At what point did you decided you needed to change?

Brittspady
Brittspady Posts: 16 Member
edited November 17 in Health and Weight Loss
I like to dwell on my reasons why when I want to give up and eat all of the chocolate (aka right now) and thought it would be cool to hear other people's reasons.

14 months ago, I came back from New Zealand and at that point had kept up my fitness and healthy lifestyle for almost 6 months by then. I moved three times within 2 months and developed anxiety and depression. Gained 46 pounds in less that a year. I only noticed this really because I was going through my Fitbit's weight history and was just astounded. It was kind of a reality check and then I remembered how happy I was when I was able to achieve weightlifting and running goals and I missed feeling and being healthy. A month late I am down 4.4 pounds and I have a lot to go but I am accomplishing so many things and slowly overcoming my anxiety.


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Replies

  • ConnieT1030
    ConnieT1030 Posts: 894 Member
    For me it was a certain number on the scale that triggered the thought process, it scared and disgusted me at the same time. It wasn't that day I started on weight loss- it just triggered the start of it brewing in the back of my mind. As i mentally added up the negatives/losses/cons from the weight I was at, (my previous mindset was "weight was just a number, however you are happy is fine"), considered the difficulties it caused me, it rolled around and built up in my head for a few months, then one day walking around at walmart, in the plus size section again, all of that mental process finally boiled over and I didn't want to have to buy *one* more of those %^*$#@ kitten &^%$# plus-size ugly tent shirts from walmart ever again!
    I started trying to cut down (crash diet) what I was eating immediately, for a few weeks to a month, then realized I needed to know how much *exactly* I should eat, looked up calorie guides on the internet, then tried for another month or 6 weeks to find and then track those calories by hand on paper, then decided that was too hard (I lose paper almost faster than i can finish writing on them), so needed an app, and then went hunting for a good app, had a couple false starts but settled on MFP, and been there since October. So, I did lose weight before I got on MFP but not particularly safely.
    Funny thing is, even though I remember the moment it all came together, I couldn't tell you what day that was because it didn't occur to me to try to write it down.
    I hope that's what you were looking for, OP :)
  • polvirl
    polvirl Posts: 6 Member
    When I started wearing holes in my jeans where my thighs touched. And only buying 1 or 2 pairs of jeans at a time, since I knew they were going to wear out fast.

    When I started getting weird spots on my thighs where the fabric rubbed my legs raw.

    Not being able to cross my arms across my body comfortably or bend over easily.
  • perfect_storm
    perfect_storm Posts: 326 Member
    When my dr told me my weight gain caused me to be prediabetic and also looking 7 months pregnant
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 Member
    After moving numerous times, travelling the world for 8 months, and dealing with some health issues, life finally stabilised and settled down, and I had time to focus on my cycling again.

    Only, I now live in a very hilly area and cycling up the hills with the bit of weight I had put on was difficult.

    Plus I had outgrown a particular cycling jacket that would cost quite a bit of money to replace.

    So I lost weight.
  • Windrunner666
    Windrunner666 Posts: 91 Member
    When I started getting pain in the lower back just for standing around and doing nothing. All of my clothes I used to wear 'loosely' started being too tight and I was fat on all of my pictures.
    My heels began hurting more and more and I started getting out of breath more easily.
    I think of this everytime I want to binge on something:
    -eat whatever you like, just a portion
    your tongue receptors get used to the taste after 2 bites so you don't need that whole chocholate. And you can always save it for later.
    -if you buy a chocholate, buy only one and ration it out. I'm always too lazy to go to the store just for junk food, so this worked for me.
  • liwilson09
    liwilson09 Posts: 1 Member
    I realized I needed to change when I couldn't climb the stairs in my house without getting tired. I joined the gym in July 2015, and in December of that year, I bought a plane ticket to Seattle as a treat for when I reached the 50 pound mark. In May, when I was to fly out of Detroit, I still hadn't hit 50 pounds, but I was hovering around it. All of the walking and hiking I did finally pushed me over, and I had lost 60 pounds by the end of the summer. I took a break from the gym and gained about 20 pounds back. But I'm now on track to shedding it off (and hopefully more!) again.
  • TxTiffani
    TxTiffani Posts: 799 Member
    I've been a bit overweight my whole adult life. At 5'0 and 30-40lbs overweight. I think I've always seen a thinner person in my head than I actually am. I saw a very unflattering picture of myself from behind and I was blown away by the fact that that's what I look like to other people....that has not made me perfect but it definitely got my butt in gear!! I've also always wanted to sit on my hubs lap and not feel like I'm too heavy or for him to be able to pick me up without throwing out his back:P #goals
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    Seeing pictures of myself and the scale tipping over 250.
  • DietVanillaCoke
    DietVanillaCoke Posts: 259 Member
    When I was in the car with my BF one day and he stopped rather upset to tell me he thinks I'm going to die with the lifestyle I was living. Then I booked an appointment with my GP and he basically confirmed it.
  • BlueSkyShoal
    BlueSkyShoal Posts: 325 Member
    When I went into a Macy's fitting room that had THE most unflattering lighting ever. I looked at myself in the mirror and was like "aw hell no." I had been in pretty deep denial before then, like "well, if I suck in my stomach as hard as I can and really press my fingers against my ribs I can feel them, so I CAN'T be fat!" Erm, yeah, right.

