What was your catalyst for weight loss?

britishbeau
britishbeau Posts: 60 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What was that moment when everything just clicked into place and you could finally lose some weight.

Ive been wanting to diet for over a year. I always thought 'ill start monday' or give up after a day, but always hated myself for getting fatter and never losing. This week i was looking for motivation, like pretty much every other week, when I saw one pin on pinterest. No photo, just words.

Being fat is hard.
Dieting is hard
Pick your hard.

and eveything just fell into place. something clicked in my brain and i went out and bought vegetables, this week i have actually eaten vegetables instead of letting them go moldy in the fridge as usual, and ive lost 2lbs already. What was it for you? a picture? a situation? something someone said? I would love to know.
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Replies

  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    For me it was going to the Doctors for a check up and him telling me I needed to lose weight, cut down on sugar and sodium and exercise. I pretty much knew I needed to anyway, but coming from an expert really pushed me. So I decided not to just lose weight or go on a "diet" but to change my lifestyle. I gave up alcohol and meat (except fish), most processed foods, introduced more healthy foods and began walking all which I have been wanting to do for a while. Now I've lost 9lb in 4 week.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    My clothes got too tight.
  • Bluepegasus
    Bluepegasus Posts: 333 Member
    I put on weight after a horse riding accident left me unable to walk for 3 months. Over the course of a year I drank and ate far too much and just got to the point where I was sick of only being able to fit into two items of clothing out of my whole wardrobe! I was in denial for a long time! Though really I wasn't ever "fat" as such, just heavier than I wanted to be. January this year I just decided that I need to get back down to my normal weight to feel happy within myself, now I'm pretty much there, I'm just going to keep going, I hope to get back down to the weight I was before I had kids. I have a cut off point when I put on weight, where I reach a certain weight (just over the high end of my normal BMI) and suddenly decide that's too much, any further and I will be fat.
  • paganvegan
    paganvegan Posts: 34 Member
    I want to have a baby. I have fertility issues so the dr there told me i need to lose a minimum of 50 lbs before I'll get any help. 45 to go
  • violet_wister
    violet_wister Posts: 34 Member
    This article came out the day after I'd looked at myself in a hotel mirror and thought 'I don't look like me anymore, I look like me in a fat suit' https://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/my-weight-loss#.ljK3ndDOL and the combination of me not feeling like myself and reading that it could be done (even though a lot of that is about her going to Weight Watchers, which I don't do) just flipped a switch in my mind. I weighed myself, downloaded MFP and Happy Scale as soon as I finished reading that article and I'm down 48lbs in 3 months. I still eat everything I like and I still eat out, I just do it less and with more thought.
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  • suzilla53
    suzilla53 Posts: 65 Member
    No being able to find clothes that fit properly,Being short and fat was hell,nothing looked good,nothing fit well.
  • Rapril2000
    Rapril2000 Posts: 10 Member
    Mine was simple. I got on scale after avoiding it for awhile and saw a number Id never wanted to see again. Time for a change....especcially when I have a wedding dress and pictures to look good in coming up.

    The first time, when I was at my all time high its because I was at Busch Gardens Tampa and was embarrassed as hell I couldnt fit into the normal seat on the roller coaster and had to wait to go on a different one than my friends. That was my wake up call.....
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    High glucose number. T2 runs in our family and I saw where I was headed. Dropped around 50lbs and now have glucose numbers in the 80s.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited May 2016
    Reminds me of a quote I saw recently, "You are one decision away from a completely different life." For me, it was stepping on the scale one day at the gym and seeing my highest weight ever. I realized that if I kept going the way I was, I would never be healthy and would just keep gaining. This was November 2012. I just came to realize that I was going to have to lose the weight on my own, that no one was going to do it for me. So I did, and it was the best decision I've ever made. When I look at older pictures of myself sometimes I am still amazed that I did it because I always fed myself excuses before. I guess I finally ran out of excuses.
    Much happier where I am now, and clothes shopping is definitely a lot more enjoyable since I don't have to go to the plus size section anymore.
  • caammph
    caammph Posts: 105 Member
    For me, it was injuring my back for the third time. Being told I'm going to need surgery sucked. I know that getting the weight off is going to help. I just have to do it.
  • samwiserabbit
    samwiserabbit Posts: 153 Member
    I ordered a suit online. I had been feeling a little fatter than usual (didn't own a scale at the time) so I ordered it one size bigger than what I thought of as my "bigger" size. I could barely squeeze into it. When I went out and bought a scale I "saw a number I never wanted to see again" (@Rapril2000) so I started counting calories the next day.

    I worry about counting calories and having a scale in the house because I have a history of disordered behavior around food and exercise, but so far the demons have been pretty quiet.
  • RobinvdM
    RobinvdM Posts: 634 Member
    My first go around I found myself at the bottom of hell and depression and realised I was fat because I hated myself and challenged me to lose 50lbs in a year or go to bypass surgery. I lost 50lbs in 6months, and kept losing simply by walking and counting calories. That's it, that simple. I was so proud of myself.

