What was the deciding factor for you?

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  • seebeachrun
    seebeachrun Posts: 221 Member
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    Got engaged and realized I had been wearing stretchy scrub pants to work for months because none of my slacks fit me (I am an attorney so wearing scrub pants to court without shame was pretty bad.) Just found out my high school reunion is at the end of June so that's additional motivation.
  • mannaseng
    mannaseng Posts: 1
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    Seeing myself sideways in the mirror and being SO appalled by my stomach sticking out. Oh, and realizing that the reason I hate shopping for pants is because I always look fat and it depresses me. This made me realize the reason I was wearing 7-10 year old pants still was because I just couldn't stand to face my fat butt and go jean shopping. How pathetic.
  • Juawill
    Juawill Posts: 16 Member
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    Mine was building for awhile. I'm a 59 year old male with two grown children. One of them will be married two years this June. I guess I'm hoping for grandkids and I definitely want to be able to play with them, not just look at them whenever they do come. I never rated obese. Rather, I've been the the upper range of the overweight category. I've smoked for most of my life (grew up with the Marlboro Man on TV all the time!). Anyhow, I'm smoke free since March 1.

    In February I decided I needed to do something. I sat here at the computer and did a few hours of research including WW. Obviously, I decided to use MFP and I also jumped in my car, drove to Best Buy and bought a Fitbit Ultra. Now, between the three of us (MFP, Fitbit and me), I'm tracking everything that goes into me and everything that gets burned up. I work out three times a week at a gym and am fairly active other times. My goal is 20-25 pounds. When I get there I'll reevaluate to see if I want to go further. I do NOT want to get skinny; I want to be at a healthy weight for someone my height and age.

    Anyhow, for me it's all about living healthy.
  • cupboard_stalker
    cupboard_stalker Posts: 62 Member
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    For me it is clothes, whether that be standing infront of the wardrobe having tried on everything and still finding nothing that will hide the fat, or seeing my favourite clothes in there knowing how i'm too fat to fit them. When you look good you feel good, when you look fat you feel dreadfull about yourself. My moment was the realisation that everyday i could stare into this wardrobe, but the outcome could be something positive or negative depending on what i put in my mouth.
  • tinkermommc
    tinkermommc Posts: 562 Member
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    No real tipping point for me. Just an accumulation of things building up. Can't run as fast as my son, hate my clothes, knowing I'm fat, etc. I've tried before and was always a couple months and then stress would hit and it'd all be lost. So my New Years resolution was not to lose weight, It was to learn to handle stress better. So then I realized my weight was one of the things stressing me out and very fixable. So now if I am stressed I go for a swim instead of to the kitchen!
  • bamajes
    bamajes Posts: 24
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    I have two children that are 6 1/2 years apart. I started my weight loss journey about 6 months before my oldest daughter started kindergarten because I didn't want to be the "fat mom" in the classroom. I lost 104 pounds during that journey and ended up pg with my youngest daughter. After a 2 years in a nasty, drawn out divorce, I realize I lost myself and with my youngest turning 4, i again have the fear of being the "fat mom" in the kindergarten classroom. I realized the time was now to completely change my habits. It is a slow journey so far but the changes have been good. I already have more energy and see the benefits of making better choices.
  • TheUnwritten
    TheUnwritten Posts: 158 Member
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    For me it was being put on high blood pressure medication and a heart attack scare I was rushed to the ER.
  • Ballybabe1
    Ballybabe1 Posts: 57
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    I was always on some fad diet or other but the tipping point was 3 miscarriages in a row, the last being last September. I decided thats it I have 3 kids and never a problem and now at my heaviest I have 3 miscarriages one after the other so even though I know there is no reason (so they say) for mc's I decided that if I am going to try again later this year I am sure as hell gonna be a bit lighter and healthier and who knows I might have better luck. It couldnt have helped being 19st ! I will be 39 this summer so its my last chance saloon and I want to give it my best shot.

    Who knows if I keep loosing weight I might not want to put it all back up by being pregnant again ! One day at a time !

    Oh and my litttle brothers wedding & a 21 yr out school reunion this August are helping me to keep focussed also !

    Also me and my best pal have a pact to be skinny for our 40th ! Roll on ........................
  • Prefessa
    Prefessa Posts: 90
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    Obstructive Sleep Apnea
    High Blood Pressure
    Pre-Diabetes
    Elevated Triglycerides, LDL
    Low HDL
    Elevated C-Reactive Protein(Infammation)
    Chronic Fatigue(from B12 and Vit D defficiency)
    No longer had Clothing that Fit.
    BMI 38+(Morbidly Obese)

