I mean, how did you get to the point that you were ready, willing and wanting to embark on this weight loss journey?

Here's my answer...
I have been overweight almost all of my life! I was a cute little girl, with chubby little cheeks. I always wore the half size from the Penny's catalog. When I grew out of the girls department I skipped the juniors and misses (save one pair of jeans and one sweater), and went straight to Catherine's--the Stout Shop--no kidding the sign actually said that!

For years, I hated being the size that I was, but just figured that it would do no good to try to do anything about it. I had watched my dad diet like crazy, drop 80 pounds only to gain it back the next year. I didn't want to be like that. I was offered bribes from both parents to lose weight, it never worked. I always had friends and never really thought that being overweight-obese-morbidly obese really had any effect on my life. What a joke!

My grandma used to beg me to lose weight--said I looked like I was "in trouble". She used to make the nastiest comments, and I held that against her until the day she died. I regret that so much now--she was only looking after me.

So now, here I am, 26 years old. I am totally happy with who I am. Around the holidays I started thinking about losing weight seriously, as I laid on the couch to full to move. And suddenly it hit me. I can't do this alone--I've tried, and done okay for a while, but by the time I lose 15 pounds, I'm bored, something fun is going on...you know, there's always an excuse.

So, I joined Weight Watchers on December 30th. It is my first honest attempt to lose weight, and I'm excited about it. I had lost about 8 before that, and now another 26.8 since then. I really want this to be a one time deal for me.

So there you go. That's my story. Long I know, and I'm sorry. But that's how I got to here...how about you?

Hi Daners,
I was a fat little kid too and in thru my teen years. There was a time tho when I had gotten my first 'real' boyfriend that I had slimmed down to a size 12. (I was 16) Then I can remember going school clothes shopping with my mom and while I was trying on clothes, she told me to buy the bigger size because I was fat and I'll be fat again in a short time. I know she said it because money was so tight and that was what she believed, not to hurt me but 29 years later I still remember that incident and how right then I "knew" I was always going to be fat! Until now! Now I know I can be anything I want to be if I want it bad enough. I started this January 20th, and I have lost 37 lbs and I intend to keep going until I am satisfied.

Ya know I've never told anyone about that! Maybe it was time to let it out and let it go. Thanks for getting me started!

Elaine

I'm too old to tell all my tales of Weight Watchers. I think I joined at least 20 times. This is the most I've ever lost

The first time I joined 3FC was back in 1999 - I lost 12 lbs - then got pregnant. Wahooo - freedom to eat what I want. NOT! I topped out at 235 lbs - I'm only 5 feet tall.

I have a lot of bad feeling about my weight because of my Mom. She sent me to ww when I was young.. not sure of the exact age but around 13 or so. Not a good idea! I was 117 lbs. What was I doing at WW????
She always told me things like - if you just lost 5 lbs those pants would fit you so nice. or.. are you sure you will want that ice cream - that will add another roll.
or how about.. "I was under 100 lbs when I married your Father"

My Mother and I have issues, to say the least. And she doesn't even realize it - she is in her own little world.

I come from a fat family (yes, including my mother) I dont' want to use the excuse that it's in my genes - no excuses.

Dana

Hhmm, interesting thread--started me thinking about when I first started to lose weight.

We used to get weighed in school once a year and the nurse would call out the weight. I was in fourth grade, and the nurse called out 114 for me. Everybody stared at me, and some boys made snide comments. I'm not sure how tall I was in fourth grade, but in sixth grade, I reached my full height of 5'9". But that started me thinking I must be fat. When I went through puberty I did gain weight, and my dad made sure I knew it. He was like your Grandma, Daners. He would also compare me to my friends. My dad looked like he was 9 months pregnant so I'm not sure where he got off talking about me being fat.

I joined WW in high school. My mom used to make me special lunches to take (tuna with mustard sauce). She never bugged me about my weight, but always gave me huge portions--it was a showing love through cooking thing, I think. She weighed 120 her whole life. *Sigh*I got down to 145 lbs., but still felt fat. I joined WW off and on for a long time. I didn't lose much weight after pregnancy and being in an unhappy relationship didn't help (almond roca was my downfall). The lowest I've been since then is 180. I was actually a fat bulemic, but purging kept my weight down under 200 during stressful times. A month in an eating disorder hospital helped that, but I couldn't get a handle on overeating.

