Why are YOU here?

[cathyjobob]

Hi...I thought it would be fun to ask everyone the following in order to get to know one another just a little better:

1) What is your single most motivating factor?
2) Describe that "ah-ha" moment that brought you to this WOL.




I will reveal my own personal reasons once I have formulated what I'd like to say in my head... (it's how I roll...lol)

[julirama723]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1. My single most motivating factor: I started this WOL because, simply put, I felt like $h!t. And I looked like it, too. I was tired walking upstairs from the living room to the bathroom! I would sweat like a pig with any physical exertion. My knees, ankles, and calves started to ache if I walked too long or tried to run. That's what scared me--I'm still young, but I'm starting to have all these problems, I thought. I needed to do something about it.

2. My ah-ha moment was seeing a pic of myself where I looked like a beached whale...it's actually the before pic in my signature. I was horrified when I saw it--I didn't see myself looking like that. Combined with that pic and how I felt all the time, it made me change my ways.

[cathyjobob]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1. My single most motivating factor: I started this WOL because, simply put, I felt like $h!t. And I looked like it, too. I was tired walking upstairs from the living room to the bathroom! I would sweat like a pig with any physical exertion. My knees, ankles, and calves started to ache if I walked too long or tried to run. That's what scared me--I'm still young, but I'm starting to have all these problems, I thought. I needed to do something about it.

2. My ah-ha moment was seeing a pic of myself where I looked like a beached whale...it's actually the before pic in my signature. I was horrified when I saw it--I didn't see myself looking like that. Combined with that pic and how I felt all the time, it made me change my ways.

Thanks for sharing Julirama! I was starting to worry that this one was going to flop! LOL...I know this is personal stuff and I'm shy too, but I PROMISE to share with everyone...

BTW: I know how you felt physically...having aches and pains at 27 seemed strange to me too...(had to mention: You FOR SURE didn't "look like sh*t"...You were and are still beautiful...IMHO )

I'm just so relieved to finally have found something that makes me feel good, don't you agree? I always felt STARVED on "low fat diets".
I completely understand how seeing pics of yourself can be sobering, that dang camera just won't lie...no matter how much I want it to....

[2big4mysize]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) What is your single most motivating factor?
too big! got stuck in a kiddie play tunnel thingie so i knew i had to shrink.

2) Describe that "ah-ha" moment that brought you to this WOL.
i researched lots of diet plans and Atkins was one I thought sounded too good to be true but I decided after reading the science behind it to test drive it for the 14 days of induction. After 14 days seeing the numbers on the scales and I was hooked.

[cathyjobob]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) What is your single most motivating factor?
too big! got stuck in a kiddie play tunnel thingie so i knew i had to shrink.

2) Describe that "ah-ha" moment that brought you to this WOL.
i researched lots of diet plans and Atkins was one I thought sounded too good to be true but I decided after reading the science behind it to test drive it for the 14 days of induction. After 14 days seeing the numbers on the scales and I was hooked.

Kiddie play tunnel...booth in a restaurant...breaking a chair infront of my DF's whole family at a picnic! Stop the flashbacks! SToooop..

Oh, hey, sorry...spazzed out for a second there...

I think you're great 2big, and I don't care who knows it!

I enjoy your helpful, but overall non chalante' tone...you always stick to "just the facts"...

with a familiar, charming undertone of sarcasm...which all blends together to create a very entriguing (sp?) person...

and I have nothing to gain from this discourse, so I can't possibly be buttering you up for anything! How do you like them apples?

[cleochatra]

Re: Why are YOU here?

My initial motivation was that I was on the local Parks and Recreation board at 325 pounds. You had someone as big as a park telling the populace to get out and enjoy the local amenities, and here I looked like I'd eaten the local amenities!

I wish there was a real a-ha moment for me. My dad told me about Atkins back when I was 14 years old. He was in the Special Forces and had broken his back. He had to lose weight after the necessary bed rest, and his German doctor told him about Atkins. My dad did it, and he lost 80 pounds in 6 months. So, my whole family was an Atkins family back in the day! The plans have changed over time, but I've been an Atkins fan since 1984!

[Chris]

Re: Why are YOU here?

I'll pretty much go along with Julirama on the single most motivating factor. I was always tired and out of breath. Any kind of physical exertion was just too much -- even walking up one flight of stairs. I used to take the subway to work every day, and almost everyone -- except DC tourists -- walks up the escalators. I had to ride with the tourists, otherwise I couldn't breathe when I got to the top.

I think I had two "aha moments", but they happened at about the same time. I was doing a lot of business travel over a period of almost a year. I took lots and lots of pictures in the many places that I'd never been to, before. However, I took the pictures, so I wouldn't be in them. When I was in Naples, the Director of our office, there, her daughter. one other employee and I went to the Isle of Capri. While there, that other employee insisted on taking some photos of the rest of us -- me, included. When I saw them I was absolutely horrified! All I saw was this enormously fat, grey haired, old man. When did I become that person?! The second "moment" was on some of the planes, during that time. In order to put the seat tray down, I had to "suck in", and then wedge it between the seat in front and my belly, which was very embarassing!

[Adena]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) What is your single most motivating factor?
I have so much going for me in my life, yet sometimes it's hard to enjoy because I'm constantly thinking about my weight. It's not fair to my kids for them to be deprived of certain fun activites (like going to a water park) because mom is too fat to run around her her bathing suit all day. So, in a nutshell, my single motivating factor is that I want to be healthy (and strong and live a long time)... both for myself and for my children.
2) Describe that "ah-ha" moment that brought you to this WOL.
I had lost a little weight, and then regained. As I once again nearly tipped the scales at nearly 280, I knew 300 wasn't far behind. I just woke up and said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Not quite sure how or why I arrived on Dr. Atkin's doorstep specifically (wish I could say it was as thoughtful a route as 2big's), but I'm so glad I did.

