What was your "Gotta Change my Life "moment ?

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  • andymf85
    andymf85 Posts: 18 Member
    Some great stories in here, starting with the OP. It's amazing how easy it is to end up in such a situation, where it takes a great shock to realize where you've been slowly drifting for some time.

    Myself, I have been down this weight loss & fitness road before, but this time the alarm bell couldn't have been clearer. I had some very stretchy khakis that I was using to lie to myself about how bad I was letting myself get... until one day the clasp on the pants literally broke and flew off. I was obviously mortified and instantly resolved to get back in shape. After some early hiccups, I'm on the right track.
  • MNguerita
    MNguerita Posts: 199 Member
    Been overweight whole life. Lost up to 50 lbs several times but always gained it back and then some. I also thought of it as some kind of love test...if they didn't love me the way I was, then they really didn't love me, but in actuality, I didn't love myself enough. I considered myself fairly healthy at least since I wasn't on meds for anything. A little over 3months ago had my annual exam and found out I had high blood pressure and got put on meds. Started MFP that very weekend. Now of course I find myself in an unhappy marriage, I think h thinks he loves me, but in my eyes he doesn't love me enough, nor does he treat me the way you treat that person you will love for the rest of your life, so once I am done working on me (or befor if the opportunity should arise) I will then have to address what remains of my marriage nd if it is worth salvaging.
  • lordofthethings
    lordofthethings Posts: 10
    First, let me congratulate you on your progress and success to date! Keep up the good work!

    My moment came at work when a bunch of skinny chicks I work with were talking about how much they loved Weight Watchers, so I dismissively replied that it sounds nice and maybe I'd think about it after the holidays. Followed by me crossing my legs and ripping the rear end out of my pants. We're talking an open party tent flap...not just loosening the seam.

    Then I decided to visit the gym where my husband works out, and was greeted by two young men who looked at me like a velociraptor just walked through the door, and after the hushed "rock, paper, scizzors" that followed, this poor kid welcomed me with a voice that sounded like a mouse with asthma whistling in the back of a truckload of sawdust. So I get it. And let them off the hook and reassure them I don't need any help with the machinery and working out. And get your finger away from the panic button under the desk.

    So the journey continues...some days I need every ounce of willpower not to eat the backside of skunk, and other days I think I could eat like a Supermodel for the rest of my life. To be continued...
  • Bobbi_N
    Bobbi_N Posts: 49 Member
    Mine was just a couple weeks ago. Three things hit me all in the same day like a domino-effect. I was visiting my mother (74 years old and goes to the gym 5 days a week) and we went to the mall to return some things she'd bought. We were walking through the women's clothing and I was seeing all the beautiful clothes I knew I didn't have a chance of wearing. Then as we were sitting and resting on a bench, my mom teared up and almost started crying. She asked me if it didn't bother me that so many people we passed in the mall turned and stared or laughed at me. Truthfully, I hadn't noticed, but hearing that and seeing my own mom so emotional about it just about killed me. As I was changing later, I caught sight of myself naked from a side view and that was the final straw. I decided then that I had to change.

    A week ago today, I started watching what I was eating closely. Then last Wednesday, I joined a gym and found this website and I'm on my way to a healthier lifestyle.
  • gobraves47
    gobraves47 Posts: 213 Member
    Mine came earlier this year when I was diagnosed with High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Diabetes, and Uterine Cancer within a week. I had lived in denial about what all the extra weight was doing to my body and I realized I needed to take control of my life and health. I know that getting down to a healthy weight will help the first three conditions. As far as the cancer goes, surgery and radiation have taken care of it for now. However, if it recurs I want to be in the best physical shape I can to detect and fight it.
  • rileamoyer
    rileamoyer Posts: 2,412 Member
    Several AHA moments. My Physical Therapist I was seeing for SI and Shoulder problems, gently let me know I had let my physical condition go to pot. I saw a couple photos of me taken when I wasn't posing to hide my weight, I lost a friend with a heart attack, another was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Those warnings combined with my daughter and brother succumbing to terminal cancer, my younger brother barely surving a heart attack and my DH struggling with yet another back surgery (all within the same year) gave me the where with all to take charge of my health.
  • ktrn0312
    ktrn0312 Posts: 722 Member
    My moment hit home when I was confronted by my doctor in October 2011 "Do I wish to see my daughter graduate?" My response was which graduation high school or college? My doctor said she could not say but,I was laying streaks of plaque in my vessels since my cholesterol was so high. Heart disease would surely figure into my future unless I did something about it. Had to go on meds & started exercising & calorie counting. I am off meds now. My life has changed for the better. My doctor knew just the right words to use & i will be forever grateful. I have daughter & husband coming along this journey with me.
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
    First, let me congratulate you on your progress and success to date! Keep up the good work!

