I am fairly new to the board, but I want to first thank everyone for how welcome I have felt since joining. I was thinking today of my Ah-ha moment. The - this is the final straw...event that made the light bulb go off and you say "Enough is Enough! and I am no longer going to live this way"...Mine was two weeks ago (although a liftime of struggles and dissapointments living heavy)

I have struggled with my weight since I was a teenager. I've dealt with the looks, the "you have a pretty face" comments, the seat-belt extender..etc. for years, but none of that moved me enough to change my ways and put my foot down. My Ah-ha moment was simple. My five year old daughter told me that she loved mommy's bed (she likes to sleep in mine and DH's bed), "because it is so warm and soft because that is were I can always find mommy." I didn't realise how something so simple coming from a five year old could affect me so deeply. It was at that moment that I see how she viewed me - tired and depressed. She needs memories of me playing with her and being fun (not laying around too tired do do anything). I broked down in tears. I think DH though I'd lost my mind. He came home the next day and told me about someone he had worked with having the LB done and how successful they were. His comment was off hand, but I felt like God was giving me a path. I've tried all the diets, exercise programs - I loose, but am not able to maintain. This thread ended up longer than I thought...Did anyone else have a defining "Ah-Ha Moment"?

Your post made me tear up. Congratulations on your decision. This is the best site for support and information.

From the mouthes of Babes - maybe if I had children, I would have come to my conclusion much sooner.

Oh, just wait until she hugs you and her arms reach all the way around!!!!

When my 6 year old's did that we both jumped up and down. I don't know if she knew why we were jumping when we started but she knew by the time we were done and she now hugs me all the time with squeezes because she can!

That's a great A Ha moment. I don't know that I had one, I felt like there were many signs that lead me to lapbanding. I love yours though. Congratulations.

I didn't exactly have one either but I have a huge fear of my daughter remembering me as her "fat mommy". She's only 16 months and I am confident that I can change that idea in her head before she is ever old enough for it to last...

Mine also involved my daughter.....she and my best friend took me for coffee at Starbucks....and both of them, with tears in their eyes, said "We can't live without you.....and we're just worried about your health."

I had been apprehensive to bring it up with my husband because of the cost (self pay), but he immediately said, "It's only money...we'll make more." It is a big deal because I retired from my job two years ago and just working part time now....but we made it work.

My family and friends mean everything to me....and I want to enjoy them for a long, long time.

My Aha moment was taking a short 50 yard walk to my neighbors cabin at the lake. I wasn't even half way there and I was winded...my knee and both hips hurt so bad. A simple walk across flat ground. I knew at that point something had to be done and knew that I wanted a solution for a lifetime cuz I had tried everything else. I am happy I had that moment

My final straw moment happened to me when we were vacationing in Rocky Mountain National Park last summer. I was sitting there looking out at the beautiful mountains after a horrible hike thinking I was going to die. I spent a lot of time that trip watching instead of participating, so it was then that I decided something must be done. Came home and started researching the band again. Had looked at it the following summer but talked myself out of it. Soon got the ball rolling and had surgery Nov. 5th. I woke up in the recovery room with a picture of the mountains on the ceiling. It was my sign that this is what I needed to do!

My "aha" was when I was in Walmart parking lot with my sister-in-law. She had a new car and parked waaaaaaaaaay out in the lot away from other cars. My firwt thought when we got out was looking towards the door and wondering, "Gosh, I wonder if I can walk that far!" EGAD!!!!

Oh, I definately had that. I was at a theme park with my son, and I had to get off of the ride, because the bar wouldn't lock over my tummy. My son did the ride by himself, but I had to get off in front of everyone and walk back along the line. I'll never, ever forget that moment. I told my son that this summer we would go back and ride that ride 100 times if he wants to.

It was more an A-ha couple of months for me, where I realised I really had to do something.

