What was your wake-up call?

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  • fayefayee5
    fayefayee5 Posts: 87 Member
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    there have been several.

    One was getting asked "when are you due". I blushed, and quietly said.... "im not pregnant, im just big".

    Ugh I wanted the ground to eat me. I think the poor costco worker did too!
  • lpshizza
    lpshizza Posts: 30 Member
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    Seeing my engagement photo's....I started working out the next day!
  • alexanderzamani
    alexanderzamani Posts: 25 Member
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    Realising I was in my physical prime in terms of age and in the worst shape and heaviest I've been. Knowing I'm not getting that time back really motivated me for sure.
  • rabblerabble
    rabblerabble Posts: 471 Member
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    Late 2012 they started a wellness program at work where we started by having an assessment (weight, body fat%, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc) and my numbers were all terrible. Got me motivated to eating and exercising in a healthy manner. They discontinued the wellness program at the end of 2013 (most in the office weren't as enthusiastic about the program as I was) but I'm now down over 75 pounds (some before I joined MFP) feeling much healthier and am now in maintenance mode.

    Down from 40 inch to 32 inch pants and able to wear L (as opposed to XXL) shirts now. Nice when I see a fun T-shirt that I want to usually find it's in my size (when in the past, they invariably didn't have it in my previous size).
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Just out of curiosity, what served as the 18-wheeler hitting you head-on to let you know you needed to do something about your weight? I had a couple, but "the one" was when I saw a picture of myself and couldn't believe I had let myself go that far. That, and running out of clothes to wear and not being able to afford bigger ones.

    My story is pretty much the same as yours :flowerforyou:
  • Ele353
    Ele353 Posts: 5
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    I've always kind of known I was overweight, but didn't really want to deal with it. Until two things happened: 1. My big sister got married and I saw the pictures and I looked huge and 2. I had some blood tests done and bad cholesterol way up and the good one way down and also the sugar in my blood was elevated. So, to put in a few words, I would surely become per-diabetic and diabetic in no time if I continued that way.
  • seasonsanna
    seasonsanna Posts: 53
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    im a vintage clothing dealer and I was getting really sick of not being able to wear any cute clothes after having 2 kids back to back, so I started atkins. lost 20 or so pounds and just couldn't deal with life without carbs. so then I moved on to HCG. and I lost 60 lbs, but was really really really cranky and had such a hard time not being able to treat myself AT ALL during get togethers with friends, and sometimes I would give in and have just a few bites of something and gain a bunch of weight overnight. the longer I was on it the more I started getting really sensitive to just eating in general and gagging down an apple or my allowed 5 bites of chicken or anything on the very restrictive food list was like hell. not eating and having no energy was also like hell too. it was hellish in general.

    so then I just said 'screw it' and quit trying. decided im just fat now, that's it, better get used to it. and i sort of did.

    i decided i wanted my kids to start eating better, so i started cooking at home more. not all the time, but most nights a week. after a few months i weighed myself on a whim and i had lost weight. without even trying! awesome! then i tried on one of my 1950s "skinny" (skinny being skinny for me, so still BIG) dresses and it almost fit!

    so i cut down on some stuff. no more ice cream EVERY night. waited an extra hour to eat at home instead of grabbing a burger and fries and THEN ALSO making dinner. WOO! it worked! more weight lost!

    so here i am, almost a month later, but actually trying. still treating myself, even a little every day, but also moving a lot more and giving myself much more healthy options. it really still doesn't feel like work, and i am feeling way better :)
  • havocgx011
    havocgx011 Posts: 20
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    realized when I couldn't walk up 4 flights of stairs without stopping I'd fallen a long way from what I was. Used to be a gymnast who represented my province and even managed to get a gold in it but here I was unable to walk up 4 flights of stairs. So i quite smoking and started working out and watching what I eat.
  • christopherphillips1983
    christopherphillips1983 Posts: 103 Member
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    I spent most of my life as a really flexible person. I decided I had to do something about my steadily-increasing weight when I realized I could no longer bend my legs well enough to put my socks on without having to seriously try.
  • tgrey4
    tgrey4 Posts: 56
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    Several different times in my life.

