what was your turning point?

What was the turning point that made you decide to approach weight loss in a healthy way?

Or what was the turning point that made you decide to take your health into consideration?

Original Post by sabbitha:

What was the turning point that made you decide to approach weight loss in a healthy way?

Or what was the turning point that made you decide to take your health into consideration?

I would say the turning point was when I realized I was simply "out of breath" going upstairs to my 2nd floor apartment. Shortly after that, I was looking at FB pictures after a recent campout with friends- jeez... never really realized I was that huge! :(

What about you, sabbitha?

My turning point was probably when I was looking through some old photos from about 4 years ago. I looked great! But at the time I thought I was fat (I was 15), which just astounds me now...

At that point I made it my goal to lose 30 pounds (still not quite the weight that I was at 15) and kind of just accepted that it was going to take a long time, not two months or something. The reason I decided to do this in a healthy, balanced way, is because it was hardcore dieting that made me gain all that weight in the first place.

It also made me realise that I wasn't doomed to look like this forever - I hadn't always been fat, and I could be skinny again.

I got on the scale and didn't really like the number it gave me. They I really looked at myself in the mirror and saw someone who looked 6-7 months pregnant. And I'm not pregnant. That really bothered me. I think I cried about it for 2 hours. The next day I started exercising and looking into the whole concept of counting calories.

That was a little over a week ago.

My turning point was a combination of a few things.

I was always unhappy with my weight, but never really wanted to do it for   myself. I always fought with the scale, starting out in high school at 260 pounds. Going to boot camp getting to 160. Coming back from boot camp, shooting to 220 or so. Going to Iraq, losing to 190 or so. Coming back from Iraq, going to 230. The cycle was rough, and I never really accomplished losing weight on my own, always with the help of the military. When I finished my service with the military, my weight just kept creeping up, along with the realization that they without having the military as the backbone(and excuse) to not care about my own health/weight) I was just going to put more weight on and be more and more unhealthy.  I loved to eat, and if I lost weight it was more to look good for my girlfriend. I decided to do it for myself, help myself, that was the motivation I needed.

Another point was simply time. It takes time to lose weight, and probably even more time to properly research HOW to do it and what happens. Most people want a quick fix, without reading/researching about it, and get bummed out when it doesn't work. I took the time to really sit down and go over what I needed to do and how to fix it.

The biggest hurdle was really to admit to everyone around me (girlfriend, and her/my family) that I needed to change. I needed to prepare myself in case they didn't full support the way I needed to change. Luckily for me this was not an issue, but I at least THOUGHT it was going to be.

Its now been 2 years since that time. Its been a lot of change since the start, but definitely for the better!

I had always been "healthy fat" (low cholesterol, low blood pressure, good activity level), but as I got into my late forties my joints (same as my father) started giving me problems.  Finally, when I hit 51 I decided that I would be crippled by 60 if I didn't take off this excess weight.  I made gradual changes, and am now about 1/3 of the way to a healthy weight.  And guess what, my joints are already giving me much less trouble.  So, my primary turning point was my health.  Of course, I won't mind looking better as well as feeling better!

My turning point came in two parts.  Back in January, I went to the doctor for a routine visit.  When I stood on the scale (minus coat, hat, and shoes, just to lessen the blow) it showed over 140 lbs. for the first time in my life (I'm 5'1" and small framed).  They also had a chart right at face-level with the "healthy" weight ranges - and for my height and age, I was supposed to be in the low 120's or even the 110's.  I had over 20 lbs of extra weight on me.  At first I was really angry, because I thought these numbers were unrealistic.  I asked my family "do I look like I need to lose 20 lbs?"  Of course, they said no, that I carried my weight well, but I couldn't shake the awkward awareness of how much I had let my weight get away from me.

One month later, my boyfriend of 6 years asked me to marry him.  I was determined to look beautiful at my wedding, and to finally be classified in the "healthy weight" BMI category.  I knew he loved me at my heaviest, so I was doing this for me - I really deserved to be happy about my body and to enjoy my 20's as a healthy, beautiful woman.  I already knew how much had to come off, so I decided to lose it the right way, slowly, and with proper diet, so I could keep my new body indefinitely. 