[sadie147]

Re: Why are YOU here?

My biggest motivation is my health, thought it was not always that way. It was looks in the beginning, but as I get older I realize it's more important to stay on this woe, and maintain a 'healthy weight' in the long run, rather than constantly 'dieting' for looks.

I never had an a-ha moment before Atkins, I was constantly dieting, for about 10 yrs, a couple of stints with WW, low fat, low cal etc trying to drop 25/30 lbs. I just happened to read an article about it in the local paper (it was pr-atkins which is rare), I really knew nothing about it before that. It was just another 'diet' to me at the time..and I liked the foods it included so I gave it a shot. About 2 months in, in mid-OWL, I had my 'a-ha' moment where this became a WOE and not a diet. It occurred to me that I wasn't counting calories, and obsessing over low fat/fat free, like in the past, but more just eating a healthy diet, and losing weight. And I was never hungry!!!

[cathyjobob]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) What is your single most motivating factor?

Health is my single most motivating factor...first and foremost. I hope to decrease the effects of my PCOS...and be able to have a child with Tim...as well as, lessening the mood swings, depression, acne and horrible excessive hair growth that come with it.

...not ruling out all of the secondary reasons that are just as important.

Every time I go to a restaurant and don't fit in a booth (3 times so far)
Every time I break a toilet seat when I sit on it (3 of those so far too)
Every time I break a chair when I sit on it (this has happened twice)
Every time I have to shop in a specialty store for clothes (since I was 16)
Every time I am treated differently because of my weight (uncountable)...

It motivates me to change for the better.

2) Describe that "ah-ha" moment that brought you to this WOL

My ah-ha moment was when my doctor looked at me...after years of telling me I had to lose weight...and said,"You are pre-diabetic...if you continue eating the way you currently are you are going to become diabetic." In my line of work I have cared for people with diabetes and I have seen the ill effect it has on their lives...I refuse to allow myself to become a person with diabetes...because it is completely within my control to prevent it.

Thanks everyone for sharing your own personal stories...I see a thread of similarity between each of us and I'm sure we can all identify with one another. Keep up the good work y'all!

[G-Mom]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) What is your single most motivating factor?
I wish I could say "good health", but although I enjoy good health, it's not the single most motivating factor. Seeing myself looking like Jabba the Hutt in the mirror and feeling horrendous everyday was it. I was embarrassed wearing my size 3X maternity shirts well beyond the birth of my baby.

2) Describe that "ah-ha" moment that brought you to this WOL.
Actually it was when I saw my mother-in-law lose 30 lbs on Protein Power that got my ears perked. I tried Protein Power and found it way too difficult, so I went looking into Atkins (which I had heard of). I bought the book and got terribly excited. I knew it would be perfect for me because I felt like I could live without sugar but I could not live without fat and how it makes food taste so good.

[aquaryus]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) What is your single most motivating factor?
I never want to feel like I did when I weighed 425 lbs.

2) Describe that "ah-ha" moment that brought you to this WOL.
Like most others, low fat didn't do squat for me.

[jcapulet]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) What is your single most motivating factor?

I was just tired of being fat. I wasn't happy with my self-image, and I was tired of wearing clothes that kept feeling tighter and tighter.

2) Describe that "ah-ha" moment that brought you to this WOL.
I was horrified when I realized I had reached my highest weight EVER. I saw a web of ugly purple stretch marks on my belly and realized they were there because I was gaining quickly. I was ashamed of any photos I was in-last Halloween I was 185 and we took a quick web cam video and I thought OMG, my hips are HUGE. The thought of continuously gaining weight over the years was a wake up call for me.

I went on South Beach for a while...lost 10 pounds. Then I decided to try Atkins again (I did "atkins" a long while back, but the wrong way). I didn't know how it would go, and started out ok. Then I found ADBB and my life has changed for the better.

[k5commando]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) Fat sucks. I hated everything about being fat and the fear of gaining it back is exactly why I follow atkins and work out every day for the lat 2 1/2 years. I hated the way people looked at me, the things they say under their breath, the big clothes that never fit, getting winded walking up stairs, the non stop self hatred, the limitless excuses why I continued to binge on junk, and the low self image. That's no way to live.

2) My family went to a body exibit at the Denver museum and I got on a scale for the first time in easily 2 years. I tipped it at almost 270. One week later a friend visited who was close to the same weight and had started Atkins 6 months earlier, he was now 200 lbs and ripped. No more convincing was needed and I've never looked back.

[Chris]

Re: Why are YOU here?

1) Fat sucks. I hated everything about being fat and the fear of gaining it back is exactly why I follow atkins and work out every day for the lat 2 1/2 years. I hated the way people looked at me, the things they say under their breath, the big clothes that never fit, getting winded walking up stairs, the non stop self hatred, the limitless excuses why I continued to binge on junk, and the low self image. That's no way to live.

2) My family went to a body exibit at the Denver museum and I got on a scale for the first time in easily 2 years. I tipped it at almost 270. One week later a friend visited who was close to the same weight and had started Atkins 6 months earlier, he was now 200 lbs and ripped. No more convincing was needed and I've never looked back.

It has CERTAINLY paid off! Your before / after photos look a lot more like father / son photos! You literally took many years off your appearance.