How did you know this time was it?

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  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
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    I have no idea if I really knew it was "it" this time. People ask me all the time why I started losing weight and what was "it" that made me finally do it. I can't really answer that one either. However, I started over 5 years ago and have kept most if it off for the last 4 years. I am hoping this is the last time I start :) I still get nervous that I will go back to my old ways, but so far so good. I think hiring a personal trainer to help me was a big help for me, he helped me the food and the fitness and now I love working out.
  • tequila5000
    tequila5000 Posts: 128 Member
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    For me, it came out of something very sad. One of my dearest friends, who I also had the pleasure of working with, was extremely ill and was in a nursing home. She had earned a particular recognition from our organization, and so several of us went to present it to her. We decided we would go in our official uniforms, which we wear for official occasions, like presenting an award. Well, my uniform pants didn't fit---way too snug. I was so disgusted with myself that I decided that very day that I would make better choices, and I downloaded the MFP app and starting using it. It worked. One month later, I was again wearing my full uniform, (including the pants that that I hadn't been able to wear), at her funeral. I kept logging, kept losing, got to a point where I felt a lot better, and I've been maintaining for about a year now.
  • lipinskij
    lipinskij Posts: 4 Member
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    My success story:

    1. Find an exercise you really love, for me it was Mountain Biking.
    2. Use technology to track your fitness and calories. Counting calories is a MUST!
    3. Surround yourself with positive, like-minded, and disciplined people who share your goals.

    I think a lot of people, myself included, start exercise programs they don't really enjoy. Let's face it, no one likes doing things they don't enjoy and it eventually leads to an abandonment of your exercise routine, diet and overall health. I know this sounds like an easy solution but its best not to overcomplicate your mission back to a healthy you. Try a lot of different cardio-based exercise routines and find the one that's works for you both physically and mentally. Remember those 3 simple rules and you won't go wrong. If anyone needs encouragement just friend me and I'll help you out! - Jim
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I lay in bed one night and thought "I know I will get a personal trainer", really put no more thought into in that that searched for a recommendation on a local site and sent off an email ...my aim was to get a little fitter and perhaps lose a little weight in the couple of months leading up to summer holiday. He directed me here, I'd been a member for years but not really done it.

    I've never looked back ...still see him once a week, and do other exercise too. And I think now how grateful I am for the change in my psyche ...I feel strong and invulnerable not middle-aged and anxious ...it has truly been a new lease of life
  • bium
    bium Posts: 2
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    When people started to ask me if I'm pregnant. It was the time.
  • erkerns
    erkerns Posts: 27 Member
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    I hit my highest weight ever and one day I realized I was just soooo unhappy with myself - none of my clothes fit and I looked awful! I was 25 and I also had high BP and high cholesterol, my feet hurt, and I was just in a dark place. I needed a change!
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
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    When I realized that drinking had screwed up every attempt to lose & maintain my weight loss. I figured I don't have the ability to drink in moderation. So I stopped drinking cold turkey and by the grace of God this time I WILL succeed, long term.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    The thing that made it the one was when I realised how boring and what hard work you had to put in to lose weight from exercise. Not intending to do this ever again.
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
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    there haven't been other times. i actually quite enjoyed life as a fat girl but wouldn't have been allowed to donate a kidney. so, decided to do it and did it. the end.
  • Bekk927
    Bekk927 Posts: 14 Member
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    for me it started with identifying what had made me fail in the past - a combination of being overly restrictive and using small daily failures as an excuse to give up. Now I avoid these by eating at a smaller deficit and practicing forgiving myself for slip ups. Also being in it for the long haul helps, I used to be so impatient.
  • baldse90
    baldse90 Posts: 15 Member
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    I've never posted on a thread before but have gained a lot of great (and entertaining!) information from reading. I've used MFP very infrequently in the last 5 years.

    I started losing weight 2 years ago for my wedding, lost 10 pounds, felt great, looked great. I did this by cutting out all dairy products and exercising every day. I know now that I simply created a deficit.

    Fast forward to July 2014, I had gained 20 pounds, felt huge and awful. I never wanted to be photographed, and I feel that i've missed out on documenting some special moments because of it.

    A Facebook friend invited me to join a "plexus slim" group (she sells their products). That made me feel incredibly insecure, even though I'm certain she sent it to everyone on her friends list. I also felt pissed, I had lost weight before on my own, without supplements. I didn't need that crap. That really was my turning point. I decided to use MFP and have logged on for 130 days.

    At this point, I've lost 20 pounds. I'd like to lose 10 more, but I do feel great. I lost that weight by counting calories and exercising. It feels sustainable which is the biggest difference!