    I am just like everyone else out there...."Change occurs when the Pain of Change is less than the Pain of Remaining the Same".
  • Frozenmango
    Frozenmango Posts: 207 Member
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    It's been an on and off battle for me as well. I realized that the weight was creeping on since I was in my early twenties and out of school, but I was in denial of just how bad it was getting. Then came stress and emotional eating as well, and as the years went on, I ballooned up to 245 lbs at my heaviest when I was only 26 years old. I felt horrible, had no energy and would avoid cameras like the plague. I did lose 35 lbs after seeing a naturopath that warned me that if I didn't lose some weight soon, I'd be diabetic within a year. I've never gained the 35 lbs back, but I haven't gotten under 200 lbs either, which is a constant source of stress and failure to me. I did several 'fad' diets, and would get frustrated when I'd hit a plateau or wouldn't see the results I expected. So I would give up and gain it all back. But this year is the year of me. I actually started working out and changing my diet drastically last year, which did yield some inch loss, but the scale still didn't move very much. I'm hoping to change that this year as I've taken on a personal trainer who'll hopefully be the key to finally getting back to Onederland before I die :) MFP is great for tracking my food and being accountable for what I'm eating. Please lord, let this year be the year! :)
  • ioannaheartsyou
    ioannaheartsyou Posts: 2
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    I lost quite a bit of weight before last summer, I think I might even have been in the first stages of anorexia, but then the summer came and when it was over I promised myself that I'd never starve myself again, so I didn't weigh myself and ate whatever I wanted for a couple of months. Then I weighed myself about a month ago and realized that I had gained 5kg since September. I decided to cut down a bit and lower my weight bit by bit until my BMI went down to 18.5. Haven't made a lot of progress, but working on it.
  • BruteSquad
    BruteSquad Posts: 373 Member
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    I was at a target shoot at my brother's house, huge event we do every year. We film a lot of it for posting. I was editing the film a few days later and while going through the video asked, "Wow who is the fat guy in the blue shirt?"
    If you hadn't guessed, when he turned around I was looking at me.
  • spectralmoon
    spectralmoon Posts: 1,230 Member
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    It dawned on me that all of my photos looked so much worse than what I saw in the mirror... and it was because I was in denial. Buying new clothes got harder, and as soon as size L started to look stretched, I broke the false image and got up to do something about it.
  • marinemomx2
    marinemomx2 Posts: 143 Member
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    I like many, avoided cameras like they were the plague and was in denial about what I really looked like. My defining moment I think was the fact that I was getting older (just recently turned 47), my children are getting older (25, 23, 20) and I am moving to the next phase in my life which will be grandchildren! I wanted to be able to be around and be healthy for my kids and my future grandchildren. I changed my food about 10 months ago and lost 30 lbs. I recently added exercise in support of my son that is deployed to Afghanistan. We have a friendly competition going on between the different companies called Miles to Afghanistan where we are trying to "walk" to Afghanistan and back before they return. That friendly competition has now sparked an exercise plan that is helping me to get healthy and fit! I don't hate the mirror as much as I used to and still don't like pictures of myself but it is getting better :)
  • julyeleven
    julyeleven Posts: 12
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    Seeing a picture of my ex boyfriend with another girl!!! :) And I wasn't even in love with him anymore!!! Women... we are terrible!
  • jrmc83
    jrmc83 Posts: 77 Member
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    I got winded while walking around Disneyland for my birthday. That made me really, really sad and really, really motivated! When we went back I didn't get winded.
  • supermum123
    supermum123 Posts: 34
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    seeing hideous photos of myself on a recent holiday, doctor telling me i had high blood pressure, high cholestrol levels and was at risk of developing diabetes, feeling my stomach wobble everytime i walked, looking at my back boobs in the changing room mirrors :sick: and to top it all .....finding out i actually weighed more than my husband. :embarassed:
  • mrosem87
    mrosem87 Posts: 31
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    Realizing that I wore yoga pants all the time because none of my jeans would go past my thighs anymore. Then finally stepping on a scale after 5 years and seeing that I had gained 55 pounds during the time between. It was definitely a wake-up call.
  • tammyandzach
    tammyandzach Posts: 922 Member
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    Had baby #1 in 2006. Had my galbladder out in 2007. Then had another baby in 2008. In 2011 I had baby number three. During the prenatal process I got so sick of people saying it was hard to find the heart beat because I was so fat. and I was in agonizing pain the whole time. The doctor said it was normal and he was growing normally. Well he ended up being 11lb7oz. and the pain I was experiencing was a hernia from my gallbladder surgery in my stomach lining by my belly button. My colon was sticking out and could get strangulated. I had the surgery which was horrible with a horrible recovery. If I lose weight we can hopefully prevent the patch from reherniating. I also want one more baby but not like this. I can't be pregnant again like this. So by my babies second birthday I intend to be at my goal and then we can reevaluate. Then I can also have a skinny pregnancy and experience pregnancy like the rest of the world does. I am currently pre baby number three weight and 10 lbs from pre all baby weight. Then we start chipping away at the rest of the extra weight. 1lb a week will get me to my goal on time.
  • vallemic
    vallemic Posts: 278 Member
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    I was trying to figure this out the other day because for whatever reason, this attempt at losing weight has WORKED and I have been able to stay motivated and not give up! What was the deciding factor? Like many of you, I knew for a while that I had to lose weight! My BMI was actually in the obese section (which shocked me... 33 lbs overweight is considered obese, according to the charts I was looking at), all my clothes were tight and I refused to move up to size 14! But honestly, it was the only thing keeping me from being 100% happy. I have a wonderful husband and a healthy child, great job, financial security, everything a woman could want but I still felt a little unhappy and started avoided social situations (and I'm a social butterfly)! So I knew it was time to get my life back!

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