What was your "Gotta Change my Life "moment ?

My moment was getting close to hitting the 300 mark on the scale.. I started this journey at 292.. Well went to the doc & found out I actually had hit 299.. I started thinking it might have been higher when I was not at the docs.. That 300 number scared the hell out of me.. So I found MFP by accident by searching weightloss on the net.. I was tired of being short winded & feeling basically like a lump... My new life started on January 9th, 2012 & I am now happy to report 33 pounds down & 34.5 inches off.. I started out just doing a 20 minute workout & now am up to as much as 2-3 hours on a good day.. I help my husband with the yard work & do Leslie Sansone workouts or my Wii or Tae Bo.. Whatever gets my moving & sweating.. I have had some bad days & down moments, but my friends here have helped keep me on track... I am in this for the long term.. I want to lose 100 plus... If it takes me a year or more then thats fine.. I have changed the way I eat & my whole outlook on life is more positive.. MFP really saved & changed my life for the better.. I am forever grateful.. Thanks for sharing your story & good luck...
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No matter how long it takes, you're on the right track. You've got this - you will get there!!

Ive had about 500 of those moments.

when i was 340 i didnt feel like i was that big but when i got on a plane i had to get a seat belt exter. started eating salads and went to the gym the next day. few months later after hard work i was down to 300 and kept at it ... now i am downto 240 and on my way to my goals

I looked at myself putting on my make-up and my face looked like a pumpkin.

Mine came from knowing that I had to get healthy for my kids. Sadly their father isn't much of one and I knew that he would never be able to raise them if anything happened to me. I had high blood pressure that even with meds was hard to control. After reaching 396 lbs and trying everything to loose weight, I made the decision to have gastric bypass. It literally saved my life. After the surgery the Dr. told me that i had early signs of cirrhosis of the liver because it was so compacted with fat. With the surgery I lost almost 160 lbs but because I didn't make the lifestyle change I needed to, I ended up gaining back 60 of it. When I hit 300 lbs I decided that I needed to turn my life around. I have since lost those 60 lbs plus a few more. I had gall bladder surgery last summer and I had the Dr. look at my liver while he was in there. It has reversed and I now have a healthy liver. I also have my 25 year high school reunion this summer. I weigh less now than I did in high school. I'm actually really excited to go.

My father passed away three years ago this past Thursday and at that point I moved 800+ miles "back home" to live with my mom. I know I suffer from depression and the traumatic circumstances of losing my father and my husband being completely unsupportive and refusing to move, meaning then that we were separating, just totally got me down. I thought I was eating okay but I noticed I was pulling back out some of my bigger clothes and come winter my coats were not fitting the same as they had the winter before.

My nephew played t-ball in the summer and he loved that I would chase him around but I was finding I couldn't keep up with him as well and I really wanted to chase him.

My mom was told April of 2011 that she NEEDED to have bypass heart surgery for two blocked arteries (one was 100% the other was 50%) and I started to realize that my health and weight could set me toward the same track if I wasn't careful.

Then, last year in May or June my sis-in-law (nephew's mom) sent me an invite to join her here on MFP. I himmed and hauled about it and finally "joined" but didn't really do much with it. I have an annual convention that takes place in July and then in August I accompany my mom to PA to visit her family. I was just starting to get good at tracking my food and really seeing what I was eating when I ended up places where there was no Internet or trying to track on my phone was too hard. I was careful about my choices for the two weeks I was gone and when I came home I realized that I had actually lost weight.

For me, THAT was my "AHA" moment. I KNEW this could work. I know I'll never get back to my pre-marriage weight of 110 lbs but that is okay. I will be happy if I can get back down to a healthy 130 and look and feel great. The scale itself hasn't moved since I lost the initial 26 lbs and I have another 24 to get to where I want to be, but since adding the 30 Day Shred I have managed to lose a LOT in the way of inches. I'm only 1/2 way through the program so I'm waiting to take my "after" measurements, but I have realized that I don't want to be as big as I was ever again.

I realize that I've never hit over 180 lbs, but for being 5'5" that is big. I can see it in various pictures taken throughout the years since I got married and I never want to be there again. My husband was 350 the day we married (17 years ago) and 640 the day of his gastric bypass surgery (Nov 2004).

I've been working hard to make the healthy changes in lifestyle and eating and never feel like I'm missing out on anything if I keep it all in moderation. Now to help my mom get off that extra weight and slim down a bit ... she is seeing the need especially since I have lost over 25 lbs and lots of inches. (Doesn't help she is twice my age and not nearly as active, but she is walking during the times she watches TV...and not just the commercials, either ... and we walk two miles together twice a week.