    My moment came at work when a bunch of skinny chicks I work with were talking about how much they loved Weight Watchers, so I dismissively replied that it sounds nice and maybe I'd think about it after the holidays. Followed by me crossing my legs and ripping the rear end out of my pants. We're talking an open party tent flap...not just loosening the seam.

    Then I decided to visit the gym where my husband works out, and was greeted by two young men who looked at me like a velociraptor just walked through the door, and after the hushed "rock, paper, scizzors" that followed, this poor kid welcomed me with a voice that sounded like a mouse with asthma whistling in the back of a truckload of sawdust. So I get it. And let them off the hook and reassure them I don't need any help with the machinery and working out. And get your finger away from the panic button under the desk.

    So the journey continues...some days I need every ounce of willpower not to eat the backside of skunk, and other days I think I could eat like a Supermodel for the rest of my life. To be continued...

    I want you to write a blog. You have such a way with words!!
  • saustin201
    saustin201 Posts: 270 Member
    I hit the scale at my doctors office for an annual checkup and my weight was 211. I don't recall being that heavy. My blood work came back with high cholesterol.

    I was relatively thin until the birth of my stillborn son 5 years ago. The overeating was probably due to stress and grief.
  • lordofthethings
    lordofthethings Posts: 10
    I want you to write a blog. You have such a way with words!!
    [/quote]


    colleen-hawley.blogspot.com

    Come join the madness...
  • biggsexy7
    biggsexy7 Posts: 78 Member
    Mine came when my fiance told me she was no longer attracted to me and left me. I had gotten up to 305 and my bp was also high. I have come to realize first that she never truly loved me but that to do this I have to do it for me. So here I am.
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
    I love this infographic. Sometimes when I'm about to binge or get out of control I take a minute to picture the INSIDE of my body and how hard it's struggling. Especially my heart. I picture my organs laboring away under a layer of fat. It scares me.

    For me, my moment came when I was sitting in front of the open fridge eating something. I can't remember what it was (maybe pie? I do love a good pie), but I was just sitting there with a fork eating it off the bottom shelf while my boyfriend at the time was sleeping in the next room. I have never been significantly overweight, but that was the moment I realized I had completely lost control of myself. It still took me years and a few relapses and now at age 41 I feel like I'm finally getting free of those demons.

    Another realization was seeing photos of myself from my sister's wedding. My other sister had lost 30lbs and kept it off and she looked amazing. I looked gigantic and I hated almost every picture I was in except for about 5.

    HealthConcerns.jpg
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
    When I stepped on the scale and had gained 25 pounds in six months. My fat clothes were even getting too tight for me.
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
    My moment was when I, or one of my moments, went white water rafting. I got thrown over by a rouge wave and stuck in the rapids. It was a scary moment but what's worse..is the fact that the guide had a hard time getting me back in the boat.

    Yeah, it was clear that I need to lose weight. That and riding horses at 230 pounds isn't heathly either.


    I agree. I'm also a rafter and horseback rider and there's nothing like struggling to get up on a horse....and with the falling overboard....had that happen....nothing worse than your guide struggling to pull you back in. Humiliating!
  • jumpyjavajawa
    jumpyjavajawa Posts: 36 Member
    My husband and I welcomed our first child this January.
    I thought of my own childhood and the only time I've seen my mother slim was in pictures. She's been over weight my whole life, I don't want that for my daughter.
    I want to be able to run and play with her for as long as she wants. I want our family to have active lifestyles and help her start healthy to prevent becoming over weight when she gets older.
    I'm getting healthy now so that when she starts building childhood memories it's of me running and playing with her and not her (and whatever siblings she has later) playing outside alone while I watch TV inside.
    I want her only images of me overweight being pictures so instead of saying "Look how small I was" I can say "You helped change my life, you're the most important thing in the world to me."
  • JennyDee2012
    JennyDee2012 Posts: 11
    First, let me congratulate you on your progress and success to date! Keep up the good work!

