what started it all for you?

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Replies

  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
    In December I started having pain on my right side. I had my gal bladder removed in February - it was the size of a baseball! While I was going through this, one of my xrays showed that I had water on my kidney (hydronephrosis). I was sent to a specialist and had many tests done. They all came back negative. The nephrologist that I saw said the pain I was feeling ( I thought was kidney pain) could just be backache from my extra weight. I bought a pair of good sneakers on the way home and haven't stopped exercising since. And, the back pain is gone!
  • Cappicorn
    Cappicorn Posts: 83 Member
    I had a hard time breathing while I was bent over trying to tie my shoes because my stomach was in the way. I was also growing out of my work clothes.
  • Raven0909
    Raven0909 Posts: 3
    I realized that I wasn't really happy with myself and knew I needed to change. It got to the point that I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror. If I would I would literally feel horrible and disgusting and look away quickly. I miss how I used to look at myself when I was smaller. I had so much confidence and always held my head high. Now i'm always looking down and dont even want to look anyone in the face. I really started working out and doing better hard core after my boyfriends daughter asked me one day if I wished I could be skinny and pretty. That right there did it so I started doubling up my workouts and really watching what I was eating. I have lost about 10 pounds so far and a friend of mine actually referred me to this website and said it was helping her out and thought I should give it a shot. So...Here I am...And that's how it all started. And now i'll shut my mouth and go make dinner. hahaha
  • feliciapeters
    feliciapeters Posts: 525
    nmo looking in the mirror, no comments from a friend or relative
    no tight clothes, nothing in the usual way
    my daughter & bf wanted to join the gym
    neither has a credit card
    i put the monthly membership on my card
    2 weeks later they broke up
    I changed his name to mine on the membership
    & went three times before they got back together
    i KNEW it would annoy the hell out of me to see that wasted charge
    on my credit card every month
    so i started working out....and IMAGINE lol, i lost weight
  • suzywuzy90
    suzywuzy90 Posts: 20 Member
    For any of you who have been to Hawaii you probably noticed how fit and tan the locals are. I attribute it to very little fast food on the islands, so most of the diet is pretty clean. That and the only thing to do on the islands aside from drink is some form of physical activity.
    After seeing pictures of myself from my vacation in Kauai last February I decided it was time to change my lifestyle. That and all those beautiful Hawaiians really drove home the fact that I needed to change
    I'll be going there this fall. Thanks for the added motivation!
  • Promqueen_74932
    Promqueen_74932 Posts: 203 Member
    I was at my top weight of 265lbs with high blood pressure and pre- diabetic, smoking on top of all that with asthma! I didn't know anything about health, but knew that I had to start and SOON. Everyone in my family smokes/smoked, they eat whatever they like, etc. Lots of health problems... lots of UNNECESSARY health problems. Being totally clueless and having self conscious emotions, a friend and I joined the local gym. I started slow, then got a personal trainer, learned that I could READ BOOKS and understand what it took to get myself where I wanted to be. So I've been doing my best and have come a long way. I learned A LOT about nutrition, fitness, and overall health. I still have many more changes to make and many more stages to go thru to reach my goal!

    Good luck on your journey! Glad to see you here.

    Sara :flowerforyou:
  • geonbaeLeilee
    geonbaeLeilee Posts: 606 Member
    I knew I needed to lose weight for the longest time, I just didn't do it. I would start, feel discouraged, then stop. Then I looked at myself in the mirror, noticed how fat my face was and that I had no chin, and how rolly the rest of my body looked. :( Then a nasty neighbor was sending fitness magazines to me, so I knew it was time. I want to look good, feel good, and I didn't want to be made fun of anymore. :(
  • davidr730
    davidr730 Posts: 126 Member
    I had a heart attack 2/4/12. My cholesterol was 350 and I had a 100% blockage in one of my arteries and a 60% block in a second artery. I'm only 43 years old! I got a second chance to live and I'm not wasting it because I like hamburgers. Got my cholesterol down to 189 and I'm down eight lbs in the last 4 weeks. (that's when I started keeping track)
  • _SASX_
    _SASX_ Posts: 255 Member
    i was having problems getting up stairs without panting, and a young student came up and gave me a hug around my middle, and told me that she loved giving me hugs, cause I was all squishy.
    that did it.
  • danithegirl89
    danithegirl89 Posts: 203 Member
    This is so embarrassing but a couple people asked if I was prego... It made me cry. Then I bought a scale and almost passed out when I saw the numbers. I am glad I got a wake up call though. I am so much happier and healthier now :D ♥
  • Waszo
    Waszo Posts: 41
    6-7 years ago I had my appendix taken out . I was in surgery more then 5 hrs. Almost died. Spent 24 day in the hospital. Took months to recover. I started to lose weight but I gained it all back. In February I joined a lifestyle weight loss clinic. I meet with Drs. exercise trainers, dieticians, go to support group meetings. I have lost 38 lbs now. The people I work with are great, they have motivated me to succeed. They have over 70 people enrolled in the program,& I have lost the most weight. My advice is get in a group so they can help you. I tried doing it alone, it did not work.
  • merseyblue
    merseyblue Posts: 37 Member
    I saw a pic of myself from a Christmas party and thought I looked really big. I kidded myself that my friend looked considerably smaller because she was stood behind me - perspective lol. I dyed my hair from blonde to plum to make some sort of change (that didn't involve any hard work). I weighed myself in March and realised I was almost the same weight as when I was 9 months pregnant (she's now 5) and still I didn't do anything - just thought about it a lot.

