Haha, you know what I am talking about. You know that you have put on weight and are now making a better lifestyle for yourself, but do you remember that moment when you came to the realization of just how far down the slippery slope you went?
My moment was quite literally yesterday, while I have been consistently on plan and have been making big changes, I realized on my run yesterday with my husband while trying to keep pace with him, how much harder it is to run in the 230s vs when I was in the 180s. That's my most recent 'you did this to yourself!' moment and I took that time to really see how I felt, how hard it was for me to run like normal, and how much I never want to put myself in that position again.
I was not negative towards myself, I laughed it off and used that feeling for positive motivation.
When was your 'moment'?
Last edited by Pink Hurricane; 03-12-2013 at 10:15 AM.
Reason: Typo!
I am more of a "lurker" on this website...but needed to post my "you did this to yourself" moment.
Mine happened this past weekend. I have always been overweight and been on every diet that was ever created.
A bunch of friends and I get together every weekend to let our dogs play together for a few hours. Well, this past weekend one of them had a camera and even though I tried my best to stay out of the pictures, one of them captured my overweight self. Of course the pictures of our adorable pups were posted on Facebook. I excitedly looked through all of them until the one appeared that I was in. I looked at it, my mouth dropped open, I cried for about an hour and then said, "that is it, I will never weigh this much again". I threw out all the junk food in my house, went shopping for healthy food and enrolled in a weight loss program on-line.
I have a long way to go, but am taking it ten pounds at a time
I had a similar experience a few years ago I saw some pictures of myself and hadn't realized how bad it had gotten. I started losing weight but refused to weigh myself because I didn't want to know. I don't know how much weight I lost before I finally bought a scale.
I lost about 40lbs after I started tracking in 2009 and regained much of it back over the past few years. I let stress and unemployment get me down and used cheeseburgers as my drug of choice.
This website is a huge blessing. If I'd stayed here and admitted I was going the wrong direction I'm sure I'd be better off today. Well I finally just came back a few weeks ago and am eating better, feeling better, and steadily losing weight.
Don't be a stranger! Getting help here is a big part of my current success.
Mine came in January of this year -- which considering I was close to 400 pounds, you'd have thought it might have come a little earlier! I was trying to tie my shoes so I could go to the gym. It took me over 30 minutes to find a position where I could actually get them on my feet and get them tied.
I've been working very hard on it, had initial great success, had a week of over carbing, and am working very hard to get things moving in the right direction again. Definitely not easy, but I'm determined.
Gosh... My moment came a few times a few months ago.. I would meet my parents for dinner and they always sat in a booth. Even tho I would try and beat them to the restaurant and sit at a table, they would beat me there. I asked a couple of times that could we sit at a table and they forgot (?) of course they are older and short term memory is tough... but they saw how hard it was for me to squeeze in and rest my chest on the table. That did it for me. I was going to get out of the position of having to wedge in a booth. Whatever gets us started... its the catalyst and THANK GOD for them!
I took my kids to disney a few months ago and when I took family pictures.. I was always trying to hide myself behind my kids so you couldn't see how huge I was.
The other thing is like wanna.. Going out to eat with my co-workers and trying to fit myself in a booth with them. awful feeling.
6 months ago when I realized that I can't see my feet and it's NOT because I'm pregnant.
Two weeks ago, when I had to carry my 4 year old up a flight of steps and stood there embarrassed and winded at the top in front of a bunch of strangers.
Sunday when my kids asked to sit in the front row/pew of church and I was too fat to fit between the bench and the rail to kneel during prayer. THAT was just awesome.
Mine is close to another on here.
About 6 months ago I was looking through one of my friends photo albums on facebook and I came across a picture of myself on the Fourth of July.
Not only was I huge, I had that look that I associate with morbidly obese people... The sunken in eyes, the look of sickness, unhappiness...
He has since took down his FB, but I asked him to send me those pics. There are the best reminder ever. Here is one of the pics. You can't see my face as well in this one as some of the others, but you can see how big ALL of me is.
