What was your "Ah-ha" moment?

Bump, cool idea.

jarrettwhite07 wrote: »

Yeah I didn't like the way I looked in my pics so I decided to change it.

Pretty much this for me too.

I never really had an ah-ha moment. Something just clicked in me one day that I'm tired of the way I look, tired of feeling exhausted all the time. So I decided to re-vamp the way I see weight loss, and the first was to take a good look at what I was eating. I decided to eliminate fast food, soda, and minimize as much as possible processed foods from my diet for 30 days (today actually marks my 30th day). Then a few days after starting my 30 day elimination challenge I got paperwork from my mom doctor and was so shocked at all the health conditions she had, I cried. I knew I did not want to go through life with the possibility of running into the same conditions (my mom is obese too). After that I just knew this time would be different.

It was a series of events. One was that my friend put a very unflattering pic of me playing with her dog up on fb and tagged me. I already knew how big I looked but someone then commented slyly on how beautiful "she" was- meaning the dog. It kind of stung but I mentioned I was going to do something about my weight. That photo is now my background for my laptop.

Another time I was watching this awesome bald guy on youtube from Actualized.org explaining how he lost 80 or so pounds and kept it off for X amount of years. That day I was just flipping through the channels trying to get motivated and what he really said finally stuck to me. It's something I heard 100 times before but for some reason his words really stirred something inside of me. He was explaining how weight loss must start in your mind first. There has to be a mindset reset/change and he was right.

Since then I'm down about 18lbs and working out and eating healthier is 2nd nature to me. This time it feels different as before I was losing it for the wrong reasons or losing it for other people. This time is for me. I finally decided to wake up and start loving myself. It's much more important when it comes from a place of self-love and acceptance because then you want to give yourself your best life.

I started to gain weight in my late teens and by the time I was 25 I was 226 pounds. I lost 30 pounds and kept it off for the next 4 years. Unfortunately, life got away from me and depression took over. I still managed to cut back on fast food (my main weakness) and I always made sure to only eat enough to satisfy myself and not overeat and was lucky enough to not gain any of the weight I lost, back. Then suddenly, I was only 4 months away from my 30th birthday and remembered that I had promised myself that I would lose all the weight that I wanted to before I entered the next decade. I have had menstrual problems that started when I really started to get heavy. When I lost the first 30 pounds some symptoms improved and I wanted to see if losing more weight would help improve more. My partner and I want to start a family in the next few years and I want to be as healthy as can be so I can help my chances of conceiving and having a healthy baby and pregnancy. I knew I was done with failed diets and giving up. So, I got on Google and searched for weight loss success stories and how those successful people managed to be successful in the first place. I discovered that most of them simply just ate less and do moved more! I was skeptical because I wanted it off quickly. I didn't know if I could be okay with losing 1 or 2 pounds a week! Then, there was an acquaintance whom was on a weight loss kick. She was doing it all wrong with crash dieting and "cleanses. " Not only that, she was doing it specifically for an event and would give up after the event was over. This annoying frustrated me annoying first. She was hurting her body more than she was helping it and being irritating about it in the process. After some begrudgingly looking at myself in the mirror I realized that if I felt that way maybe I should practice what I preach. I read more on the Internet about how people dealt with how long it took to lose their weight. I then came to the conclusion that I didn't wake up one day with an extra 60 pounds on me and that since that took years, losing it was going to take a while too. I also have a personal motto: If it's important, nothing can stop you from making sure it gets done. Losing weight was and is important to me. My self esteem and life have suffered because of my weight and I was over all of it. I decided to just go for it. I saw results, got compliments from family and some friends. I found a new love for not only losing weight but, living a healthy lifestyle. Which I know is something I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life. So, in conclusion I would say that there wasn't a single a-ha moment for me, just a snow ball effect that rolled itself into me and woke me up to the fact that if I needed to make some changes.

For me it was the patronizing "honey you can't pull that off" look from the store saleswoman. I bought the blouse because I was so annoyed. I had been thinking about making the life changes for a while but that clinched it. As soon as the cardio machine was delivered I haven't looked back. The blouse is now too big.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I started on Metformin and my doctor said it is a progressive disease and that I would eventually have to go on insulin. Anyway that was a wake up call for me. I had heard the doctor on "The biggest Loser" tell some of the participants that if they lost the weight, kept it off, and continued exercising, they could reverse their diabetes. So I started researching and read a book called The End of Diabetes by Dr. Joel Furhmann. I also read Never Say Diet by Chantel Hobbs. In her book she tells how to make a brain change to make your weight loss permanent. She also tells 5 decisions you need to make to make the brain change. Anyway 2 years later I am no longer on any medications and am no longer diabetic. It can be done. I have lost 54 pounds and my A1C went from 6.5 to 5.2. I log all my calories on MFP and take several exercise classes 5 days a week and am now working with a personal trainer. All my friends and family say they are so proud of me and I feel so much better and have gone from a size 18 to an 8. I look so much better in all the family photos now. I've gained a passion for health and fitness and I don't plan to ever go back to the way I was. I have a whole new life now.