That was almost 6 months and 15 lbs ago, and now I'm down to my last 7 lbs.  I already look and feel great, and I can't wait to shop for a wedding dress in the size I was meant to be.  I have a good life, and I plan to enjoy it.

I was really good at being in denial.  I worked at a Radiology facility and wore scrubs all day and they hide a multitude of sins.  I avoided mirrors and scales and always told myself I was a little overweight.  I'd see pictures of myself and would see that I was more than a little overweight, but would never keep up any attempt to lose weight.  My husband loved me just the way I was, but I didn't.  I found another job that required me to wear "business casual" which required me to go out and buy clothes and I had to go to the "Big Girl's" store to find stuff to fit, but it still wasn't enough.  Then about 14 months ago, we applied for life insurance and had to have physicals which included weight and this time there was no talking my way out of it.  The scale read 200 pounds!  I am only 5'3" so that's a lot.  After that I decided to get serious about weight loss.  I am now at 153 pounds and have been at a plateau that I might be on the verge of breaking.  I've got a way to go but I know I'm headed in the right direction.  I've gone from a size 18 to size 10 and I keep plugging away.

My turning point was passing up my husband on the scale and the creases in my skin along my sides.

My motivation to do it the healthy way was the close link between food and my happiness. Starving myself was not an option if I wanted to be a nice person.

My turning point was when I was at a party and someone rubbed my tummy and asked when I was due. When I said I wasn't pregnant, she said "Ooh, you must have just had a baby then." Again, the answer was no. I was heartbroken by this, and was crying most of the night. After that I realized it was time to get serious about weight loss. I don't remember how I stumbled across this website, but it has been my motivator. I recommend it to anyone who wants to lose weight!

The turning point for me was my Aunt's most recent hospital stay. She is overweight and has been all my life. She has yo yoed up and down with her weight for as long as i can remeber. ^ years ago she was working and on her feet all day . She was diagnosised with type 2 diabetes. She went throug hquite a bit to try and stabilize her sugars.  Since her diagnosis the medical issues has increased each year. She was diagnosised with Charcot Disease in her right foot , she has amputation performed on teh tips of three toes due to infected ulcers. She has neuropathy in her feet., so she feels no pain when a sore develops until it is almost too late. She has had surgery to relieve pressure points in her feet to assist with the ulcers.  In may of 2007 her drs recommended that she go on disability and so she did. In dec of 2007 she had a stroke. She was diagnosised with 3rd stage chronic kidney disease as well. She had back surgery to assist in the pressure and buklging discs as these things made it difficult to exercise. In april of 2009 she had a pulmonary embolism with pnemonia as well. She then went into the hospital for a flair up of charcots foot and tendeonitis in her shoulder. So... after supporting her through all this i have become angry. Angry at her angry at medical doctors etc...  I decided that i do not want to be her, so i have decided to become healthier. It is all in my hands.. I am make the decisison as to what to put into my mouth and what activity i want to do.

The turning point for me was my Aunt's most recent hospital stay. She is overweight and has been all my life. She has yo yoed up and down with her weight for as long as i can remeber. ^ years ago she was working and on her feet all day . She was diagnosised with type 2 diabetes. She went throug hquite a bit to try and stabilize her sugars.  Since her diagnosis the medical issues has increased each year. She was diagnosised with Charcot Disease in her right foot , she has amputation performed on teh tips of three toes due to infected ulcers. She has neuropathy in her feet., so she feels no pain when a sore develops until it is almost too late. She has had surgery to relieve pressure points in her feet to assist with the ulcers.  In may of 2007 her drs recommended that she go on disability and so she did. In dec of 2007 she had a stroke. She was diagnosised with 3rd stage chronic kidney disease as well. She had back surgery to assist in the pressure and buklging discs as these things made it difficult to exercise. In april of 2009 she had a pulmonary embolism with pnemonia as well. She then went into the hospital for a flair up of charcots foot and tendeonitis in her shoulder. So... after supporting her through all this i have become angry. Angry at her angry at medical doctors etc...  I decided that i do not want to be her, so i have decided to become healthier. It is all in my hands.. I am make the decisison as to what to put into my mouth and whta activity i want to do.

