Weight Loss Support - So what was "it" for you?

When or why did you decide to take control of your weight?

I was a cute little 140 pound high schooler but that changed when I met my future husband. His fast food and no veggie lifestyle had a huge impact on me, and I gained about 20 pounds from the get go. He never minded, and continued to buy me candy and tell me how beautiful I was. Over the next eight years I've been gaining steadily, up to the 225 I am now. Eek! But last summer I went on a trip with friends and we wanted to take one of those black and white old timey photos. I was excited until I realized the only costume that fit me was the old, frumpy looking outfit. I was so sad because I had always wanted to take one of those sexy, saloon girl shots and I couldn't even fit into the modest costumes!! For then on I was always trying to watch what I ate and I was constantly failing. Now I'm on WW and this is my time to shine!!!!

So what did it for you? When did you decide to take it on?

My "it" was the day I woke up and realized just how much I was wasting on junk food and soda. Money, time and energy. I'd had enough, I decided, and was going to curb those cravings to where they became non-existent. I also decided that I was going to lose the spare tire hanging around my waist that I not so lovingly dubbed my "baby gut". Because of the way my body is designed, any extra weight causes my stomach to jut out and makes me look like I'm 7 months pregnant. It also makes my thighs rub together and makes my butt stick out, which makes it hard for me to find clothes.

It's my life, gosh darn it... I'm going to change it around so I can actually enjoy it for a change!

Hi Bookla! This is a great question. I have lost and gained weight ever since I can remember. In fact, I always marvel at people who stay the same, regardless of whether or not they're overweight or not! I just have always fluctuated a lot.

In September, I went to see a Homeopath about my chronic daily migraines (I still have those, by the way) and when I started to tell her about my weight gain (she didn't even ask me) and I told her all of my excuses (which are pretty good, by the way....a son with special needs, chronic migraines, etc.), something in my head told me that sure, I have those problems, but being that heavy doesn't solve them one bit. I left that office and I was determined to lose weight. Since then, I've lost almost 50 lbs.! Do I struggle? Of course....I have a food addiction, but I haven't had a binge since Halloween of 2009. Things have gotten a lot easier and I'm very excited. There have been plenty of humiliating situations along the way, but for some reason, when I sat there and told this woman why I was fat, it just kind of made me realize that I need to change that fact. :)

Hey Bookla! :wel3fc:

Well, for me it was when I had to buy larger size clothing for my mother's memorial gathering. I found something that fit and looked OK, but I felt terrible in it because I was so large. I think I was the largest person in my family at the gathering.

After that, I also took a good look at myself naked in a full-length mirror. :eek:

I have to say, I find your avatar just a bit disturbing, though. I am not an animal about to be cut up and eaten, and I don't think you are, either?... Just sayin'.

Jay

My "it" moment was when I went to buy clothes for a new job. I'd been off of work for quite a while due a major surgery, and over the long recovery process I packed on almost 100 lbs. I couldn't find any clothes in any stores that fit and I liked.

On a side note, I like your avatar! But I wouldn't eat a cow, just like I wouldn't eat JayEll, so I may be the minority. :D

I actually hid from a co-worker, because I didn't want her to see how much bigger I had gotten from the last time she had seen me; and she was a tiny, fit, very attractive person.

I wonder what brings other people here, too. So great question, Bookla!

For me it's the fact that I turn 21 and I'm in my last year of undergrad (I graduate in December). For so long I've been unhappy with my weight and I've seen what's it's done to my mom, who ended up getting lap band, and I don't want it to come to that. Most of my weight gain has been pretty recently; I've gained about 30 lbs in the past year or so when I had nowhere to put it. I already could have stood to lose 20 pounds or so and then I added all of this excess fat. I just don't want to look back at pics from now and wonder what was I thinking and how did I let myself get like that? Also if I don't do it now my weight will just keep going up and up and up...

Sorry, now that I read back at that it doesn't read well and is kind of random, but I guess that's how I feel about all of it. Kind of scattered but have a multitude of reasons.

First off... I love those pics. That would kill me too! Good for you for committing. I lost 35lbs on weight watchers 7 years ago and never felt like I was dieting.

The two things for me where the fact that no matter how much I stretched them or denied it... I just could not fit into my jeans anymore. I looked like a stuffed sausage for a while but when you have a couple hundred dollar jeans... its not easy to just buy new ones. So I bought my pair of "fat pants" and I didn't even fit into a reg size... that was it!! I was over it. I went from 135 to 175 in 1 year after quitting smoking and eating what ever.

The other thing is my blood pressure went up. I have always been healthy. That scared me. I didn't want to be that person on millions of meds and scaring off diabetes. So I started losing.