When I saw this picture, I was so embarrassed, but then I thought, you know, my friends see me like this... A picture shouldn't embarrass me... I should be embarrassed for myself! It took me until getting on the scale at the doctors office for it to really hit home. I WAS morbidly obese. And I needed to do something about it.
My Moment wasn't about weight so much as health. The last few months of last year, I just felt wretched. And then at the end of December I caught some kind of stomach virus and I could NOT shake it, which is very unusual for me. I asked myself, "How bad are you willing to let your health get before you do something about it?" And I knew the answer was, "Not any worse than this." So I started on my journey to wellness on January 1.
There are so many moments in my life that should have prompted the weightloss mission to start but it finally came down to the fact that I had no choice left. I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer last summer and my fat literally was creating estrogen and feeding the cancer. My oncologist said I had to have a hysterectomy and then after that, I should really consider weightloss surgery. I left her office devastated about the hysterectomy and told my husband there was no way I was having weight loss surgery (it's not for me). I then filled my prescription to treat the cancer, first side effect is weight gain. I have been on this medicine for 7 months and lost all of my weight while taking it. Then found out my fertility doctor can't treat women with BMI over 40, which I understand to a point. Mine was over 50 when I started, I am seeing him this month and it has dropped 34 and change. I don't think any of my doctors thought I would lose the weight but I did. I want a baby and I want to be cancerfree. I also want to be healthy. I literally had the "You did this to yourself" conversation many times, my overweight body fed my cancer and for that I will also be sad and regretful that I didn't take better care of me.
How about when I thought sex would be so much better (and easier) when I'd lost 30 pounds and I realized I was nowhere near that point? Or half sitting through a Larry the cable guy show, half standing and in agony the whole time because I didn't fit into the stadium seat? Or when I hit the ground on an icy patch and genuinely didn't know how I was going to get back up?
I've had a few of these moments - mostly after I'd already decided I had to change for the better. I was in a great deal of denial for a very long time. Dragonfly since you were brave enough to share your picture, I'm going to share mine: This was taken May long weekend of 2012, so three months from when I decided to change and started dieting. I would have been around 450 pounds. Whenever I get discouraged about having to lose at least 100 more pounds, I look at this picture and remind myself where I came from.
To the original poster: It's awesome that you didn't let that thought get you down or derail you in any way. That's a large part of the battle.
I've definitely beaten myself up in the recent past for "ruining" my body. Especially when I hit 300lbs. Not only had I been eating large quantities of foods that were terrible for me (especially sugar which might as well be poison), I hadn't been doing any form of exercise in a long while. I've felt horrible for taking such poor care of my body. The bright side is that now I'm definitely taking good care of my body and the rest of me, too.
I am in awe of everyone opening up and sharing what their experiences have been in these situations. I love that we all have a place to come to and be able to share these things without feeling judged, and really to see how much we all have in common though we are different people leading different lives, but with a common goal as well, to be healthier.
I am beyond thankful to be a part of this community!
I've had a few.
1. My sister in law and I had a moms might out. We decided to go to a place that has gocarts and race. Well, when I tried to sit in it, I couldn't. I couldn't fold myself up enough. So we tried to move the seat back, but then I had a hard time reaching the pedals. I still raced. No way was I getting up and standing by the line of people that just witnessed my ordeal.
2. Pumping gas a guy mooed at me.
3. The final straw.... I had my sister over to teach her how to make tamales. We put my husband's grandma's aprons on and posed silly for pictures. When I saw the pictures of me, I cried. My sister is thin and beautiful. I looked like a ragged old mess. I'm too young for that.
I've neglected myself for way too long. Before I had my 1st baby, I weighed 165. I was still overweight, but I carried it well. I didn't realize how much I gained while pregnant. Nobody told me. I got up to 242 at the end of my pregnancy. I never looked at my weight until then. That was almost 13 years ago and I still haven't done anything really. A couple half hearted tries that ended within a week or two.
That "You did this to yourself!" moment