One of my turning points was seeing how many meds my parents take due to obesity related ailments. (high blood pressure, diabetes, etc). I do not want to go down that path, and knowing I have already started (bp meds) got me to finally get serious about counting calories. I've been looking at pics of myself at 200+ lbs for 10+ years, never the motivator you'd think it would be. It was coming face to face with looming health issues that finally motivated me to lose the weight. 

My turning point was when my husband was diagnosed as pre-diabetic.  He is a nurse and he sees how devastating diabetes can be, so there was no way we were going to let that happen to either of us.

Since then we have been consistently walking and eating healthier and his blood sugar has gotten closer to normal and we are both losing weight!

It was late, late, late are night, and I was watching a weight loss show (that will remain nameless) where they showed a man who was going to get bypass surgery. This man had never worked out, ate constantly, and was very, very large. This surgery was to save his life. For three days before the surgery, he had to stay on a liquid diet. Water, broths, the works. However, one night, he recorded his self crying because his family was cooking hamburgers...HAMBURGERS!? The horror! Anyway. Now, I don't mean he was sitting around thinking, "Hmm...I'd enjoy one, too bad I can't", he was really upset. Crying, sobbing, saying he wasn't ready to say good bye to food, the works. Watching this, I felt pity and a little disgusted. I thought, in all of my open mindedness, "It's just food. Get over it!" Then another thought hit me. "How am I any different?" I used to eat like I was a starving day laborer all the time and then complain about my weight mid-bite. Right then and there, I said I quit. I quit being that fat girl, that fat friend, that statistic. I quit.

Since then, I've been pretty motivated not to let myself become like that guy.

When I was 80kg I went camping after a long pause, had this small 1.2meter high tent with a small oval entrance and i noticed that I had great difficulties getting in and out ( it was painful to crouch or kneel), or changing clothes in that tent that used to be comfy before I got fat. That was the last straw, I wasn't about to become impaired at the age of thirty and give up some activities I loved. Even rollerblading wasn't that much fun anymore for lack of flexibility.

I'm 5'1" (and a quarter ) and I hit 160 lbs.  I've always been overweight, but I realized that I was a hair away from a BMI classified as obese.  I couldn't let that happen.  That, and half my clothes weren't fitting anymore, and I cringed at every picture anyone ever posted of me on facebook.  I had acquired rolls that I hadn't had before.  As many times as I've tried to lose weight before, I knew that it had to work this time or the problem would only get worse, just like every other time.  And I look at old pictures of my mother, and she used to be thinner than me, but for as long as I've known her, with the exception of a short time after she did a liquid diet, she has been very overweight, and she has some of the health issues that go with that.  I wasn't going to let that happen to me.

So, 7 months ago I started excercising every day and I started taking diet book after diet book out of the library to try to figure out how I should be eating to lose weight.  Finally, in February I stumbled across CC, and thank god!  I've lost 18 pounds since then, and I'm still going, slowly but surely.

Original Post by raynebair:

I got on the scale and didn't really like the number it gave me. They I really looked at myself in the mirror and saw someone who looked 6-7 months pregnant. And I'm not pregnant. That really bothered me. The next day I started looking into the whole concept of counting calories.

 

Had the same problem with a scale at the local mall and to have a guy looked pregnant. (Not funny!)

My turning point was when I saw I had put on 35lbs in about a year... I was floored. Also all my clothes either wouldn't fit or were too tight...and with my 30th bday approaching I really want to get back to the point where I can wear my clothes and enjoy taking pictures. i'm tired of having the same pic of facebook!

The fact that obese people don't live too long past their 50s and more complications as an obese elderly. Also, good candidate for Type II Diabetes. Also, personally, I would like to have kids some day.