Mine happened on vacation in May of last year. My husband and I were taking a walk on the beach, and this teenage boy asked me, "Ma'am, can I ask: when are you due?" Now, it sounds like he was being polite, and it wasn't the first time I'd been asked if I was pregnant while wearing a bathing suit, but he was smirking and happily being a little jerk. I told him I was dropping trough the next day; but when he was gone, I just started crying.

I told my husband that I'd had enough- I wasn't going to use my joint pain as an excuse anymore, and no one was going to ever again ask me if I was pregnant (for the record, our daughters are 25 and 23- it's been a LONG time!). The day after vacation, I started counting calories, and I got a recumbent bike. My husband joined me, too, and we've lost a combined 83 pounds, with 9 pounds left between us. Now that I'm not in the kind of pain I was before, I do cardio and strength.

By the way, we went back to that beach again this past May. You bet your *kitten* no one asked me if I was pregnant this time!!

This one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuN7kOW7iwo

I saw pictures of myself and they made me sad
I have tried losing weight so many times but my unhealthy relationship with food kept me falling back into my old habits. I have finally found a method that works for me (keto) and even though i never feel tempted to "cheat" on my diet if i would i'll just think about those pictures and use that as a motivation.
(Lost 20kg)

My "enough is enough" moment was when my pants were way too tight, and I wasn't going to buy more. My ah-ha moment came about 2 weeks in, when I realized that patience and focusing on the present day are key to success. I don't worry about how long I will have to log or eat at a deficit. I simply ask myself, "Can I do it today?" and it doesn't seem so insurmountable of a task.

One of the most painful experiences I've had is giving birth to my second kid without any pain meds. I got through it by focusing only on one contraction at a time! I didn't worry about how much longer labor would last or how much pain I was in. I just told myself- Get through this contraction! I look back at that experience for inspiration- if I did that, I can do this! I have lost 15lb and have 15lb more until my goal weight.

It was when I was 14 & living in Asia. It was the most humiliating moment when I found that I can't fit into the largest size of khaki pants in the store because of my butt size. It was more than 10 years ago in Asia when sizing were based on the majority of population (in my opinion). I got constantly reminded that my frame is bigger than the average there, not just by the clothing store staffs but often by family members or friends (I just realized that it's quite common for family members to criticize each others' appearance in many Asian countries).

Feeling fat is actually a very common and daily thing among many girls & women over there, even if their weight is within normal range. My experience might be nothing compatible to what many others have experienced, but it's definitely traumatizing enough since I lived in an environment where finding good quality, affordable clothes was a hassle (at that time when I was a teen) and self-esteem was beaten up to the bottom by peers.

Now I'm in my best physique ever as an adult and I love myself more and more everyday (good exercise routine and eat healthy). Give myself a pat at the shoulder

I've had many aha moments and many attempts at weight loss that quickly failed. After I discovered mfp something just finally clicked for me. Like others, seeing myself in pictures was such a wake up call. I looked so much bigger than I felt. Now 64 lbs lighter and seeing results keeps me motivated.

I've been putting on weight for 30 years at a desk job. Retired early at 56 and hated it. Bored, didn't feel good, life was dark and dreary, multiple health issues... This May my heart started beating over 100 BPM at rest, then chest pains. Wife took me to the ER after a few hours they sent me home, said it was Tachacardia. My doc gave me more meds to slow it down but it was still hitting 90 BPM at rest regularly.

Somehow I became convinced that the only thing I could do to control my heart rate was diet and exercise. My doc had suggested that for my high blood pressure and triglycerides, he'd pretty much given up on me by this time. So wife an I started first week of May on our own. Somewhere I got a link to this app and started logging 2 months ago. Since May I've lost 25 lbs. Wife has dropped 17, we both have 15-20 left to lose. Oh yea, my heart rate has continued to drop, my blood pressure was 100/60 an hour ago, my little pitty party about being bored and feeling bad, it's gone. This is probably the best summer of my life since I was 10 years old!