The Moment you were ready was...

  • Hey everyone. I am currently rebooting to loose 5 lbs that I have gained while maintaining and an additional 5lbs to take me to my ultimate goal as a gift to myself as I approach my 1 year anniversary start date of IP. I have been thinking about the moment I knew I had to make a change in my life, my diet, and when I knew I was really done with looking and feeling the way I did.

    I thought this would be great inspiration to keep us all on track and refocused on the many reasons we are making life changes.

    I'll start...

    The moment I was ready was when I spent an entire summer in dresses (namely two to be exact) because I could not fit into any others and was too shamed to go shopping. I stayed home while friends went to water parks, had BBQ's at the pool, and made excuses about not being able to go to the lake.

    I remember in late August 2012 looking through pics of my life when I was at my goal weight (which had been about 7 years prior) and seeing an energy, confidence, and self-esteem shine through in comparison to recent photos were I would hide and barely smile...it was almost as if you could tell by my body language I was not happy.

    I have heard many times that happiness comes from within BUT I am a firm believer that to truly be happy and love yourself, you cannot simultaneously hate (and yes I hated the way I looked) your outward appearance and feel good on the inside. Because of my hate towards my appearance, it ate away at my self-esteem, confidence, worth, and on and on and damaged my beauty on the inside.

    I am emotional as I share this but happy to get it off my chest as it serves as a reminder of where I have been, where I am continuing to stay away from, and where I taking my life now.
  • I grew up a very serious athlete, playing soccer in college before tearing both of my ACL's. I have been on every diet I could think of, so I have always been "trying". These past few months though I have put on even more weight and was having trouble even touching my toes!

    I decided to try IP when someone at work had great successes. I have been on an alternative IP protocol (same protocol, but not IP products) for 3 weeks and some change and I feel GREAT!
  • For additional reading, a lot of us posted our stories on this thread, from about a month ago
    http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...-ip-ready.html
  • I was so tired of wearing black clothes, mostly dresses, for the past 4 years and longed to look on the outside the way i used to and knew was really "me"....especially since summer was coming. Like many others have experienced, someone made a comment offhand, not directed at me personally, but I took it to heart. I ran into an acquaintance who had already lost 15 lbs on IP and she knew of others personally who had also done so. I researched IP and made an appointment and waited to start until after I'd had a few "live it up" dinners. I didn't believe it would work (nothing else had) but it is working. I am so grateful for IP!
  • Quote: I remember in late August 2012 looking through pics of my life when I was at my goal weight (which had been about 7 years prior) and seeing an energy, confidence, and self-esteem shine through in comparison to recent photos were I would hide and barely smile...it was almost as if you could tell by my body language I was not happy.
    This really resonates with me. I too looked at pictures of a slimmer me. I was disappointed that I let things get out of hand. After trying for 2 years to lose weight on my own (trying, getting discouraged, quitting the trying, gaining more) I was inspired by a family member who was having such great results on IP. I have never paid to lose weight before. However, now I know that it is worth every penny to get that feeling of confidence, happiness, and well-being back. I am relieved that I actually can lose weight. My doctor kept telling me "oh, it's just our age" i.e. late 40s. Well, that may be, but there is something to be done about it, and I'm happy that I jumped in and gave it a try. I weigh in again tomorrow!
  • I have been heavy since I was in middle school. I was sexually abused by a relative and I deliberately got fat because he liked the fact that I was slender. Although I have dealt with most of the issues caused by the abuse I never really dealt with the fat equals safety one; I think that started the trend of eating for comfort and I have never really stopped. In my early twenties I lost a lot of weight after a really traumatic break up and tons of exercise. I was young, weighed a really toned 154 and felt great. I went out with some friends and found myself in another crappy situation. After that I just never considered being thin a good thing. Now, in my late forties, diabetic, with high cholesterol, facing the probability of heart disease once I hit menopause, and married to a man I love who faces many of the same challenges, we both just decided we had to either go for it or consciously decide to eat ourselves to death. Every one of my little NSV makes that little voice in the back of my head mutter and try to tempt me back to "safety." I am using journaling to try and keep my self awareness up and my husband is fully supportive as well. I know I may need to address some things with counseling at some point but I am taking this one day at a time and so far so good.
  • I found a pen in my stomach roll when I was in the shower... nuff said
  • Quote: I found a pen in my stomach roll when I was in the shower... nuff said

    Saskgirl.... I know you are serious. But that gave me a chuckle, cause stuff like that has happen to me. I started when our family went on vacation and realized after when we were looking at photos (afterwards) how heavy I was, I actually wore a 2 piece bathing-suit, what the heck was i thinking. I cried ! so here we are.. and good luck to all!!!
  • it clicked for me when i realized i would be surrounded by friends and family in october for my wedding and that time was ticking away. signed up in june. i've been 100% since. plan on sticking with it until i hit my ultimate goal of 140 (now thinking 135). happy, happy.