I am an overweight YoYo and can lose and find 7 pounds in a jiffy. I am amazed by you fabulous chicks who stick to such good eating habits and are able to maintain healthy weights.
I was curious as to what was your turning point? What happened that made you first, commit to weight loss and more importantly, stay the course?
Perhaps your turning point can be the "tipping point" for the rest of us!
My turning point was when I stood in front of a full-length mirror, completely naked at 240 lbs, and realized that there was absolutely no way that I could stand or pose and find myself attractive. It came as a horrible surprise because I had avoided looking at myself naked for a long, long time. I've heard other overweight women say this, and it sounds so dramatic, but I really "felt like a monster".
That was the turning point that made me realize I had to lose weight. I'd love to say that my loss was inspired by something as noble as health concerns or fitness desires, but really I just couldn't stand looking at myself anymore.
The mental turning point that made my loss (and on-going maintenance) possible, however, was when I realized that I didn't have to be perfect to lose weight--I just had to be better. I had always had this image in my head that THIS is the way you diet, and THIS is the way you should eat if you're on a diet, and THIS is how much you have to exercise... I imagined that I would have to eat a lifetime of dry salads and rice cakes to lose and maintain.
When I realized that all I had to do was improve upon my typical day in managable ways (e.g.: instead of 3 slices of meat pizza for lunch, stuffed shells and a salad instead) it was like I was released from this subconscious belief that if I wasn't perfect I couldn't lose weight. I started out with small, easy-to-take improvements and kept building upon them when I was willing and able to do so.
Seeing myself naked that day made me want to lose weight, but finally coming up with a realistic plan was what really made it happen.
My turning point is when I look at New Years pictures of me and my friends and I looked huge next too them. I had enough chins for the whole group
I have lost the weight once and I know I can do it again. My problem I think is keeping it off. I put a picture of me at my highest and lowest on my dresser and look at it every day. I ask myself who do I want to be. The 125 lb me always wins.
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The mental turning point that made my loss (and on-going maintenance) possible, however, was when I realized that I didn't have to be perfect to lose weight--I just had to be better. ...
Seeing myself naked that day made me want to lose weight, but finally coming up with a realistic plan was what really made it happen.
Luciole, thank you for such a powerful message! Congratulations on what you lost: losing weight is not an easy task by any means, as we all know. But what I find amazing is what you gained: the insight and perspective and self-knowledge that leads to a happier life. I know now that I have to forgive myself for getting fat. I intend to cut and paste your quote and put it on my refrigerator. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.
I have lost the weight once and I know I can do it again. My problem I think is keeping it off. I put a picture of me at my highest and lowest on my dresser and look at it every day. I ask myself who do I want to be. The 125 lb me always wins.
I hear you, Kimmy, loud and clear! Keeping it off is difficult, especially as I get older. But I can't really blame my genetics or my age or my boyfriend because I do sabotage myself. I like your idea very much of having a daily reminder that there is another option and that I was there once. I love your quote: "The 125 lb. me always wins"....~big smile~
There are so many reasons I wanted to lose weight. I look horrible. My left knee hurt whenever I walked. My clothes, even the 3X ones, were getting tight. I knew, just *knew* that I would get diabetes one day (my father has it, and I am morbidly obese. Pretty much a done deal). My husband won't become intimate with me (and I don't blame him a bit for that). The restaining bar on the rollercoasters at Six Flags only go down on click for me. Movie theater seats are a tight squeeze.
The actual trigger, though, was a pretty silly one. I love to watch the show on FoodTV, Good Eats. It's an intertaining show that blends science, humor, and cooking how to in format that just plain fun to watch. The host of the show is Alton Brown, who if not particularily handsome, is very charming and engaging to watch. I also am of a member of the Good Eats Fan Page forums. Shortly after I joined there, someone posted a quote from Mr. Brown where he states that when he meets with his fans who are fat, he wishes that they would spend less time watching his show and more time getting healthier.
As you might expect, there was quite a bit of controversy over this quote. Many people stated that this was a perfectly reasonable sentiment, to which I agree. Others also said that in light of this view, they wouldn't be comfortable ever meeting Mr. Brown, know that they would at least in some manner be looked down on, even if he was too polite to let on to in public. I also was in this camp. And it hit me. If I were ashamed enough of myself to be uncomfortable enough not to want to be seen by someone that was expressing a perfectly reasonable sentiment, then maybe it really was time to start doing something about it.