    'The moment' finally came when I did a Race for Life at the beginning of this month. I say 'race' but that's a bit of a lie. It was more like a shuffle for life. My cousins young and extremely fit daughter kindly posted pictures of our group on Facebook and I was horrified. There was no getting away from it. From being 9-10 stone all my life, I was FAT!!!

    I discovered MFP and I'm hoping the rest will be history :)
  • angelacmoo
    angelacmoo Posts: 3 Member
    This is so embarrassing but a couple people asked if I was prego... It made me cry. Then I bought a scale and almost passed out when I saw the numbers. I am glad I got a wake up call though. I am so much happier and healthier now :D ♥

    I have had that happen to me too-- I carry all my weight there so even when I have been thinner it's happened, but definitely happens more now when I've gained weight. I hate meeting new people because I always worry that they are looking at my tummy and wondering if I'm pregnant. So here I am!
  • monicalord
    monicalord Posts: 26 Member
    1) A friend I hadn't seen in a while said I was "all filled up".
    2) Clothes
    3) I met someone I'm interested in and realized I don't feel confident enough to "go all the way" because of my body.
    4) I am a performer and really want to be physically right for more roles.
  • STACYINOC
    STACYINOC Posts: 75 Member
    I had always been overweight and about 4 years ago, something clicked and I was able to get down to 125 (my highest ever was about 210). Anyway, I finally got thin, replaced all my clothes and had fantastic self esteem. Then I started dating an old friend who I had always had a crush on and we had remained friends for many, many years. Long story short, 30 lbs right back on. Relationship is over but the weight is here and it needs to go. I only had my skinny me for about a year and I miss that feeling of feeling like I could do anything.
  • MissySho
    MissySho Posts: 126 Member
    For the past ten years I have been able to deny that i was really "that" big.....when in reality i knew i was beyond that big. I have tried many fad diets, and try out exercise....none of them ever worked. just recently i woke up and was just tired of being big....tired of all the pain in my legs and back, and tired of not being able to move without being short of breathe. I have been my own worst enemy for long enough.
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
    The thing that probably started my my journey in the past year was having to buy a bigger size jeans than I'd ever bought in my life. Not to mention being very aware that my binge eating was only getting worse. I had to get things under control before those "bigger" jeans were too small.
  • chimpy_chimp
    chimpy_chimp Posts: 106 Member
    I woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and thought 'This is NOT who I want to be.'

    Same for me. I looked at myself and thought, "This is NOT who I want to be, and this is NOT who I am!"
  • indyrunning
    indyrunning Posts: 136 Member
    When I graduated from high school, I was 185 pounds. I am only 5'4", so every one of those pounds showed. My friends were all cute and cross-country track runners. I couldn't hardly run across the street, but I ran a lot to the fridge to make myself feel better. My mother cooked and baked, and baked and cooked. She often said, eat, eat! But then afterward, she would say, "You know, if you ate less, you would be smaller and lose weight." Ouch.
    I met a new boyfriend and he was really active. I thought, "I gotta do something and feel better about myself." So, I laced up my gym shoes. They were Keds that were more than five years old and actually sprouting holes on the sides (you know, the flat bottomed kind with absolutely NO support) and I decided to run. Shin splints...almost within the first two weeks. Discouragement!
    But remember that boyfriend? He bought me a pair of ACTUAL running shoes. I went away to school, worked out, watched my food intake....and three years later that boyfriend proposed. I said yes!
    My mother had the audacity to tell me that he proposed because I had lost weight. He loved me at 185 and he loves me now at 124. He believed that if he bought me the shoes (which is another story of how he tricked me into believing he won them); he would show how much he believed in me. He still does, 20 years later.
  • LadyIntrepid
    LadyIntrepid Posts: 399 Member
    Turning 50. If not now, when?
  • aqm22
    aqm22 Posts: 153 Member
    When I realized I couldn't wear half of my wardrobe....
  • ClassicPearl
    ClassicPearl Posts: 141 Member
    It came to a point where I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. Simply sitting down was unpleasant with all the flab hanging out. Girdles weren't even doing the trick!
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    I tried to get into my work trousers after a year or so in more relaxed attire and realised I couldn't.

    This was after being totally in charge of the grocery shopping and eating what I believed to be a healthy diet (watch the fats, minimise the calories and plenty of exercise, etc).

    I had only fitted into them before because I was surviving on nicotine and scotch if truth be known.

    I had 3 months or so on MFP on the low fat 'healthy' plan at the beginning of the year logging everything religiously and it just wasn't happening.

