What turned it around for you?

Do you mean 161?
Congratulations! You've done fantastic!

Hmmm, interesting question.

There have been turn around moments throughout this "journey".....

But the VERY 1st one when I was at my highest weigh of 268 lbs approx. was made alongside a decision to refuse to take a whole bunch of really strong medication that was supposed to help :noway: me cope we being abused as a child.

It was a disaster of Doctors trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.....nothing worked, I was depressed to the point of suicide (Thank God my attempts failed....at the time these failures were further proof that I couldn't do ANYTHING right). I developed another abscess from the Depo shot and that was it....I refused any more treatment. Sought out Counselling and started on the VERY long road to reclaiming my life.

Well first was seeing my weight get to its highest.... a year AFTER having my daughter. I was like... that doesn't seem right at all! At the same time my daughter was just learning to walk and approaching her 1st birthday and all I could see was the future and I didn't want to be the mom that can't run around and play with her daughter. Also, I had a person or two tell me I couldn't do. Pretty sure I was told that before, but that on top of all my other feelings at the time really gave me that push. Seriously I have never been happier!

I had been to the beach with my husband and adult children. . I was the biggest I had ever been. My daughter asked me why I was so out of breath. It was a terrible trip. I was the referee the whole time. Everyone was so selfish and adult children wanted us to pay for everything. Hubby was grouchy and did not want to share his coffee or anything else. I had finally had it, they were all getting on my nerves and I was putting up with a lot of crap. Well I thought I have got to get myself in shape and at least like myself. I got back off that vacation and lost the weight. Seems like I got more self respect and would not allow others to walk over me. I lost 40 on my own, started gaining back 15 pounds after eating ww dinners and someone at the gym told me about MFP and it worked. I like myself much better these days. I think a lot of weight can cause low self esteem, you just feel bad about yourself.

My turn around was when after I had given completely up and I thought I was going to die. I was feeling so bad physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Then I prayed and asked God to help me find something that would help and a dear friend of mine posted on Facebook the MFP site. As soon as I checked it out I knew that this was the answer for me. I thank God that He is always there when we call on Him and He always answers! I give Him all the glory for leading the way!

Sue I am so proud of you! And thank you so much for friending me! My MFP friends are so valuable to me and I appreciate our friendship.

You're awesome! :drinker:

For me it was going to the doctor for a check up and her ordering all kinds of tests, EKG etc... I guess it hit me that even at my age (34 at the time) I was already at risk for heart issues, so it would only get worse if I didn't lose the weight. It still took me a couple months to be ready to do it after that though.

Two things were the turn around for me. First was my husband leaving me after 34 years of marriage. I was blindsided by it, devastated, and couldn't eat because if I was thin enough he would come back. After months, I realized that he wasn't coming back no matter what so I took a hard look at myself and decided it was me I needed to do it for not him. I am happy to say that I now love the person I am and it is his loss that he left me. I no longer take cholesterol medications or diabetic medications. My heart rate is that of an athelete and I can do anything physically that I want to. I am happier, healthier, more self confident, and more assertive than I have ever been. So I guess I can thank him for that.

The second is my mother who died in 2012 after 10 years of a poor quality of life. In that span, she had broken her right lower leg, her ankle, her femur, and lastly her hip in her right leg. I am convinced that it was do to her sedentary life and being obese which she had been all my adult life. I do not want my 80"s to be like that.

I was 49 years old at the time and 50 pounds overweight.

I started thinking about the 70-year-old woman buried deep inside of me. My future self. She wouldn't emerge for another 20 years, but I realized that her health was largely in my hands. Whether she was healthy, energetic, relatively pain-free, and still living independently would be principally determined by the healthy eating and exercise habits I'm instilling now. I don't want her to be burdened by diseases or other chronic illnesses and just as importantly, I don't want her to be a burden to others. Dr. David Katz, MD, Director of Yale's Prevention Research Center, says that 80% of all diseases and chronic illnesses are due to lifestyle choices. What we eat. How active we are. Adequate sleep. Smoking. Seatbelts. Stress. They all matter greatly.

And with that perspective, it was pretty easy to get my rear in gear and commit to losing the excess weight. Three years later, I am delighted that I made that choice and decision.

"Do something today that your future self will thank you for."

Indeed!

Thanks for the great question, Sue, and congrats on your inspirational success!

What a great question! Thanks to all of you who have posted such thoughtful reflections, especially the OP.

I have been fat all my life. In 2007, the perfect storm of a new full time job and the accompanying stress, a foot injury that prevented me from doing any kind of exercise - even stretching or mild biking put too much strain on my achilles/foot. Because it was a new job, I didn't want to go to the doctor and make them think I was a fat hypochondriac, so I avoided medical care, limped around for THREE YEARS and took too much ibuprofen. I had also gotten so sick of trying to diet. I had done everything (TOPS, WW, Zone, Forks over Knives, etc.) since I was 10 years old and nothing worked, I never really lost anything, but I was sure good at gaining! Because the job was so stressful, I basically sat on the couch when I got home and ate cheese & crackers, or cheese & chips, or cheese & popcorn - noticing a theme? I got to work each week, put in my 50+ hours and basically did nothing else. I missed my kids growing up, did the minimum attendance at events and such, but was too exhausted to spend time with them outside of that, I sat on the couch while they did everything with their dad. I refused to get on a scale, I kept saying it didn't matter as long as I kept my blood sugars under control (did I mention I'm diabetic too?), but now I realize I was in total, complete, blind denial of my situation. I was (& still am) on 9 different prescriptions (about to ask to get off 4 of them), was getting out of breath going upstairs and just being completely irresponsible for my health. You get the picture.

Fast forward to November 2013 - I had joined MFP in 2010, but done nothing but gain the whole time I was on here and barely used it. I claimed I didn't like having people tell me what to do, so just leave me alone. Anyway, in November 2013 I actually got on the scale and realized I was on the other side of 250 and only 35# away from weighing 300 pounds... It was like a lightening bolt. I panicked and started praying to God, my angel team, anyone who would listen to help me find a solution and within 5 minutes, I found 5:2 intermittent fasting on google. I watched the Horizon documentary with Michael Mosley, read dozens of research studies and I started in November the week before Thanksgiving. I have lost 26 pounds so far with, really, a minimum of effort. Two days a week, I have a 500 calorie dinner and the rest of the week, I keep it around my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) which changes with increased activity, so if I'd exercise more, I could eat a bit more, but I'm working on one thing at a time.

My youngest is going off to college next week but when we went to her orientation, I was able to walk all over campus, hike in the mountains a bit and not get out of breath. I feel awful I didn't find this WoL (way of life) until they were grown and almost gone, but now I know I will be able to sustain and improve this pattern of eating, not feel deprived, make small, healthy tweaks without feeling forced or coerced by a well meaning doctor, dietitian or "friend"/family and I will be around to support them as they start their lives.

So, long story short, it was realizing how close I was to a number on the scale that I never dreamed would be that close AND finally finding something that works for me. I'm still a private person, so please don't be offended if I turn down any friend requests. Right now, just reading about people's stories and successes is helping me greatly.

Loved this post....