What was your "ah-ha!" moment?

MrsBrosco
MrsBrosco Posts: 295
in Health and Weight Loss
You know, that moment when you said, "OMG! I need to lose this weight!" And then you did it, you started losing.

What was that moment for you?
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Replies

  • EmmaReed84
    EmmaReed84 Posts: 263 Member
    I came on here in Jan 2012 fully intending to lose weight, but life got in the and all the other excuses you can think of. I did however cut my portion sizes down quite a bit, but still ate crap.

    In Jan this year I stepped on scales again and... LOST 10lbs!!! I was gobsmacked! I thought if I could lose 10lb over the course of a year without really trying, just think what I could do if I DID put my mind to it. In two months I lost another 11lbs, I have been a steady 122/124lbs for the past month now. Just working on my shape and muscle tone now.

    I think my ah-ha moment was realising it does not have to be as difficult as I though it was going to be.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    Nothing in particular. It was a gradual process for me. It started with something easy, quitting smoking several years ago and I've made tiny changes over the years since then. (I'm aware that quitting smoking is hard for many people. I just cut back over a period of a year an half until I stopped completely. I didn't even really have a "last cigarette" I just never went back for another. After a while, I just threw away the remains of the old pack.)

    I know not having an Ah-ha moment is not very exciting, but few people actually get there. It's okay to start small and move forward. That kind of weight loss is very anti-climatic until you realize how far you've come over the years of teeny-tiny efforts.

    It's like compound interest: Boring for a very long time, but over the long run it is pretty miraculous!
  • AJ_MotherRunner
    AJ_MotherRunner Posts: 175 Member
    When I was at my mother's funeral and my aunt said, "You know none of us are healthy. You, and you, and you - are all overweight. If we don't change it, we are going to end up just like Jamie. [my mom]" It was devastating and eye opening all at the same time. Once my mom was buried and a couple of weeks had passed, I started the South Beach Diet again and joined a gym. I have been a fanatic since - that was almost 11 years ago.
  • devilwhiterose
    devilwhiterose Posts: 1,157 Member
    When I looked at my own personal timeline.

    I was going to get healthy before the baby.
    I was going to walk alot while pregnant.
    I was going to lose the weight after the baby.
    I was going to get fit for homecoming #1, then homecoming #2.
    I was going to get fit for beach season.
    I was going to get fit while pregnant with the twins.
    I was going to lose weight after the twins.
    I was going to get skinny for homecoming.
    I was going to get fit for the Marine Corps ball.
    I was going to get fit for the next beach season.

    Fast forward almost 5 years and I'm still $#%&ing fat. I had enough of being thunderthighs and having my fat jeans barely buttonable. I'm fricken 26 and I should not be jiggly and this damn out of shape. I do not need to accept that this is my body and that's just how it is.
  • Daysednconfused
    Daysednconfused Posts: 975 Member
    I took my grandchildren to Disney for MY birthday in June 2011. I was completely disgusted with myself once I got home and put all the pics on the computer. I spent the next two months in a major depression over it, then finally started watching what I ate and exercising in August 2011 when I had 3 months before a week long cruise. The weight has never come off easily for me, but finally, a year and half later, I am close to goal!!
  • Kreider86
    Kreider86 Posts: 105 Member
    Trying on wedding dresses... did not like how I looked. Normally I just avoided full length mirrors and being a subject on the camera... Would like to be able to take pictures and be proud of how I look and would love to walk down the aisle in a couple years and just feel absolutely beautiful :)
  • ridofthegoodies
    ridofthegoodies Posts: 38 Member
    The last time I lost this weight, (I did it the wrong way so it came back) I overheard a couple of DB college guys walking and talking as I was sitting outside a coffee shop one summer evening. DB 1 pointed to me and asked DB 2, "What about [hooking up with] her?" DB 2 replied, "Yeah, in a couple of hundred pounds." I was devastated. I knew I was overweight, but I didn't realize I looked THAT overweight. In no way am I a cougar or interested in that type of guy, but I still cared what others thought of me.

