When I left home for college I was a good 170 pounds, bordering on 175 at times. The opposite happened for me though, instead of the Freshman 10 I dropped it and more and went down to 155. When I went back home people said I looked great! I was thrilled. I had the 2 mile walk from the dorms to campus to thank... And when I moved out of the dorms to an apartment I had this GIANT hill to walk up.

So cut to the beginning of this year, I moved in with my boyfriend. I was no longer walking to and from the dorms, I was staying in at home and taking classes online. I gained back ALL that weight. I didn't really notice it at first but eventually I looked at myself in the mirror. It seemed like my stomach was jutting out just a bit more than it normally did... Actually... I looked chunky... So I got a scale and to my dismay between January when I last weighed myself and the beginning of this month... I went back to almost 170. I knew I gained weight but I didn't think it was nearly 15 pounds of weight... Dang.

This month I've lost about 4 pounds but I was going from absolutely no exercise to 30 mins of cardio to start during the week. While I'm happy part of me is shaken from realizing I had gotten back to 170.

Anybody else get those "What hath I wrought?" moments when you realize that one too many treats has given birth to fatty monster on your stomach?

I was totally afraid of the scale. I knew I had gained weight but I thought I was at the maximum 165 because I have never went past that weight. I got on Nutrisystem October 1st without getting on the scale to see how much I really weighed.
I got on the scale for the first time November 1st, thinking I'd be about 155 because I had felt like I had lost a good bit of weight. But nOoOoOo, I was 174! I really couldn't believe that I had probably been about 185.
The scale was scary but a good wake up call - that I'm not invincible when it comes to gaining weight. I persevered and now I'm at the lowest weight I've been in over three years.

Yeah, its shocking when the scale cuts through all your rationalizations and denial and shows you the truth. Granted the scale can fluctuate, but I know when I first stepped on at my biggest and saw 189 that there wasn't 50 pounds of water weight there! It was definitely a wake-up call. At least you know the truth, much better than shielding yourself from reality like I did for so long. Congrats on 4 pounds lost!

Very much so. I remember in January I weighed in about 136lb or so. 8-9 weeks later I weighed in for the heck of it, and I was shocked to see I was 150! Crazy how much weight we can put on and not even realize it. I think the thing is I got so comfortable in my environment, I forgot to take care of myself. I vowed when I lost 30lb over the years that I would never be back over 150 again. When I saw 150 on the scale, I KNEW I had to change for good.

Yes I gained the first 10 or so and then didn't pay attention, I finally got about 50 lbs heavier before I started going back down

I gained 100 lbs in a little over a year... it just crept up on me little by little. I went from a size 14 to a 22.

Yeah.. I went to try on shorts I had from last year and they hardly fit. I was like "What the... I couldn't have gained THAT much weight..."

Great idea for a thread. I don't own a scale but the last time I was weighed in a the doctor's office I was 140 (maybe a year ago), so whenever people asked what I weighed I just told them that. My friend got one of those fancy scales that tells you not only weight but bone, water, and fat pounds as well and I thought it was fun so I tried it. 151.

How long had I gone around telling people I was 140 when I wasn't? And the weird thing was, even seeing it on the scale didn't really convince me I was over 150. I had to weigh in on another scale at my gym for me to come straight out of denial land and into shock. Not like it's a mystery - little-to-no exercise + Wendy's = 11 pound weight gain in one year, but I'm trying my best to stop gaining and maybe even lose a few.

Way to go punchthekeys!

I knew I was gaining weight because clothes were starting to get tighter and tighter but just was afraid to face the scale. So I kept ignoring the fact that the scale was sitting right in my bathroom... Well, one day I finally decided to get on it and I was at 208!!!!!!! I couldn't believe I hit 200 and more!

Feeling of security by having a bf did it..as I'm used to staying up at night from working at night, and we would eat at like 2 AM like every weekend.

Well, now I work out every day and has lost 8 lbs so far and am on my way to my GOAL...which I don't even remember when I weighed that much, or that "little." =)

Mine didn't really sneak up on me at all, since I weigh myself everyday...but somehow I still didn't really believe how much I weighed. I was in serious denial about it. I finally had to go buy new jeans since I could only barely shimmy myself into two pairs of my formerly "fat" pants. I tried on a size larger than my normal size and couldn't even get them past my thighs. The next size...not past my butt. Finally, three sizes larger than what I had been wearing I got the button to fasten. THAT woke me up! What a shock! Three sizes in a year!!! I went home and weighed myself and sure enough it said the same thing as it did in the morning...30 pounds heavier that I was about a year and a half ago. I don't know how I could fool myself that way...crazy!

Oh my gosh yes...

End of first semester my first year of uni - bad break up with a boyfriend, very lonely living on campus = turning to binging in a baaaad way *red faced* - whole chocolate bavarian cakes in one sitting...

Anyway, in the space of about 8 weeks I went from 150 pounds to 175...seriously, the stretch marks were horrendous!

I stopped wearing pants that buttoned up and that made it easy to ignore PLUS I didn't have a scale at the Uni. It wasn't until I went home for a weekend and stepped on the scales there I finally went - Holy F*** what the **** have I done?!?!?!

For me the horrible moment had nothing to do with a scale...I had been at college in Arkansas for a little over a year...when I went down there I was 160, and then didn't have a scale for over a year so never weighed myself.

But one day I was in the bathroom where we had a huge mirror, and I was getting ready to take a shower...and I noticed that my belly was (gulp) casting a shadow on my legs! That was the first time in over a year that I had even stopped to look at myself...and of course I had not been eating well at all (college stress + living with boyfriend + entertaining friends = poor food choices). For the first time I noticed how much extra poundage I had on my belly. That moment prompted me to buy a scale, and I discovered my weight was 209! I had no idea I'd gotten up over 200 lbs. So that's what prompted me to change my ways. I got down to 188 while still in college in Arkansas, then went back up to 195. Stayed at 195 for a couple of years, and now am down to 180.6 on WW since August 2007.

That was a scary moment...I will never forget seeing that shadow. It's still there, but much smaller. And now I am shooting for 168, which will put me at a healthy BMI.

I totally agree with what everyone is saying. You think to yourself "I've never been over 140 (then 150 then 160 then 170), so I couldn't be now". My real wake up call came when I went to try on some summer clothes to go to Dominican Republic this February only to find that they had all mysteriously shrunk

Daily weigh ins are the only thing that keep me in check I guess...

My clothes started getting small and tight... so I lived in a uniform of zip-up hoodie, jeans and vans. Everyday. I'd wear a shirt underneath the hoodie, of course, but never took the hoodie off because the shirt was too small. I didn't want to go shopping for new clothes! No way! Then I stopped wearing make-up. Started putting my hair up everyday. And I realized, "I look like a complete slob!" I'm 26 years old, pretty, a wonderful friend, sister... and I deserve to look nice! Everyday! I felt like my overall appearance was shrouded in a shade of grey... the weight was making me invisible.

So I want to shed this weight, put on some pretty clothes, respect myself more, be more colorful, smile more, be girly, have fun... I'm sick of being sick of myself.