Your 'Ah-Ha' Moment

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  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    To lose weight? I was just tired of being mediocre, and I had recently quit my job. I needed goals to pass the time, so this was it for me.

    To get fit? I realized that fitness is more than losing weight when I started becoming more active on MFP and made friends with some amazing women. They are great role models that I look up to, and I have already furthered my fitness because of that.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    edited October 2014
    When I was at work with the radio playing. I don't know if it was an advertisement or a talk show or what but it was just background noise, "blah-blah-blah". For some reason, the "noise" cleared and became a couple of doctors talking. One said he was seeing a dramatic increase of chronic illness in his morbidly obese patients under 40. The other replied it was more dramatic that he had no morbidly obese patients over 70. I thought, "hmmm . . . interesting." then just went about my business until a cold chill went down my spine when the reality of what they were saying finally hit me :-\ I don't think I said "Ah Ha" . . . more like "Oh S**t" :#

    O-M-G I snorted in laughter at the last bit! Thanks for that. :D

    And I too love the fancy dress & self discoveries.

    There seem to be quite a heavy dose of this general sense of helplessness in the other forums that I just needed some inspirations so THANKEE ALL! <3
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    For me, it was as simple as seeing 211 on the scale. That was too much for me. I didn't have a lot to lose (I'm 6'4" and maintaining at 180 +/-), but seeing that number on the scale gave me the push I needed.
  • Alisontheice
    Alisontheice Posts: 9,624 Member
    Mine was last summer realizing I was going to have to wear some skating dresses and have enough stamina to hold my partner up. I accomplished it and think I looked pretty good in the dress in my picture
  • kikontx
    kikontx Posts: 92 Member
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Looking in the mirror. That's my a-ha moment.

    a_ha___Take_On_Me_by_scorcher.gif

    ISWYDT.

    Yeah, but it was a great song and video back then.
  • kikontx
    kikontx Posts: 92 Member
    sushi549 wrote: »
    I obviously have far too much time on my hands as another question out of sheer curiosity has been nagging away at me ... so here goes. :D
    • When was your 'AH-HA' moment that made you decide, 'ahhhm okay it's time to do something about this weight?'
    • What made a difference this time which differed from previous attempts to lose weight &/or get healthy? (motivation)
    • How much impact do you feel that a correct mindset has on the level of achievement?

    Well, my a-ha moment (this time) was just being tired of trying to squeeze into my clothes. I rarely bought new clothes so in my mind up (until that point) was if I can still fit into them (albeit with muffin tops in multiple places) then the weight must not be that bad. Of course having clothes that stretch definitely contributed to my conclusion of being able to fit into them. Finally got on the scale at the end of June and saw the number and realized that was the same weight I was when I lost weight 8 years ago.

    What's different this time? Probably not relying on a drastically different diet to lose the weight. As many has said, this is something you have to do for the long haul. It wasn't that I was restricting what I was eating but rather limiting myself in food selection and eating something different from the rest of the family. So I decided to research and find recipes that would not only help me but also something that my family would eat as well. I also focused on creating a organizational system to make it easier to keep me on track - cutting up vegetables and fruit ahead of time, pre-portioning out snacks into bags or containers,etc.

    Having a correct mindset is definitely a huge part. But also understanding what made you "fall of the wagon" in the past and modifying your habits to account for that is important as well. On my past weight loss attempt, I didn't count calories or weighed my food and was able to lose about 30 lbs. But I eventually gained it all back because I didn't address those two areas once I went into maintenance. Now I use MFP as well as a food scale which I hope will allow me to maintain the weight loss once I hit goal and transition to maintenance this time.
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
    For me, it was when I saw a picture my husband took of my daughter and me. I couldn't believe how frumpy I looked. I'm usually the one behind the camera so I had no idea. Pictures speak 1,000 words.

    Also, my clothes were not fitting correctly. It was hard to find the right size, especially in pants. It killed me having a muffin top spilling over my jeans.

    I can't say it's different than other attempts because I knew counting calories would work as it was the solution for losing weight between having my daughter and son. I simply said I'd do it, and I did. I only had to lose about15 pounds, but on my small 4'11" frame, it's an enormous amount. If you add me as a friend, you can see how different my face pics are.

    I'm at goal weight now, and this morning I realized my "girls" have gone down a size. I'm not disappointed, but I hope my husband doesn't notice :wink: Time for bra shopping :blush:
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    kikontx wrote: »
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Looking in the mirror. That's my a-ha moment.

    a_ha___Take_On_Me_by_scorcher.gif

    ISWYDT.

    Yeah, but it was a great song and video back then.

    Still a great song - probably one of my favorite 80's pop songs.
  • bennettinfinity
    bennettinfinity Posts: 865 Member
    It didn't feel like an a-ha moment at the time, but I went in for my annual checkup (which was the only time I stepped on a scale) and was up from the prior year weighing in at 265#. That didn't really shock me or even make much of an impression, but my doctor commented on it and simply told me that if I could maintain a 500 calorie a day deficit, I could lose a pound a week. It sounded easy - I bought a fitbit, found MFP and discovered it *was* easy.