What was your "lightbulb" moment?
 

When you knew you had to lose weight and committed to a healthier lifestyle?

At my heaviest, I weighed 294 pounds, could hardly walk more than a few yards without getting out of breath, was extremely inactive, found it difficult to buy nice clothes that fit me and generally didn't take very good care of myself.

I seriously think I was in denial or something for a very long time that I had a problem though. I had no inclination to do anything to change my situation despite feeling so self-conscious and unhappy.

The change came about one day in a changing room in a plus size store. I was trying on a top and checking myself out in the mirror. I realised I looked as if I was heavily pregnant with triplets! I burst into tears. I didn't want to look that way, I wanted to wear nice clothes and look attractive, take care of my hair and skin, be healthy, feel alive, have energy! I wanted to feel like a normal person and stop comparing myself with others and finding myself lacking. Most of all, I wanted to stop using my weight as an excuse to hide behind for not having achieved various things in life.

I committed that very day to changing my lifestyle. I have a long way to go but so far, I have lost 75 pounds, I am an exercise fanatic, I look after my hair, skin, nails, wear make-up, am (usually) full of energy and feel so much happier. I have pursued other goals as well, rather than telling myself I can't because of my weight.

What flipped the switch for you?

it was just a random day when i woke up and deicded to stop hating the way i looked and felt. and the only way to do that was to change it. so i did...

I lost a lot of weight 02-04.
I gained 85% back 04-09.
I kept nearly starting back and got to one day when I logged in all the 'healthy, vegetarian' food I'd eaten that day. (I'm not vegetarian, it was just one of those days).
2,500 calories!!!! Hllfire!
I realized then just how much knowledge/awareness I'd lost, started calorie counting to 1500 the next day and have managed it fine since Feb 3rd.
I think the boost to the lightbulb came when after only a few pounds my shirts started fitting better.

Good luck with your journey!

For a long time I was dissatisfied with how I looked and felt. I got out of breath so easily, and knew I needed a change. I was just afraid to take the first step. It was a fear of failure, more than anything. I think the real "lightbulb" moment was when I went to work out for the first time, and realized I COULD do it, after all. It was all downhill from there.

When my "fat jeans" (size 18 stretch) got tight. I had zero energy and the only activity I wanted to do was to drive somewhere to eat out. GAH! I said enough is enough. I'm not buying another size up and I am not spending our entire paycheck (after bills) on eating out. I hated getting dressed to go out because nothing fit nicely and I didn't spend money on clothes because I refused to buy in larger sizes. I hated going shopping because I would always leave depressed that nothing fit me.

Now I look in the mirror and even though I still have a ways to go I don't shudder when I catch a profile of myself. I have accomplished a lot and clothes are starting to fit nicely. I can go into the womens section in a store and find something - and my tops are all size medium now! I'm not 100% satisfied of course, but it's a far cry from the crying in the dressing room I used to do.

For me it was when I realized that I had been depressed for 20 years but didn't know it . . . and realizing I wasn't depressed anymore. I felt great on the inside and I wanted to look great on the outside. I finally felt like I deserved all the good things in life, including taking care of myself because I am a wonderful person and I deserve to be healthy as well as happy. Now, 96 lbs later, I am beginning to look more on the outside like I feel on the inside. I can't wait to get rid of the rest of this weight. It's the most important thing in my life and, six months and one week into this lifestyle change, I am just as motivated and committed as I was on day one...

I'm like cakses, when my size 18's starting fitting uncomfortable I was like NO I am not going to get to a size 20! I say myself in pictures (the few I'd take) and I was just HUGE. I finally decided that's it, since then I've gone down from 230 to 213 and am a comfortable size 16. When the day comes and I hit a size 14 I'll probably dance around the house lol.

For me, it was several things hitting in the same week. I rushed to catch a train and found myself gasping for breath. I realized I was choosing my clothes based only on what I could squeeze myself into. I stepped on the scale (which I'd been avoiding for ages) and saw the highest number ever. It all added up to make me finally admit that I was unhealthy because I was so overweight.

One day at church I was walking to my SS room upstairs and I was so out of breath someone told me, you really should go to a dr about that cold. They were being nice because that is what is sounded like was chest congestion. However I did not have a cold I was just so fat and out of shape that I could not breath. For me it is not about a magic # but a feeling of being able to do more, the # is a wonderful addition though.LOL

I love reading threads like this. It's such an inspiration.

I haven't lost much weight yet, but I have made tons of changes from within that I know will result in weight loss soon. The biggest click I've ever had came last summer when my mom died of a heart attack. She was only 45 She had lost probably 80 lbs, I'm guessing when she was around 36 - 37. She was probably around 220 when she died. She ate bad foods (lots of fast food) and didn't exercise at all. She was also a really big drinker and partied hardy and those things had a big hand in her death. I live a much healthier lifestyle, but it is still a wakeup call to me to take better care of my health and lose the extra weight for good.

I've made a lot of changes regarding how I feel about myself on the inside. I'm determined that this time I am making permanent changes. Even if it takes longer than I'd like to lose weight, it's more important to me to change my habits so that I'm healthy for good.

Which time? There has been many like when I started breaking plastic lawn furniture,had to squeeze into a amusement park ride and hold my stomach in so the door would fit..
This time I had gone down about 30 pounds and last week noticed my clothes were getting tighter and I said no more I have to do this for myself and my family. I hate how I look and feel and need to find the new me.

Well last year when I joined this site and started really trying it was just me hitting an all time low. It was after my 25th birthday and then new years and I realized I was wasting my life away whining and complaining and not really changing anything.

But it didn't last for long and I fell off the wagon and ignored it all.

Then this time started when I went to the ER. I had been feeling sick for almost 2 weeks and it finally ended with me being in crazy pain. I went to the ER and my blood sugar was over 300. They told me I had diabetes and I knew then that no excuse was good enough, I had to change.

Well, I'd like to think it was people believing I was pregnant FIVE TIMES IN ONE YEAR. The first time or two I cried. By the 5th time I was ready to punch the person.

But it wasn't until I moved to Korea that I got serious about it. I would've LOVED to lose all 60 lbs while I'm here for a year and go back and shock the **** out of everyone... but right now I'm not losing at that pace so I'll just be happy to continue losing and whatever I'm at after 6 months when I head home will be good enough.

When I had to lie on the bed to button my jeans and hold my breath to tie my shoes.

Oh man joyra I know that feeling- in one year I was asked 3 times if I was pregnant! It was very devastating to me!