What was your "AHA" moment?
 

By "AHA" moment, I mean the thing that made you decide it was time to get healthy.

Mine was, I was helping my grandpa work on his camper's ac. He had me up on a ladder, and my hips were wider than the ladder. Then he asked me to go inside the camper and turn on the ac and let him know what was going on. Well, when I walked in I saw a pink beachball out of the corner of my eye, sitting on the counter/cupboard/stand thing. I turned on the ac and sat on the couch. Looked at the counter/cupboard/stand thing and thought "did I knock that beachball off and not notice?" Started looking for it and caught sight of it again....in a mirror....it was me in my pink shirt. :o

I know a lot of people have those "straw that broke the camel's back" moments, but I didn't.

It was more like a slow realization. It dawned on me how a lot of my physical problems were coming from weighing so much.

Couldn't climb stairs without being winded for 10 minutes after.
Couldn't sleep well at night, often had breathing problems laying down.
Knees ached just from walking.
Couldn't fit into my clothes.
Could barely buckle seat belts.
Was constantly lethargic.

Not to mention I avoided social situations, and desperately hated leaving my apartment.

Just so many things. There wasn't really a last straw, it's just that all the little things got to be too much!

My moment was more of a "Welp... better do something about it, then." And so here I am!

I agree with Lovely. While I don't really have any health problems (yet) I didn't have any energy or even want to do anything.. I just got sick of it! I already feel so much better and just started! I don't want to get to the point where my health starts to suffer because of my weight. Time to get busy and get this weight off! :)

The dreaded aeroplane seat beat - have put off seeing my mum interstate because I knew I would not fit, she had a stroke , I went, and sure enough I had to hide the seat belt under a cardigan as it was no where near closing.....that was not the whole reason, i had been moving mentally towards needing to change my habits, but that was the last straw...

Honestly. I didn't have one. I just woke up one morning and said enough is enough and it just clicked. I dont know what it was but it did.

In the 25+ years I've been on some sort of diet, I've had numerous "Aha" moments.

- not fitting into suit for Grandmother's funeral
- not being able to buckle seatbelt in airplane without breaking a sweat
- nearly passing out while mowing the lawn
- etc.

I guess none of them were really the right one though, because I've never kept weight off that I lost. Right now, I think this is the "right" time. I've had enough, and I know I'd be dead if I dn't fix my weight. Coupled with books I've read, websites I've been to (this one), and support from my wife, this is the time I get it done.

Best of luck to you. Glad you had an Aha moment.

My Aha moment was when I stepped on a scale last December after avoiding one for over a year and saw that I had gone over 300 lbs for the first time in my life. I had put on 40 lbs since the last time I had weighed myself and I was over DOUBLE the weight that I was ten years ago. I cried and then I started my diet that day, even with the holidays coming, and have not looked back.

I started thinking seriously about losing weight back in June 2008 but my motivation moment was the afternoon of 8/13/2008, when my best friend called to give me the news she was getting married 11/15/2008 and wanted me to be her maid of honor. I couldn't conceive of standing up in front of all those people in a dress weighing nearly 400 lbs, but I also couldn't say no, she's my best friend. All the stars aligned and I was under 300 lbs 3 months later, in time for the wedding.

I had a blip in 2010 and gained back some but I restarted 6/18/2011 and am now sitting here in my size 14 shorts and size medium T shirt, happy as can be, and looking forward to wearing a size 10 well before Christmas. :)

Getting back with my ex after gaining weight and thinking, "why does he want me??"

-I've never felt inferior to a guy until now. It was my wake up call. But don't get it twisted, I'm doing this for me. Not him:)

realized i want to look and feel better. ( lol honestly women would check me out when i was smaller and dangit i want to be checked out again) yeah very conceded and egotistical but i want women to want me and first glance dosent allow them the want to get to know me more. im a great dude but dont get the time of day because first impressions and stereotypes and all that


LOL to sound as cheezy as possible "i wanna BRING SEXY BACK"

Hello everyone! I'm new here and well i suppose my AHA moment was when I was looking at my old photos before my pregnancy. Before my pregnancy I weighed 240 lbs and I now weigh 320lbs, and I seemed more happy, I smiled at photos, and I didn't try to hide my body. I was very comfortable with that weight. Now, I try to avoid going out of the house because none of my clothes fit me and the only pants that I can find are the elasticized pants. I guess it's a several things but mainly I just want my old me back.

An accumulation of things - the fact that I hate taking pictures, so I never have any during special moments, or the ones I do I can't bear to look at. Skipping out on activities because I'm afraid (going to Six Flags, etc.), worrying about flying, feeling unhappy with the way I look.

It's a lot of things. Honestly I'm just sick to death of it. I'm lucky enough that up to this point my health has been totally fine, but I feel like that won't be forever if I keep taking such bad care of my body.

The big one was when I couldn't even go on a walk at Girl Scout camp with my daughter and my troop. Wow. I was a bad example for these girls!

I always wonder why some of my other memories didn't spark an a-ha moment, like.....

*breaking a chair when I leaned over at a softball game
*a little child asking me if there was a baby inside my stomach
*my nephew telling me that I was really really fat
*a coworker asking me if I could fit in the booth at a lunch meeting
*overhearing my great grandmother tell others "oooh, she's gained a lot of weight" (this one sent me right over to the picnic table to grab some more food! I probably weighed around 210 at this time)
*the time there was an opportunity for me to ride a horse on the beach and there was a question on if I was too big for the horse (eek!)
*not fitting in roller coasters
*fear of airplanes and seat belts not fastening
*being VERY uncomfortable in a movie theater seat at an old theater (I was so squeezed in this seat, oh my gosh, how did I even get out of it?!?)
*seeing "300" on the scale for the first time ("ohmygosh, I weigh over 300 pounds) around year 2000
*seeing "obese 19 year old female" on my medical record (approx 201 pounds)
*the time I was scolded by a doctor at age 17. Her words were "if you weigh this much at 17, how much will you weigh at 30?" (I was about 175 - 180 pounds at the time)
*as a young teen at an amusement park, the boys that I was riding the log flume with, looked at me and decided where I would sit based on my size
*my aunt (and I was probably around 8 or 9 yo) telling me that I could go get on the scale to see if I was light enough to ride on my cousin's new swing~because there was a weight limit
*one of my high school boyfriends telling me that I had a stocky, husky body and that I was "homely" (wow, thanks, buddy)