When did you WANT to??

I don't know that you ever get a point where you "want" to stop eating all the bad stuff. I think you just have to decide that eating healthy is what you're going to do and just do it. I know that's way easier said than done because I still crave the bad stuff. I've been on MFP for about 3 months now and have been trying really hard to eat healthier. And I've noticed that when I do give in to my cravings that the "bad" stuff doesn't taste as good as I remember and it tends to upset my stomach. I think once you've made the decision to try and eat healthier and stick with it it for a while, your brain may think it wants bad stuff, but the rest of your body will be happier with the good stuff.

I looked at my father's health and my father-in-law's health. After being told he was prediabetic eight years ago, my father took control of his diet and exercise - he lost about 40 pounds and started getting an hour of exercise every day (walking or cross-country skiing). He's 74 and fit as a fiddle - seriously, I went hiking with him last year and I could barely keep up. He no longer has any insulin resistance and, not only did he not develop Type II diabetes, he's no longer prediabetic.

In contrast, my father-in-law, is 64, and has had Type II diabetes for at least a decade. He's never taken his diagnosis seriously, never attempted to change his diet or add in exercise. His health has progressively deteriorated the entire time I've known him. He eats lots of unhealthy highly processed foods and still drinks sugary soda. He now has diabetic neuropathy in his feet, which causes him a lot of pain. He retired last year and can't enjoy his retirement because he's basically in chronic pain.

This is really what got me thinking about changing my lifestyle permanently. It can be difficult to see the health consequences of bad food choices on the daily level, but seeing the difference between the health of my father and father-in-law made me recognize that little bad choices every day can add up to chronic debilitating health conditions. This is what keeps me motivated.

As for doing it on a day-to-day level, what I've found is that committing to healthy eating for a couple of weeks and cut out the crap during that time period - basically a detox period - really helps. You can re-set your sweet tooth. In addition, if I'm going to have something sweet, I generally make it worth my while - e.g., a small amount of nice rich premium ice cream rather than a big bowl of not-so-great ice cream.

I always "WANTED" to but finally DID IT...March 1st, 2012.....the day I started here on MFP!

I don't want to quit cookies and cheesecakes. I still eat them, just in moderation!

But when did I begin wanting to exercise moderation? It was when I realized just how big I had gotten. I met a chubby child weighing 55 pounds, and it hit me: woah, woah, woah, you mean I'm carrying a blob of fat the size of this kid!? (actually bigger, since a 55 pound child is denser than 55 pounds of pure fat)

Also, it was when I realized that moderation would work, that I would not have to be miserable while losing weight.

You can still have some of whatever you want as long as you plan it in. I've discovered that there are a lot of things I used to eat that I don't value enough to plan into my calories - like sugar cookies or store-bought sheet cakes.

What got to me was realizing that I was stuffing myself to the point of misery ON PURPOSE almost every single day (because it kept my attention off my suspicions about my son's drug abuse). I realized that if I could do that, I could do something entirely different.

I have always wanted to eat healthier. The problem for me was two fold. One I really love bread, chocolate, cheese, beef, cheesecake............... And I really didn't think I was eating too badly, and for a "big girl" I am pretty fit. I work out regularly. I just thought I couldn't lose weight. Then I got a smartphone and just to see what I was eating I downloaded the app for myfitnesspal. Being able to see how much I was eating was an epiphany. Quite frankly I am surprised I only had about 100 lbs to lose when I consider I was downing over 3500 calories a day. That was enough to make me get started on this journey. It has only been one week and I have lost 3 lbs. That is enough to convince me I can do this.

LOL! I quit smoking 4 years ago and promptly gained 80+ pounds. My feet hurt. Disc problems in my back were more frequent and more painful. My clothes didn't fit. I could barely climb the stairs from my basement to the main floor. My bigger clothes didn't fit. And so on. I was pretty miserable about having gained so much weight, but I kept right on eating. UNTIL-I saw a different doctor than my regular one for an unrelated issue and she asked about health problems other than obesity. That is exactly when it hit me. I was never fat before. Had maybe 10-15 pounds more than I needed max, but OBESE???? I think that awful woman just said I was fat! It was probably the first time I "saw" myself as others were seeing me. I had a curvy but not FAT person mental image of myself even at my highest weight. YIKES!!

