What was your trigger?

"Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer."
Shunryu Suzuki

I don't know why but that just hit the spot. It's so true.
 
Just witnessing everything in general made me want to change my life.

All my friends were playing football, doing martial arts, wrestling, having fun and I was getting tired within 20 minutes. I was completely out of shape... thankfully I've changed my life around and can enjoy all those things I missed out on when I was younger. It is a great feeling.

I am far from my goal but I'm determined to lose the last bit of weight and then maintain a decent size for the rest of my life. Some people are comfortable living their life fat, but you miss out on so much when you get really large.

Food isn't the only thing in life that you can enjoy. I love hiking, camping, canoeing, biking, sports and being active.
 
When I got my wedding photos back....I knew I gained a lot of weight. I just didn't realize how big I was until after I got them back. Then I weighed myself and I weighed in at 240lbs. I just sat around feeling sorry for myself until one normal morning I said todays the day that I change...two years later I am still working on it but 70lbs down so far.
 
Well....

first off, I'm not one of those people who will say....
Every little thing I eat just sticks right to me !

I have a great metabolism. I used to say, I was one of the few FAT type A guys you would ever meet :)

However, I had a serious food addiction I was eating 6000 to 8000 calories a day, of the most horrendous garbage.

When I was younger, it didn't mess up my stomach too much (although it did make me fat).

But by last October, my stomach had started hurting me SOOO freaking much.... in a nutshell, my body just started screaming, "Sorry, I'm not going to digest this garbage for you any more" !
I felt SOOO bad. I can't say I was suicidal, but honestly, I didn't care if I lived or died.
I had more than one Dr. tell me... "Ya' know, your weight, diet, blood pressure, etc, is putting you at grave risk of a heart attack or a stroke".... To which I replied, "Oh yea' ? Well if it kills me, I won't have to worry about it any more, will I" ?

After one particularly bad week {I don't think the flue would have made me feel worse} I finally said, enough is enough !

I cut out my 3500 calorie, after 8pm dinner, and replaced it with a bowl of bran flakes, 1% milk, a little splenda, and strawberries. From 3500 cals to 350.
And GEEEEZ did that ever make a difference ! I felt SO much better. Kept it up, and lost 25 lbs in 5 weeks, from that one change alone !

After that, the whole health food, and fitness kick just snowballed.

9 months later, I've lost 72 lbs. Eating like a health food freak... running / climbing, and getting a Bowflex machine tomorrow ;)

I'm literally a different person in only 9 months. But I have HUGE goals for the next 3 years :)

I can't change the past. That's water under the bridge. But I have sure changed where I was heading :) .....and darn proud of myself ;)

Peace,
Fish
 
I have just spent about 15 mins writing a post then it just disapeared into thin air so here I go again...............................:bigear:

Well done for getting and staying motivated you must be very proud of yourself, I have got two triggers that have pushed me into looking at myself and loosing weight the first is that I am getting married in September,the second which to me is the thing that actually did it for me was seeing my holiday photos!!!! FRIGHTENING!!

We have just got back from a lovely relaxing holiday in Lanzarote just my partner and myself it is a place we have been to before lovely and peaceful a place to recharge our batteries, so when we came back I viewed the pictures and then compared them to when we went a couple of years ago, the difference in my size is amazing, I know I have put on weight it has been sneaking on slowly but these pictures showed the brutal truth and to be honest they shocked me!!

So as of today I have decided to eat a healthy balanced diet cut down on my calorie intake and do some exercise, I have been shopping and have bought a good selection of healthy foods, I have taken a photo of myself, have taken my measurements and as of tomorrow I am going to start writing a food diary with its calorie content next to it...............so watch this space !!!!:)

Any tips on staying on track will be most welcome especially advice on drinking wine I do socialise quite a bit and enjoy one or two glasses of wine :party:

Sorry if i have gone on a bit too much

Good luck everyone

Lys x
 
Had severe stomach/abdominal pains that would make me vomit and make me deal with some of the most uncomfortable nights of my life.

Later on I would discover that they were gallstones, and had my gallbladder removed. None the less, the weight loss had to happen even if it wasnt the reason for my health issues.
 
I was at the movies with my friends, we were playing around taking photos and when I got home later and was looking through the photos I noticed how big I was. I was like wow. So I got on my aunt's scale and weighed myself, the scale said 224. I was shocked. That was really a wake up call. My Father's side of my family has health problems and very few of them are not obese. I do not want to end up in and out of hospitals due to my weight like them.
 
I've had tons of turning points in my life:

Pants ripping in public ( a couple times)
Fat Pictures
Little sisters laughing at my fat
My 5 year old brother calling me fat
Making it to a size 16 one step away from a 20
My bf telling me that I was getting very big one day
Seeing my stomach almost touch the steering wheel

...oh man..the list goes on.
 
For me it is health problems (I have asthma), being looked down/thought of as lazy and stupid due to fat, as well as desire for having more relationship options.
 