    My moment came at work when a bunch of skinny chicks I work with were talking about how much they loved Weight Watchers, so I dismissively replied that it sounds nice and maybe I'd think about it after the holidays. Followed by me crossing my legs and ripping the rear end out of my pants. We're talking an open party tent flap...not just loosening the seam.

    Then I decided to visit the gym where my husband works out, and was greeted by two young men who looked at me like a velociraptor just walked through the door, and after the hushed "rock, paper, scizzors" that followed, this poor kid welcomed me with a voice that sounded like a mouse with asthma whistling in the back of a truckload of sawdust. So I get it. And let them off the hook and reassure them I don't need any help with the machinery and working out. And get your finger away from the panic button under the desk.

    So the journey continues...some days I need every ounce of willpower not to eat the backside of skunk, and other days I think I could eat like a Supermodel for the rest of my life. To be continued...
    " Thank you FOR your post i LAUGHED DEFINITELY WITH YOU"
  • mrsmel55
    mrsmel55 Posts: 168
    My moment came on January 14, 2012 when my hubby of 31 years had a heart attack. If we had not gone to the hospital when we did he would have died. He's 60 and I am 55. He was a smoker, overweight by about 40 lbs and I was an ex-smoker, about 120 lbs overweight. He ate what I fed him. I had knee problems, breathing problems, and was falling apart. I prayed to God to save my love and promised we would change. And we have. I feel great. He feels great. We eat healthy and we exercise and thank God every day for our second chance. I am not about to waste it!
  • chickabee5
    chickabee5 Posts: 90
    Please don't take this the wrong way but gotta say this one makes me laugh kids are so brutally honest! Gotta love kids aye!? :)
    My moment came when I was talking to my 5 yr old. She was choked by an older boy in the top of the McDonalds play toys, and I asked her later why she didnt call for me. She looked at me lovingly, and said "Mommy, I knew you wouldnt fit :(" She was so sad for me, and I could tell she didnt want to make me feel bad.

    Then, a month later, my daughters (5, 3, 1) were given a full sized trampoline...brand new. My youngest was in the middle and was crying because the older two were jumping her. I kneeled onto the trampoline fast to grab her, flopped onto the middle of the trampoline...and it broke.

    I broke a trampoline. A 15 foot trampoline.

    My husband was able to bend the bar back and get it back to normal (he is a machinist), but I will NEVER forget hearing my daughters telling my husband that I broke a freaking trampoline.

    My oldest still says to me "Mommy, dont get on the trampoline with us this time...okay? You can be on it later after you get healthy!"

    Breaking your childs favorite toy is all the push I needed.