    Best of luck to everyone!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    The only way to know is to be looking back on having done it.
  • epido
    epido Posts: 353 Member
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    I really can't say what made it different this time. It just was. I finally reached the point where I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I decided to hire a trainer, changed how I ate, and started working out. Some days have been harder than others, and I have taken a step backwards here and there over the past year, but for the most part, I have continued to stay the course. With 82 pounds down, and 30 more to go, it is taking longer to see the pounds melt away, but I am still making progress. That, and I've come to far to fail now!
  • KimofTas
    KimofTas Posts: 48 Member
    edited November 2014
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    I'm only 17 days in but this time is really the only time I've actually started with a vengeance and have kept going past a couple of days. Lost 4.5kgs in those 17 days and
    this time I have an actual plan and am enjoying exercising.

    I think the only difference is that I didn't overthink it this time, didn't plan in my head before I started. In the past I've set the bar too high and then (being soooo unfit) couldn't maintain any sort of exercise (or willpower).

    Also, last time I flew on a plane I had to have an extension belt (embarrassing!) and manoeuvring in the plane toilet was a major hassle (I nearly had what I think may have been my first panic attack).

    I just don't want that feeling again and we're travelling in Oct of 2015 so I need to get rid of the extra Me I've been carrying around. She's got to GO.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,871 Member
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    999tigger wrote: »
    The thing that made it the one was when I realised how boring and what hard work you had to put in to lose weight from exercise. Not intending to do this ever again.
    This^^^ Plus, I am in my fifties. It took me 30 years to gain 35 pounds. I am running out of time to do this again.
  • LovelyMarie774
    LovelyMarie774 Posts: 49 Member
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    I can't justify going out and paying for a new wardrobe because of my lack of discipline. I just don't allow it. I have other financial goals that don't involve coddling myself when I gain. Instead, I get my butt to the gym and/or cut calories and remind myself that my favorite jeans are getting tight. Remember losing weight is uncomfortable... but so is getting bigger, if that's the track you're on. Which uncomfortable do you want?
  • astrose00
    astrose00 Posts: 754 Member
    edited November 2014
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    I'm still in the midst of my journey but KNOW this will be the last time. I've yo-yo'd before but this last time was really bad because it happened during and after a broken ankle that required surgery. I blew up and kept eating. I must have been sleepwalking because I don't think I realized how bad it was until I started seeing myself in pictures and catching glimpses in the mirror. I'd tell everyone how much Iove working out and how great I looked "before". I am not sure they even believed me. Then I signed up for a 30 mile charity bike ride I had ridden two years ago and before the broken ankle. Two years ago, I did it alone and it was so easy. This time, I couldn't even finish. I had to stop halfway through and get a ride from the SAG vehicle. As I was struggling (and before I quit) all the fit riders kept zooming past me saying "you can do it!". One wench even had the nerve to ask if I was sure I wasn't supposed to be doing the 10 mile route. I was dead last. I'm 47 years old and my heartrate was steadily at 180BPM for most of the ride. I kept hearing the muffler of the SAG car behind me like a vulture waiting for its prey to just die already. That made it even harder to continue. My pride is huge and it was hard for me to quit (I never quit anything in my life) but I honestly wondered if I wasn't doing more harm than good. When I got home, I got on the scale for the first time in 2 years and realized I had gained 80lbs. I joined MFP that next day and rode my spinning bike for the remaining 15 miles I had missed the day before. I started eating healthy and counting calories and hitting macros the next day. That was September 21 and I have worked out 5x week (weights and cardio) since then. I've lost 31 lbs so far and am determined to lose a total of 100 lbs and be even better than I was before (which was pretty darn good!). And, oh yes, I will be riding that 30 miles challenge next year! Maybe I will do the 50 mile route...

    I have never been so determined. I have never been so aware of the control I have over my life. I will never do this to myself again. That's how I know this time is different. Thereis no end date. This is a promise I make to me forever.
  • astrose00
    astrose00 Posts: 754 Member
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    acogg wrote: »
    999tigger wrote: »
    The thing that made it the one was when I realised how boring and what hard work you had to put in to lose weight from exercise. Not intending to do this ever again.
    This^^^ Plus, I am in my fifties. It took me 30 years to gain 35 pounds. I am running out of time to do this again.

    ^^^ This! I agree. I know it will never been easier than it is right now to do this. I still have a shot at no excess skin and am still healthy. Nothing is promised. Do it now, if you can.
  • opalsqueak007
    opalsqueak007 Posts: 433 Member
    edited November 2014
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    I weighed myself (for the first time in ages) in February and found out that I was 194lb and clinically obese. It might sound stupid, but I had no idea I was really that fat. I got my husband to take a photograph of me in a bikini and I put it on my computer as desktop background. I haven't looked back since ;) I also gave up drinking alcohol cold turkey. I thought if I can do that, I can also lose weight.

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