    Then I got pregnant, PPD kicked my face in, and I regained almost all of the 130lbs I lost. I struggled to get back on MFP and it wasn't until I saw 329 on the scale and went osnap! Im now 2 months later and back down closer to 300 and dealing with my demons again.
  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
    Midlife crisis! I have always perceived myself (and therefore felt that other perceived me) as being fit, and I just looked in the mirror in my early 40s and realized that I was going to lose that forever if I didn't make some changes.
  • xbowhunter
    xbowhunter Posts: 1,223 Member
    High Cholesterol & over-weight. Doctors orders to eat better & get back to a health weight before it starts to affect my health.. This was in January. I have dropped the 15lbs that I needed to & my eating is in order now. I go for my next blood test tomorrow so hope all is good now.
  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
    britishbeau wrote: »
    What was that moment when everything just clicked into place and you could finally lose some weight.

    Ive been wanting to diet for over a year. I always thought 'ill start monday' or give up after a day, but always hated myself for getting fatter and never losing. This week i was looking for motivation, like pretty much every other week, when I saw one pin on pinterest. No photo, just words.

    Being fat is hard.
    Dieting is hard
    Pick your hard.

    and eveything just fell into place. something clicked in my brain and i went out and bought vegetables, this week i have actually eaten vegetables instead of letting them go moldy in the fridge as usual, and ive lost 2lbs already. What was it for you? a picture? a situation? something someone said? I would love to know.

    "Think of where you could be if you had started a year ago today."
  • CorneliusPhoton
    CorneliusPhoton Posts: 965 Member
    I realized that if I want to look like a fit person, I have to act like one. Long term.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,597 Member
    I've been slender most of my life ... I crept up into the overweight range during a few recent unsettled years when the last thing I wanted to do was to focus on diet ... lots of moves and travel. :) In 2014 we moved to our current location and settled ... for now.

    As a part of settling, I was finally able to focus more attention on health and fitness. I was already going to the gym and cycling and walking, but during the 10-day break over Christmas 2014, I decided to step it up a notch and do a lot more cycling plus weightlifting. And I dropped a bit of weight.

    January 2015 brought everything to a screeching halt when I was rushed into two surgeries for two unrelated cancer scares. Happily, I was given the "all clear" on one ... the other was OK but showed signs of something, so I'm being monitored for about 5 years to ensure it stays OK.

    By the end of January I was the heaviest weight I've ever been. Some of that was stress eating, but some was likely water weight from the surgeries. And of course, I couldn't exercise for several weeks.

    During my recovery process, I started looking around for a calorie tracking site. I've used them before to drop a bit of weight now and then if I started to creep up toward the high end of my normal BMI range. They worked those times, but I wasn't convinced that it was going to work this time. However, in February 2015, I decided on MFP and so it began.

  • lizzy_satellite
    lizzy_satellite Posts: 112 Member
    I was scrolling through my facebook feed and saw that a friend had posted photos from a recent Tough Mudder, and it looked like fun. I caught myself thinking “You’re far too useless to ever try to drag your fat butt over obstacles. It would be farcical. Don’t even think about it”.
    I pulled myself up mid-negative thought and actually paid attention to how I spoke to myself, then decided that I was going to turn things around. 43lbs later here I am.

  • cariduttry
    cariduttry Posts: 210 Member
    blood work. and the scale. i was told by my doctor that being on high blood pressure and cholesterol medication is probably in my future (due to family history), but it's up to me how far in my future it is. she's giving me one last chance to improve my cholesterol numbers before i have to go on meds. that appointment is in september and i plan on killing the numbers!
  • lmew91
    lmew91 Posts: 88 Member
    My upcoming wedding. I had counted calories before, off and on. I knew I had gained some weight but always telling myself it "isn't that bad," "I'm not that big; I'm not overweight." But the truth is I was too big for my own comfort, and my BMI was just slightly in the overweight zone. I just kind of avoided buying new clothes, wore what I was comfortable in, didn't take a lot of pictures, etc. Knowing that in September I will be walking down the aisle in front of family and friends, and being in a ton of pictures, no matter what my size is, I finally decided that it was time to apply myself and get serious about being a healthier person. I know this is superficial, but I didn't want people to see me and think "She really should have picked a more flattering dress," or "Why didn't she try to look better for her big day?" Or look back in a few years and think that I could have tried just a little harder to look decent for my wedding. It really isn't just about my size though, it's about how I am so much happier when I feel good on the inside. Being able to fit into the clothes that have been hanging in my closet again is a great bonus!
  • Shells918
    Shells918 Posts: 1,070 Member
    When I had to start buying higher sized clothes. Sizes I never thought I'd wear again. And seeing myself in pictures wearing the clothes.
    Most people see themselves as heavier than they are. I never think I look as bad as I do till I see a picture and see the lack of definition in my face, the bigger arms ......it's total vanity but it makes me eat less and move more so it works.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    I was very fat due to some medical problems and excessive overeating/binging. And I realized that I was not really living my life, just hiding. So I made a list of all the things I wanted to do, but wouldn't let myself because of being so fat (both mentally and physically). Dating, surfing, getting promotions, hiking, shopping at normal stores, actually liking clothes I owned, plus I have some hormonal issues that improve with weight loss. The list was roughly 2 full pages of my tiny handwriting and devastatingly sad.

    Now I'm over halfway to losing 110 pounds, running, doing intense exercise classes, etc. etc. Life is much better.
  • 2011rocket3touring
    2011rocket3touring Posts: 1,346 Member
    Last year had my 10th anniversary at a dead end job I despise. Been looking sending out resumes, done a few (very) interviews and it's been extremely frustrating. I happen to thin up very well, look better lean than I have a right to so I thought that will hopefully help me land a better job.
    ..not looking forward to the wife becoming jealous again.

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