Silly, like I said. My chances of ever meeting Mr. Brown, regardless of my weight, are vanishingling small (I'm not the type to go to book signings or pay for a specialty class just to meet someone whose show I enjoy). But it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Not one bit silly, Tealeaf, but SMART. It was a defining moment for you and you took it to heart and lost 19 pounds thus far! I'd say that's pretty darned good.
Thanks, Gladdy. I don't dispute that the actual weight loss is a smart thing, but my trigger still seems silly to me. I mean, I actually care what some guy on tv who will never meet me might think hypothetically were it somehow to happen? All the while when there are plenty of people I met in my day to day life who are in their own heads thinking the exact same things about me that he might?
It doesn't seem that rational to me. But you are right in that as far as it was a turning point for me, it was a good thing!
Hmmm....I've wanted to lose weight my entire life. As far back as I can remember, I thought I was fat (even if I actually wasn't, but I usually was kind of pudgy). I gained steadily through high school and my first two years of college. I was disgusted with myself for years! After my sophomore year of college, it had gotten to the point where I could just barely shop in my favorite stores, and I was getting really frustrated that nothing would fit me. That summer, I had gotten an internship in a location where I didn't know anybody and I would be living totally on my own for the first time (no roommates, no dining halls, no parents). That summer I went on Slim-Fast and lost almost 30 lbs in three months.
As soon as I got back to college for the fall and started eating in the dining hall again, I gained it all back, and more. I just can't resist some foods. When I cook for myself, I can control what ingredients I have available and make sure I eat well, but when someone else is doing the cooking, and especially when the best tasting food the dining hall had was dessert, dessert, dessert, I would gorge myself and eat huge amounts of food, especially cakes and cookies and such.
I guess my "turning point" this time around was graduating from college. Now I have no excuse to be overweight anymore. My parents aren't cooking for me or taking me out to eat (I'm convinced that the lifestyle we had when I was a kid contributed to my weight gain), and I'm not forced to eat three meals a day in a dining hall. What I eat now is completely up to me. Add to that that I was moving across the country and moving in with my boyfriend (we have now been together 4 1/2 years), and it seemed like a good time to make some major changes in my life.
This time, I am eating right AND exercising, not just depending on a diet bar to keep my calorie intake low and not exercising at all, like I did in the past. I know I was doing it wrong last time because it would get so that I was lightheaded and dizzy from not eating enough. Now I eat healthy, try to get all my food groups and nutrients, and WORK OUT, and I am now more physically fit than I have ever been in my life. I still can't do a single push-up all the way, but I can jog three miles without stopping and do crunches for ages. I weigh about 152 right now -- after my previous diet, I got down to about 148. But even though I weigh more now, I fit into smaller clothes than I did at 148! I don't ever want to be too big for the size 10 jeans I bought the other day again.
I think what makes it easier for me to stick to healthy eating this time around is that I allow indulgences. I go out to eat once a week with my boyfriend, and I don't think about how many calories are in whatever I order. I might make pancakes for breakfast some weekends instead of just cereal. Every so often, I have ice cream or popcorn or cookies. Of course it's not like I eat this stuff every day (which I used to do), but every so often. After total deprivation for three months on my previous diet, as soon as I hit my goal weight (which was 150, I wasn't expecting more than that in three months!), I went out and started eating junk food, which I had been craving for so long. Now, I get the things I crave, but in moderation. Moderation has been a really difficult lesson for me to learn, and I still struggle with it an overeat sometimes. Of course my weight loss has been much slower this time around, but I can see the changes in my body from exercise so I don't worry about it too much.
Anyway, sorry for posting something so long. When I think about how out of shape I was and what unhealthy food I ate, I am horrified. Now my body is not my enemy anymore, it's my friend, and I know that if I treat it right, it will treat me right.
I have always just been me, and really never worried about my weight. My mum always judged me and made me feel bad about myself, and I think my revenge was to be fat and happy. Three years ago my dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I ignored the possible implications of the diagnosis on my health. My dad is a pretty serious alcoholic, and I figured his poor old pickled pancreas had had enough.
