So so true....I should never forget how these things feel/felt -

- airplane fears - seat belts fitting and my fat spilling over to another person's seat

- feeling shame at certain times at different functions

- not knowing if a seat belt in a friend's car will fit over me

- having to ask for help doing simple things

- stomach aches, bloating, indigestion

- worry if a chair will break if I sit in it

- not being able to get up and down from the floor

- will I fit into a movie seat - having to slide in sideways

- worrying that I would have a heart attack because of my high blood work numbers

- never looking in the mirror below my face

- to have stranger tell me I am fat right to my face

- sneak eating and hiding wrappers of food I didn't want any one know about

- grazing on food from morning to night

- to 'hide' or stand 'sideways ' in a photograph

- spending extra money on weight related illnesses

and more...

Airplane experiences....both seatbelt extenders and tiny restrooms
Acid reflux, and waking in a panic
Huffing and puffing after only a few stairs
Not fitting into restaurant booths
Not being able to use certain exercise equipment (250 lb limit!!!)
Needing to be a contortionist for certain hygiene moments. (TMI?)
avoiding cameras like the plague
and on..........

OMG, I'm so w/ you on that one!!! I talked to guys online, just on a friendship basis, and I was scared to meet them b/c I thought they would stop talking to me. I even waited once until I knew this guy that I had been VERY close w/ had a girlfriend and then I met him and his mom. We had a great time that night, or so I thought, but he never called me again. :(

I was in Florida last summer for a bachelorette weekend and we got kicked out of a bar for telling the band's groupee that we didn't appreciate her pulling down her pants and showing us her pink thong. The next night we all decided to get pink thongs and wear them out, as an inside joke. We had to drive 15 miles out of our way to go to Avenue so I could find a thong in my size. :(

Ugh...I do that, too!!! I can act like it's b/c of my height (I'm not overly tall, but I have a lot of short friends) but really I'm hiding my body.

I'll also never forget sitting on the ends of rows when possible b/c I hated having to squeeze in front of people to get to my seat, wondering if I would fit, and hoping my butt didn't hit the people in front of me's heads.

I never want to forget:

How I did not recognize myself in a picture. :( I didn't really see myself as being that big until that picture.
What a very tight size 24 looked and felt like.
How bad my feet used to hurt. I used to go home from work crying because of the pain.
How out of shape I was.
How sad I was.
What I put my body through eating all of the junk.
How much I hated myself.
How insecure I felt.
The disgust, sadness, and embarrassment of seeing the scale say 271. I'm still not to the point where I can willing say what I weigh to people.

Thanks so much for starting this thread. These are inspiring me to recommit to my goals.

Something else I'll never forget is the comments you sometimes get when walking into the mall or stores from young guys who think they are funny. I had one group of boys walk by one day and one of them actually OINKED at me. I mean, seriously??? Who DOES that to people!?!?!? I was absolutely mortified b/c I was w/ my mom...I just acted like I didn't hear it. I just wanted to cry.

I don't remember much about my fat life, but I remember being out with a friend one night, thinking I looked pretty good. I walked past a night club with a sort of mirrored outside wall and I remember catching a glance of my reflection and thinking "God that woman's fat" before realising it was me!

The same night I was chatting to a guy and I said something like "and you've even had a nice girl come up and talk to you" and he looked at me and said "Who's that then!" and I said "Me, of course" and he just LOOKED me up and down as if to say "Are you stupid or what?"

This breaks my heart. :(

That you for posting this. This thread has been totally inspiring and I have already added to the sticky of must read threads!

There are a lot of good posts here and so many comments ring true. A few off the top of my head.

- Fear of white plastic chairs (they still make me nervous even though I know they shouldn't)
- Fear of restaurant booths (which I now love)
- Fear of meeting anyone because of what they would think of me
- Hating myself and thinking I was worthless because of my weight
- Hoping to have no one sit next to me on an airplane
- Carrying a seat belt extender with me whenever I flew
- Hiking up a mountain with my husband and having to stop multiple times
- Wearing the largest size available in the plus size store and thinking that I'd soon not be able to wear anything
- Falling down the stairs and barely being able to walk and thinking that if I didn't do something, I could become immobile at some point
- Lying down on the bed to put on my jeans, hoping that I could zip them up

Wow......it was hard to come & read this post because in ways I'd like to forget.

-the "well meaning" family members teasing me, calling me Tafatty

-having my oldest (who was 6 at the time & is on the autism spectrum) come home crying from school because the kids on the bus called me a fat a$$ & was singing it....he wanted to defend me but cried instead.

-coming up with excuses to not play with my kids

-being embarrassed to go to any of my husband's company functions (he's a vp so it's mandatory)

-getting into a airplane seat and barely fitting with a seatbelt but having my thighs spill out into the other seats

-having a chair break on you in a crowded restaurant & have people look at you in disgust.

I am so very thankful I'm not that person anymore & not a day goes by that I take my new body for granted. I don't care how much work it is!

I can't believe how inspiring this thread is. It brings up the things I often find myself in denial about. Great stuff people.(and some sad, good thing there is a place to express it!)

I have added comments in red. ;)

This thread is great ;) I honestly thought I wanted to forget all about my obesity but now I understand how I really never should truly forget.

I will never forget:

Sitting in a bumper car ride in front of a huge line up and having to be told I was too big to ride. I had to walk away in shame

The excruciating back pain from my herniated disks and spine deformities (its tolerable now)

Having severe heart palpitations every day and having the fear of feeling my heart stop in my chest

sitting on the side lines while my husband and children had fun

hating myself and feeling like a nobody, being treated like a nobody

feeling weak and helpless

having to wear ugly plus sized floral patterned clothes because none of the trendy things fit me

Sweating so bad, especially my face. I couldn't wear make up and social situations were so embarrassing :o

I will never forget how the nasty bullies and the b****y comments made me feel. And I promise that I will never make someone else feel as sh***y as I did!!!