    This time, I am going back to school for nursing. I want to be an RN, but fear no one is going to listen to medical advice from a fat nurse. I am losing weight the right way by improving my health in the process. I am beginning to develop/see muscles again for the first time in 15 years.
  • Jackson4590
    Jackson4590 Posts: 145 Member
    saw my high school graduation picture next to my wedding photo and realized how much weight i gained in just 5 years.

    decided to lose 15 pounds and did it in about a 8 months. now i've plateaued at about an 18 pound loss.
  • bajoyba
    bajoyba Posts: 1,153 Member
    I saw a photo from last Christmas, and I looked enormous standing next to my slim husband. Then, on January 3rd, after having no idea what exactly my weight was for years, I decided to weigh myself. It wasn't pretty. I decided right that very moment that I was going to change it. So far so good!
  • tigerlily8045
    tigerlily8045 Posts: 402 Member
    I thought i was a little flabby, chubby. Started having heart palpatations and so got it checked out. Found out my cholesterol was high and that when i was sitting my chub was pushing up against everything and making my heart go wonky. Cut 20 lbs so far and no more heart issues.
  • hkmurphy83
    hkmurphy83 Posts: 262 Member
    I started reading a blog on FB by a woman my age who was trying to lose weight. I thought that if she could do it, so could I. I started on August 1, 2012. Sad to say that I phoned it in until December 29 and lost about 20 lbs by just eating less of my favorite crap and walking. I realized that I was going to be 30 in a little over 5 months and wanted to be healthier. I added serious exercise to my routine and started being much more aware of what I was eating. Proud to say that I have lost almost 30 lbs and 37.5 inches all over since then!
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    Mid July last year when I came back from a Paris trip. No idea why but something snapped, I went looking for a phone app and here I am.
  • lpherman01
    lpherman01 Posts: 212 Member
    I just got tired of being overweight. I got tired of my clothes being tight, tired of not fitting into tight chairs, tight spaces, tired of being slow on my bike, tired the way I looked, tired of being tired. And when one of my sons showed me MFP I actually said "Ah-ha, I can do this". And I have for almost a year now. It's not a diet and excercise plan anymore, it's my way of life.
  • mssgeni
    mssgeni Posts: 83 Member
    I joined this site years ago... used it once or twice, didn't come back to it. Last year I re-registered when I started gaining weight but I didn't care enough to stop my eating and lazy habits. It wasn't until last christmas when I visited my parents and saw my uncle whom I haven't seen in a year and the first thing he tells me: "WOW, you are not the same person. Your cheeks are huge! You're gaining a lot of weight!". I knew I had gotten big but it wasn't til that when I realized I had to snap out of it. Made me feel like crap, so here I am. Now I'm glad he told me that because otherwise I would have probably kept being content with being at my size...
  • dramallamaduck
    dramallamaduck Posts: 97 Member
    My "ah-ha" moment came in a conversation with one of my best friends. She had been tracking her meals on MFP because she wasn't eating enough for the muscle gain she wanted. We were eating Japanese food and talking about diets and her counting her calories, etc... I mentioned something about being unhappy with how I looked.. Her response? "Well, then what are you going to do about it? If you don't like something, then change it. I can't do it for you."

    I have no idea why this simple phrase snapped me into reality, but it did. I had so many excuses up until then. Ellie was really the first person to bring me into reality. It really was a life changing moment. She has also been one of my biggest supports through all of this. Thank goodness for snarky BFFs!
  • T1mH
    T1mH Posts: 568 Member
    My wife bought me a 2XL shirt. My thought was there ain't no way I'm a 2XL! I'm comfortable in a large now and I'm not done.
  • MandaJean83
    MandaJean83 Posts: 671 Member
    My "ah-ha!" moment was Christmas of 2011. I knew I had been slowly picking up a pound or two here and there, but it wasn't until Christmas Day pictures were uploaded onto facebook that I realized how chubby I had gotten! I hopped on that scale and realized I was 6 lbs higher than I had EVER been before in my entire life. At that point, something clicked and I got serious about diet and exercise! Fast forward 18 months and I'm still maintaining about 20-25 lbs lost! :)
  • nczuczu
    nczuczu Posts: 611 Member
    Too many "ah-ha" moments!!! I got tired of my clothes not fitting and feeling horrible. I hated not being able to find any clothes that fit or looked good (nothing looks good on you when you are 80 lbs overweight). I hated seeing pictures of myself at Christmas. I hated being winded going up a flight of stairs. I hated going to the doctor's office (I have type 2 diabetes) because I knew he would be disappointed in me. I started on 1/3/13 and have not looked back or strayed from the path. Joined a gym a week later and have now dropped 21 lbs. There is no stopping me. I look forward to getting under 200 lbs and know I can do it. It is harder losing weight when you are over 40, but I know I can do this. I have to do this! I WILL do this!
  • Cherie0622
    Cherie0622 Posts: 87 Member
    I thought I was 225lbs so I entered a friendly weight loss competition at my school. When they took my initial weight, I was 239 pounds and that was too close to 250... so I cried a few tears and started changing my habits that night. That was my moment.
  • ParrosFan
    ParrosFan Posts: 77 Member
    seeing a picture of me jolted me into reality. For some reason I never looked in the mirror and thought I was "THAT" big. Well I was THAT big and more. After being disgusted with myself and eating cause I felt sorry for myself, decided to do something about it.
  • BrianJLamb
    BrianJLamb Posts: 239 Member
    Which time?! Last time it was getting ready for my wedding....I dropped 30 lbs. The time before that was getting winded when I danced...I dropped 24 lbs. This time it was hitting 199.6 lbs. My low weight two Mays ago was 156 lbs. Since then I have gained more than 40. Each time I drop, I lose my way, forget my manners, start eating pizza and buffalo wings again and get fatter than the last time.