But last year, my mum was diagnosed with it. She has always been a little heavy, unlike my stick insect father! That was September last year. It took me three months to look at the problems and issues in my life with my weight, and look at ways to decrease my reliance on food. I started in earnest in January, having cleaned out my cupboards, prepped my dh (and taught him to cook healthy food) and basically wrote lists and strategies for every eventuality.
It's not been easy so far, and right at the moment, it looks pretty much unachievable. What keeps me going is the fantastic friends I have made here who have done this, and have had their difficult times, but have crashed through and achieved their goals.
I had two turning points. The first happened 4 years ago when a (skinny) friend sent a link to something called "The Hacker's Diet", and it really struck a cord with me. I was 191 lbs at the time, and although unhappy with it I wasn't doing anything about it. But the straighforward talk and simple but powerful tools made it almost a game to play. Count your calories, check off your "exercise" box for the day, watch the pounds melt off. Losing weight is pretty easy in the beginning when small changes can make all the difference. I lost 20 pounds and just kind of hung out at that weight for a while.
My second turning point was when I had a motorcycle accident 2 years ago, and four months later when the crutches were gone and the physical therapy was over, I found that I had gained 15 pounds while laid up, and IT WASN'T COMING OFF. I felt the supreme frusteration of being completely out of control of my own body, and it was then that I took the more extreme steps necessary to really understand my body, listen to it, work WITH it, and become in charge.
I not only counted calories but made sure I got plenty of vegetables and protein. I made sure that I exercised 6 days a week. I ruthlessly avoided refined sugars. I lost the "accident weight" and another 15 pounds. Yay! The day I reached 159 (BMI of 24.9 for me), I nearly cried. I was so happy!
I took a "maintenance break" after I reached 150, which has lasted about 9 months. I've regained 5 pounds and hit my "trigger weight", so it's back on that horse again, and this time I'm going to go all the way down to my target weight.
The mental turning point that made my loss (and on-going maintenance) possible, however, was when I realized that I didn't have to be perfect to lose weight--I just had to be better. I had always had this image in my head that THIS is the way you diet, and THIS is the way you should eat if you're on a diet, and THIS is how much you have to exercise... I imagined that I would have to eat a lifetime of dry salads and rice cakes to lose and maintain.
When I realized that all I had to do was improve upon my typical day in managable ways (e.g.: instead of 3 slices of meat pizza for lunch, stuffed shells and a salad instead) it was like I was released from this subconscious belief that if I wasn't perfect I couldn't lose weight.
I think that was really well said- and pretty much the way I feel as well.
My turning point ultimately was getting engaged. I felt so horrible about the way I looked and none of my clothes (including work) fit and I was just SICK of it- this was supposed to be one of the best times in my life and it just wasnt because I just HATED the way I looked and felt. I didnt want to dread planning a wedding or picking out a photographer I wanted to look forward to it- so I started one day at a time and told myself "while I may not fit into my dream wedding dress today I'm a work in progress and someday I'll get there." If Im ever feeling weak honestly I just surf onto the web and look up my dream dress and Im back on track.
hmm, I never really thought about my turn around. good post.
I think the first thing was finally getting it in my head that if I had just stick to good eating and exercise for a year I can lose the wait. And if I had stuck to it any of the tries before, I would have already lost the weight.
Next was my trainer telling me to eat 6 days a week.
And finally the real click... was finding sugar buster and discovering that I can eat stuff I like and still lose weight.
My turning point after my first plateau was buying these really really cute capris from my favorite store but I deliberately bought them a size smaller. So now when I'm thinking about over-eating, I look at the capris and remember that I don't waste money on things I will never use (well usually ) so I have to be able to use those capris!!
my turning point was after my DD was born - I was finished with my rotten first marriage & divorce, I was finished with extended fertility treatement and a very difficult pregnancy and I'd got through the labour and birth (also v. difficult) and the first 3 months of looking after my daughter. Now it's my turn, I thought. Now I can really concentrate on getting my 'self' back, my figure and my fitness and my self-confidence and self-worth that had been eroded by those hard times. So I went to WW and started entering swim events and runs and planning menus and gradually putting all those good things back in my life.
What was your turning point?
) so I have to be able to use those capris!!