I turn 50 next week and I decided that I didn't want to be fat in my 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. I had visions of having a health crisis and having paramedics take me out on a stretcher and they couldn't hold me up. We moved from a place I hated to a place I really like, and I decided it was time for a fresh start. So I joined WW, which is the only plan that's worked for me. I've lost 30 lbs. as of today, and I'm just taking it slow and steady.

So, I was a fat kid, a fat teenager and a fat "grown-up."

In high school, I graduated at about 190 pounds. I'm like 5'9", so that's about a size 16. Sexy, curvy, but sooo upset about my weight. My dad was a huge jerk and that didn't help. And high school kids think they should all be the same size, which is just plain stupid.

But then came the Horrible Boyfriend. I spent 5 years with him a gain 100 POUNDS in the first 3 years! How the **** did that happen?

So, at 298, I refused to get on a scale anymore since I didn't want to see 300. The next 3 years I did Jazzercize, Meridian and a lot of self-loathing and I got down to about 278. A lot of effort for so little of a result! So, I broke up with the Horrible Boyfriend (lost about 200 pounds there!).

Then, I moved to San Diego with the Cute Boyfriend and gained a few pounds, not a lot but got comfy and realized how much I hated this. The whole hate hate hate, deprive deprive deprive and nothing changes!

So, I started getting serious and I got moving and got down to 268. And then I found 3 Fat Chicks and a bunch of new friends. yay!

Well I was a skinny kid, but tall. Because I was tall I weighed more then everyone else so I assumed that I was fat. (in 6th grade I was 5'7" tall and about 130lbs)

I got married in 1996 and at that time I weighed about 180lbs. Not to bad I am 5'9" tall. Then I slowly gained till about 230lbs and then started to go to LA Weightloss Center. I lost down to 205 lbs or so and then got preg. I lost that baby and wasn't supposed to go back on the diet for at least 3months per the doc. Then about 2 months after loosing the baby, I got preg again. So I just didn't go back to the center. I nursed my daughter so I couldn't cut the cals that much and still nurse. I then, at about 250lbs got preg again and had my youngest daugher. The funny thing is, that I lost weight druing my preg. I just ate and ate after and gained the weight.

So now I'm at 275lbs or so and have been trying for the past 2 years to loose the weight. I just got so sick of looking the way I do. I am active, so I haven't lost any of that, but I just want to look and feel better about my self.

And that is my story,

Bella23

I have lost and gained so many times its not funny but my motivator this time? Last summer I went to put on my favorite most feminine dress. My hubby went to help me zip it up and it wouldn't go. OMG DID I CRY!!!!!!!!!I cried all day!!!!!

Well guess what that dress fits me now and I am looking forward to my fashionable red Ann Taylor dress next. I have a whole closet full of nice clothes, now I got to be able to wear them. I will wear them!!!!!!

Miss Chris

It was first noticed to be a problem when I was about 7. The doctor put me on a diet – my mom followed it strictly, and I was a healthy size from my 3rd and 4th grade years.

I gained it back with a vengeance in 5th grade, which resulted in all my “popular” friends ditching me. I was crushed and I consoled myself with food. i think this is wen my real emotional problem with weight began. i understood that people didn't like me cuz i wasn't as pretty as them, because i was "fat."

In 7th grade, still quite overweight, my mom decided I should get more exercise. I started swimming as a sport. While I never lost down to be really thin, i shaped up a little. I maintained a large figure, but didn’t become obese even though I ate like crazy. I was burning enough calories that I could do that. However, if I’d watched it, I could have lost down to a better weight. looking back at some pictures from then, i really didn't look bad.


This continued through high school. I swam a lot, and was physically fit. I thought i was still fat, and ws really, really self-concious. I remember going on a week-long backpacking trip, and I was always leader of the hikes, with a 100 lb. pack on my back. I was in shape, although I was of a larger size. However, looking back at pictures of that time, I wasn’t that huge. It must have been a self-image thing.
I graduated halfway through my senior year because my parents divorced. I moved with my mom and brothers, and although I tried to find a job to keep me busy, it was January and no one was hiring. I ended up spending my days at home alone, eating and on the computer. I gained a lot of weight then.

