i weighed around 180 for a long time, then during the summer after i left school, i had nothing to do and spent the whole time drinking and eating greasy food after and waking up and eaing more greasy food to make myself feel better from the hangover. By the time I was supposed to start university I weighed 200 pounds, and I couldn't fit in my size 16 (UK) jeans anymore. I decided to do something about it, but the combination of adjusting to uni life made me lose a few pounds and then gain them back and lose them again, so I was pretty much the same weight. then, just before i was about to go home for christmas, one of my guy mates was looking at my old pics on my computer, and he said i looked a lot younger in some that weren't that old. then he said, do you want me to tell you the truth? and i was like, yeah sure, and he said 'you look alot skinnier in these pics'. that was when it really hit me, as i had spent most of my life pretending other people didnt notice my weight. if this weight loss works, then i'll have his honesty to thank!!
For me it was a set of photos that a "friend" (and I use the term loosely in this case) took of me at a bar without my knowledge. Since I turned 21, right before the summer after my junior year of college, I had been going out with my guy friends, drinking Guinness (200 calories per pint, in case you were wondering!), and eating like a linebacker--cheeseburgers, wings, pizza, etc., every single night. So then we were out one night and this girl snapped the photos (to her credit, there were other people in them too) and then posted them on her web page. I was absolutely shocked by how I looked. I didn't even recognize myself. That was when I KNEW I had to do something. Since then I've lost about 30lbs. of fat and gained a few pounds of muscle . Next time, I'll be ready for that camera!
For me it was when my size 16 jeans really didn't fit anymore.. I had been depressed enough going up to a 16 but then when those started not to fit..I realized that I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and get my dupa in gear! I weighed myself and was shocked with the number..My grandmom had been overweight and had so many health problems and before she died she had said to me she didn't want me to end up like her..I didn't think I was headed in that direction until I saw the scale was over 200 lbs!
I ordered $30 worth of chinese food and declared when it was gone that I had had enough. I spent the next 4 days on my couch living off of diet pepsi and cigarettes and mapped out how I was going to change my life. As odd and bizarre as it all sounds, it was a total spiritual fast and it revealed me to myself.
Sometimes the worst things that happen to us turn out to be the best.
I don't know why, but I love this mental image. Maybe because it's very Hollywood/Bridget Jones-esqe, but also because it's totally something I can imagine myself doing!
And you're so right. I think sometimes we need a rude slap in the face to sit up and pay attention. In a few ways, I'm almost glad I spent part of my life fat. I truly think in someways, it's made me a kinder, more compassionate person. And losing it will make me a wiser, happier, healthier, kind, compassionate, and CONFIDENT person!
It happened to me today! I got weighed at the gym... Holy Whoa! I realize why I don't weigh myself. But, on the upside of things, even though I've gained, my body fat % has gone 5%... and I don't think I look bigger... ugh! Talk about unrealistic expectations. I am the perfect example of what happens when you work out like a mad woman and totally neglect the food part...
the other thing is that when i lived with my (then) boyfriend in 2002 i started taking the pill. and we were dirt poor so there were a lot of pasta and butter nights. i gained 100 lbs in the year we were together.
i have never had the seatbelt on the airplane thing happen, but it did happen at an amusement park a few years ago. now in california a lot of theme parks have a seat at the entrance to the line so you can see if you will fit or not before you wait in the line.
Wow! I'm so with you on these girls, I believe I've had a lot of similar "moments." However, I had several big moments in the past year...
1. When I overheard a close friend--Who had always said I carried weight well, was just a "big girl"-- describing me as a fat girl, well this "Yeah, she's like big, you know? Well she's fat... [Laugh], yeah like that"
(I thought I was just chubby?)
2. Pictures from my birthday, a night that was amazing, I thought I looked equally amazing and I caught some candids (i.e. not posed pictures where I "hide" my body) and I was SHOCKED... Then I caught a picture of my backside and thought, Wow? This is what everyone sees..?
3. I'm the heaviest I've ever been, and being at the gym with girlfriends and relizing that I even outweigh my equal height friends by about 50-60 pounds.
4. That in the past year I've gone up in pant size, undewear size, bra size, and shoe size...
5. That I was dealing with the breakup of a 3-4 year relationship and other personal issues by becoming an emotional eater
6. When I broke down and cried in a Psych class while they were talking about how eating disorders related to self loathing
WHOA, I totally went crazytime on this post... But I mean long story short, I've had a terrible terrible 2006... So eager and needing to change!!!
When I saw some photos from our summer vacation - I looked so big and unsexy but lately it was when my 'fat' clothes became snug - there was no more denying that I was eating too much and moving too little. I want to feel fit and healthy and strong again instead of tired, flabby and gross. it's a day by day thing.
[QUOTE=theobviouschild;1529371]I don't know why, but I love this mental image. Maybe because it's very Hollywood/Bridget Jones-esqe, but also because it's totally something I can imagine myself doing!/QUOTE]
I can totally relate to all of you. My "realization" was more of a series of events. I had to buy a size 24 (european, but still!) wedding gown and now I am having a hard time dealing with our wedding photos - I have back fat and boob fat and pretty much fat anywhere you can spot it! I've always had a large chest but even my bras weren't fitting anymore. I was hiding the things I ate from my then-fiance (now husband). Worst of all, I hit the "magic number" 200 lbs after we got back from our honeymoon.
Just this past weekend, I went shopping with my best friend who has always, always weighed more than me. Call me a meanie, but I had quietly used that excuse of "well I don't weigh as much as so-and-so, so I'm fine," for so long. Well, she has lost a lot of weight in the past year and here I was, buying a size 16 and she was buying size 8's. It has been the other way around for so long that I couldn't believe we'd switched roles.
When I was e-mailing a friend and I wrote the numbers 200 and I looked up and saw that, when I really looked at it I was like WHAT? That is when I realized that I had lost control and I wanted it back. That's when I really realized that I needed to do something.
It was a slow day at work so we decided to have a little impromptu "potato sack race" (don't ask!). Anyways, I lost so badly because I just had too much weight to carry. It seems so stupid, but I was so uncomfortable moving in my own skin--so humiliated by how slow and winded I was at only 23, that I knew I had to do something or I'd only get worse.
My big moment of revelation was when I had bought tons of awesome clothes for interviews and for work last year. And when I actually had to interview--*none of them fit*. It was horrifying, especially since I don't have the money to go out and buy more interview quality suits! Also, my body image really tanked this year, as did my confidence level. It's my senior year, and I want to feel hot and sexy!
. Next time, I'll be ready for that camera!
