Probobly standing in the middle of CVS and an old man told me " Your too fat to be standing there" Ohh and a 7 year old kid telling me "You know if you went on a diet you wouldnt be so fat"

Well, ed there I always tried different diets.But, being Indian my diet was carbs carbs and more carbs. I stopped eating sweets years before. My food kept on becoming less and less nothing was working. I stopped eating rice but still eating chappaties.
Finally came to USA and joined a gym had a personal trainer.She noticed I was not having proteins. Then I started reading about it.
I thought 17 DAy Diet is good.and started following and weight started dropping.

my moment was only very recently. And very scary. Im 19, half way through university in Australia. And I currently weigh around 83 kg ( 182.6 lbs), but only a few weeks ago weighed in at 87kg (191.4 lbs)... I'm a very active person and always have been. I've played Soccer at pretty high levels but my weight has always let me down. The thing is that my active nature was almost like a smoke screen to my diet.A guy friend recently asked how much i weighed because he didn't realise i had gained weight. in fact the only person who saw it was my mother.i must have gained about 15kg since i finished school which was only two years ago. When i told my friend that he just gaped and said "crap" because he had nothing else to say. All my friends are either skinny soccer players or dancers. It would be nice to borrow or lend my friends clothes. The second straw was not being able to find jeans in the normal sizes in Kmart, i teared up and left without them, that stung like nothing else. Im already back into my skinny jeans:) and am determined to wear my formal dress again from year 9 (9th grade)!

Im so glad this thread was started because I now know I'm not alone with what's physically going on and what I was becoming incapable of doing. I have a few finals...

* Not being able to clean myself in the restroom and shower without it being a fight and struggle and losing my breath.

* Having trouble breathing because my stomach is pushing against me and making everything else push up into my neck and feeling like I'm suffocating.

* Having anxiety attacks when I have to get dressed in the morning because I am tired of trying to find something descent to wear out of my own closet because I have to make sure that it covers my stomach, isn't too tight, etc.

I could go on for days but those are my top three. I'm just plum wore out from being this size and feeling like I have a hangover every morning when I wake up (p.s. I don't drink) because I'm tired and down and don't want to do anything.

The last straw for me was outgrowing all of my clothes. I don't want to buy a whole new wardrobe to accommodate my new size. I want to feel good about going out in public again not wearing my husband's t-shirts and my old yoga or maternity pants (my oldest is 6 years old I don't know why I still even have them except that they were cute and kindof expensive :dizzy:).

I am motivated to finally do this because if I am just not going to spend a whole lot of money on new clothes when I have a whole wardrobe I love in my closet waiting for me. I refuse.

I haven't weighed myself yet (I just gained this weight the last 6 or 8 months) but I am guessing it's about 15 pounds I need to lose. It's not a big number, but it really makes a huge difference on my small frame. i can't even pull some of my pants up over my hips, let alone even pretend to button them. I need to nip this thing now.

I wasn't working for about 6 months, depressed about that, drinking lots of booze. Then I got a job working nights. I have never worked nights before. I was pretty much eating around the clock until I figured out how to handle the routine. So here I am.

Also this is my first post!

Hi HANNI,
I hear you about not buying a whole new set of clothes. I had clothes waiting for me in the closet also! I am glad you got a job. Hope you figure out the night routine and are successful.

I denied and ignored my weight gain for 3-4 years. I also skipped going to a doctor for the same reason. When I finally went to the dr, I found I was pre-diabetes. This scared me as it runs in my family. This was my turning point.
I also like some others here, learned that eating low carb is the best way for me to lose weight.
I have also experienced many of the uncomfortable moments..like being scared that I could not fasten my seat belt..or having someone tactfully suggest a new diet plan..or hating to fly to Hawaii to see my family because I had gained weight.

Wow, you are absolutely right. I'm also freaking out about my weight and my husbands. He's managed to lose about 40 pounds and on the road to being much healther but now it's my turn. I want us both to live long, happy and HEALTHY lives together!