Hi, Bookla :) My "it" moment didn't actually happen as a moment. I was browsing biographies in the bookstore and a book literally fell into my hands. It was like someone was telling me that I was fat and needed to lose weight.

The book was called The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl. After I caught it and read the back cover, I was intrigued and decided to read it. By the time I finished [in one night, I was hooked] I felt like I was reading about myself and I was so disgusted in myself for letting myself go. Then the next morning I weighed myself. Seen the number and promptly puked.

So here I am, day 3 and following Weight Watchers.

I'd always been fat; ever since I can remember, I've been shopping in the big girls' section (or, like my granny called it, the husky girls' section). Eating was an emotional high that I couldn't get (or rather, I didn't feel that I could get) from my family. I was about 93kg when I got married 7 years ago. I was 100kg at my sister's wedding 3 years ago.

I want to stun and shock my family when I go home in November because no matter how much I said I was going to lose weight ("this is my year to do it"), the answer was always a "Great! But you've said that before". I want to feel healthier and look healthier. I want to look at size 10s and 12s, not 16s and 18s. I want to run 3 miles. I want to set a good example for my kids (when I have them), my nieces and my nephews to stay healthy. I want to see the proud look on DH's and my sister's faces when I finish losing it all. I want to challenge myself to step outside my comfort zone when it comes to food. Most importantly, I want to feel like a woman and not some asexual blob.

So, what motivated me to get off my lazy butt and start? I was sick of buying in the plus sizes and getting depressed when I had to go bra shopping (small boobs, large back). I decided that it would come off and promised myself that no matter how hard it was sometimes, that no matter how much food people ate in front of me, no matter how much I wanted ten full slices of New York cheesecake, I would take control of my food and not let the food take control of me.

For me, it was being told if I don't bring my diabetes under control, I'm looking at a future of dialysis.

when i was to start a diet and instead gained 2 stone in 5months and developed streach marks on my tummy...........that was IT .

For me it was when my 4 year old told me I could not play hind and seek with her because there was no where for me to hide besides behind the couch...

I've always struggled with my weight. Since I went past the size 18 pant size, I haven't been able to find clothes that fit and looked good, even at Walmart!! Sometimes I can find a nice shirt. But it was rare that I could find pants. I currently have ONE pair of jeans I can wear that fit....and this time last year, when they were given to me, they didn't fit. They were too big. Now they're snug :(

A week and a half ago, I was at my friends place. I went to the bathroom and noticed she had her digital scale by the tub. So, curious, I stepped on it.....295lbs!!! OMG!!! I couldn't believe it. I thought I was still around 275! Not that that is much better, but I just didn't realize how much I gained in such a short amount of time. So I joined Weight Watchers and attended my first meeting that night. I lost 3lbs in my first week. I'm into my second week now and I'm hoping and praying that by adding an alternating yoga and pilates routine, I can at least double that weight loss this week. I'll be weighing in on Wednesday, and I can't wait to see how I do!

I'm kind of trying to just change my lifestyle, and losing weight just so happened to be part of that. I'm only 17, but this past year I've gotten a bad reputation(that I deserve though) for sleeping with a lot of guys, drinking a lot, smoking, and cutting class. This October I dropped out of school, and I was just thinking about where my life was headed. I decided I wanted to change, but didn't know how. I started in steps, first I lost all of my old friends because they were bad influences, then that led to a huge decrease in my partying, which led to a big decrease in sleeping with random guys, which led to me oddly feeling bad about myself. I realized though that I just wanted to be wanted, but I didn't even feel worthy of a relationship which is why I was so keen on one night stands. So, now I'm losing weight so I can have more confidence and feel worthy.

It's kinda hard, but it's working because I already feel a lot better about myself.

There are several things that happened that I would consider the "it" time.

* One of my students told me I looked pregnant
* My sister is getting married in May and I am the biggest brides maid and will be the maid of honor
* Only one pair of jeans fit
* We took family photos and I got a good up close look at myself
* Simple tasks like tying my shoes became not so simple.

I found some pictures of myself from a few years ago after my first successful weight loss.. it made me so mad how I had gotten to that point, but just let myself go.

This was a great question.

Mine really stems back... I've always felt uncomfortable about my weight and size, but as my two best friends were much bigger than me, I didn't see a reason to change really. Sure, I'm kind of big... but I could be worse!

Then I met my current boyfriend... online. We talked a lot, particularly through the phone, and he knew that I was quite short, but he didn't know about my weight. He joked and teased that I was probably under 100lbs and could be thrown or tossed around. I didn't have the heart to say he was far off, though I eventually had to share some photos with him.