I joined Weight Watchers then, and I did it for about 3 months. I can’t remember what I weighed then – I wish I did. I lost about 15 pounds, got a job as a lifeguard, and started swimming again. I was still big, but I was OK.

After a few years of working and going to junior college, I’d gained a little more. My clothes were tighter. I didn’t do anything about it however. I’d always say I was “eating healthier” or watching my weight. This would last no more than 2 days.

I started at a University about a year and a half ago. And in that first year, I know I gained a lot. I had to buy bigger jeans… and then they were too tight. I had a lot of friends and was doing OK, so I just ignored it.

I started dating David last summer. July 17, 2002, to be exact. We’d been friends for about 8 months prior, and he really knew me well. I’d make comments about my weight and bad self-image, and eventually we had a conversation that went kind of like this:

“I like you no matter what size you are, you know.”
“I know. I just don’t like being this big.”
“Well, if you keep talking about it and it’s bothering you, you should do something about it.”
“I know, I know….”
“Do you want me to help you?”
“Um….”
“I don’t like it that you aren’t doing anything about it. If you’re happy with the way you look, then I’m happy. If you’re not happy, then I want to help you achieve that happiness.”
“OK, that sounds good.”

From then on, David became my personal trainer. We worked out together, he’d say something if I tried to eat too much, and it was really, really hard. He bought me a scale, and kept track of our weights on a spreadsheet. (He was trying to gain.) We did research about weight loss, about exercise, about everything. It was in December 2002 that I found 3 fat chicks. The message boards there not only provide me with lots of info, but with tons of support from great people.

I’m doing it myself nowadays. I’m really into working out, counting my calories, and doing it for ME. David cheers me on, but he no longer dictates what I do, nor does he really notice unless I’m a TOTAL pig.

How did I get here?

I was born a healthy weight, but something happened shortly after that. I've been fat for as long as I can remember. I always joke that it was my dad since he would feed us chocolate ice cream as babies. I still love chocolate ice cream! It was always just a fact of life for me growing up that I was fat. That was just the way it was. The only one who tended to mention it was my grandma -- the old "Jeanne, you need to lose some weight" while she brought up bags and bags of candy. We had desert every night in my house because my dad likes desert. Hey, we all do in my family. I was 170 I think when I was 12, but I was 5',7" at that time. I'm 5',9" now. And every year, I'd just put on more and more weight. It wasn't an all at once type of thing. When I topped out at 250 2 years ago, I knew I had to lose weight. I felt sick, I was depressed, I didn't want to move, and I was afraid I might have been close to getting hypoglycemia, which could lead to diabetes. My grandma has diabetes. I also was afraid of hurting my back and knees. I just reached a point where I looked at my life and decided that it wasn't what I wanted it to be, and I DID have the power to change it. I wanted to lose the weight, to look nice, to be able to be more active. I wanted to be healthy, and I'll take as much time as it takes to get there. I don't have to sit and eat figuring I'll always be fat. I can lose the weight --- and I'm getting pretty darn close! I've lost 99.5 pounds, have just 5.5 to go. I want to be healthy!

Bella, you sound so much like me.

"Well I was a skinny kid, but tall. Because I was tall I weighed more then everyone else so I assumed that I was fat."

I could have written that. For some strange reason, I have always befriended petite, short, little, tiny people (you know that one's who are 5' and complain about reaching 115 pounds). So my height and size (in high school a 170 and 5'9", so about a size 14) always made me self-conscious. I did know that I had nice curves and enjoyed showing them off. College, I started the weight gain. I remember weighing myself my junior year with some friends at the local Walgreens, at about 190 and being so upset with myself for the excess weight (what I wouldn't give to be there now). I got pregnant about a year later, at 205. I have not seen that on the scale since.
I still never felt I needed to do anything about the wieght, until my in-laws were visiting about a year ago and my mil commented about how huge her mother was at an astonishing 200# (ok, she was only 4'8", but still when I weighed almost 300# that was a shocker) I began to wonder what others thought of me. Then my best friend asked me to be in her wedding. I did not want to be the token fat girl in the wedding party. So off went some weight. (ok, a lot of weight). Although the wedding was last November, and I've pretty much been the same since (+ or - 5#), I know that my quest isn't done.