Oh my goodness I do this too. I was always tiny all throughout school so most of the people who I am in contact with on facebook is old classmates. I'm horrified to know what they must think.

My final "straw" has been several things.. pictures on facebook, nothing fitting properly (and having to only buy clothes in Lane Bryant), but the one that really made me sit up and say waitaminute. I've got to do something is the fact that last week I went to New Orleans with some relatives that came into town. They wanted to see and do alot and I really felt I was holding them back.

Biggest wake up call is going in to the doctor, standing on the scale and it read 200 lbs. I've never even been close to 200lbs. Complete denial. I drove down to my moms house and weighed in on her scale, yep 200lbs. How could I have let myself get to this?? I didn't even break 165 for both full term pregnancies. First time ever had fat bumps on my lower arms and calves. Size 2X tshirt, 14 pants in Womens size. Right then and there I said, "That's it!!! You will lose this weight." Currently at 166lbs, on the Ideal Protein Diet, goal is 130lbs (like I weighed for 18 years). I'm getting there!!

Veggie girl...your post gave me a giggle...I too have that same problem with shall we say, personal hygiene so I was so relieved to see someone else had that problem and had the courage to share. I have had many "aha" moments that told me it is time to lose weight. The problem this time is I know I am big, I know i need to lose weight and get healthier but I lack the desire and motivation to do it "AGAIN". I care....but I don't...anyone else feel like that???

Mine was when a customer told me when I was due. Apparently I look like I'm about 6 months pregnant... I'm apple shaped and keep all the extra goodness in my midsection. I've never been pregnant, don't have any children. That was when I looked in the mirror and said enough!

This time, I had been thinking about changing my eating habits by cutting back. Then dh had surgery and lost lots of weight and he was lighter than me! Usually the weight difference is about 30-40 pounds between my husband and myself...

Then I heard my daughter was losing weight on WW the program I planned on going on and I guess you could say the last straw. I had to lose the weight too!

And....family get together in December....and....I promised myself I would never see the scale over 200# and the weight was getting close.

I had enough reasons, don't ya think? That is enough straws!

I didn't have just one moment. I've always always ALWAYS felt too fat, at 5'8 and 140lbs (a size 6) I felt like a gelatinous blob in highschool.

I'd sacrifice some small furry animal to magically be that size again. Scratch that, I'd change my eating habits to EARN that size. And that's what I'm doing. I haven't quite reached the "I WILL EXERCISE TO BE THAT SIZE AGAIN" point..but I hope I'm approaching it. Its a mental thing. I'm psyching myself up. I hope.

When I realized my greatest fear is the possibility of my mother having to bury me, because of what I shoved into my mouth. That was the last straw for me.

Im not sure if there was a last straw for me and maybe that is why this time is different for me. I am not starting my weight loss journey in frustration or angry, but actually from any already healthy place, with support from my friends and the man in my life. What made me take the final step to focus on losing the weight is when even after making many healthy changes over the past 6 months I was at my heaviest weight and while I generally liked the way I looked when I saw myself in pictures I didn't look like the person I feel like I am.

I used to live with my mom and my sister - and when I moved in with my boyfriend, I gained 35 lbs. I had always been the 'thin' one when I lived with my mom and sis and once I left .. not only did I gain weight.. they lost it. Both my mom and sister have dropped about 30 lbs each while I have been gaining all of this weight. I recently decided that I have had enough of only being happy for them for their good health.. I want to be happy for myself! I want to be in good health, and so my journey began!

Not any one last straw in particular. I had lost almost 80 lbs in the year previous to getting pregnant. Once I had my daughters I was super overwhelmed with them and gave up taking care of myself. Now I realize its 4 years later and it's really time to take care of me again.

