed me up when I was thin. That is done too.

    Sheesh. Feels like a confession. But there it is. My turning point.
  • BigPapabear72
    BigPapabear72 Posts: 2
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    To be blunt, not being able to wipe my *kitten* well. And all the pills I have to take for diabetes and high BP
  • LisaLouisiana
    LisaLouisiana Posts: 145 Member
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    Mine was a picture, too. A friend took it and it reduced me to tears....and changed my life.
  • meghanp92
    meghanp92 Posts: 43
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    Mine came for the SECOND time about a month ago. I had my lap band taken out about a year ago and that whole time I never once stepped on a scale - just ate and ate all the things I couldn't eat before in quantities that I never would have been able to have. We went to an amusement park in California over the summer for a family vacation, and I could barely fit on most of the rides, and had to sit out one because I wouldn't fit at all, which was a very, very hard moment for me. I had to resist running off to the bathroom to cry while the rest of my family went on the ride. When we got home, I finally let my mom convince me to look into having a second surgery, the bypass. At the weight loss doctor's office I stepped on the scale and realized I had gained almost a hundred pounds since getting my lap band off. I was mortified to realize I was above 300 pounds, and weighed even more than my 6'3" dad (who has always been an overweight guy too), while I'm only 5'7". I finally realized I was completely sabotaging my own happiness by eating and eating and trying to fill a void in myself that came from deep insecurities and unhappiness. I realized food isn't going to make me happier (in fact, just the opposite) and I finally got my butt in gear and I've been doing great on my diet ever since!
  • Georgeous74
    Georgeous74 Posts: 12
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    I have had a few over the years...But my latest one was a real concern for me.
    I have put on about 8 kg in about 9 months, and no im not pregnant!
    Most of the weight has gone straight to my torso...for the first time in my weight gain time.
    I'm 38 and It just sits there now!
    I have had a few moments when I'm sitting on my couch after eating my evening meal and I'm
    struggling to breath properly.
    I do suffer from mild athsma, and hayfever, but it was feeling like I have no more room to move inside my Torso.
    It just felt like all the fat was taking up so much room.

    I'm single, and worry its because of my overweight body that Im staying single.
    My clothes dont fit, im pushing up to the next clothes size and dressing to cover the bulge instead of showing off the curves that are underneith!

    SO.......I'm at the gym again 4/5 days a week.
    On a website that monitors exercise and calories ( My fitness Pal) which has been great for me in the past...so I'm back on!
    I have approx 15 KG to budge, and well....for once ....I feel like ITS going to happen!

    P.S.
    Your pic looks great by the way....you dont look like you have much to budge!
    Goodluck.
  • danadi
    danadi Posts: 6
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    I am at high risk for diabetes and heart disease, but have been in denial for the past 15 years, as my weight has ballooned. I have tried many different types of diets (probably like a lot of you) with varying to degrees of success and ultimate failure. Yet all my health numbers remain "healthy" -- no sugar problems, low blood pressure, low pulse rate, low cholesterol, and a healthy heart. I took this as a sign that I must be immune. But I went to my doctor as a result of my work requiring that we take a "wellness" test for our insurance company. Suspecting that I might have to pay more for health insurance, I wanted her to tell me what I could do to get ahead of the problems. I knew the weight thing would be an issue. I am an apple body, with a BMI over 30%, with a family history of diabetes and heart disease. She told me about her personal experience with MFP and how she lost her weight. And how you have to have a defining moment that changes your perspective forever. For me, it was when she told me that even though I have not yet had any problems with weight-related disease, IT WILL HAPPEN to me if I don't change my ways. The definitive nature of her comment struck a chord. I thought I'd be able to go on eating and not exercising and still remain "healthy." She made me realize that it's a lie. She also said that she changed her habits because she wants to LIVE OUT HER FULL LIFE. In other words, she didn't want to die before her time. I have an 8-year old daughter and I'm 46 years old. I want to be here for her. I want to be a grandmother some day. If I change my ways, I'll have a better chance of doing that. Having my doctor tell me all this was my wake-up call. I am still struggling, but at least when I eat something I shouldn't have or skip the gym, I say to myself that I will get back on track immediately, not that it doesn't matter and I'll try again tomorrow. What I do can make a difference!
  • EternalJourney
    EternalJourney Posts: 138
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    I could no longer fit clothes that fit me..
  • violetta88
    violetta88 Posts: 117 Member
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    Casually hopping on the scales to see how much I weighed, purely out of interest, and being horrified to find I was clinically overweight :(
  • 603d
    603d Posts: 11 Member
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    I was on the phone with my biological mother (she didn't raise me), and she said she was 250 and losing weight. I was just under 250 at the time. I didn't think I looked as fat as she did, but I realized that I was just as unhealthy (at least physically) as a result. I started using MFP again within a week. At first I just got myself into the logging habit, then tried to keep my calories a little lower. When I saw that I had been using MFP for 50 days, I started doing yoga at least 3x/week for 30 minutes. We'll see what comes next. Slow progress, but it's still progress. My "lbs lost" is from the starting weight from the first time I used MFP... I'm down an additional 4 lbs from my highest weight of 246.

    After doing some research, I set my first goal weight to 220, and eventual goal weight to 150 (though I'll be happy once my BMI no longer says "overweight"). By new year's I plan on getting a new scale - one that uploads automatically and calculates BMI, because I don't believe the #s I have calculated myself.

    I have a larger frame, and never expect to be one of the tiny girls, but I want to be fit. I don't want to ever be considered "obese" and I don't even want to be "overweight" anymore. I know I'll have more energy, and I will need that energy to get through the changes I'm making these next few years - going to grad school and then getting my CPA!
  • fireman470
    fireman470 Posts: 3
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    :happy: I was down at my wife's grandparents house notarizing a title for her grandfather when he looked up at me and said "Good gracious David your belly is getting as mine, maybe even bigger". That was the moment when I said that I would stick with a program this time and not give up. So far I've lost 13 pounds and my wife says that she can see it in my stomach so positive reinforcement is always a great motivator to continue.

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