I started having tingling in my toe - diabetes :-( It took 3 months before the endocronologist could see me so I read everything I could about diabetes/diet/exercise & did the best I could on my own. I got my blood sugar down from 228 to 160 in 3 months. Then he prescribed medication & overnight it dropped down to 120. My goal is to lose the weight & get healthy & not have to stay on medication my whole life.
The thing is, my dad has diabetes & I knew I was high risk for it. But I never took it seriously until I actually had it. Shame on me. At least I'm doing the right thing now.
I had a few different, smaller triggers this time:
Bad pictures- Unflattering pictures are always depressing/motivating for me. In the past couple years I began to notice that I didn't like the way my body looked in any recent pictures. And then I began to avoid having my picture taken at all. This is odd, but I noticed when I flipped through my pictures on facebook that I had very few recent ones of myself.
Clothes- I eventually noticed that I had stopped wearing certain pants because they didn't fit right anymore. For a couple years I had almost entirely refused to buy clothes (pants, particularly) in hopes I would shame myself into losing weight. At this point I could really use some new clothes, so I'm losing weight and getting them. I recently bought the first pair of jeans (size 8) I've purchased in 2 years.
Wanting to look the way friends remember me (or better)- I had a friend return home from a tour of duty overseas who hadn't seen me in person in a couple years since joining the military. Similarly I was supposed to have a reunion with my whole grad school crew, some of whom haven't seen me in over a year. I didn't want the first thing they'd think to be some variation of how I'd gained weight.
Energy- I noticed that I was having a hard time walking moderately fast for any real distance especially when it was cold outside.
Chub in altogether novel (for my body) places- I noticed that I had some flub developing causing the beginning of a diagonal crease on my back following the curve of my rib cage. My arms were also less defined and chunkier than ever. I began to see cellulite-like fat on my upper arms. And the dreaded FUPA, I had, and to a lesser extent still have, extra fat deposits on my lower stomach.
The first time I put real effort into losing weight (way back in high school), it was triggered by a terrible forced weigh-in at school (135lbs, 40% body fat, at 13 and ~5'1.5") and an awful school picture where I had a large gut and big thighs on full display in a seated pose. Unfortunately I still have the thighs, but 8th grade was the highest my waist size and body fat have ever been.
I'm a guy and tend to gain weight around my belly. Since I have had a belly for a long time it is hard to know exactly that I am gaining more. My jackets and shirts are big enough, XXL that you can gain without knowing it.
About once a year I have to give a presentation and wear a suit jacket. This year I couldn't fit in by a few inches. A couple of days later my wife and I were at a smallish concert of a few hundred people. I was one of the heaviest ones there. For some reason it just seemed insane whereas before it was just what it was. I know I have the ability to focus and stick with things. I have done that numerous times in my life, I just wasn't doing it with eating and diet.
So the jacket and concert were kind of a spark. But under that me and my family have had to start taking care of my uncle since last December. He has really bad memory loss. As a bachelor who never learned to cook he had a horrible diet of steaks and chicken thighs. Even though my diet was better I was still much bigger than him.
My wife and I also adopted our daughter a couple of years ago and she is 2.5 now. I will be 60 when she is 15. So all of this I just got, I know it is a cliche, sick and tired of being well big and tired.
I will say that reaching the breaking point seems to be the most important thing. I've tried before but this feels completely different.
Since that May 1 give or take jacket day I have worked out cardio at least 30 mins each day, joined a gym, and lost about 15lbs. And a lot of inches. That jacket fits easy. But I am going way beyond that now. I haven't eaten great since May 1, but am getting better and better. So excited about where my health is going and infinite fitness accomplishments on the horizon. I just thank goodness I had a breaking point moment, I think they are THE most important thing in a weight loss journey.
My turning point(s) had to do with realizing I was in a dead-end long distance relationship, ending the relationship at my almost-top weight, and shifting to a single-person lifestyle.
Another turning point was realizing that I was anxiety-eating due to work stress, so I got out of a job that had some stressful client relationships.
About the same time, I had just started a facebook account, and couldn't avoid a public posting of a photo of myself at a Halloween party. So, part of my motivation was to minimize the amount of awful facebook photos. I guess facebook kind of forced me to face a certain chapter in my book! ha ha
I remember going to one of my friends 18th birthday, thinking that I looked quite nice in my new top and pants. I looked at the photos on Facebook and was horrified. I looked so big! I put my head down, continuing on without worrying about what I ate. A few months later, at another friend's 18th, I looked at the photos again and compared them. I was even bigger! Mortified, I began my weight loss journey.
When I was 456 pounds and couldn't walk 10 feet without getting winded. First week I only lost 1 pound and I thought, here I go another failure. But the next week lost 5 pounds, and the more I lost, the more it fueled the fire. My whole thought process is on my website (link below)
Whenever I see results that is actually noticeable to others as well. There, I was really really ecstatic to work hard more in order to get to the goal.