It was that insecurity that he made me feel that forced me to get out there and work my butt off. I hiked every day that summer, and I have no idea how much I lost, but I know I was down to 140 at one point and my body was starting to look nice. Soon after, he hopped on a plane and came to see him. To my relief, I was accepted.

After that, I stopped. He accepted me, so I didn't need to continue.

Time passed, we moved in together, and I became depressed. We both laid in bed all day because the house is so small (my father lives here too) and one of the rooms was too occupied with junk to use. And my pants... were shrinking. I had to dance to get into them and suck in my gut to button them, and holy cow were they uncomfortable! That depressed me even worse, so as soon as I'd get home from school, I'd change into pajamas.

Then somehow, searching the internet I came across a site with before and after pictures. Legitimate before and after pictures. Oh my god! I had no idea that someone could actually *gasp* lose weight! Not only lose weight, but that they looked so good after doing it! Up to that point in my life, I guess I figured it was simply impossible. Seeing other people's success stories was enough to push me off my butt and get out there and shape up.

My "it" happened December 2008. I went into the hospital to have an ovarian cystectomy, which at the time was intended to be out-patient. I was supposed to go home that day. I was 341 lbs, making me a high risk surgery. So because of that I had tons of complications during the surgery that resulted in me actually being opened up. The kicker is that during that time, my heart rate dropped to 30 BPM. So the surgery had to be stopped so they could take care of my heart rate.

I was stunned when I heard about all this. At 30 years old, to almost die on the table because of symptoms that were preventable gave me the atomic smack in the face I needed. I thought I was untouchable because I was young. Age is NOT on your side in that case.

I'm still embarrassed that it took something that severe to wake me up. But I still have lots of good years left. It's not too late. Weight will not ruin my life again. :)

When I realized that "playing" with my toddler involved me sliding off the couch to the living room floor and trying to get her to run around me or go fetch toys to play with.

A couple of years ago I began a boring desk job, and was so bored, I did a lot of diet research. I was concerned about what all that sitting would do for my health. Weight loss was totally unsuccessful, but I learned a LOT.

This summer, I resumed running with a vigor like never before. I just enjoyed it and did it daily. I got my bike from my parents and started biking to work from time to time. I didn't even realise I'd lost weight until a friend mentionned it, so I matched it by controlling my diet and lost 15 pounds in total.

Come cold weather, I stopped, and packed on 10 pounds due to stress eating. I caught myself and am getting myself back on track. I have better winter fitness tools, this time.

When I first started to put on a few pounds, I would mention it to people and they'd roll their eyes, as if I were being ridiculous. But lately when I have expressed frustration with my weight, I would get silent agreement, and that was the first sign that I had to do something. My second wakeup call came when I was going through some old clothes in my closet to give away, and was shocked at how clothes that used to fit me just a couple of years ago are now hopelessly small. I've never lost weight before, only gained, so it felt like something that only other people seem to be able to do. But then I found this site and looked at the success stories, I was galvanized into action. I wanted to be that smiling, happy person wearing clothes from my closet I thought were "hopelessly small".

Mines was NYE. I went over to my friends house to celebrate...and the pictures that were tagged on FB, were not flattering. It was pretty much a "slap-to-face" wake up call. All i could think of of was my impending triple chin and how freaking unhealthy i looked.

On Jan 3rd...i decided that it was time i "undid" all of this...it might take all of 2010 and maybe even 2011...but I am determined to do this for myself.

i got so tired of looking at pictures of myself. when i was in high school i knew i wasnt thin or anything like that, but i felt pretty and i was confident in myself. than this semester it all changed. one day my boyfriend looked at me completely heartbroken and said- i hate the way you see yourself- and i realized i did too. and its been all uphill from there!

actually tonight is a big milestone. about 20 minutes ago i was videochatting with a friend of mine when i looked at myself and thought- i feel really pretty tonight! and then i looked again and *GASP!!!* MY DOUBLE CHINS GONE! ah i feel sososososos good i wanted to log on here right away and write it down!

i didnt realize working my butt off and not eating the food i used to love could feel so good!

for me it was around my birthday. my mother, grandmother, and i all have birthdays within weeks of each other and are 20 years apart. on my b-day i like to reflect on where i was last year, 5 yrs ago, and 10. then i think about the future. and i said to myself " i don't want to be this unhealthy when i'm my mother or g-ma's age. i want to be active and be able to go backpacking when i'm their ages- so i'm changing now.

I have to say, I find your avatar just a bit disturbing, though. I am not an animal about to be cut up and eaten, and I don't think you are, either?... Just sayin'.