I have always thought of myself as big. I don't know exactly how I got that idea. I sort of remember once my dad saying something about me having "quite a shelf back there" I think he was referring to my behind. But, not much else was ever said. No body was mean or anything like that. And I remember being on the playground at school and thinking people thought I was fat ~ again, nothing was said, so I'm not sure why I felt like that. I don't know how as a kid I thought about stuff like that and thought of myself in that way.

I remember in jr high and high school, not liking to wear sleevless things, because I felt like my arms were "fleshy". I think because I was short, that even though I didn't weigh lots, it just hung on me different and I felt fat.

Then in college, I was only 120#, again, I guess because I was short, I maybe looked plump, and my boyfriend (later my husband) was always bugging be about my weight. Oh, to be that "fat" now.

Got pregnant, and put on weight. Worked the night shift for many years, and nibbled when sleepy, and the weight kept creeping up and up. Then would eat ~ when feeling stressed, bummed, bored ~ whatever (my dr said that I used food like medication and medicated myself with it to help me with what ever I was feeling). Weight kept creeping up and up.

So, here I am now all these years later ~ now at 235. Struggling. Have tried many different things over the years. Yo-yo'd, sort of gave up. Now because of health reasons, I need to succeed at this. Struggling, not giving up, but haven't found the combination for success yet. Just have to keep trying until I figure out what works for me.

Having this place and all of you helps.

glynne (Gayle)

Well, believe it or not, I was 4 lbs, 15 oz @ birth. Very skinny as a kid, got pics to prove it. About first or second grade I started to gain, and filled out nicely eating dinner w/the babysitter & then again w/my mom so she wouldn't have to eat alone.

Was a fairly tubby kid for most of my childhood after that. I remember being in a special program @ the hospital for chubby kids called The Body Shop. That was about 4th grade, I weighed about 100-120 at the time. I shared clothes w/my aunt, who was 17, so that part was cool.

In about 7th grade I was 5'4" and 150-155. Then we moved out of state. Due to loneliness I gained another 25-30, but shot up 3 inches in height. We moved again after that & I gained 10, putting me at about 189. (I remember getting weighed in front of all the other kids in gym class--something we never did here in the Midwest.) When we moved back here a year later, I was about 195, then high school came along, I gained another 20. Then we moved AGAIN, I gained another 10. I'd say I graduated high school @ about 230.

During high school & college I was w/a guy who was a fellow eating partner. We had our favorite Italian restaurant, etc. I gained another 50-60 during the ups & downs of that relationship. When all was said & done I was 288.

At that point, I went on the Phentermine. I lost enough weight to fit into a size 20 jean. But we all know what happened then--BAM! Off the market, even for those of us it worked for. slowly but surely, I gained back everything I'd lost--and another 42# on top of that.

So the last few years I've been trying to lose, but not taking it seriously until last summer. I went for my annual gyno exam & they couldn't find my BP. (The GP's nurses hadn't been able to find it for a good year, but they didn't act worried, so why should I?) When the nurse finally got it, she called my dr, and she pulled me off the Pill, and gave me back to my GP that same day. He put me on BP meds.

I still felt like something else might be wrong, just a nagging sneaking suspicion, you know? So I went back to the cardiologist that I'd had to see after the Phentermine. He & I had a wonderful conversation about happiness & lot of other stuff. He said my heart was fine, asked me about my family history & recommended a kidney doctor.

At which point I found out I had polycystic kidneys, but I'm skipping a few chapters here. I've always been told how pretty I am (for a fat girl, although no one ever says that anymore, as I'm quite outspoken & would have something to say in return). It'd be nice to see the real me, not the me that is mostly this shroud I hide behind.

I wanted to lose weight this year particularly for 2 family weddings I had to attend. The first one was yesterday, it was beautiful. I knew I looked fine. The next wedding will be harder, as it's family & yet a bunch of people I barely know.

So that's my story, morning glory. Aren't you glad you asked?