My turning point has always been seeing reality clearly. In the past, this would happen with pictures or my reflection. It would just suddenly click that I had put on weight, so I'd start working to lose it.
What's finally clicked for me is staying aware and completely honest. I've recently regained less than 10 pounds, which for me is a small regain. I caught it early this time b/c staying oblivious/in denial is just no longer the way my mind works. I also accept now that when one variable changes in my life (like going from an active to a sedentary job), I need to make appropriate changes elsewhere. I used to wait too long to make those adaptations, so more damage would happen before I'd wake up.
I've been a long-term over-eater, but I really took notice of how my eating habits had changed (as well as my from noticing my weight loss) when I was about to go into a supermarket a few days ago, intent on finding some junk food, and realise I didn't WANT or NEED it. I walked out empty-handed and boy, it was a good moment!
For the past few years I have been aware that I was overweight but I never did anything about it because to be honest I couldn't be bothered even trying to lose weight, and because I didn't want to give up all of that junk food.
And then last year in August I thought I should weigh myself and I weighed in at 90 kg (198 lbs) up until December every couple of weeks or so I would weigh myself - I have absolutely no idea how I managed to stay 90 kg because I ate nothing but junk, it started getting so bad that I wouldn't eat any veges at dinner I would eat some of the meat then put my plate in the fridge and look for junk food. On Dec 4 I decided to see what my BMI was and it turned up as 32 which I saw was obese and I couldn't stop crying. I never thought of myself as obese only overweight. Then I thought back to August and thought if I had starting losing weight back then I would have already been losing weight for nearly 4 months. That night I started looking up on the internet about exercise, food, calories and all the rest and I stumbled across this site and these two threads this thread (by borgie) and this thread (by caramelkitty) I was so shocked! They both look so amazing! And I saw caramelkitty's quote One year from now you will be happy you started today. I wanted to be able to look back in a years time and see how far I have come. I wanted to be proud of myself for once in my life. Then I decided that was it from tomorrow forwards I was going to try my best to get rid of this weight once and for all.
Here I am today 21.3 kg lighter (46.6 pounds) and just celebrated my 7 month anniversary yesterday.
I don't feel as down anymore.
I socialize way more than I use too.
I have more confidence.
But the most important thing: I'm way more healthy and no longer obese OR overweight!!!!!
And compliments on my weight loss is way better than junk food.
So my turning point was seeing my BMI and also seeing those two threads, it was just so amazing to see how far they have come and knowing that that could be me someday soon.
Now I just have another 8.3 kg (18.4 lbs) left to lose!!!!
2 things: I went on a vacation with my friends, and I couldn't keep up or participate. I spent 30 seconds at one landmark so I could start back up the stairs so they wouldn't see how long it took.
Secondly, a friend and a young cousin got engaged. I was mortified because I was passed over for bridesmaid due to my size, and I knew I wasn't any closer to getting married myself. I knew I needed to fix things.
When I started to see signs of being pre-diabetic. Scared the bejesus out of me.
But I guess the "real" one, the one that got me started watching my diet was when I ate less as an experiment and started losing weight. I was like "holy crap this works!" and kept at it.
There are a few things that made me start this journey.
1. My wedding. My fiance and I have been engaged for several years now, and I had not touched the wedding plans. Not because of money, but because I did not want to go wedding dress shopping at my weight, and I know he felt the same.
2. The Weight of the Nation. This documentary scared me...the fatty liver, the horrible things weight does to your body besides what you see on the outside...it was eye opening. I recorded it a couple of years ago when it first aired, and I keep it on my DVR as a reminder.
3. I went to see family in California in March, and I hated pictures of myself. I wanted to cry when I saw them. My grandma turned me onto the idea of Weight Watchers then, and although it took me a couple of months to get started on it, I'm very glad I did.
I'm only 2 months into dieting, and already I feel great. I cannot wait for a year from now, and how I'll feel then. I'm hoping to be at goal, but I will be happy with every ounce lost!
I remember exactly the day I FINALLY decided to lose weight.. I was viewing my brand new daughter-in-law's facebook page and viewed the hundreds of pictures of her and my son's wedding... - but not one picture of me was posted. My ex-husband who only visited my son once every 5 years and just happened to attend the wedding had his picture posted! I looked at the wedding pictures I had taken and saw how awful I looked...
Wow, that's awful. That may not have been your daughter-in-law's intent (to leave you out) but I can understand how painful it feels to be made invisible. I only have one sister and on here wedding, my mother left me out of the list when all the family members were called to the stage for recognition. Cousins, uncles and aunts from both sides were called into the microphone except for me.