I got very motivated shortly thereafter and began "dieting" and attempting to exercise by walking around the block, stopping several times to rest. I found another weigh loss support website directed primarily at women, regardless of age, size, diet plan etc. It was a big help when I read a lot of posts regarding logging food and exercise, a self-directed journal. I began to see how the foods I was eating were still way too high in calories and not enough nutritionally. it took a while, but I learned a LOT about how to get the most food for my calorie budget and I upped the exercise bit by bit. The exercise part was the hardest for me becuase of my back and dragging around that extra weight, but I lost weight pretty quickly and my feet didn't hurt anymore! My back is still a problem sometimes, but not more than once or twice a year. Once I had lost maybe 20 pounds or so, it was pretty easy to stay on track with my calorie counting and exercise because I had worked too hard to lose those pounds that I didn't want to have to do it more than once. I kept exercising, mostly eating right, but also beginning to slide down the slippery slope into careless eating and junk food. What I like to call "crap and garbage". I regained around 10 pounds over the course of about a year and 1/2, and decided it is time to not only lose what I had originally done, but also to get really back on track and lose the other 40-50-or more, depending on how I feel when I get to my first goal weight.

Dang! The doctor called me FAT. That was MY epiphany!

Barb

When I hit the biggest size I could buy in a "regular" store (18), food just didn't taste good enough to keep stuffing it in my face like I had been for years. It wasn't worth being "plus sized." You would think barely cramming my *kitten* into a roller coaster, or not being able to wear skirts anymore in the summer because of miserable chub rub, or hating every single picture of myself would have done it. But nope. It took being a tight size 18. Now I'm a 12, and they're getting a little loose. :happy:

Mine was May 13, 2009.

I was 24 years old, pregnant with our third child and sitting next to my husband, who was laying in a hospital bed for over 2 weeks .

I almost lost my husband to Rhabdomiolysis. I didn't want my 3 kids to possibly end up orphans, especially when one of us had the CHOICE to stick around and live for them.

I lost 140 lbs as of January 15, 2011 (177 lbs), down from 318 lbs in 2010 after giving birth to my 3rd.

I just had our 4th, 3 weeks ago, and I'm back on MFP, back to my old routine, despite being on high-risk pregnancy bed-rest 6 outta 9 months with her. I'm down about 1/2 of what I gained this pregnancy within 3 weeks and nothing is going to stop me from getting back to the 170's (as lower) because I have 5 (4 including my husband) very special loved ones I need to live for!

This is a good question, and it is vital to being healthy. You have to want to do it for yourself, not just because you know you should.

When I first started getting chubby, I actually didn't mind, because I wasn't terribly happy as a thin person. I didn't mind being slightly overweight. However, it got out of control and I hit the obese mark. I struggled with my thyroid and with migraines for a few years. I think the hormone imbalance caused the weight gain, and then the lazy attitude made it worse, and it just kind of spiraled on each other.

Anyway, I wanted to take control of the migraines first and foremost. I was on some medication that listed weight gain as one of the side effects, and honestly, I didn't care how fat it made me as long as I could start feeling better.

I got a new job with better hours and the migraines started to subside. I could actually plan my days and do what I wanted without hallucinating or feeling dizzy. That's when I decided I was ready to start exercising. I wasn't ready to take control over the food yet, because somehow, I believed that eating more food helped me feel less dizzy.

After several months of trying various exercises, I decided it was time to take control over my eating. I counted calories for a few months and finally lost a few pounds. It was grueling, but I was proud of myself for doing it.

I maintained for a few months and stopped counting calories. It made me tired and hungry, and I knew something else had to give.

I eventually got off the migraine meds and switched birth control methods and suddenly I had energy. The next few pounds fell off out of nowhere.

Now, I am at a point where I have to try again, and I think I'll maintain for a few more months and then try to lose again. I go through phases of ambition. Luckily I have enough motivation to at least keep the progress I have made so far and not gain any of it back.