At what point did you finally decide "this is it..."

1246789

Replies

  • techgal128
    techgal128 Posts: 719 Member
    When I got to the point to where I didn't walk, I waddled.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    For all of my teens and twenties I was obese, but didn't mind. Seriously. It felt normal for me and I didn't have any problems with work, friends, relationships, clothes, etc. I had loads of energy and was GENERALLY healthy. I had no health issues, normal BP and blood sugar and periods, didn't take medicine, etc. But...yes I was very obese.

    omg that is EXACTLY me!!!^^ except now i do care, like you mentioned further on in your post!!!!

    I always like to try to keep it real! I mean, a lot of people act like every person over 200 lb is suicidal with 25 medical diagnoses ;-)
  • sheddingmyskin99
    sheddingmyskin99 Posts: 3
    When I felt ashamed to exist and had a chronic fear of going out and doing things because I wouldn't be able to fit into the seats and hearing the staff at the steak house make fun of me out on a date with my bf I was done.
  • stacief82
    stacief82 Posts: 109 Member
    I was always thin as a child/teenager, then I had my son and got married and the weight started creeping up. Through dumb "luck" (really a few very depressing months and some out of whack hormones) I dropped all the weight without really trying. I had my second child in 2012 and since I have yet again let my weight creep back up. I went in for my yearly chekup and realized I had put on 15 lbs in one year, and I knew I had to break that trend.
  • Becre8tive
    Becre8tive Posts: 108 Member
    When I realized I didn't have anything to wear anymore and even my only "fat" jeans didn't fit. Left spandex pants and t-shirts looking like tents I decided "this is it" screw you Menopause :-)

    This was 81 days ago.
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
    I tried to get up off the floor. It took me 4 attempts. I was tired but ...
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    After seeing 250 on the scale! That was enough for me.
  • CommittedAndMotivated
    CommittedAndMotivated Posts: 71 Member
    Today although it's been coming. I put on about 50 pounds since my parents died 41/2 years ago. About a month ago I began waking up from a long period of grieving. I was first in shock that I had been on auto pilot and had allowed my physical health and fitness to go to the wayside. Tomorrow is my 55th birthday so today is the day that I make a commitment to reclaim my life. Great question!
  • jstavix
    jstavix Posts: 407 Member
    For me, it wasn't just one thing. I have always had a weight problem, the only time I weighed what I was supposed to was the day I was born and it has been a battle ever since. I have gained and lost 250ish pounds over the course of my life, 25 here, 50 there and I always, always gained it back. One day I was getting out of the shower and I saw myself for real, the huge belly, huge *kitten*, blobs of blob everywhere. I don't like myself, find it hard to take a compliment and I know it is all tied to my weight.

    I want to accept myself for the first time, I want to buy clothes in the "normal sized" section. I just want to live a life I have never lived because I was embarrassed to. I know there is a fearless female inside of me, I think it's time she came out.
  • CommittedAndMotivated
    CommittedAndMotivated Posts: 71 Member
    "Screw you Menopause" this made me laugh, and I love your profile photo! Yes, Menopause took its toll on my mind and body...but Thank the Gods, its behind me now...although I am now left in this fat-suit brought on by the changes in my body and in my life.
  • Brownsbacker4evr
    Brownsbacker4evr Posts: 365 Member
    Well I started getting pretty bad anxiety and panic attacks, and a lot of that stemmed from my weight. Didn't wanna rely on medication and found exercise actually cured it for me. I went from having them nightly to never having them again once I started exercising. Went on to lose over 100lbs, then this time 5 years ago, I injured my shoulder playing football and it never healed right and still is messed up and I went to gain it ALL back and then some. I was at my heaviest--A whopping 354 pounds!

    Such a tragic slipping slope to go from the fittest you've ever been to the heaviest you've been. So i've been battling other injuries and Gout sneaking up on me. Been falling in and out of weight loss for about five years now and i've finally buckled down because of the gout. It's absolutely awful. Being overweight itself it increases the chances for flare ups and I figured if I kept letting myself get worse and stop caring, it's only going to get much harder. So THIS IS IT, my final breakdown, im working slowly through constant gout flares, but I've finally gotten the same dedication that I had when I lost the big weight once before.

    So you can say my "This is it" is: Life is hard enough, why should I make it any harder myself.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Wasn't about losing weight necessarily for me. I had some scary bad health markers and was heading fast towards spending a good chunk of the latter years of my life sick at best but probably dead pretty early. I found that proposition to be unacceptable.

