What was your moment of truth?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-22-2005
What was your moment of truth?
26
Mon, 05-23-2005 - 11:28am

I was aware of being obese but kept avoiding doing something about it. I could feel my body deteriorating as I continued to gain weight but that wasn't enough to motivate a change.

My moment of truth was when I visiting my daughter at College and barely made the walk from the car to her dorm room. Not only was I huffing and puffing but I really thought I wasn't going to make it to her room without sitting down. I even had a visual of me in a motorized chair.

This was heartbreaking for me as I always loved walking before gaining so much weight. In that moment I remember thinking, I will never feel this way about myself again. That night I made a plan including: walking, low-fat food, water, journaling, and finding support (this board). The date - Feb. 21, 2005. Now I'm walking 5 miles a day and have lost 35 lbs.

Did you have a moment of truth on this journey to a healthier you?

LK
295/260/195

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2004
Mon, 05-23-2005 - 12:08pm

Well, for me, there was no "one moment."

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Fear

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2004
Mon, 05-23-2005 - 5:05pm
My moment of truth was a few summers ago.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2005
Mon, 05-23-2005 - 5:36pm

I've had several over the years, and it just took me getting to a good place emotionally and spiritually before my LATEST "moment of truth" for me to be able to really do anything effective about it. I've spent the past year recovering from alcohol and drug abuse, healing from panic disorder that was made significantly worse from the substance abuse, and generally getting used to the idea that I'm worth treating my body and mind better.

Than at the beginning of March of this year, I went back to the gym. I've had my membership since September '04 but hadn't gone regularily in several months. My weight had been climbing since I was 14, all the way from 180 and had been sitting around 290 for a few months. For some reason, this was ok with me, but when I went to the gym and hopped on the scale, it stopped moving at 302 pounds. That was it. I just knew I couldn't do it anymore, I couldn't watch the scale go any higher, I couldn't sit back and make myself sick, I couldn't just replace the addictions I had been fighting with rich food and eating at restaurants and sitting at home all day... So I started making changes. Even with getting sick in April and not being able to go to the gym for 3 weeks, I'm doing wonderful, and expect when I weigh in today that I'll be sitting at around a 20 pound loss. I'm happy and so proud of myself, but best of all I just FEEL SO GOOD!!!

Rebecca

http://infatuationjunkie.net

Avatar for brens2boys
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2003
Tue, 05-24-2005 - 10:58am

Hmm...the first time(there were two that I can remember clearly),was when my husband started losing weight with little to no effort(I feel bad now because he was diagnosed as diabetic when the weightloss got real noticeable),and I was mad at him for losing.I was at my highest weight and feeling horrible about myself,and the thought of my husband possibly weighting less then me was out of the question.Pretty vain,but at least it got me motivated.

The second and hopefully one that will keep me on my weightloss journey,was recently when I went in to the Dr..It was a new guy,and I was so embarassed that I had gained weight from the last time I lost...and the fact that he didn't seem very sympathetic to my foot hurting(basically said the weight is probably the issue),that it was time to change the way I ate and get some exercise in.So,thats where I am at now.I'm suposed to go back into the Dr.,but honestly,I don't want to until I lose a bit more weight.He seems like a decent Doctor,but very blunt and to the point...so even more reason to shed the pounds before getting back in there.I'm embarassed enough about letting my weight get out of control,the thought if a Doctor pointing that out to me is humiliating.

Bren

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-13-2004
Tue, 05-24-2005 - 6:07pm

uh... yeah, you could say I had a "moment" all right!!

It was about 2 christmases ago and I was stuck in the toilet in France... I was a little too broad in the beam for their loo's!!!

-Kristy

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2004
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 11:18am

I've been overweight my whole life and have had many occassions such as the prom, hs graduation, going to college, my wedding, etc. where I have wanted to lose weight. Each effort resulted in a little bit of a loss however it was always easy for me to give my self a break. I am way too easy on myself.

Recently my husband and I had a very serious conversation about starting a family. We've been married for 2.5 years- I'm 31 and he's going to be 33. I know that he's anxious to start a family but during this conversation he was begging and pleading with me to make a commitment to my health and loose weight so that we can start our family in a healthy way.

For the first time in my life, losing weight isn't just for me - it's for him too and our dream together.