    I weighed 323 at my biggest...and I am never going back. I lost 18lbs in the first month. I went from being terrified to walk for 10 minutes, to being able to jog for seven straight minutes after a few weeks!
  • YoukilledJosh
    YoukilledJosh Posts: 49
    Hadnt stepped on a scale my enter teen life and to see "315" was scary, took me awhile to change but im currently 248 and still workin!
  • smyle5
    smyle5 Posts: 33 Member
    My "aha" moment came in Jan of 2011 when I was in the hospital due to en ectopic pregnancy. This was the 1st time I was admitted to the hospital EVER, although I had some health issues for the last few years. While in the hospital, I had to weigh myself in front of my husband and mom, and the scale said 270... 40 lbs heavier than the last time I had been on the scale. That wasn't the first time I had had a "weight freak out" but it was the one that has stuck with me. After my surgery and recovery, I started loosing weight last year, but fell off the wagon in April and went back to some unhealthy ways.... This year in January I went for my annual check up, and while everything except my BMI came back OK, I was also having some major pain in my knee. When i mentioned it to the doctor, she didn't bring up my weight, but said that general exercise would make the muscles around it stronger... I started by walking my dog, and taking a once a week Zumba class. Now I try my best to stay in my calorie goal for each day and do something physical most days...Its been 6 months and I'm loosing a lot slower than I had hoped, but I know this is the right way to go about it. Its not easy, but my husband promised me a trip to Ireland if I loose 75 lbs and I am determined to do it... only 47 more to go... and I CAN DO IT! I think its also important to mention that I used to get horrible migraines and I haven't had one since improving my diet and cutting out most processed foods...
  • beebee0925
    beebee0925 Posts: 441 Member
    bump
  • Mina133842
    Mina133842 Posts: 1,573 Member
    interesting to see the info on migraines, I have never really had headaches, and for the past 3-6 months have had issues with headaches actually going down in frequency and intensity - didn't realize that they had been more frequent until seeing the info on here and realizing that I'd been dealing with them, and not "noticing."
  • 3ofmine
    3ofmine Posts: 136 Member
    My moment wasn't a big or tragic I guess it was just my normal everyday but for some reason I guess because I was ready I just decided this was it no more. My boys play baseball and my ENTIRE LIFE I played softball and baseball(except for the past 7yrs because I was pregnant with triplets, then had babies and put on 70lbs onto a overweight by 50lb already frame). Anyway my kids love to go for hikes and I can't go. My boys want me to get in the yard and help with practice baseball(my first love) and the whole reason i wanted kids(always wanted boys) was to be able to teach them to play ball.(yes I know it is probably weird for a girl to love this but I do. It was my thing with my grandpa and it's what we enjoyed) and I wanted to pass this on to my boys. I got in the yard in Feburary and I couldn't play catch with them because my back was hurting me so bad I had to sit down. They built a new hiking trail in my town and my husband would take the kids out the trail while I sat at the playground and waited on them because I couldn't walk to the bathroom without getting out of breath much less walking a hiking trail. I decided that day in the yard that is IT this is changing TODAY. I made my kids a promise that day. I told them mommy is going to start walking and I am going to lose weight. I will be able to play with you, hike with you and practice ball with you. I started taking about five 5min walks a day..every chance I got I went outside and walked down to the lake, sat down on the picnic table a second(to rest) then walked back and I would be HUFFING and PUFFING LIKE CRAZY sucking wind..wheezing. Then it got to where when I got down there I could turn around and walk back then when I could walk down there and back with no problem I started walking on the gazelle for 10mins at night and went up by 5 mins every 3 or 4 days. After a little over a month I walked the trail with my husband and kids but I had to sit down about 10x's and it took over an hour to walk it(it's 1 mile one way). Now we go and walk it out and back(2 miles round trip) in 30mins...last week I RAN/walked..I ran about half of the two miles. When I was younger and playing softball I ran and I enjoyed it so I would like to get back to running again. Here I am now almost 2 months into it 20lbs less and doing push ups, sit ups and hikes everyday and I can walk into walmart WITH NO CART! That is an amazing feeling!!
    Angel :smile:
  • MariettaDelene
    MariettaDelene Posts: 82 Member
    I had a few small ones leading up to a rather large breakdown. My first hint was in May 2011. I had been gaining weight like crazy, on top of being tired all the time and losing hair. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and, at the same time, told I was 50 lbs overweight.

    Over a year, I tried to lose weight, but I found that exercising left me wheezing - at the time I didn't have a clue why. So I just cut out exercise completely and left it to diet alone. Through that year, I lost a mere 15 pounds. Then my husband was laid off. To survive on my income alone, we ate very cheap, sugary, fatty foods. By the time my husband found a job again, I had gained back all the weight I lost over a year plus five pounds.

    The day I weighed myself for the first time since my husband lost his job was the day I lost it. I melted, sobbing that I'd let myself go that far. I used to be a runner. I used to be very fit just a few years prior. What had I done?

