okay...this is it. I am not going to be over weight anymore?? I remember 2 summers ago I was at six flags with my kids (in like October) and I could barely fit on a train ride with my daughters. I was very aware of how big i was on those rides and didn't like it one bit. But i didn't really change my life until that January. One of the ladies I work with was outside walking on her lunch break and I said..."I can do that." And for 6 months I did. Everyday on my lunch break I would walk for 30 minutes and then go have my Lean Cruisine lunch. I also joined a gym that February and went for about 5 months. I dropped 33 pounds in that 6 months and felt sooo much better. Now I am back at it to drop that other 33 i wanted to lose also.
The first moment was when I went to Cedar Point with my brother and we went to get on the Mean Streak and the seat belt would not fit around me so I couldn't ride the ride. I had to get up in front of EVERYONE already on the ride and leave....THANKFULLY my brother followed me and hugged me until I stopped crying... I love my brother!
The second and last time was when my mom went on this diet and as soon as she dropped 2 lbs I said to myself "I can't have my mom looking hotter than me!!!" and I joined a gym the next day. LOL
Haha Shari, my mom has *always* been "hotter" than me. She's two inches taller and 20 lbs lighter. 'nuff said. Actually, one more thing: I'm so grateful she's uber supportive of every pound I drop. to her.
My "aha" moment? Hmm...don't know if I've had one yet. I get into these moods where I'm going to do something and I drop and then maintain and then drop again and then maintain. It's been 3 months since I've seen 170, so I'm considering that a good thing. Although, that means I've only lost 6 lbs in 3 months. But that's because of my stupid maintainance periods in between. I'm in a 'lose weight' mood now, so it's dropping. Yay!
Sheila, that's a really nice brother of yours!! Awesome. Not all brothers are like that.
Mine was probably when my teenager moved in with his dad. I was a single parent of an only child, and suddenly I had all this free time to focus on myself. I realized I wanted to start dating, and in order to start dating I had to view myself as a sexually desirable being.
About that same time, I saw some photos of myself at my farewell happy-hour from a job I left. Horrible! They are my "before" pictures.
Sheila your brother sounds SO sweet.
I didn't really have one of those moments, but my diet was so very bad three years ago or so that when I sat down to study for a class, and grabbed fruit instead of chips, my body just about didn't know what to do with it. All I ever ate was pasta, potatoes, cheese, and rice. Not to mention snack foods all the time. It wasn't a pretty day for my digestive system.
LOL I think it was really the trauma I remember. Hahaha
From that day on I just started modifying what I ate little by llittle. and I mean very little. But it was amazing what differences super small changes can make.
I was "thin" once, but then I just kept gaining weight. I told myself I was going to get rid of the weight as soon as I noticed it was piling on, but since it crept up little by little, I just thought, "well... I haven't gained enough for me to bother quite yet." Then, I found out that one of my exes said I "blew up" which hurt my feelings, but still didn't give me the push to lose weight. Nor did the entire closet of clothes I could no longer fit or feel comfortable wearing. I knew eventually it would have to come off, but I was under so much stress (I was out of a job for awhile and couldn't find one, broke, and feeling aimless about life) that I wanted to wait until the time was right. I had to sell my car to pay my rent and bills, so all I had was my bike. I got a new job that was ten miles away, so I started riding my bike ten miles to and ten miles back, equating to twenty miles every day. I decided that if I was going to do that much exercise, I might as well go all out and follow a diet plan, since I already had my exercise cut out for me. That's when I bought the Fat Smash Diet book.
For me, it was after my Mom died. I had been trying to lose weight in a sort of on-again, off-again way, and I had gained back some of what I'd lost. My family was having a Remembrance Celebration for my Mom, and I could no longer fit into my nice clothes. I had to go to Macy's and find some sort of outfit that would work--which I did--and it looked nice--but I felt so big in it. And I decided I was done with being that big.