Also we're planning a big move to NYC and I know that I need all the confidence I can muster to make that a successful move and a big part of that is getting my weight down. So now, a few months before the move I'm all in to get back to where I was before I got pregnant. That's not my final goal, but that goal will be enough to give me my confidence back.

When I was too tired to play with my daughter and then I realized that I might not be around to see my children grow up and I keep eating like this.

I'm not pregnant...
 

Can't believe no one has posted this already....

Getting asked when my baby's due! I am NOT pregnant, nor have I ever been.

Being fat sucks, but carrying most of your weight directly on your uterus sucks more.

Other things -
Not being able to ride every roller coaster in the park because my food baby and safety belts are not compatible...there were some men much larger than me that could ride, but they're able to lift that belly to make room for the seat belt. My food baby doesn't move :(

Yearly ski trip with family...last winter my calves were too fat to make skiing an option. I sat in the condo all weekend, and my family was pissed at me for months for "ruining their vacation."

While I can still put on my shoes fairly easily, putting on nylons is now quite the ordeal!

Just starting the weight loss journey again, and the straw this time -- I feel like ****. Tired all day, can barely concentrate at work. This is now about necessity, not vanity.

My last straw was hitting 200 lbs on the scale. It was scary.. I never thought I'd be at this point.

I've since lost a couple of pounds to bring me down below that at least, reminding me that I don't have to go back up there ever again.

1. Being asked how many children I have and told I look like I have several children.

2. Finally coming to terms with the fact that all of my clothes were not shrinking (and once again allowing my boyfriend to do laundry--since clearly he must've been the one doing it wrong and shrinking my clothes)

3. Seeing a picture of me in a bathing suit at a pool (my arms were massive!)

4. Finally stepping on a scale and realizing I was 10lbs heavier than my heaviest 8 years ago.

For me it was the prospect of having kids. I know that for so many people the first baby is a downward spiral. I already have to lose 45 lbs. So if I pig out while I am pregnant (many women use pregnancy as an excuse to eat a lot more and knowing myself I would be one of those women) I might even go up another 20 lbs. THEN I hear that many women lose their sex drive after pregnancy and are unhappy with how their body has changed. So not only will I have to lose 65 lbs but I will have no sex drive a changed body and the added pressure of a baby? Sounds like a recipe for gaining more weight. You can see how, unless I pull in the reigns now, having a baby could be a downward spiral. Plus I am young (23) I want to feel sexy and even thought my husband is attacted to me I don't feel comfortable in clothing. And why should I have to go through life feeling constantly uncomfortable and costantly judged?

For me, it was getting into too many fights with my husband and my sisters about my weight that made me think, "I'm sick of fighting about this. Maybe if I just lose the weight, they will all back off!"

Unfortunately, it's harder to stick with something when you're externally motivated. So, I managed to lose 28 pounds and then the bad habits kicked in and I gained 10 back.

At this point, though, I had weeded out my wardrobe and gotten rid of everything between sizes 14 and 18. I liked getting down to a 10. Now I'm back up to a 12. So, I'm feeling the difference in myself and wanting to get back down to 10 and maybe 8 or 6. I'm pretty short, so a size makes a big difference on me. Seeing the numbers go back up once I weighed myself after a month of tuning out of reality was the reality check I needed to get me back onto the wagon this time, with the right motivation, I hope.

I've been trying to lose weight off and on for years but what really kinda pushed me over the edge was seeing just how much I weighed back in September. I'm required to take two PE classes and I decided to do personal training first to get myself into better shape before trying anything group oriented. The first time we met, he took down information about me including my weight and it was 181 at the time. I was so shocked and embarrassed that I was like, "Holy crap, time to put down the junk food..."

I gotta say it... one of my big straws this time around was "If Snooki can do it, I can do it!"

I also was a ballet dancer through all of high school. I know i'll never get down to my dancing weight again, but I would like to be toned enough to feel comfortable in my skin. I would LOVE to take ballet classes again simply because I miss it. I havent taken a class in almost 4 years now, and I just really want to get back into it! :)

Great thread.