    1. My brother, when we were both around 10-12 years old (I the older one) literally poking my stomach rolls which fell over the strap of my seatbelt. Calling me fat.

    2. Around 14, asking my mom what these lines on my thighs and butt were -- then bright purple and looking like bolts of thunder -- and hearing her say that I was becoming bigger as I got older. I can't remember just how she phrased it but it regarded becoming "womanly" and growing more fat. I didn't want to be womanly if it meant "growing fat."

    3. Most recently? Having my friend take my photograph to show my outfit to a friend away, and just being a little shocked at how my full body appears head-on. Thighs, arms, stomach, moonface, etc.

    Edited to add that I have never been overweight or heavy in my life. I just want to get down to a lower weight, get leaner, and feel better about my body and how I move. I've had issues with eating in the past, and these instances are some that provoked that, but I'm in a much better way now. I am motivated by my career (which relies on performance/my body in great, fit shape) and by feeling healthy and happy.
  • Jeanet69
    Jeanet69 Posts: 19
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    When I looked in the mirror and saw a matching (double) chin!!!
  • vanillacoffee
    vanillacoffee Posts: 1,024 Member
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    A co worker moved from one store to the store I was working in with two other girls, and he told our male co workers he didnt want to work there because he had to work with all fat girls.

    He is certainly the one with the problem, but I decided then & there I did not want to be known as the fat girl. Ever.
  • tgrey4
    tgrey4 Posts: 56
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    A co worker moved from one store to the store I was working in with two other girls, and he told our male co workers he didnt want to work there because he had to work with all fat girls.

    He is certainly the one with the problem, but I decided then & there I did not want to be known as the fat girl. Ever.
    Ugh, the patriarchy. I get it. I also get not wanting to be "that girl" anything. I'm so sorry. :(
  • margaretha30
    margaretha30 Posts: 6
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    My wake up call was when I looked in the mirror and I didn't recognize the person on the mirror. It's funny how everyday you wake up in the same body and never really look at it. Since I had my three beautiful girls I dont take many pictures or look in the mirror because I gained 65lbs,
  • RisyaLifsheTova
    RisyaLifsheTova Posts: 305 Member
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    When I went to SIX FLAGS in Denver and I couldn't fit on the ride that just had a lap bar that goes across the group of people I was sitting with in the pirate ship :( Recently, not fitting in the swings at Disney California.
  • imjolly
    imjolly Posts: 176 Member
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    I stepped on a scale and realized I weighed as much as I did when I was 9 months pregnant, except I wasn't pregnant this time. Plus my blood pressure was elevated and I don't want to take medicine . So here I am and I am here to stay.
  • helenoctober
    helenoctober Posts: 13 Member
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    My old jeans (add me people! helenoctober)
  • justjumpit278
    justjumpit278 Posts: 96 Member
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    When I realized I was dangerously close to being back at my highest weight. Realizing jeans I wore 2 years ago don't fit over my hips anymore. I've tried tons of times before, but this time I'm serious!
  • harmonyhoran
    harmonyhoran Posts: 48 Member
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    When I started putting on weight AFTER I had lost all my baby weight (when my son was 15-18 months it started creeping up. Everyone kept asking if I was pregnant again which I wasn't (although we were trying which made it a bit tricky) and I got sick of it. So no I'm not pregnant yet but I don't look it either. I am lighter and than I was before baby. In fact, Im almost back at wedding weight, 5 1/2 years ago and I was a pretty skinny 21 year old back then
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
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    Like many of you, seeing pictures of myself was a wake-up call. For some reason I never feel like I'm that overweight... I'm a healthy individual and still pretty young and I stay active with my kids. But seeing myself in pictures is always a shock.

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