It kind of hit me that I was 38, not 28, I was getting old, I felt like shite, my ankle hurt all the time and was NOT going to get better if I kept ignoring it and I was getting less and less active to boot. A couple of photos of me that I really truly looked at shocked me too. I knew that I'd hit a BMI of 35, 40 was only round the corner, and I was going to be one of those dowdy, dumpy middle aged women that I so feared becoming.

I feel about 18 now

Mine was a get-away weekend to the Smokies last fall. When we were first married we would walk up the 1/2 mile to Clingman's Dome without stopping. Last fall I had to stop about every 15 yards to rest and catch my breath. My weight was going to stop my ability to travel because I would not be able to walk far. Giving up that time with my husband and family was too much.

In May 2005 I hopped on the scale and it was 299. I drew my line in the sand and started up Weight Watchers again, determined to succeed. I lost 20 lbs and all was going well. And then I started to struggle, like always.

6 lbs up and it hit me.

It was going to be like every other time that I lost weight - sometimes very successfully! - and then gained it back + more. And this time I'd end up over 300 lbs. And the cycle would NEVER STOP unless I did something drastic and completely different to change it.

That was late July. I was banded on Aug 31st.

I pray to God I will never lose this band. I feel so much better even now, that if I did lose the band and started gaining again I'd try for another WLS to stop it. Even if I had to self pay and go into serious debt.

My (a ha) moment ...end of last year my friend and I went to Jamaica... #1 the seat belt barely fit and I was trying not to move for fear of it popping open!! & #2 the vacation pictures, YUCK!! January 2nd I started my research on the band...now getting it done on March 28th !!! :sneaky:

Edited March 26, 200818 yr by Scorpioqt

Last summer, I started my zillionth diet in conjunction with bike riding for exercise. Brushed the dust off my bike, got myself seated ok, but got terribly short of breath just riding the bike down the driveway, and fell smack dab into my neighbors rosebushes. Even worse, I COULDN'T GET UP!!!! My DH was with me, and at first, even he couldn't lift me up!!!! I was bleeding from head to toe with thorns stuck in my arms and legs, crying from shame and embarasment, short of breath, and 58 years old.

I realized then and there that I couldn't do it on my own

any more. :sneaky: (AHA MOMENT)

I went through the necessary pretests, took out a loan, and got banded Dec 21 (self pay). Although I have only lost 15 pounds, I was able to half my blood pressure medicines, and rode my bike last week for the first time since "the rose bush" incident. (I rode 10 miles(!!!) and did remember to steer clear of the damn roses):tt2:

I am soo happy that I found this post!

While I should have had my 'Ah-Ha' moment a million times over, the one moment that truly made me put this whole thing into motion was because of something my five year old son said. I was in my room, laying on the bed wathcing tv like I usually am, and my pride and joy, comes in and said something that broke my heart. He says, "You know, if you wanna lose weight all ya gotta do is exercise".... I immediately went into defense mode forgetting his age and innocence and screamed at him, "Who told you to tell me that?!?". I truly believed that he could not have just come up with that on his own. He just looked at me shocked with his big blue eyes and replied "Noone, Mommy". It took me weeks of family interrogations to realize that noone had set him up to tell me that. He was just telling me what he believed the solution to be. I thank God everyday for that five years olds honesty and how in that moment he changed everything. I cannot wait to start actually living our lives together. My goal is to be comfortable enough with myself to bring him to the beach to swim in the ocean that he has never even seen, and play in the sand. It took the aftermath of that moment to realize that not only was I NOT living life to it's fullest, but neither was he at no fault of his own.

Well, my ah-ha moment is not a poignant one, but a practical problem. I hope this isn’t TMI, but my moment was when I had to figure out a new way to wipe my behind because I could no longer reach. :sneaky: I was appalled that I couldn’t normally perform a function that was necessary to everyday life.

I immediately thought about some of the folks on Big Medicine who are bedridden and totally dependant on another person to take care of them. I realized then and there that I was heading in their same direction, even though it was far down the road, I was heading straight for it. I decided to get while the getting was good.