The first time it was calculating my BMI and realizing I wasn't "a little heavy" I was "clinically obese". Oops. I was 21.

Now I'm 31 and back actively tracking because I had to buy bigger jeans, again. I know I'm sexy but have a much harder time seeing it when I'm heavy. I deserve to have it in my face all the time no matter what I'm wearing, if I'm being photographed, etc.

Lots of things, breathing hard, goin to busch gardens and having someone help buckle me in, and basically I just want to feel better about who I am, and have my stomach not touch my legs blaaah

I really don't know. I have a lot of straws that eventually led to another effort to lose weight. The first was that I noticed I was nearing 300lbs and I told myself I wouldn't go above it. The second was that my grandpa had a stroke, and while his wasn't weight-related, I felt a need to improve my health. Lastly, because I feel like I'm letting my boyfriend down. I've been with him for more than two years, and while he still loves me and finds me sexy (idk why), I feel a need to be thin for him. I know you're not supposed to lose weight for external reasons, but he suffers because of my weight. He tells me they don't, but I know his friends pick on him for having the fat girlfriend. He supports my weight loss efforts, but he told me he doesn't want me to be a stick. So I'm going to aim for 170 pounds. It's a healthy weight, but I'll still be curvy.

No final straw, just the dawning realisation that it was now or never.
I'm 40, at the stage where what I do to myself is really starting to impact my health, possibly past the point of recovery. I do not want to be on meds the rest of my life and I want my kids to see and use me as a good example, not a bad one.
I hate the way I feel and look.
So I quit smoking and started working out...we have the equipment, so there was never an excuse for me not to. I was just lazy.
I think the final realisation that I was my own worst enemy and the only way I was ever going to change myself, was to change my attitude and way of thinking completely.
I don't want to be a supermodel...that was the previous mindset and totally unrealistic. I want to be slim, well toned and healthy/vibrant looking.
I am not sure of what my final weight will be...if I lose too much and start looking gaunt and feeling lethargic, I'll start gaining until I find my happy place again! I also realise that losing is the easy part...maintaining is the real challenge.
Every little change I make and every improvement I see is now an incentive to keep going. I know that ultimately, it's the little things that makes the big picture.

when I noticed I basiclly stopped having sex or feeling good around my husband.
He is awsome and is all over me but I saw one day recently that I am pulling away (literaly)

i hated hating myself so start my plan 6/1/12 after my surgery :) YAY:D

I had a few last straws and with each came a new realization about weight loss. For example one year during finals in college there was literally a chocolate massacre. It didn't even taste good at a certain point but I was so upset about finals I just kept going at it. After that night I felt so gross I vowed to lose weight. I didn't end up losing weight but I cut out almost all sugar (I HATE artificial sweetener in my morning coffee) and oil (I might have tuna in olive oil or a little bit of vinaigrette) and white carbs and started eating really good food. I still lacked portion control though and maintained my weight. Then I moved from an urban to a suburban area which allowed me to go biking and hiking which is amazing because a treadmill makes me feel like a hamster on a wheel. What got me to this point where I decided I wanted to lose all the weight once and for all was actually my husband. He was 235 lbs 5"11 and totally grossed out by himself. I saw how upset he was and how much my positive influence could help him because he couldn't do it alone. Of course I wanted to lose weight too, but it was the realization that dieting was something that could so positively influence my husband that got me to diet.

well I had let myself get so huge over time but I didn't care. I have been overweight almost my entire life. I wasn't really an unhealthy child. I played out side all the time. We didn't have a computer, or cable tv, I didn't get my first video game system till the age of 10. My Mom didn't let us eat sugary cereals like fruit loops. despite this I was still very overweight my entire childhood. Well I had a period of time where I slimmed down slightly from the age of 11 to 13 but from then on I was always overweight. It was a way of life for me I didn't care. But after gaining an additional 20 lbs in college from horrendous eating habits I finally got on the scale. It said 242 lbs !!!!! I couldn't believe it. HOW COULD I HAVE LET MYSELF GET THAT WAY!!! no more I would never be that fat again.