I'm 45, bored, and I just don't like the way I look or feel. I've never had a relationship. Also, there are so many activities that look so fun, but because of my size (and shame), I cannot do them. Hiking with my shirt off, surfing, skiing, river rafting, etc., all look so enlivening, so fun.

I am tired of being lonely. I was a fat kid who turned into a fat adult. For me, eating simply is something to occupy time and space. Yes, I enjoy good food, but eating just allows me to "zone out", to go numb for a (short) while.

I feel like I've never really had a chance to "connect" with a group of guys... just to hang out, or do group activities (yes, group stuff is important to me, as friends, social bonds, feeling brotherhood, camaraderie, feeling welcome and accepted, etc., are things which I have always wanted yet lacked).

Sometimes, the thought of having to lose 170 pounds (77 kg) is just plain ol' overwhelming, as it just seems "forever", but when I feel good, it also seems that anything is possible.
 
My trigger was a little over 2 years ago when my husband no longer wanted to be intimate. Maybe this is a bit too personal to share, though.
 
The Tipping Point

So there I was, May 2008, 285 lbs. The electric breaker switch in the kitchen at the sink had popped and I had to actually replace the entire outlet...it wouldn't reset. So I go out and get the hardware and I am going to install it. Being the natural talent with home fix-it projects that I am, I killed all the power in the house. It was a pretty hot day in the low 80's. If you have ever tried to do this, you know exactly how irritating this can be. It's hard enough getting all the wires to connect right and get the unit back in the wall. The whole time you worry that you will set your house on fire due to your stupidity. But there is an added element of difficulty here...the outlet is under the cupboard, wedged into a tiled wall, and has 4 wires (not 2 like the normal ones). Swell.

So now I am bent and turning to angle myself under the cupboard. I am trying to get the wires straight. I finally accomplished that feat and all I have to do is get the screws to line up and screw it in. Once, twice, three times. I ask the kids to go outside and play because I can't curse in front of them and I am about to become "R" rated. Finally, as I am positioned in the most contorted way, the screw catches, but not smooth. So I am turning this thing and muscling it when a drop of sweat falls from my nose to the counter top. Then another. Then another. A puddle is forming.

That was it. That's right...that was it. The moment. I couldn't believe it. I was sweating while turning a screw. TURNING A SCREW. That was the moment that would put me over the edge and have me vow to make a change that I am still hoping will last the rest of my life.
 
I am soon to be 65 and a single parent, he is only 11 and I want to be around to see him get through school. I quit smoking 2 years ago, one day I just stopped. Now I need to lose around 80 lbs. I also bought a ford mustang to give to my son and I need to pay for it. In two months I have lost 25 lbs. Not counting that all this wieght isnt making me feel so great.
 
I am new here. Currently losing weight.

My trigger is that my graduation is about 6 months ahead. So I decided to lose weight as well as toning up my body so that I can graduate without regret and shame.
 
A combination of things:

I owned about 10 pairs of jeans, but only wore 2 or 3 pairs because they fit (badly). I would have to wear a shirt that was a too big so that no one could see my stomach over the top of them. I have a subscription to Vogue and I love fashion. I do not aspire to be model thin, but I want to wear what I want to wear and not have to worry about if it would be flattering to my giant thighs, chest and back fat. I have always been taller and wider than everyone else (5'10-5'11, 210 lbs at my heaviest) and have always been intimidated by smaller women. It also helped that I basically turned over a new leaf of controlling my life. I couldn't really tell you what triggered that, maybe it was trying to get rid of negativity. You get out of life what you put into it and if you want something to change YOU have to do it, it will not just magically happen.

I know that it's not the best quote (eating disorder help groups cried foul), but when Kate Moss said "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" it is totally true. The joy you get when eating ice cream is fleeting and incomparable to the joy of being able to wear a size 8 (which I am currently). This is the smallest I have ever been (even when I was a teenager) and I am still going and trying to stay motivated. I am hoping that visiting these forums will help with that. :)
 
For me, it's always shopping...it's so hard to find clothing that fits AND looks good...I get so jealous of the women that easily slip on clothes and they have no bumps and lumps to worry about. So frustrating. I want to feel comfortable in my clothing and in my own skin!
 
I guess when my fiance ex gf showed up in front of me : fake boobs, tanned, thight dress, nails done, and tiny tiny body ! wanted to kill her !but i got over and now looking forward to get healthy!
 
I have several triggers.

My parents. My mom is disciplined and lost about 30 lbs by walking daily and eating better. My dad is a former athlete who is obese and miserable.

My vanity. Up until this spring I had gained almost 30 lbs since high school graduation. Not 30 lbs of muscle or a new pair of boobs or baby weight. Just 30 lbs from eating a little too much and not moving enough.

Japan. I'd say the average Japanese woman is about 5'2 and under 115 lbs. I am of similar build (Korean ancestry) and a little taller. You cannot buy jeans/trousers comfortably here unless you are a US size 8 or smaller.
 
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