What was your turning point on the path to a healthy life style?

maaaasha
maaaasha Posts: 23 Member
in Motivation and Support
What finally clicked?

Replies

  • Kellan4
    Kellan4 Posts: 1 Member
    I don't usually post on these things, but here I go because this was an important thing for me in my process and hopefully it'll help you too. Basically, I had lost weight before and gained it back, and knew I wasn't happy where I was. But the turning point for me really was when I started to be honest with myself, and comparing who I was then to who I wanted to be. I realized that I make a choice everyday to be who I want, and I wasn't going to let what I had done in my past define me. It also was important for me to realize that maybe I wasn't the smartest, or the prettiest, or the best at anything, but I had control over my weight and becoming the best person that I can be. Just remember to take a little time to be introspective and honest with yourself about what you want and what's important to you, easier said than done! Hope this helps.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited May 2016
    For me, it was to stop the black/white - all-or-nothing. I realized - after coming in here - that there is no "ideal" diet, and that I don't have to pressure myself to exercise - I can move because I want to and like it. Exhaustion is no good, and you don't get any more "karma points" for eating more nutrients after you've taken in what you need. Ordinary, tasty food with some treats thrown in, is plenty good enough for losing and maintaining weight, and for improving and maintaining health. Instead of the all-or-nothing, I'm building a non-dualistic mindset - one day won't ruin my effort, but every day has opportunities to make good decisions that can contribute to better health. I eat anything I want, but not all the time, and not everything at once. Feeling hungry isn't scary anymore; it makes me more appreciative about eating, and I respect food more. I discovered that to be kind, sometimes you have to be strict.

    I also stopped depending on others' opinions and wanting to please others when all I did was compromising my own health; I won't accept food I don't want just to be "polite" (or to prove "I'm not dieting" or "that I'm not a fanatic"). Try to ignore the shoulds and musts. I have learnt to differentiate between need and want, but I won't deny myself anything I really want either. I'm learning to recognize my own hunger and satiety cues, and respect them, and find out what I really like, that also are good for me, and stick mostly to that.
  • kberletic253
    kberletic253 Posts: 19 Member
    Just finally deciding that either I am going to lose this weight and love my sel or I am going to love myself at the size I am now. I was tired of not being able to look in the mirror or being afraid I am going to embarrass my family at the beach. I lost 70 lbs in the past and put back on like an idiot so here I am giving it my best shot !
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    A lot of bad blood work...being a fat *kitten* isn't good for you.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    At the age of 63 it became clear I had to find a way of eating that would help reverse the damage of 40 years of yo yo'ing weight or I was not going to be around much longer from Rx meds side effects and that I needed to be a better/positive example to my teenage kids. Now at the age of 65 my health markers are better than at the age of 45 and now I can get in and out of vehicles and walk any distance needed unaided. As a side effect of finding the eating macro that worked for me I am down 50 pounds weight wise which is another plus and have maintained at 200 for the last year without cravings or going hungry eating about 2500 calories daily.

    There is not magic or secrets as how to eat for health but when I found the macro that took away my cravings and my health started to return it seemed like magic to me.

    I am happy so many of you are deciding to start eating for life as a way of life much younger than I did.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited May 2016
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    A lot of bad blood work...being a fat *kitten* isn't good for you.

    I only needed one bad blood work. All my life I'd had good cholesterol and triglyceride numbers and was using that as a shield against any serious weight loss effort. One panel in January showed me that the good cholesterol had taken a nosedive and that was my pride and joy. The only way to get it up is to exercise and lose weight.

    We adopted a fat kitty cat. I put it on a normal kitty cat diet and it became a normal kitty cat. Good for the kitten, good for the human.

  • birgitkwood
    birgitkwood Posts: 486 Member
    My hubby and I are both in our early 60s. Last year, in April, hubby had a very nearly fatal stroke. But instead "giving up" afterwards, possibly becoming depressed, and resigning himself to a life is disability, Hubby did the exact opposite! He decided to do all he could to get back to health and now, 13 mos later, if you didn't know he's had a stroke you would probably notice the few lingering aftereffects.

    So while he was working hard and diligently and tirelessly to get back to health, I totally spiraled out of control around food, stress eating endlessly, and gained more than 50 lbs! On the day of his 1 yr anniversary I took a good long look at myself and said: "WTF - what are you doing? Hubby is gonna live a long healthy able-bodied life, and you're eating yourself into an early wheelchair or even the grave..." He's come back, beating nearly insurmountable odds - and I figured I could too.

    Hubby is my hero, my rock star, my idol and my role model. If he can do it, so can I. His and my struggles are different, but equally real. It took him a year to get back to nearly "normal," and that year flew by in no time at all. So I figured that in another year I will have most of my extra weight off. Maybe not all, but most of it.

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