After our son was born, my husband and I got health insurance. We made appointments to establish care with a primary care doctor, and high-fived each other for being such responsible adults.
Well, our new doctor didn't mince words. She said we were obese, and that my cholesterol levels were impressively bad for a 23 year old (my husband's weren't great, but not as bad as mine). She said that we needed to get it under control and come back in a year for a repeat of our fasting blood work.
My husband got all butt hurt about being called obese and didn't want to see that doctor again, but it really hit home with me. We both agreed that we would be at a healthy weight when we see her again in august.

This thread is great; I love reading everyone's stories because they're honest and real...even if it's painful.

Here's my own Top 10 list of hard but painful truths about my weight loss:

1. My grandma passed away and I realized that life is short; why spend it being uncomfortable in your own body?

2. I stopped feeling sexy.

3. I made my husband take a picture of me in a bikini at my highest weight of 205.

4. I started having joint pain after work.

5. I realized that my extra weight makes me look older.

6. I found this forum and saw the inspiring results that others have attained; I realized I could have that too.

7. I stopped dressing up and began wearing lots of workout clothes...even though I didn't work out!

8. I kept looking at my dusty TRX (workout equipment) and feeling more and more guilty and ashamed.

9. I'd eat bad foods and feel like crap afterwards.

10. My BMI was borderline obese!

Thank you everyone for supporting and motivating. I wish you all the best!

Well I've lost and regained some weight a few times, so I had a few straws.

Straw 1 - I was size 20UK/16US and realised my clothes were getting too tight and I was on the brink of going up yet again.

Straw 2, a good decade later - I had got back up to the same size again and just 5lbs lower, but that wasn't the straw. I had swollen ankles with pitting oedema and combined with breathlessness, worried about heart failure. My doctor sent me off for cardiac tests and told me to lose weight. The scare made me take it seriously. I told my elderly dad (who has heart failure) about it and he said 'Don't end up like me' which made an impact too. The hospital tests turned out okay and by then I was motivated once more.

Straw 3, last week - back to clothes sizing. After being a healthy BMI since May 2010 I'd let everything slip for the last 6 months or so and returned to some very bad eating habits. As I slipped over into the overweight category I kept thinking I had to take action, but didn't get past the thinking stage while the weight kept on creeping. Then finally I realised my size 16UK/12US clothes were getting too tight. I'd already gone up one size from my lowest and no way was I allowing yet another size change. I'd had two years of enjoying clothes more than I had for many years before that. It was one pleasure I didn't want to give up.

The Straw
 

I totally get what you are saying. It's like there has to be some really big "aha moment" that makes us realize that we must lose the weight, even though we most likely knew that all along.

Thanks for being so transparent, VeggieGurl.

I think the final straw of those that had been building was looking at a picture someone had tagged me in on facebook and seeing shades of my parents (both obese) in that girl in the photo. I don't want to be where they are.

Others straws that helped get me there:
My waist is bigger than the hips of another dancer in my company.
None of the new costuming for my dance company, even in the largest size, fit, and I was having to make my own or not dance.
I can't keep up as well with my dogs.
I don't feel sexy.
I don't want to buy biggers bras.
I'm tired of the doctor and my grandfather telling me how fat I am.
The extra weight puts extra pressure on damaged joints.

I will get to my goal weight, slowly but surely. I will. :-)

1. Had to ask the sales clerk for the largest size pants size they carry (14) and discovered they were too tight.
2. Running into a work colleague when I'm buying more fat pants to replace the other two sets of fat pants
3. Pretending that I'm really buying four candy bars to pay off a high school kid for mowing the yard
4. Seeing a picture of myself two years ago and nearly breaking into tears.
5. Hitting 175.