    Losing weight has been a pretty awesome bi product of rocking my nutrition and fitness, but wasn't/isn't the "end game" for me.
  • b12arr0
    b12arr0 Posts: 55 Member
    We went to a renaissance festival last month and my 9 year old daughter wanted to ride a elephant with me. While we were riding around the little arena, my son took some pictures of us. Those pictures are the answer to the question. Even being on an elephant, I looked so fat. You look in the mirror at yourself and think, it's not so bad. Then someone takes a picture, and it's BAD.
  • NikiChicken
    NikiChicken Posts: 576 Member
    I never really had a true "A-Ha!" moment. It was more of a gradual coming to my senses. I was 40 and 3 months away from turning 41. I had just booked a trip to San Francisco for my birthday. I was horribly fat and out of shape. As I started planning my trip, it dawned on me that there was going to be a ton of walking and I couldn't walk a block without being miserable. So I started walking on my lunch hours in preparation of the trip. After about a week of walking, I decided that I should pay a little more attention to what I was eating as well and that is when I joined this site. I set up an account and took the recommendations for a modest weight loss and just decided to see where I could get before I left for San Francisco. My trip was 2 1/2 months away at that point. By the time my trip rolled around, I had lost 25 pounds. I went on the trip and walked so much I lost another 2 pounds. When I got back, I decided that it hadn't been so hard, so I just kept going and kept going. I turned 43 on July 5 and that trip was 2 years ago! I've lost close to 80 pounds and changed my life completely. I'm still 40 pounds from goal, but I don't really care how long it takes to get there because the goal is not the end number, it's learning how to live my life as a "thin" person and stay that way. The end number is just a number.
  • Vanessa_Ross
    Vanessa_Ross Posts: 18 Member
    My work decided to do a Biggest Loser contest and I saw a picture of myself and new I had to make a change. I mean really I can not believe I let myself get that bad!
  • Snip8241
    Snip8241 Posts: 767 Member
    Last January I looked in the mirror and thought....I am done. I purchased a bathing suit, goggles and a swim cap and started swimming.
  • tpeirona
    tpeirona Posts: 572 Member
    I was the fat bridesmaid at my sisters wedding. I had kept saying, I'll lose the weight before the wedding and for a while I was doing okay, down 5 or so pounds by just working out not watching what I ate. Eventually, I lost motivation and stopped working out, continued to eat horribly and overall just gave up.

    My sisters wedding rolled around and I was the largest I'd ever been at 195. Seeing myself that close to the 200s made me say holy crap and I realized that I had to do something. Since starting in mid-March I'm 20 lbs down and about 40% to my goal weight of 145. I will not let myself be the fat bridesmaid again, especially since my other sister is about to get engaged.
  • Qcrazy
    Qcrazy Posts: 19
    Realizing i'm a food addict. I read Authority Nutrition About How to cure food addiction. Getting rid of all sugars and grain and everything that makes you wanna binge. Ive beat addiction a few of times in my life (caffeine, sugar/carbs, nicotine) So I have learned the secret to addiction is break the habit and never ever do it again. I know that one hit off a cigarette ill be a smoker I know that one bottle of soda Ill be addicted all over again. I know that one piece of bread or cake or anything that has carbs or sugar in it, will mean im back to being another food addict. If I do it once ill do it again so this time I said nope never again.
  • Tanie98
    Tanie98 Posts: 675 Member
    At what point in your life did you tell yourself "It's time to lose weight" and ACTUALLY meant it??

    - I'm 41 and gained over the past ten years... so basically I spent my 30's fat and miserable. I don't want to spend my 40's fat and miserable so this is my main reason for being here. I've decided to make a lifestyle change of counting calories and becoming more active. I didnt get fat overnight and won't lose it overnight. I'm only 4 days in but I feel better already (mentally)..

    What about you??

    when my clothes getting tight and my jeans couldn't fit and I didn't want to buy a new wadrobe
  • Eselte
    Eselte Posts: 49
    Thank you for all of the responses.. It's kind of nice to know we all have something in common.
  • cashewmill
    cashewmill Posts: 9 Member
    My father called me chunky. My dad called me a beached whale. My six year old cousin said, "You look fat!". I was only 10 or so pounds 'overweight' - although technically in a healthy BMI range. For a while, I was just like, "I should go on a diet," As I ate an entire bag of chips.

    But then I changed. Nearly 10 pounds down and just need to lose about 2 more pounds.
  • phoenixx866
    phoenixx866 Posts: 173 Member
    I was at McDonalds with my fiance and I was eating my usual fish sandwich with medium fries and a diet Coke. A woman walked in... Well, she had to walk into the door sideways holding onto her husband/boyfriend/male companion, who was also large. She huffed and puffed and hobbled up to the counter and ordered two 20 piece chicken nuggets, 2 large fries and a large Coke just for herself. She couldn't fit into the booth or the chairs at the restaurant, so the male with her went to the car and came out with a special large chair for her. As she was almost finished eating (and my fiance saw my eyes fill with tears) she said she was still hungry and ordered 4 cheeseburgers to go.