383.4/373/first mini goal=350/ultimate goal=healthy weight for TTC

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2005
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 11:36am

I know exactly what you mean about the "family" talk making the difference...

I've been with my current s/o for just over a year and while we're definitely not in a place right now where we are able to start a family, but we have discussed it and have talked about the future including children, and I know that I need to be healthy before we can even consider it. So that's helped to be extra motivation for me this time around!

Rebecca

http://infatuationjunkie.net

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2004
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 2:05pm

Well, for me just like Seabreeze, I've been overweight my whole entire life too. Not to the point I am now tho, this is my absolute heaviest. In the past, I've always justified my weight by saying I dressed well and felt good. Well 2 weeks ago I realized that my capri pants from last summer (that I started wearing instead of shorts b/c I was at my heaviest) don't fit now. My bones ache, I have a hard time getting out of chairs and sitting up in bed. Oh, and the incident about when I went to a conference for work and I didn't fit in the chairs was the last straw.

So, there ya go and here I am - back again.

Kerry
276/270/200

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2003
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 2:23pm

Well, my moment of truth was a couple of months ago. Now, its going to make you all mad....it made me mad, it made my friends mad....but just know that things are much better now......That said:

My moment of truth came when my dh told me he was ashamed of the way I looked. I couldn't believe it. Never in my wildest dreams would I EVER say anything like that to HIM (he isn't overweight at all, but if he was, I'd never say that). I was stunned, shocked, saddened, mortified, embarrassed, and down lower than I'd ever been. (Just so you know, we're working on our relationship and things are much better....facilitated by this conversation. I no longer want to hang him by his toenails and feed him to fire ants. And he is working on not being, well, just trying to be a better husband).

Anyway, I realized that deep down, I felt the same way about myself. I'd see pics of myself and just cringe. That couldn't be ME. That's not how I looked, was it? Well, it was. So, I stopped getting into pictures. My kids are going to think I died young when they look back at our vacation pics and notice that I'm not in any of them...and not just from one vacation). I realized that I'd said, "tomorrow I'll start my diet and exercise program" about 4000 times....and tomorrow never happened. I realized there were so many things I couldn't do anymore and I didn't want to be that type of mom for my kids.

Shortly after all this happened, Kerstin started a challenge and several of us hopped on board. Then I joined WW (for real, this time) and started doing Jazzercise and doing WATP dvds. For once, I am losing. Not fast, not furious, just sllllloooowwwwllllyyy losing. I've changed what I eat. I've changed what we ALL eat. And my family is noticing and they're so proud of me. I feel better about myself, my relationship, and a host of other things.

Is it easy now? NO ITS NOT! Do I backslide? Oh heck yeah. But I'm still chugging along.

This wasn't the easiest thing for me to write, and please, I've bashed dh enough for all of us.....he deserved it! BUT, it did make me wake up and face what I'd known, but didn't admit.

whew, sorry so long.

dawn

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-31-2004
Wed, 05-25-2005 - 2:40pm

I've had a few "moments" in the last few years, but have gone through cycles about being active and then gradually getting lazy, then going back to being active.

I've been chubby for most of my life, and the smallest size I've been was my freshmen year of HIGHSCHOOL - size 13 - which I was pretty comfortable with, but still felt I was a little chubby. Every year after that, I would gain around 10 lbs or more. By my senior year I reached a plateau of 190-195, and that was my first Moment of Truth. After I graduated I dedicated more time into losing weight, and I ended up going down to about 180. I was also doing drugs back then, which helped me maintain that weight for a while. When I stopped and got clean (a couple of times), I'd gain back some weight. By the time I stopped for good, I was around 220-230. I was trying to get back into working out at the gym, but I went through the on/off phase again. Just before the beginning of this year, I accidently became pregnant. I was pregnant for about 2 months (and gained a good 10 pounds), and had a miscarriage. After that I was sad and definitely unconcerned about eating good or exercising. My heaviest weight was now 260.

It was a big wake up call to be 60 pounds heavier than I told myself 5 years ago that I would ever be. There have been times when I would hate myself and think horrible thoughts about how big I am. I've even cried in the fitting room when I'd gone shopping and couldn't fit into clothes I wanted. The last time I did that was a month ago, and since then I have made a genuine change in eating better. It took some time, but now I've got the hang of it, and I'm almost down 10 pounds.

Good Luck to everyone, and keep your head up.

*Jess*

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