So what was your "A-HA"weight moment...
What event, person, picture, etc...Triggered your decision to finally start, or re-start this weight loss journey???
Mine was the unexpected death of my father in June of 2003. He was 57 and that was just far too young in my book to die. He was over weight, severe diabetic, had bad kidneys, high blood pressure and congestive heart failure...
After I got through the greiving process, I decided I was not quite ready to die yet, so I had better start doing something about it...Or I would be right in that same spot by the time I was 57...Or before...
What was yours????????
Dawn
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My a-ha moment...when I woke up one morning and could hardly move from a combination of fibromyalgia and sciatica.* I'd had problems with both for a while, but this particular morning I couldn't even get out of bed without help.* I know losing weight will help with both problems.* And I'm tired of not being able to do the things I want to do because of the weight and the pain.

*I was diagnosed with sleep apnea--severe obstructive sleep apnea. I was told that without treatment, I'd have a heart attack (or worse)*and die. My blood pressure was up. I went and had a sleep study done and they found out that*I stopped breathing a total of 131 (that's one hundred and thirty one) times PER HOUR. That's more than twice a minute. I stayed mainly in stage 1 (basically dozing off) for like 85% of the time, the other 15% was spent in stage 2. I NEVER went into stages 3 or 4...I never, ever dreamt. And I fell asleep anytime I wasn't talking to someone else during the day, and sometimes when I was. I was tired all the time and could barely get off the couch during the day.
This*condition would be significantly reduced and possibly eliminated if I lost some weight. Now I have to sleep with a machine on my face every night in order to maintain any air of health. It is helping a lot but it's not very comfortable to fall asleep in.
So that, right there, was a pretty big a-ha moment. The weight is literally robbing me of MY LIFE!

Mine was I was a type 2 diabetic, high blood pressure, high clorstaral (sp) weighd almost 300lbs with a wonderful little boy who if I did not do something soon might not have a mommy! Im a single parent and we are very close! I was tired of watching him play and not joyning in or go on rides with him play ball etc. My gastric bypass saved my life! It was the best choice for me. I could never have afforded it but thank God my insurance coverd all of it! I now can keep up with my son, and were having a ball! Living life to the fullest! Im very happy so far through all the changes in my life!
sheree

For me, I have never really had an "A-Ha" moment.. as far as I could remember I have been on a "diet" and wanted to lose weight.* My mother is very overweight and is not healthy at all. which led to me adopting those bad eating habits as a child and being overweight..* My 8th grade summer was when I really started being dedicated with my weight loss because I did not want to go into H.S big.. I got a lot of info from fitness magazines and started working out and what I thought was 'eating right' (I reached my weight loss goal though)*... but since I have been out of school I have gotten big again.. Before I could really understand how to lose weight and everything I thought things like meat were not that great for you and breads were good because that was the biggest part of the triangle on the food pyramid..* I think a lot of people just like me are so misguided about what is good and bad for you.. and just within this past year I have learned the differences between good fats and bad fats, how the more fiber something has the better for you and the more it will fill you up.. I think it's all about education .. they really need to teach kids about nutrition, that would help people out soo much

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My aha moment came on my birthday back in March. I was in absolute denial. I did not own a full length mirror, and when I went to a changing room at Lane Bryant to try on some clothes I saw myself for the first time in many many months. I was shocked. I cried in that changing room. I tried on jeans and realized that if I wanted to buy something, it would have to be in a size I had never been before. So this is similar to Nikki's moment. I left, and walked and walked, sullen, on that rainy day and then I decided that I just could not continue to eat the same way. So much started running through my mind, how tired I was all the time, how my body was starting to hurt in places that normally don't hurt until you are much older. I wanted to be strong, and agile, and disciplined. I needed to shake off this super long bout of depression. So I started eating better first and then joined the gym later on.

Hmmm...my A-ha moment was my kids...I see all these overweight people bigger than I am with kids, how they miss so much with there kids.* As a result it is most likely that these children will be obese...I DON"T WANT THAT!!!* I have turned down so many things in life..simple things...because of my weight.* I don't want them to miss out on anything, I want them to be able to run around and play for as long as they want to.* Most importantly...I want to run with them, and be able to play for hours on end..I want to see them grow up and BE with them.* I love my children with all my heart and I WANT TO LIVE FOR THEM.* We all take life for granted, after being at the funeral yesterday opened my eyes wide.* I saw my grandfather for the first time in a very, very, long time.* He is 75, yes he lived his life but it wasn't the best life one can live for.* I was so sadden to see him, in his condition.* He had* a cane, couldn't stand up for more than 2 min. at a time.* He is a diabetic, has major heart problems and so on.* Why do we do this to ourselves?* Why do we live for the moment and not for tomorrow?* Are we selfish..damn straight we are.* There are so many people out there that want to live and do everything they can ..there strong, eat healthy, excercise daily...with NO excuses...but then we got the majority of us who just eat whatever we want, as much as we want, hardly excercise, and who are weak.* We need to be the ones that are strong...yes it takes dedication, self-will, and so much more....but we need to do this for whatever our "A-HA" moment was... BE STRONG!!!

Back in June, I was at a seminar and my clothes were so tight.* My blouse was pulling apart so that the bottons looked like they were going to burst (you know what I mean, right??).* Well, I sat through the whole seminar with my arms around my stomach afraid that this would happen and that's when it hit me.* It was either time for me to buy bigger clothes (the next size up) or time to do something about it.* I had tried so many times to do a "diet" and after 2 weeks I would quit.* So I decided it was time for me to use the internet for support and that's when I came along this site.* I signed up and started doing something about my weight increase immidiately.* BUYING THE NEXT BIGGER SIZE WAS NOT AN OPTION FOR ME.* In my mind, I knew it was easier to lose 10 pounds than 20 so I knew it was better to step on that scale, face the music and then change my eating and exercise habits fast and not wait a day more!!* I didn't lose weight until a month later but then my clothes started fitting the way they should.* Never did I think I would stick around and continue working on this journey with all you wonderful people.* And now, I'm a size smaller.....

These are all so good...
Thank you for sharing these very personal things with the board...
I wish you MUCH luck and success on your journey!
Dawn

I must say I love this site..it allows all of us to be honest, and lets us* express whatever we want.* There is no one to judge us but push us...