What Finally Made You Realize You Need to Diet?

Mine was when my husband gave me a xxL Men's sweatshirt for a Christmas gift. I'm not THAT large.

Two things,

-Seeing pictures of myself at a color guard get-together, stuffing my face with ice cream and having my waist be as wide as my shoulders.

-The realization that my asthma was getting progressively worse. Going from being a slight annoyance to sending me to the emergency room.

I don't diet, but here are a few reasons why I started eating better and working out more and losing weight.  Seeing my graduation pictures, and thinking, I am not that big! Seeing pictures from past christmas's and not seeing any improvement. Not having any self confidance.

i cant look down and see my feet  :(

See pictures of myself and saying who the hell is that I'm not really that big? I must have some kind of magic mirror at home cause I didn't think I looked that bad.

When my partner at the time said "you're looking a bit porky"

Note the "at the time" :P Dumped his shallow hurtful arse.

when i was shopping for a gown for a black tie event. i hadn't seen a full-length mirror in years, or worn a gown in over 5 years. i got to the dress shop, nothing fit. i finally found a dress, tried it on, and saw myself in the mirror. i'd had no idea what i had done to my body; i didn't know what i actually looked like until that second. i was ashamed of myself for basically killing myself and becoming so ugly. i put the dress back and cried the entire drive back home. i was 320 pounds.

One picture.

I had a presentation to do for a class around this time last year. In it contained a group photo with me being at my highest weight. However, I was not prepared for what was to come because I had no preview of the picture before doing our presentation (it's a power point).

For a few years, I had some idea where I was health wise. My clothes were tight, I knew I ate more than enough, and I was completely sedentary. So when the epicture popped up on the over head toward the end of the presentation, It had completely shocked me. I had no idea that my over all physique was that?*bad*.?And the whole time it
was up on screen, I felt completely embarassed.

That, right there, was when I knew I had to do something. I vowed
never to look like that again and it was the 'epiphany' I really needed so to not half ass any efforts in my diet and exercise regimen.

That picture is on my profile next to one I've taken a few weeks ago. haha, complete with the same pose and apparel. But it's there to remind me how far I've come and what I hope to never look like again.

Retrovert I am SO glad you dumped his sorry butt.

 Mine was when my clothes stopped fitting.

samsumi, you look great! Before looking at the larger picture, I thought that pic was of 2 different poeple. WAY TO GO!!!!

Well, I had passed the point where I had to buy new clothes because I was too big for the old ones, and wasn't able to go on some of the more challenging hiking trails that my Fiance and I enjoy and still wasn't ready to admit that I was unhealthy and needed to make a change.

What really made me sit back and re-evaulate my lifestyle was actually a series of events:

•  I was having episodic sleep apnea {which has completly stopped since losing some weight} - FI would wake me and tell me that either I wasn't breathing or my breathing was "weird" and it scared him...
• we were unable to enjoy the more intimate aspects of our relationship because I was either too self-concious, too depressed, or just plain couldn't physically do the things we wanted to do.
• Thirdly, I saw pictures of myself from a wedding I went to in March {I'll post them, I'm wearing the same dress as in my profile pic, but I'm much larger} and I was so upset by what I saw that it made me cry.

....then I got mad at myself for letting my body get away from me like that...and then I got on this site, got outside to walk in the woods, and got on my way to a healthier, happier, longer life.

*edit for spelling*

I realized I wasnt that happy with my life. I thought that I could be better/healthier/thinner. It had also gotten to the point that I didnt like to be in pictures, and couldnt stand to look at the pictures taken of me.

samsuni, you look great!! great job!

Having to start metformin because my insulin levels are getting terrifyingly close to diabetic-level.

Mine was during college when I came home and found out I had jumped up 50 pounds.

Within one day I got bombarded with big red flags that got me going.

-The day after Christmas my dad was taping us on his new camcorder and the playback was horrifying- I had the urge to run and smash the tv in.

-I went to buy some clothes with a gift certificate and realized I couldn't find a single bra that would fit right and realized I'd have to ORDER one (i'm only 22 for god's sake)

-I stepped on the scale and saw numbers I had never...ever... seen.

YEESH! thank god for this site. Weight watchers didn't even work for me, but this does. :)

My mother (who is heavier than I am) developed type two diabetes and progressively developed a few complications. . . sugar crystals in her eyes, peripheral artery disease.  She also has diverticulitis.  Then two of my uncles were diagnosed. . . realising I could reduce my risk of type two by 70% was enough to steer me in the right direction!

Some of the things that motivatd me to loose weight and become healthy:

Finally deciding on a career (teacher) and wanting to be a good influence

Looking in the mirror and realising that if I kept doing this I'd ALWAYS be a social recluse.

Seeing a photo of myself from christmas... I didn't think I was that big.

Hitting 198lbs on the scale. I refused to go over 200

Remembering the confidence I had the last time I lost weight.

Sorting through my wardbrobe and realising that I could hardly fit into any of my clothes (so I put all my size 14 clothes into the attic... I got them out this weekend and some of them are too big! :D )

Actually, I'll never diet again.  Dieting and failing, and gaining it all back, plus more, is how I got so fat.

Now, with the help of my CC friends, I'm making gradual changes to the way I eat and exercise.  These changes are for life, not just for now.  It's a slow way to lose, but I'm doing better than I ever have before.  Improve the way you live and the weight will go, and you'll never have to "go on a diet" again!  Isn't that great?

The motivation for this step came from the picture in my profile of me at my daughter's wedding.  I'm very proud to say I lost 30 pounds and kept it off all of last year. A whole year without gaining anything back!  That's record for me.  Now I'm ready to go on and lose another 30.

Most recently at my high point:

Looking in the mirror and realizing that my belly sticks out further than my boobs.  

Not being able to move properly, not being able to sleep comfortably at night.

Requesting clothes for Christmas in size 24(stretchy)-26(normal) because none of my clothes fit. 

Severe depression

Realizing that I don't want to buy plus size maternity when I decide to have a child.

 

when i started feeling so badly about how my body looked that i'd do things like just eat a 100-calorie teddy graham thing for lunch at school and a rice cake for breakfast, then i'd eat practically half my weight in junk food as soon as i got home from school.

especially when i started thinking about wanting to make myself throw up and all that stuff...i realized i had to do something about it, because i felt like crap because of the crappy food i was eating and how chubby i was. so gradually, my diet's gotten healthier, and i honestly can see and feel all the difference.