Readers Respond: What Motivated You to Change Your Diet?

Responses: 25

Updated November 18, 2009

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I went in for a physical and I weighed 246lbs. The gown they had laid out for me was huge. The gown started it, my blood pressure and triglycerides kept it going, my mom having a hip replacement with too much weight on her and stuggling with physical therapy, and a healthier me. Today, I am 94lbs lighter and happier.
—Guest andersonamy56

I was overweight my whole life but it was after having my daughter 3 years ago that I knew I needed to change. I was weighing in at 200 lbs, the biggest I have ever been, and for the first time it was affecting more than just my self esteem, but my health and my livelihood as well. I developed a sciatic problem that required physical therapy. That is where the realization came, at those phys. therapy sessions I was put in front of a mirror (literally) and I could barely complete the repetitions of the exercises I was given, and these were basic movements. It was a very sad experience but also a very enlightening one. I was only 24, and I felt old and tired. So I decided right then and there, my children, and future children, needed me! They deserved to have a healthy and active mother. I needed to be the example in their lives that I never had in mine. So I got excited, I got educated, and I got to it. I am now 27, 5'5",127lbs, and I had another baby last year. If I did it, anyone can!
—Guest Tessa LaPay

Was overweight and then had surgery for thyroid cancer. Huge wake up call. Getting regulated to synthetic thyroid not easy so I started swimming 3 days a week and joined Weight Watchers. Have lost 25 lbs so far it feels so good, I want to keep going for the sake of my joints (knees!).
—Guest Phyllis

The best thing that happened to me was being diagnosed with high cholesterol around age 40. Since I come from a long line of cardio-vascularly challenged people, it was the quintessential wake-up call. I started reading, and making better dietary and exercise choices as a result.
—Guest Francine

It used to be that I could tell my weight by adding 100 to my age (no fooling). At 16 I was 116, at 45 I was 145, etc. Well either I turned 90 or that formula stopped working. So to get down to my fighting weight (165 - 170 seems to work) I changed my eating habits. That's all. Actually I don't care WHAT I weigh as long as it looks good on me. 190 did not. I watched what was in the food I was eating and came to the conclusion that nothing good comes in a package. I moved calories from sugars to protein whenever possible. So now, mostly I buy fresh. On the other hand, I feel that if I get my nine everyday, I can eat whatever I want. Trouble is after nine servings of fruits and vegetables, I don't WANT to eat more. I have my wife reading the packages too and her comment was 'Holy Crap! How can they SELL some of this stuff. It should be illegal.' Read, read read!!!
—aik184

For my whole life, I ate what I wanted, when I wanted it, and as much as I wanted. Being blessed with a hyperactive metabolism, I got away with it, for a while. After I turned 50, the waistline started growing and the cholesterol started rising. I would kid myself by eating a salad for lunch and saying I am eating healthier ... only to pig out on a double cheeseburger later in the day. Then came the night I passed out from the abdominal pain. A trip to the ER and an MRI told me that the price of ignoring my diet was a case of diverticulitis. Never heard of it before. What I read about it caused me to take my diet seriously. Then came the wading through the myriad of nutritional information out there. Having ignored this all my life, I had no idea what was fact and what was speculation. Then I found Shereen, and her common sense, easy to understand and follow recommendations. Twenty five pounds later, my clothes fit again, I feel great, and the cholesterol is 175! Thanks!
—Guest Lloyd K.

The title says it all. I saw a picture of myself and I looked just like my father. It so freaked me out that I joined weight watchers. 22 pounds down and counting!
—Guest London lady

As a nutrition major in college, it fascinates people why at age 20 I am so concerned about my health, because conventional wisdom is that when you are young you can eat whatever you want. My maternal grandfather had Type 2 diabetes a while back and my family's diet had a complete makeover - less meat, brown rice, more raw vegetables, fruit juice every morning, etc. Then my granddad fainted one day because he had such low protein levels, and he went back to eating meat. I was confused. Since then, I have been very cautious about what I eat and I read all my nutrition labels. Later I learned that I have a family history of high cholesterol on both sides of the family, which further motivated this. I still have the sweet tooth I've always had, but I know enough about food that reading ingredients can be a strong deterrent against eating junk. I believe in eating for nourishment, not necessarily indulgence.
—Guest Daniel Ting

I have always struggled with my weight. I was diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago, lost 90 pounds, and got it under control. But, I was miserable and hungry all the time. I developed a rather fatalistic attitude about it and thought I would rather not be miserable and die sooner than be miserable and live longer. I gained back about 60 pounds of the weight I'd lost. When my HBA1C was over 8 ON MEDS, warning bells went off. But, I was still not willing to make a big change. Then I went to the eye doctor and found out that despite my extreme myopia, my eyes were very healthy and the diabetes had not affected them. I felt this was a sign to me to get off my duff, start eating right and exercising. I also found a weightloss plan I could live with. It is Travis Martin's Thrive! and is definitely a lifestyle change, not a diet. Since I have been participating in the program, I feel so much better and I'm losing weight slowly but surely. So glad to have a plan that works for me!
—Guest Connie G.

I was a little overweight as a child and as an adult, but I was never obese. When I was pregnant with my first child, I gained 45 pounds! About one month after she was born I looked at my body in the mirror and realized that this was the moment when I would choose to work hard to lose the weight or just 'let go' and spend the rest of my life as an overweight unhealthy mom. I made the decision to eat healthy, do aerobics (with VCR tapes) while my daughter was napping and within six months I not only lost all the baby weight, I actually weighed ten pounds less than my pre-baby weight. That was 15 years ago and I still eat right and my health is perfect. Plus most people think I am much younger than my real age.
—Kay

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