    Once I got myself together, I saw the doctor and got an inhaler for my newly-diagnosed asthma - the whole reason I couldn't exercise in the first place. I joined a six-week exercise course offered by my local school district. That just ended and I lost 10 pounds in a month! I'm now down 13 pounds - almost as much as I was down by diet alone last year.
  • wordnerd55
    wordnerd55 Posts: 4
    I've been overweight my whole life, always that fat kid even though I swam competitively. I hate almost all pictures of me. But 4 1/2 months ago, at age 17 (yes, 17!), I suffered a stroke. There was a 7.5 cm blood clot in my brain. We discovered it was from the birth control I was on to control my PCOS symptoms. It was the biggest wake-up call I think I could ever have. I was so lucky everything that could have did line up in my favour, but I could have died. I was back to school in 2 weeks after the stroke. My doctors told me that I was a miracle. I decided that since I was given a second chance at life, I should take it. Losing weight will not only lessen my chances for another stroke since I'm now at a higher risk for them since I've had one already, it will let me finally live my life as a teenager should.
  • jenn_may
    jenn_may Posts: 154 Member
    Not being able to take my daughter outside at my mom's house (she lives on a lake) because I couldn't chase after her.
  • jfa002
    jfa002 Posts: 54 Member
    At the age of 25 I had an epiphany, "I'm not getting any younger." That made me think of the future of my health. I figured that I would prefer to drop dead being healthy, rather than suffer 5 - 10 years waiting to die because of being unhealthy. Yes, someday we've all gotta go, but how long do you (in general) want to suffer? :huh:
  • tom1834
    tom1834 Posts: 34
    It was a combination of things: My Dr telling my i had a "fatty liver" and it was causing me to show symptoms of hepatitis, the realization that i was fat and how far i'd fallen, the knowledge that i was capable of something more, and someone who actually made me want to be a better me re-entering my life.
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
    My moment wasn't a big or tragic I guess it was just my normal everyday but for some reason I guess because I was ready I just decided this was it no more. My boys play baseball and my ENTIRE LIFE I played softball and baseball(except for the past 7yrs because I was pregnant with triplets, then had babies and put on 70lbs onto a overweight by 50lb already frame). Anyway my kids love to go for hikes and I can't go. My boys want me to get in the yard and help with practice baseball(my first love) and the whole reason i wanted kids(always wanted boys) was to be able to teach them to play ball.(yes I know it is probably weird for a girl to love this but I do. It was my thing with my grandpa and it's what we enjoyed) and I wanted to pass this on to my boys. I got in the yard in Feburary and I couldn't play catch with them because my back was hurting me so bad I had to sit down. They built a new hiking trail in my town and my husband would take the kids out the trail while I sat at the playground and waited on them because I couldn't walk to the bathroom without getting out of breath much less walking a hiking trail. I decided that day in the yard that is IT this is changing TODAY. I made my kids a promise that day. I told them mommy is going to start walking and I am going to lose weight. I will be able to play with you, hike with you and practice ball with you. I started taking about five 5min walks a day..every chance I got I went outside and walked down to the lake, sat down on the picnic table a second(to rest) then walked back and I would be HUFFING and PUFFING LIKE CRAZY sucking wind..wheezing. Then it got to where when I got down there I could turn around and walk back then when I could walk down there and back with no problem I started walking on the gazelle for 10mins at night and went up by 5 mins every 3 or 4 days. After a little over a month I walked the trail with my husband and kids but I had to sit down about 10x's and it took over an hour to walk it(it's 1 mile one way). Now we go and walk it out and back(2 miles round trip) in 30mins...last week I RAN/walked..I ran about half of the two miles. When I was younger and playing softball I ran and I enjoyed it so I would like to get back to running again. Here I am now almost 2 months into it 20lbs less and doing push ups, sit ups and hikes everyday and I can walk into walmart WITH NO CART! That is an amazing feeling!!
    Angel :smile:

    I love this story. What an inspiration! Isn't it amazing how quickly you can see progress? How you can measure in feet and then quarter miles and then half miles and then miles?? So proud of you and I bet your boys are too :drinker:
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
    My husband and I welcomed our first child this January.
    I thought of my own childhood and the only time I've seen my mother slim was in pictures. She's been over weight my whole life, I don't want that for my daughter.
    I want to be able to run and play with her for as long as she wants. I want our family to have active lifestyles and help her start healthy to prevent becoming over weight when she gets older.
    I'm getting healthy now so that when she starts building childhood memories it's of me running and playing with her and not her (and whatever siblings she has later) playing outside alone while I watch TV inside.
    I want her only images of me overweight being pictures so instead of saying "Look how small I was" I can say "You helped change my life, you're the most important thing in the world to me."

    This made me tear up. My mom was always overweight and struggling and dieting. I remember being embarrassed by her and for her as a little kid.
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