After I came back from that trip, I began counting calories and going to Curves. Then I went from Curves to the YMCA. I got really intense about my program starting last November when I joined the Y. And here I am! I want to reach my goal weight at the end of this month.
Well. I went to a private school and everyone ignored me and treated me like crap. I was very awkward and socially withdrawn. I got really depressed and I constantly felt bad about my weight. I avoided mirrors and glass windows and every day was a struggle at the school.
Finally when I was taking a walk at night, which I started doing to reduce stress, I just said, "I need to lose some weight."
I just took out sodas and fried foods. I lost about 20 pounds by making my habits better but I was maintaining my weight but not losing more. In NC I was on a trip and felt like I starving from eating normal sized portions andhealthy food. I talked to my boyfriend on the phone for the first time in a long time and when I was done I cried and said, "I'm going to look nice and feel proud of myself for when I get to live with him."
I wish I had another realization like that to kick me in the butt
There wasn't one specific moment. It was a combination of things.
-I had become more and more inactive and therefore more and more miserable.
- My kids were getting older and I was terrified that I was not going to be around to see them married and then my grandchildren.
-I was very fearful of all the dreaded diseases I was making myself more prone to because of the added weight.
- This was a biggie - I was walking (barely at that) in the mall one day and I caught a reflection of this incredibly wide person in a store window. Of course it turned out to be me. I was just amazed how wide I was.
-Shopping was a torture for me. I was barely fitting into the largest sizes at the plus sized stores. This made me VERY concerned.
-I was just so unhappy and so sick of not being involved in things.
I had finally just had enough. A do think a big catalyst for me though was seeing an acquaintance of mine who I had estimated to be just about my size. We have since become much better friends and she was indeed just 2 lbs heavier then me, but 4 inches taller. Anyway I banged into this acquaintance, now friend, who I hadn't seen in awhile and she was a skinny pickle. Yup, she lost a ton of weight. It hit me right there and then that I didn't have to go on living this way. I didn't have to be fat if I didn't want to be. If she was capable of taking off the weight, well then heck so was. And the rest so they say is history..........
I've had about a million of those moments over the years. So many times, the light bulb came on, I had a huge epiphany, I just KNEW things were about to change, and then...poof! Gone. My hands were in a bag of Doritos again.
This time for me, like for Robin, it was a collection of things. But more than that, it was a decision. All those things added up to my deciding that it was time to really do it. And I did. I don't know why all of those epiphanies and light bulb moments weren't good enough, but they just weren't.
I'm not one of those people who has always been over weight. I was a thin child, and I generally was in the healthy weight range consistently until I became depressed. When I became depressed I turned to food for comfort and I went from about 155 to 234 lbs. My boyfriend at the time stayed with me through the weight gain, but my depression and the way that I treated him because of the depression made him walk out on our 2 year relationship. At that point I decided that I didn't like who I was anymore. I started seeing a psychiatrist, I spent time focusing on myself, and the weight just came off. About two months later me and him got back together and we've been together since. Now he's in bootcamp for the military and I'm working to give him a nice suprise when he gets back.
It's amazing how taking care of yourself really affects your relationships with other people. I don't think that without him leaving, I could have really gotten the kick that I needed to get my life in order again. Some of the best blessings are the ones that are in disguise.
I had lost and maintained a very healthy weight for several years when my husband and I moved out to the middle of nowhere. It was there that it all piled back on and then some over the next 2 years. A really good friend, who I hadn't seen since our move, came up to visit one weekend. I can still remember the look on her face and we walked up to her at the bus station. It was just the tiniest of expressions, and she immediately covered it up with a big smile, but it was the "oh my god, what happened to you?!?" look. She is a great person and would never ever say anything, but she just couldn't keep the shock/disgust from registering.
It was then that I realized that, yes, it really is that bad. No I'm not just "carrying it well" so it's okay. Something had to change.
What was the moment that made you say...
I love my brother!
