Hmm... Well, the straw for me also happened in the washroom, but not on the commode, lol. It actually happened in the bathtub while I was dunking my head. I was so fat that the water didn't have enough room to get under my back, and it STUCK TO THE TUB! By the time I was able to twist around enough to get free, I had a bruise the size of a small plate forming on my lower back. That was when I (figuratively) threw my hands up and said, "That's it."

Oh Veggie & gang, I have experienced many of the things you have described. My stars, the shadow thing is SO upsetting, isn't it?! lol Well, we will all be able to chalk it up to past tense, right? We can do it! *hugs

The major factors that have put a sustainable fire under me are:

1. Ramping up my business and receiving requests for video, newspaper (with photo) and tv interviews

2. My book release this Summer that will also generate the same media attention as above

3. Meeting with clients real-time in an office besides online
and

4. Performing a bellydance routine this Summer NOT being a fatty-bo-batty

All good things that have given me the inspiration to practice a fair amount of will power without pangs. I am also working my butt off in bellydance and aerobic bellydance class.

My weight had been going up and down with health issues and pregnancies for years but I think Valentine's Day was my kicker to really stop playing around. My hubby bought me a box of chocolate truffles and I finished it off in 2-3 days and put back on the few pounds I had lost the previous few weeks. My acid reflux really started to flare-up also and I just had a epiphany that the docs were right. This is hurting me not only with acid reflux but I have had gestational diabetes twice and one day I may very well become diabetic but IT WILL happen if I don't get real and do what's healthy for me. It's a fact that I had been denying, putting it off, taking for granted there was time. There might be time but if I am gonna spend it eating junk, it's gonna run out fast. So there you have it...Plain and simple. I am fighting to keep my health. One more thing, I recently found some relief for my arthritis and I feel indebted to repay that blessing my doing my best towards my health. If not now, while I can, when will I ever get past this 50 lbs?

Saw spirit of the marathon and a man in his 60s was running. It was like jesus I am 23, I can do it.

I got tired of never finding reasonably priced clothes and having to pay that "$2 extra for extended sizes"

Well, I am totally new here and this is my very first post! Wheee!

I've always been a bigger girl since I was a little kid (got teased tons in elementary school) but am also really active and enjoy things like camping, hiking, climbing, etc. I had a really intense past couple of years, split from my wife (lost 50-60lbs) in a very MESSY break up, started dating a new woman who has a son, got a temp. job because I couldn't find full time work with my recreation degree, so now I sit in a cubicle 24/7 and over the holidays I've put back on the 50-60lbs I HAD lost. It was the thinnest I'd ever been as an adult and I felt so sexy and happy with myself that now I'm back into all this weight I'm totally frustrated with it. It's amazing what simple stress can do to our bodies!

I'm also battling a lot of depression these days and I feel like focusing on myself is a good way to start taking over the war. So here I am! I guess in a nutshell my STRAW is therapy and exhaustion after doing things I used to be able to do quite easily!

The last straw was realizing I needed new clothes (I rarely shop) and staring at myself in the cruel cruel cruel 3 way mirrors. Nothing cute fit right and the stuff that did made me look matronly.

my last straw.... seeing christmas pictures and going -- that is NOT me. !!

I got my picture taken with Voltaire... and thought I looked exactly like one of my aunts, just shorter. Here was the coolest random photo I have, and I honestly couldn't recognize myself. I looked at that photo and said wait... wait... it wasn't supposed to be like this. Then I needed a seat belt extension on the plane. Ahahah. No. Will not be doing that again. Ever.

So, I sent in a password request for 3FC and back I am. Announcer Voice: This time, it's personal. I swear when I get to my goal, my reward will be tickets to an awesome con to get a new random picture of amazingness. And a sexy body. That will be a pretty sweet reward.

It was a cumulation of stuff for me but I think what did it was seeing the scale tip 3lbs over my highest weight. That and realizing all the "loose" clothes in my wardrobe were now all too tight and I couldn't fit into anything in a normal store anymore. I was like, "If I don't change something I'm only going to get bigger." I knew then that the weight problem wasn't going to fix itself.

Two things..

1.) I was trying things on in a Victorias Secret dressing room and their lights shine from the floor up.. and make your flaws stand out 10x worse than they would otherwise. I was MORTIFIED.

2.) I decided I want to join the Marines. I have about 60 lbs to lose before I can even attempt to join and then I have to meet physical requirements.

I have decided to start this journey because I feel awful all the time. I am so out of shape, and can't do what I want to in life because I am so lethargic and out of it all the time.

Joining the Marines?? How freaking inspiring!! You are amazing and you will do it.

Even after losing weight I don't think I'm tough enough for the Marines, so I envy you big time!

Thank you! I'm so impatient though, I wish I could fast forward time to about a year from now. Slowly but surely it'll happen.

My last straw was in Feb.. I decided to buy and exercise bike. I really hate trying to put things together but my husband was out of town and I didn't want to wait. I spent a very LONG day trying to asemble it, about 6 hours, of asembling and taking apart and reasembling. When I was just about done I noticed a sticker on the body of the bike it said " WEIGHT LIMIT 250LBS DO NOT EXCEED MAY DAMAGE BIKE". My weight at the time was 275! It felt like a slap in the face and a kick in the gut at the same time. All I could do was sit and cry and think I to fat to even excerise. After a few weeks I said to myself "screw the bike, this isn't going to stop me". So I joined a gym! and I love it.!