I had a number of moments that really should've been my a-ha moment and weren't, though now i really wish they had been. when i hit 200 lbs after months of telling myself i would never ever ever get that big. when i bought size 16 jeans after i told myself i'd never ever ever do that. when i was eating fast food almost every single day. when i realized, after being a competitive swimmer for 11 years, that i hadn't gotten in the water in a year. there was moment after moment and nothing clicked for me. it wasn't until i started getting really thirsty all the time, to the point where i felt like i couldn't stop drinking water, that i really got scared. i was worried that i was developing diabetes, so i went to my doctor. luckily the tests were negative, and i'm not even pre-diabetic. but i knew then that i never wanted that kind of scare ever again. i was so mad at myself for letting myself get to the point of a serious health scare before making a change. i wasn't even looking for MFP when i found it. it just showed up in an email one day, so i checked it out and signed up. it has turned out to be the best thing that could've happened to me. i've been put on diets my whole life, even as a child and nothing ever lasted or really worked. this works for me. i've lost almost 20 lbs, and while it's been slow going, i know that it's making a real difference. i check in every day, logging my food. i'm still working on forming an exercise habit, but for right now i'm always so proud to log any exercise i do. i almost feel like i didn't really have an a-ha moment the way people talk about. i just sort of started doing it, without truly thinking about the life change i was making. i think that's why it has worked. i don't feel like i've dramatically changed my life. i feel like i've made some small changes, and i'm continuing to make small changes that will eventually add up to some major changes. this didn't happen overnight, and i don't expect to change my life overnight.

When it started getting warm and I tried to put on my favorite skirt and it didnt fit. I had gained 35 pounds since last summer. I had been eating out too much, drinking too much soda and just eating crap food. Cleaned up my eating a lot and have started exercising everyday. I hope to have most of it gone by August.

Flying Southest and buying 2 seats. I had heard about the Kevin Smith incident (please google his name + Southwest) and thought "what if that happened to me". I could fit inside the seat but I was sooo scared I was too big at this weight, I just flipped out and bought 2 seats, as I really need to see my ailing father. I was able to refund the second one due to the plane not being full up both to and fro however it was an emotional experience. people were quizzing me, being called to the front to pre-board...the person next to me picking up the reserve paper and asking me "What's this for?" I swore right then, I will lose this weight.

I am on two high blood medications right now and I really want to go off them too. Only 4 days on MFP.

My was, when I found out that I had hypothyroidism. I'm 5 feet tall & weighed 166lbs :noway:
But, what really did it for me was when my doctor said "most people with your condition will find it extreamly
hard to lose weight"

When i got pregnant and almost reached 300lbs

When I had strangers started being rude to me in public. People def treat heavier people different.

People don't believe it but this does happen! My husband had always been overweight except maybe his senior year in high school. I was always embarrassed for him when we would go out because he had picked up weight steadily from the day we got married. He was 350 when we married and 9 years later he was at his highest at 640 lbs. He had gastric bypass (on the recommendation of his bariatric doctor who knew of nothing else to help him) Nov of 2004. He had gotten back down to 280 within 5 years. I noticed a HUGE difference in attention he was getting. Instead of being the "butt" of the fat guy jokes, people who would have never given him a second glance except to MAKE that joke were now being all friendly and flirty with him. (No longer embarrassed now annoyed and jealous. :brokenheart: )

But, yeah, you are absolutely right, people are downright rude to heavier people, and sometimes I don't think they even realize that they are. :grumble:

When I had strangers started being rude to me in public. People def treat heavier people different.

People don't believe it but this does happen! My husband had always been overweight except maybe his senior year in high school. I was always embarrassed for him when we would go out because he had picked up weight steadily from the day we got married. He was 350 when we married and 9 years later he was at his highest at 640 lbs. He had gastric bypass (on the recommendation of his bariatric doctor who knew of nothing else to help him) Nov of 2004. He had gotten back down to 280 within 5 years. I noticed a HUGE difference in attention he was getting. Instead of being the "butt" of the fat guy jokes, people who would have never given him a second glance except to MAKE that joke were now being all friendly and flirty with him. (No longer embarrassed now annoyed and jealous. :brokenheart: )

But, yeah, you are absolutely right, people are downright rude to heavier people, and sometimes I don't think they even realize that they are. :grumble:

Oh they realize it. I remember just going out and if a woman looked at me, I would just say "hi". Not hitting on her or even close to her and I swear 6 out of 10 times they would say "ugh, or omg or gross yoour fat". I also had alot of problems with hipsters being rude because in my area, they are judgmental and rude. Maybe it was the area I lived in but its messed up how people think they can say anything they want to people and be mean. I miss the good old days when you could fight back or feed them a fist.

Two different moments:

Trying on a dress that just 5 months earlier had fit like a dream, and having it be too tight to even zipper. My mom told me, as she tried to zipper it up unsuccessfully, "you must have gained weight then". I. Wanted. To. Die.

Second moment was in Target, trying to find a cute swimsuit. I didn't have high expectations, but the sight in the mirror was more horrifying than I thought it would be. I KNEW something had to give.

I've been big my entire life, both height and weight. Standing in at 6'4, being heavier than normal really wasn't that big of a deal until my last year of highschool when i got my license and first year of college. Forget the freshman 15, i did the freshman 50. I found myself eating out with friends almost every night and i watched myself quickly approach 300 pounds. When i stood on the scale one morning and saw i weighed 301, that was the day i began. It was time to end the way i was living and see what it's like to be skinny- I'm 18 years old and have never not been overweight/obese my entire life- I'm extremely curious to see how i'll look skinny. Its been 18 days and i've lost 15 pounds so far and i feel great. its amazing once you start counting calories how you realize how many you were eating prior. I've cut my calorie intake by more than half.