    Anyway, that was many years ago and was the start of a lot of yo-yoing. I actually got within ten pounds of my goal at one point, after doing a very active summer job. But I gained back to my original weight, then gained even MORE after a breakup that sent me into a spiral of comfort eating. The scale hit a certain number, and that renewed my determination to get fit.
  • CaladriaNapea
    CaladriaNapea Posts: 140 Member
    This probably sounds pretty horrible, but I stayed for about a week with a friend of mine who is pretty severely anorexic. I have always vacillated between overweight/obese since puberty, but after two years of teaching my weight had increased another forty pounds on top of my previous overly-much padding. All to say, I spent a week with my friend, during which I ate pretty much like her (since it felt awkward to go back for seconds much less thirds . . .). I didn't know what my weight actually was prior to that trip, but I'm pretty sure I lost at least a couple pounds that week. That trip made me think a lot about my weight and also just how I eat (and cope with stress through eating). When I got home, I sucked it up and stepped on the scale for the first time since before teaching. That number made me frustrated with myself enough to get back to logging in MFP like I had when I lost weight in college.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    After spending more than a decade trying to lose weight but getting bigger and developing alot of odd symptoms i was diagnosed with several auto immune conditions and told if i didnt shift weight i would be lucky to live another 5 years.

    Shifted 13 stone and fell pregnant. After a horrendous pregnancy, giving birth 15 weeks early and caring for an oxygen dependant, breast and tube fed baby, barely sleeping ive gained back 4 stone. Time to get it gone again now hes a year old
  • TerriK14
    TerriK14 Posts: 75 Member
    I have been overweight all of my life. My mom had me on diets and at 16 I joined WW and lost the weight I needed to. Needless to say gained it back. Then life happened and by my second child I had become bigger than I ever was. By the time I was pregnant for my 4th child the Dr. said I had to lose weight and I did and was thin again before he was born. Once again gaining it all back. Then in 2010 my daughter got engaged and was getting married in November of 2011, I looked at myself in the mirror and said no way am I going to be the fat mom in the pictures. So January 2011 I started WW and by November I had lost 90 lbs. I kept it off for 2 years, met my husband, got a little too happy and gained 60 + back. Once again the mirror didn't lie! So now I am back on track eating healthy and staying that way!
  • PrincessMel72
    PrincessMel72 Posts: 1,094 Member
    I'd successfully taken off more than 100lbs from Jan 2011 to June 2012, going from a size 24 to an 8. I kept it off for about a year and then got super lazy and lax. Didn't track calories, stopped exercising. Once we moved from Colorado to Florida about 6 months ago, I had to buy a new pair of work pants. Size 18. Stepped on the scale and realized I had gained back 65lbs over the past few years. That's when I said - NO WAY. Gotta do something!!!
  • buhller
    buhller Posts: 28 Member
    I've always been on the heavier side, on the BMI line between overweight and obese, but when I put on about 50 pounds in a year during a crappy relationship and subsequent breakup/depression, 3 things told me I had to change: 1) I was no longer able to use the birth control I wanted to use because there's a weight limit for it to be effective (the limit was 198, I was 215). 2) I almost had to ask for a seatbelt extender on a flight. 3) At a work event with volunteers, an older guy who I hadn't met before came up to me and said "Are you like me, or is there a baby in there?" I knew exactly what he meant, but I played dumb and said "Well, I'm not pregnant, so...?" He responded "Oh, you must eat too much then!" That's when I knew I had to change. I got to within 5 lbs of my goal weight over the next year and a half, and kept most of it off.

    When my husband and I met almost 5 years ago, we fell in love *hard* and were very "Screw it, let's eat all the things!" He had just finished Army basic training and AIT, and I was still running somewhat. He was deployed to Afghanistan a few months later, and I ate pretty healthy and exercised often when he was gone. When he came back....boom. We pretty much went on a year long food and booze bender. I gained all but 20 lbs of it back.

    Last summer, I started nursing school, and the reminders every. single. day. of what happens to your body when when you're obese and sedentary were enough to get me back on track (I'm now training for my 3rd half marathon, and eating much healthier -- down 23 lbs since July!). We'll be trying to get pregnant in less than a year too, which is great motivation (pregnancy is definitely more dangerous when you start out obese).
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