    I was tired, hungry and deprived and down to about 1200 calories, sometimes less. Nutritionally starving in other words.

    Then I realised something must be wrong for me so I took a detour off Conventional Wisdom Avenue and started off down What Does The Science Say? Boulevard. And then it all clicked :)

    Increased calorie count, less exercise, different result.
  • dreamsofescaping
    dreamsofescaping Posts: 206 Member
    I was a chubby baby, a tubby toddler, an overweight child, an obese teenager, and a morbidly obese adult... I have never known what its like to be a thinner version of me. I try to invision it but I can't (yet). It took me moving away from my family in the city to do my own thing. I love my mother bless her heart, and not that she is at fault really because I can make my own choices we always had "bedtime snacks" she would buy us kids chips, or popcorn etc. She is 90 pounds soaking wet and has a gigantic tub of junkfood for when she gets a craving, I knew who to go to when I got that munchy feeling. It took me moving to a small town having to walk everywhere to lose 10 pounds then I thought, heck why not lets go for another 10 once I made it to that goal I went hardcore into this and started exercising daily even with my 70-90 min walks a day. I am just now starting to see changes and I know it will take time but I can't wait to see where this road will lead me :) I have an almost 4 year old daughter, and my mom once again bless her heart started her when she was very little trying out chocolate, chips etc. I know I am her mother I did try telling my mom please don't give that to her (my daughter) but my mom has the reigns. I don't want my daughter to be like me I want the best healthiest life for her that she can possibly have. Even when grandma comes to visit she usually ends up buying her some type of junk food. Just because she has an incredibly fast metabolisim doesn't mean others do and now that I am the one in control of my life, my choices and more importantly the choices of my daughter I never want to end this life style change ever. I feel bad like I am putting my mom down I am not I swear lol I think her heart was always in the right place trying to be giving and sharing one of her fav things (junkfood) but we don't need it. I am an adult and have my own voice but it was/is/has always been hard to use that voice with my mom. Now I do have my own voice, and a voice for my baby girl. Hope I didn't sound to mean. I guess I could have put this in a shorter form lol.
  • indyrunning
    indyrunning Posts: 136 Member
    I was a chubby baby, a tubby toddler, an overweight child, an obese teenager, and a morbidly obese adult... I have never known what its like to be a thinner version of me. I try to invision it but I can't (yet). It took me moving away from my family in the city to do my own thing. I love my mother bless her heart, and not that she is at fault really because I can make my own choices we always had "bedtime snacks" she would buy us kids chips, or popcorn etc. She is 90 pounds soaking wet and has a gigantic tub of junkfood for when she gets a craving, I knew who to go to when I got that munchy feeling. It took me moving to a small town having to walk everywhere to lose 10 pounds then I thought, heck why not lets go for another 10 once I made it to that goal I went hardcore into this and started exercising daily even with my 70-90 min walks a day. I am just now starting to see changes and I know it will take time but I can't wait to see where this road will lead me :) I have an almost 4 year old daughter, and my mom once again bless her heart started her when she was very little trying out chocolate, chips etc. I know I am her mother I did try telling my mom please don't give that to her (my daughter) but my mom has the reigns. I don't want my daughter to be like me I want the best healthiest life for her that she can possibly have. Even when grandma comes to visit she usually ends up buying her some type of junk food. Just because she has an incredibly fast metabolisim doesn't mean others do and now that I am the one in control of my life, my choices and more importantly the choices of my daughter I never want to end this life style change ever. I feel bad like I am putting my mom down I am not I swear lol I think her heart was always in the right place trying to be giving and sharing one of her fav things (junkfood) but we don't need it. I am an adult and have my own voice but it was/is/has always been hard to use that voice with my mom. Now I do have my own voice, and a voice for my baby girl. Hope I didn't sound to mean. I guess I could have put this in a shorter form lol.
  • indyrunning
    indyrunning Posts: 136 Member
    THANK you for sharing that! I have felt the same way for many years. I am glad that I have my own voice now. You can do it! It is hard work, but you are worth it!
  • Journalartista
    Journalartista Posts: 84 Member
    Imwas diagnosed as Bipolar, I knew it was time to take control of my mind and body.
  • SandraD89
    SandraD89 Posts: 809
    Mine was being diagnosised with hypoglycemia and the lovely motivation of Kpop. Wonderful music.
  • rosabubble
    rosabubble Posts: 1 Member
    I'm turning 40 in a few months and want to greet the new decade in as good of shape as I did the last one. This system keeps me mindful that fitness and health is the result of about 20 small decisions we make each day, and one medium decision. . .salad vs, starch, 15 minutes of walking vs 15 minutes on couch. . .
  • sthrnchick
    sthrnchick Posts: 771
    My defining moment was a picture my sister tagged me in on FB...I literally cried when I saw it...I looked pregnant...I had NEVER seen myself so fat...I knew that I was a little "fluffy", but never thought of myself as being fat! I literally changed EVERYTHING that moment...and haven't looked back! So happy for THAT picture!

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