Jay

This icon appeals to me for several reasons, actually. It's an artistic representation of the idea of men treating women like a peice of meat. As a young woman with feminist ideals, I find it intriguing. Food for thought. I also like it becasue I love human anatomy and it's interesting to think of a human being broken down into peices like an animal. Again, food for thought. But I have a million of these little pictures, so I'll probably be changing the icon a lot. When I get bored of this one, I'll pick a new one!

My day was when I pulled out the scale after my pants were too tight and this is pretty much the heaviest Ive ever been. I then looked in the mirror and saw that I have gained weight and u can really see it in my chipmunk cheeks, my stomache, and my butt lol I know tmi anywho... that day I lost all self confidence and self esteem and I decided it was time to drop some pounds so thats what Im doing. I know that is the only thing that is going to make me happy and make me feel good about myself.

For me, it was when I went to my younger cousin's 21st birthday party (I am only 24). I was with my MUCH older boyfriend (37) and I noticed him checking out all the younger, much smaller girls. I felt incredibly frumpy and uncomfortable. I mentioned to him how I wanted to look like that again. He rolled his eyes and said "welcome to the world of not looking the way you did when you were 18." I was in shock, that was only 6 years ago and I can look like that again. I will.

My get off your butt moment happened when I found out I was going to be an aunt. I did not want to be the boring fat aunt.

I have lost about 35lbs. I think the main contributer to that was I stopped eating out! I gave my self a limit I was only able to eat out 2 times a week. I also started going to the gym.

I had no "it" moment. I've been having "it" moments daily since delivering a beautiful baby boy nine years ago. My weight spiraled out of control for seemingly no reason after that packing on 70 lbs that first year. I finally discovered I had PCOS and have now been dealing with how best to fight my body. Hopefully I've finally figured it out! :carrot:

Of course apparently "figuring it out" meant learning the phrase "calories in vs. calories out". Now I kick myself daily for not learning THAT a bit sooner...like in kindgergarten! :tantrum: Darn fad diets.

Last January I had to bump up from Misses sizes to Women's in order to find pants that fit me. I knew I was gaining weight, but somehow that still came as a shock to me. I was two months shy of turning 40 and thought if I had gained all this weight in my 30's, how much more was I going to gain in my 40's? That was my 'it' moment. I couldn't bear the thought of turning 40 weighing as much as I did and didn't want to go through another decade of life just getting bigger and bigger. That was my real motivation to start losing the weight.

My biggest it moment was being so disgusted with how I looked in my own wedding pictures that I actually tore some of them up and wouldn't show them to anyone or let my husband post them online. I was shocked and distressed because I didn't see myself as that big looking in the mirror that day (which I did plenty of to soak in the happiness) but pictures don't lie. Once the emotional high of getting married was gone, all I saw was fat peeking out of a dress I vaguely recall being much tighter than when I tried it on at the store.

Worst day of my life!

for me it was little things that have been adding up for some time. My husbands attitude toward me. my 2 yo daughter innocently drawing pictures of her family and drawing me as a BIG circle and daddy as a stick man and herself as a tiny insect. I know she doesn't mean it hurtfully because she adores me, but I did take up half the page! The final straw I think was seeing a Discovery Health show about morbidly obese who needed gastic bypass surgery and they were too fat for it. They taped one surgery and the man was so massive that his fat had swallowed up all his organs and they couldn't find his colon so they had to figure out another way to make it work. Then watching that fat teenager whine and cry about how he could lose weight at home if they'd just let him go home was like watching a junkie say he could stop the drugs if they'd just put him back on the street. I saw a little of my own stubbornness in him and I didn't like it. Then realizing how much money I've spent on junk food. Watching the Biggest Loser last week and seeing Bob Harper put on the weight the guy who weighed 430lbs made a huge impression on me too. It's painful to carry around this much weight, my joints, hips and knees are always hurting. It's not easy to do anything and I'm sick of it. After watching that surgery I honestly saw that tower of fat they held up while they were doing it every time I thought about eating and it has literally killed any appetite I had. I've been very careful about what I've put into my mouth since.

My it moment was health related. My hair started falling out and I had a bunch of other problems. I turned out I had developed a multitude of food allergies. Due to the damage teh allergies caused I became sick all the time. I decided I needed to get healthy in order tho combat the other problems with me!!

Contemplating possible unemployment, I wasn't too worried until I found out the health insurance premium for a morbidly obese person my age. My actual health would NOT be taken into account, just the BMI. Got my attention!

Basically once I realized I was worth it, I deserved to be happy and healthy just as much as anyone else does, and realizing that being fat SUCKED and losing weight SUCKED and I just had to pick which one I preferred. Then pretty soon I realized losing weight doesn't suck at all, it's awesome.