    When they left, I cried. I cried for her, I cried for him, I cried for myself and my fiance (who is about 150 lbs overweight himself). I started my journey the next day.
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    For all of my teens and twenties I was obese, but didn't mind. Seriously. It felt normal for me and I didn't have any problems with work, friends, relationships, clothes, etc. I had loads of energy and was GENERALLY healthy. I had no health issues, normal BP and blood sugar and periods, didn't take medicine, etc. But...yes I was very obese.

    Then at 30-32 I started a new career and gained 40-50 lb mainly from stress eating and having $$ to dine out all the time. I turned into a type of person I'd never been before...I had trouble walking up stairs or long distances. My ankles & feet swelled in the summer. I felt gross even in my baggy 3X tops. It was just time for change, I couldn't continue feeling "like that". I started hating every non-face pic of myself and hiding even from fun social outings...I had always been obese but never "like that".

    So I lost 45 lb before joining this website (through exercising a LOT more and laying off the Starbucks) and I kept it off for a couple years.

    At that point, I was back to my normal self. Fat & happy. Really. I wasn't miserable. The only problem I had was being embarrassed if my boobs and belly were touching the table when my friends insisted on a booth, or cringing at full length photos because was I really THAT much bigger than all of my girlfriends?!? But I felt great.

    Joining My Fitness Pal for me was a great thing because it has taught me a lot about what I actually eat...calorie wise and nutritionally. I have not had any problems at all losing 85 lb since I joined in March 2013. It has honestly felt much easier to me than the 45 lb I lost before I joined, when I was clueless about calories and thought cereal with milk was a light healthy breakfast. Now I'm at my lowest weight since middle school (I'm 37).

    I :heart: you.
  • carnavore
    carnavore Posts: 65
    Before my gain weight I was at an ideal 165-170 lbs. weight range and running half-marathons but after getting promoted at work, traveling a lot (due to personal and work reasons), having a crazy schedule and 2 major injuries....I was at 216-215 and decided enough was enough. I had barely passed my Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and barely passed the Army height and weight standard.

    So I started eating a little better for about 1 week prior to coming on MFP and went down to 210. I'm by no means new to working out or nutritiont but having this community and it's support has really made a difference.

    Right now I'm currently at 208 after a little over a week on MFP but my pants fit a little bit better, less snug and I feel tons better.

    Also I had paid my trainer 20 sessions and I was just wasting my money, instead now I'm actually getting my money's worth!
  • inneedofanap
    inneedofanap Posts: 63 Member
    I was at McDonalds with my fiance and I was eating my usual fish sandwich with medium fries and a diet Coke. A woman walked in... Well, she had to walk into the door sideways holding onto her husband/boyfriend/male companion, who was also large. She huffed and puffed and hobbled up to the counter and ordered two 20 piece chicken nuggets, 2 large fries and a large Coke just for herself. She couldn't fit into the booth or the chairs at the restaurant, so the male with her went to the car and came out with a special large chair for her. As she was almost finished eating (and my fiance saw my eyes fill with tears) she said she was still hungry and ordered 4 cheeseburgers to go.

    When they left, I cried. I cried for her, I cried for him, I cried for myself and my fiance (who is about 150 lbs overweight himself). I started my journey the next day.

    Wow, I could feel your emotions as I read this.
  • kevlarmenace
    kevlarmenace Posts: 1
    A little late, but when I looked back at my old pictures and realized that I used to have a defined chin, and medium shirts hung off of me. I was ashamed of my gut everywhere I went and even the biggest pants I owned got a little too tight.
  • Pirate_chick
    Pirate_chick Posts: 1,216 Member
    When I saw the pictures from my cousin's wedding. But it took me 4 months to actually do something about it.
  • Eselte
    Eselte Posts: 49
    I don't "feel" as big as I look in recent pictures. So seeing recent pics of myself was a huge slap in the face!
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
    A few things happened all during 1 hospital stay:

    When I had to call my kids and tell them we wouldn't be having our Christmas celebration because I was back in the hospital, that was kick #1
    Then my doctor says we're going to have to keep you on oxygen 24/7 kick #2
    Finally kick was my nurse in ICU who told me flat out you are too young to be this sick, most of your issues are because you're fat.

    Got out of the hospital and started the day I was released
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
    I realized that my scale was "stuck" making me feel okay about my weight even though my clothes were getting tighter. Then once I got a new scale and my "real weight" was the heaviest I've ever been. Everything else in my life seemed out of control, but I realized/decided that I could control what I put in my mouth. And, this time, it made all of the difference! Two years of success and counting. Loving my new wardrobe, liking my body, liking that the physical aspects of life in general are easier, liking that people treat me differently. I heard or read somewhere that "nothing tastes as good as thin feels," and I am now a believer! I still enjoy my food, but I've found a way to have both!

Categories