    So yeah...this time it was getting on the scale and almost being 200 pounds.
  • alphabetsoup2013
    alphabetsoup2013 Posts: 208 Member
    A few months ago, I heard through the family grapevine that one of my cousins had been losing a ton of weight via a very low calorie diet programme. Then I received a Facebook message from her, offering to pass her fat clothes along to me. That was the final nudge I needed to do something about my weight. I didn't want to be the last fat person left in the family.

    I was also inspired by the spectacular weight loss last year of a couple of other people I know.

    So everything kind of came together to tell me that it was time for me to do something about my weight.

    And that's exactly what I'm doing.
  • jaymesjourney
    jaymesjourney Posts: 85
    I think my moment was when I stepped on the scale and saw I was 2lbs away from being at 200 pounds!! I had never been that much before and my husband and I had started trying for children. The docs told me it would be extremely difficult for me to get pregnant being the weight I was at and that was sort of the motivation I needed. I had lost 20 pounds but during christmas I went home and ate a lot of things I shouldn't have and gained 10 pounds back. I'm now down another 8 and still have about 50 left to go!
  • tigermom12
    tigermom12 Posts: 39
    I knew I had gained a lot of weight and I was so unhappy with myself but still.....I kept thinking..."Oh I don't look that bad." It wasn't until I kind of half heartedly went to a nutritionist and she told me that I needed to lose 101.8 lbs. GULP! I just cried. I cried all the way home and then some. Also, a friend of a friend died at 45 from cancer. Although, I did not know her....I was kept updated by my friend.

    My appointment with the nutritionist was on a Tuesday. I kinda, sorta started logging my food the rest of the week but then I woke up on Saturday morning and said ...this is it! Something has clicked. I just know I don't ever want to go back to the way I was before.
  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    When my really, really, really fat clothes were getting tight.
    And the scale said "307" *ugh*
  • RonnieMurray
    RonnieMurray Posts: 28
    When I was looking through pictures we had developed about a year after my daughter was born. I asked my wife, "Who's the fat guy holding Kaylee?" It took me a full 30 seconds to realize who it was. I hadn't been on a scale in over a year. So I stepped on one and found the I had gained over 100 pounds in a little over a year. I knew it was "GO" time.
  • CatMcCheesey
    CatMcCheesey Posts: 143
    I was at the airport watching several elderly travelers walking along with their suitcases. There was a small bump in the sidewalk, and every time the wheels on someone's suitcase would hit that bump, they would struggle with their suitcase, to get it over that tiny bump, and almost fall over. ( A few did fall) I was amazed at how weak they all were, and how little it took for them to be thrown completely off balance. Something just clicked in my head and I said "That is NOT EVER going to be me!" I joined a gym and signed up with a trainer the very next day.
  • katedevall
    katedevall Posts: 240 Member
    I had some picture taken on a vacation in front of the mountains and I saw all those damn rolls hahah.
    Then I looked in the mirror and thought holy **** I'm a cow
  • stephanj
    stephanj Posts: 898 Member
    Christmas 2011 I went to Hawaii and felt gross and uncomfortable with myself - it really impacted my enjoyment of the vacation. Didn't want to be in pictures or be seen in a bathing suit. I vowed to lose weight and started working out regularly in the new year. So I lost 10 lbs that year, but then gained them back in the fall. Christmas 2012 I was exactly the same weight I was a year before. I came on MFP and saw all these people posting their "1 year later" success stories, and realized I could have been one of those, but instead I went and wasted an entire year. It was a painful moment and I was so angry with myself. I vowed that I am going to be a New Years 2013 success story. Since January I've lost 10 lbs and have 8 more to go.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    i had been quietly thinking about it for a while... then my mother asked me if I would consider gastric bypass or lap band or something like that and it only took me a second to decide "oh hell no, i'll do this myself"

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