Tipping Point

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Guinivere
Guinivere Posts: 357 Member
in Motivation and Support
Someone asked me today what made me decide to lose weight and get in shape. I was honest and said I couldn't bear to look in the mirror, had lost my self worth, was really worried about getting type two diabetes after my Dad just got diagnosed, but had also just had a mean comment directed at me which made me ashamed and embarrassed. My fiancé is 5ft 9 and a very trim 154lbs (11 stone), he's wiry looking. At the time I was 243lbs (17stone 5lbs) and I am 5ft 8. A group of teenagers near us when we went out for a walk chuckled and said a very loud whisper "Ha ha! they look like Supersize/Superskinny." There was no one else around. I was crushed, and angry, and sad, and we moved on quickly.

It was a "lightbulb moment" and I was galvanised to take action - after seeing myself through their eyes.


I was wondering what your tipping point was?

How bad did it get for the switch to flick and you decided to get in shape?

Or was it something else? We're you inspired by someone or something instead?

Replies

  • KisaraKaiba
    KisaraKaiba Posts: 59 Member
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    For me, it was a medical diagnosis around Fall 2012. I have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is very odd given my age (early 20s). I knew it was time to change or I was going to wind up with liver cirrhosis and needing a transplant someday. It's a poorly understood disease and I may still have issues somewhere down the line, but I've done really well with changing my health ever since that moment. I'm just going to keep doing my best!

    Basically, it was no longer optional.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    a lot of bad blood work about 16 months ago. Continuing down the path I was on was only going to lead to very bad things in the not so distant future. Lot of nasty precursors and I'm also fighting heredity.
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
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    A digestive disorder forced me to lose weight. I was simply too afraid to eat.
    After that, I started caring about not looking like a sack of wet flour.
  • AlwaysInMotion
    AlwaysInMotion Posts: 409 Member
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    Sorry if this is a bit depressing - but it turned out good in the end.

    I distinctly remember sitting in the ICU with my dad after he had just had a bad ischemic stroke. Only a few months before, he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and had 2 stents put in. This was all the more terrifying because my mom had died less than a year before of a massive hemorraghic stroke. I remember sitting there thinking 1) please let my dad survive this (thankfully he did, but he was seriously disabled), and 2) I can't follow in my parent's footsteps - not another single day.

    I was morbidly obese in my early 20s, I had a baby brother still in high school, and here we were losing our parents one after the other. We had no other family. Both my parents were seriously overweight and didn't take care of themselves. I couldn't judge them - at that point in my life I was in way worse shape than they were at the same age. Less than a week later, I bought a bicycle, I went lacto ovo vegetarian, and became a strict calorie counter. (I also took over nursing care for my dad and helped support my brother, but that was a whole different tipping point.) It took me 3 years, but I lost over 100 lbs. My tipping point was a very "Ebenezer Scrooge" like moment - I had painful vision about dying unhealthy and alone and did an about face right then.
  • rabblerabble
    rabblerabble Posts: 471 Member
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    For me it was when they did an end of the year health assessment at work. My BMI and Body fat were well into the obese category, cholesterol and blood pressure were high and this motivated me to get off my *kitten* and start exercising and to start eating better.

    13 months later I'm down 75 pounds, have gone from 40 inch to 32 inch jeans, and shirt size has gone from XXL to L. I hit the gym every single morning and once it gets a bit warmer, will take my running outside. Looking forward to running some 5K and later 10K runs this year. (Before I started I couldn't run 100 yards without being out of breath)
  • Guinivere
    Guinivere Posts: 357 Member
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    It's great to hear your successes, and it's fascinating that facing serious health issues seems to be the wake up call some of us need to get off our bums!

    Maybe we should share some of these scary stories with children in school to shock them into making healthy choices, tell them that they have the power and control. Give them permission to make a change before they even become an adult. I wonder if the next generation will need the same motivation.....or something different like the award of an iPad or something?
  • AlwaysInMotion
    AlwaysInMotion Posts: 409 Member
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    Maybe we should share some of these scary stories with children in school to shock them into making healthy choices, tell them that they have the power and control. Give them permission to make a change before they even become an adult.

    So true. Unfortunately it's not always so easy to learn through other people's experience. I know I don't always listen to the hard won wisdom of others, either!
  • JourneyingJessica
    JourneyingJessica Posts: 261 Member
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    Possible health issue got me here and keeps me going ... My doctors appt at end of feb is huge motivation. I wanna be under 200 when i go (6 pounds in 2 months sooooo doable).

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