What was your wake up call?

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thegreatcoyote
thegreatcoyote Posts: 76 Member
in Motivation and Support
I just took a biometric test at work as an incentive to save on future health care premiums. I was super disappointed to see glucose cholesterol and BMI levels needed serious work to get into normal range. I've always watched what I eat in a loose way just to avoid going from chubby to super fat but never thought about preventing diabetes or heart health. Well it's time to use this app to track more than just calories now, I'm glad to have tool even though daily tracking is such a nuisance. As they say what gets measured gets managed.


What life event directed you back onto the right track?

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  • Alia_R
    Alia_R Posts: 410 Member
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    I developed a really bad type of arrhythmia shortly after my daughter was born. It was scary, but I went for a procedure to fix it. At that time, I was pretty overweight, being around 180 pounds. The doctors suggested that I needed to be more active but I didn’t really care for their advice. It was when I hit 187 pounds that I really hit rock bottom; I was depressed and disgusted with myself. So one random day, I started to try HIIT and just kept going at it. Then I added weightlifting to my routine. All those pounds started to “melt away”, and about a year later, I’m now 155 lbs.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
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    I have always had issues with my left knee and hip - old injuries that I didn't take care of. Generally, only one bothered me at a time. One day I had to do a lot of walking, and then next morning I felt like I had aged 50 years because I had trouble getting out of bed because BOTH were sore. I was starting a new job soon at the time, and knew I couldn't continue like that and be successful. I was switching jobs for less stress, so it was the opportunity that I knew I had to take to create good habits again.
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
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    At a doctor appointment 18 months ago,I found out I had become obese (BMI 31), my blood pressure was still high despite taking medication, my cholesterol was creeping up (244), and I knew if I didn’t take serious action I was headed for trouble at age 62.

    Went back for a check up a couple of weeks ago and I’ve lost 44 pounds (BMI 23), blood pressure normal (meds cut in half), cholesterol down exactly 50 points and now normal. Plus I just feel so much better!
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
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    Mine is a little different since it was more about strength than weight loss:

    When we were preparing to move and I realized that I wouldn't be able to help with anything because I had no strength. We were moving from a two story to a new two story, and were counting on family to help us. Realizing our almost-60 yr old parents could lift more than I could at 28.

    That was a year ago. It has been a gradual shift in strength, but I'm proud of what I can do now!
  • oneday5279
    oneday5279 Posts: 7 Member
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    I don't know if I had my wake up call but, I've been seeing a dietitian for over a year. And last month I realized that if I'd done EVERYTHING she wanted me to do in my diet, I'd be on my "maintaining" stage already. One year seems long but last year seems so close.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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    Pain. Joints, knees, feet, arms, shoulders. If I was down on the floor I had to lift myself up with my arms and shoulders due to so much pain in my knees. Arms and shoulders carried the brunt of the load lift. Everything in my body began to ache and I couldn't handle the pain any longer. I crawled up the stairs on all fours letting my arms and shoulders carry the rest of my body to the top. It was brutal and I don't ever want to go back there again.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I'd been obese since my mid to late teens, but it wasn't until around age 30 on a business trip that I really felt like it was a problem. Prior to that, I'd always been just as active as others around me and able to keep up physically. On this trip, I was with my (normal weight, somewhat older) female boss and she was speeding up flights of stairs and walking long distances with ease. I had pain in my shins and feet and was breathless. My change started that month way back in 2007, even though it was many more years (early 2014) before I hit my goal range.
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
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    emmies_123 wrote: »
    Mine is a little different since it was more about strength than weight loss:

    When we were preparing to move and I realized that I wouldn't be able to help with anything because I had no strength. We were moving from a two story to a new two story, and were counting on family to help us. Realizing our almost-60 yr old parents could lift more than I could at 28.

    That was a year ago. It has been a gradual shift in strength, but I'm proud of what I can do now!

    PS on mine: I can also now sit with better posture as I have strengthened my core too. not toned or defined yet, but being able to sit upright without back support, with no pain, is a nice perk =)
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    Kimmotion5783 wrote: »
    "What gets measured gets managed." I like that!

    My wake up call was a pair of jeans. Back in March of 2016, I was down to my last pair of pants which had finally ripped. So I head into this plus size clothing store Avenue and try on my usual size 22's, only to find that I couldn't get them past my knees. :o Okay, size 24? NOPE. Couldn't get them around my hips :'( . Size 26? Just barely fit. If I suck in my stomach and maybe a little Crisco and we're in. Yikes! I had been going up in clothing sizes for years, but TWO sizes in four months was just horrifying. It was so bad I was nearly sized out of the normal plus size range- that's bad! No way in hell would this continue. It was time to do something about the problem, I couldn't hide away from the truth anymore. So I took the tight size 26 pants home determined to make them fit my way- starting that night, I made some changes. I began eating healthy, slowly cutting out the bad foods I ate so much of and began exercising with some walking and home yoga videos. Here I am three years on and down 125 pounds. This has been a life-changing wonderful experience for me and I haven't looked back. I've still got another 50 pounds to go until goal, but all in good time. Getting closer every day.

    I feel that! I think it was like 2 days before my "wake up call" above that I bought some new tops online from Lane Bryant and they were 30/32 because the 26/28 in store hadn't fit as baggy as I expected. I technically could have worn a smaller shirt than those but for it to not graze my belly and back fat I needed to specially get a bigger size than they carried in the store and that horrified me after about 15 years by then of just grabbing any 2X, size 22/24 and being fine with wearing plus sizes. It was definitely jarring!
  • sweetbe44
    sweetbe44 Posts: 195 Member
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    Being told I was diabetic. Weird how years of being told I was pre-diabetic didn’t phase me (even though I felt like crap all the time). Anyhow, I had lost about 15lbs by that point, ironically, so asked my doctor to delay starting meds so we could see if my lifestyle changes would make a difference. Well next A1C follow-up was back to pre-diabetes levels and every one after that has been completely normal. Never did get prescribed any of those meds.
  • thegreatcoyote
    thegreatcoyote Posts: 76 Member
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    Your stories are great and very motivational. Thanks for sharing them! Feel free to add me if you need any more pals.

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