When was your Ah Ha Moment? What were you doing? Feeling? Thinking?

What made you finally say "I am going to do something about my health and well being."

eeek I haven't had one yet! lol it was all kind of "by accident" ok not completely, but I did the old half-assed "geez i gotta do something about this weight if i want to live past 50" and faked it as i went along, but when 25 pounds was gone i thought I could do a bit more...then a bit more.... I can't say it was EASY by any means, but it wasn't as hard as i always dreaded either. For anyone out there waiting around for an aha moment before you get into it -- i saw phoooey! just get on it and do something and hopefully a lightbulb will happen for you (but not the end of the world if it doesn't!)

Around Christmas last year we ate a lot of salty food and sweets at the office and then at home. The following week I felt dizzy --really dizzy, bumping into doors dizzy-- and I attributed that to the amount of salty food I had eaten, to which I am not used, and which could have raised by blood preassure. So I decided to eat healthy, and then it hit me that I should also lose weight, and that I was not that hungry, and here I am, 40+ days without bingeing and 5 kilos less after!

My "ah ha" moment was when my office decided to hold a Biggest Loser competition starting on January 20. I decided to participate, so I allowed myself to eat a ton of food before that Friday's official weigh in. When I got on the scale it read 280.4, which s the most I've ever weighed in my life. It bothered me that my weight was that high. So I said, "Enough's enough. Let's drop the weight and be healthy for me and my family!" I am still new to the journey but it's going well so far.

I never really had an Ah Ha moment just a bunch of smaller Ah Ha moments. What I mean is I'm seriously tired of being tired, tired of having clothes that fit or almost don't fit and don't look all that great when worn, tired of having only a couple shirts and a couple pants because nothing fits, tired of thinking that people will automatically think I'm lazy or a pig when they first see me, tired of going camping and just sitting at the campsite because I'm too tired to move, tired of being very self conscience about my weight, tired of my doctors saying the same things about my weight, tired of lugging all this weight around, tired of not fitting right in seats, and lastly one day I would really like to fly out to see my brother but I will not because of my weight right now (I'm very afraid of the seat issue there).

I'm not really working off an "ah-ha" moment right now. It just kind of happened. I've have had many "ah-ha" moments over the years, and they will carry me through for awhile, but I've never been able to make that momentum last. I really just kind of eased into things this time. It's been over four months and everything is still working, so I'm wondering if for me, the "ah-ha" just didn't give me the right motivation.

With that being said, that realization is what works for many people so please don't think I'm discounting the effectiveness of that motivation. I've just realized that I had to try something different.

I've had a lot of them but for me the biggest one was when I realized that I was addicted to sugar. I thought about it and realized that if an alcoholic has to give it up cold turkey and really work hard to get it out of their lives then:

1. I could do it too
2. That's how I should handle it


So I did. I gave up all sugar/artificial sweeteners for about 6 months and it's drastically changed my life. Obviously, sugar is no where near as addictive as alcohol and I can now have it in moderate amounts but recognizing my problem and dealing with it made a huge difference.

I didn't really have an "ah ha" moment, more like a "did I say that out loud?" moment.

I never had any health issues and could do all the things I wanted to do, even at 250+ pounds. I wear jeans to work, could find size 22 jeans and 2X tops with little trouble. At my age "cute boots" or "skimpy bikinis" aren't much of a concern. In other words, it's easy to just coast along. I wasn't gaining - I had been steady at the same size for over 20 years.

A group of friends talked about doing something to get in better shape. One joined a gym last January and then challenged the rest of us to join, too. The owner of the gym is a wonderful, high energy, outgoing person. Her first words to me were, "What brings you in to see us today?" I opened my big mouth and said, "Look at me - I need to lose 100 pounds. I plan to do it by Christmas." Then I laughed, but she said, "I'll hold you to it."

So, the "ah ha" has come gradually over the past year, especially while I was losing weight. I read and learned a lot about nutrition and fitness. I'm doing my best to maintain the weight loss and increase my fitness level.

And the REAL "ah ha" comes every day when I realize that while I was not in bad health a year ago, I'm in much better health now. And while I could do all the things I wanted, I can do them with ease now. And while I could always find clothes to fit, I can now go into just about any store and have 20 times the selection. Cute boots? Maybe. Skimpy bikini - ain't gonna happen.

Lin

Didn't have an "ah ha" moment. (Finally!) getting the correct medical diagnosis and appropriate treatment allowed me to effectively and consistently use the knowledge and tools I have to lose weight.

I've had a couple, but most I've ignored...

Diagnosed hypoglycemic in high school (some 30 years ago) (told to cut out sugars and starches, eat veggies and protein, and exercise)

Diagnosed PCOS when we tried to get pregnant and couldn't (some 15 years ago) (told to cut out sugars and starches, eat veggies and protein, and exercies)

Finally, two years ago, diagnosed pre-diabetic. All of a sudden WAKE UP CALL!!! Got a meter, started checking sugars after various foods and guess what!? I do better when I cut out sugars and starches, eat veggies and protein, and exercise.

Who would have guessed??

When I couldn't fit into my work clothes anymore. There was no larger size available for business suits, even through mail order.

It was a medical check up and the results were scary!

Current Medical Issues: GERD, Hypertension, Hypercholesterolemia, Hyperlipidemia, Metabolic Snydrome, and Impaired Glucose Tolerance.

I moved to an island paradise and I have been on vacatiOn mode for a year. My sugar addition came back in full mode. It didn't help that I started to party more with my new active social life now that I'm not in career focused mode. I have been thinking about it for a few months but wasn't ready to committ. Then someone seriously spiked the punch at the New Year's Party and it was too much. But the kicker came when I went to take a bath in the morning and brought a can of pringles and some candy with me. That was my breakfast. Halfway through it, I put it down and downloaded a calorie tracker on my phone. Then a friend emailed me that day. She had her aha moment. I had tried several times over the years to introduce her to online logging. She resisted. That day she was willing to try. So I spent the day reviewing other apps so I could find one I liked, was simple enough, had an online and app version, and where the diary could be shared with friends. We haven't looked back since.

I had just been diagnosed with Lupus. I lived in Hawaii at the time and my oldest was about 18 months old. I took him to the beach and was wearing men's knee length board shorts and a tshirt. I was watching all the happy fit people running around with their kids and I was just exhausted... I looked at my son, looked at myself and thought "OH HEEEEELLLL NO". The next day I started the South Beach Diet and begun walking the neighborhood with my jogging stroller every day while my husband was at work. My plan has changed, my goals have changed... but the rest is history .

My ah-ha moment happened summer of 2009 when I had to fly to a family reunion.

I had to ask for a seat belt extension on a regular jet...that had never happened before.

I started on Jenny Craig that fall.

Apparently I'm determined to be the slowest loser in history, as I'm now at 227, and my goal, 175, I have scheduled to meet at the end of this year. It would officially be 129 pounds lost when I meet that goal number.

I keep track anytime I fly now of how the seat belt feels as I still remember how humiliated I was to have to ask for the extender.
This past Xmas I flew on an American Eagle jet, one of those small ones with 2x2 configuration.
Not only did I have about 5 or so inches of spare on the seat belt, I could even cross my legs (if I sat a bit sideways)...I've never been able to do that!
Also, I was able to walk down the aisle straight down and not sideways....Progress!

So my ah ha moment continues to be an NSV moment anytime I'm on an airplane.