Mine was getting on a scale after I'd totally let myself go over the summer. I saw 198 and freaked out. It was that "Not ME. I'M not the kind of person who weighs 200 lbs! I'm too young to weigh 200 lbs!" And that made it pretty obvious that I had to do something about it. I haven't lost much yet...but then I've slacked off a lot lately.

I'm hoping that my dad's offer will keep me motivated. I have 38DDD breasts, and have wanted reduction for years. But it's expensive, and the verdict from my insurance (well, my dad's insurance) was "large but not abnormally large". Since I wasn't having to have bras specially made or do extensive physical therapy, they refused to pay for it. I was going to save up for it, but the cost is looking to be about $6000. I'm a college student. I can barely pay my monthly bills, much less save up $6000. I figured it would end up being one of those "maybe in ten years" things. But then my dad offered, that when I reach my goal weight he'll pay for the surgery for me. I need to make that a much more concrete reality in my mind for it to click...but once it clicks it'll be the best motivation I could ask for.

Mine came from just bending down to tie my shoes. I found myself huffing and puffing, and I'd quit smoking a year earlier. But I realized that for someone born with heart defects, carrying an extra 100+ pounds around was just asking to be buried early. I see my dad at 68, needing two diabetic shots a day, a lift chair and a scooter just to get through his day. He could manage all that if he could ever manage his weight. The moon pies and honey buns that were on his counter this week don't help matters. But I can't tell him that. Anymore than someone could have told me my bag of Twix as an appetizer wasn't doing me any good. Although he's my stepdad, my grandmother has diabetes, so it still runs in my family. And with my heart issues...well only I could make a difference. I wanted to be around a little longer, and I wanted to feel good when I reach my 60's, 70's, even 80's. I don't want to be dependant upon a bunch of gadgets, or friends and relatives to help get me through my day. I want to be able to bend down to pick up my own newspaper.

People have mentioned quality of life vs. quantity. And that giving up just having fun, eating what I want and enjoying life was giving up quality. I say that's B.S. I'm ADDING quality. Because when I am in those golden years, I hope to enjoy a far better quality of life than my father enjoys now. Getting in shape, and keeping in shape, will put me at a higher advantage of being able to stay on my feet and out of chairs and beds in my old age. You can have quantity without sacrificing the quality. It all depends on what one considers quality I guess.

It all depends on what one considers quality I guess.

Truer words were never spoke. Is having gourmet 6-course meals every day for lunch and dinner "quality"? Or is being able to run a 5k or even 10k "quality"? Everyone's gotta set their priorities...you gotta decide what quality means to YOU, and work from that.

I wear a uniform to work and I've always been a 34 inch waist, not that I should be. Then I gained weight and I had to order new uniform pants and always wore gym pants at home b/c my jeans didn't fit. Well I ordered 36 inch pants and the company sent me 36.5 inch and before long I was filling them out...........filling them in tightly!!! So that's when I decided this insanity has to come to an end. Now when I wear the 36.5 pants, my co-workers laugh so I don't wear them any more, they were put in the garbage. I'm done with 36 and soon I'll be done with 34's and never to return. I imagine I'll be at 30 and 32 and that will be just fine. It's funny, I knew I weighed over 200lbs but that didn't get me. It was how my clothes fit or didn't fit.

Cheers,
Robin

I think mine was actually after I'd lost about 10 pounds. I'd been putting all my food in FitDay because something had been upsetting my tummy and I was trying to figure out what it was. I found myself eating much less because I was writing it down, and it just sort of clicked for me looking at the numbers.

It was a total shock to discover that when I didn't eat as much, I didn't weigh as much. I thought people had been lying (or at least exaggerating) all those years! But once I saw what I was really eating, I realized they were right. It wasn't my metabolism, it was what I was giving it to work with!

Sounds silly, but I'd just never *felt* it before, kwim?

A-ha moments where I realized I needed to do something:
- when I had to have my gallbladder out
- when I couldn't keep up with my classmates in floor hockey and my knees hurt like crazy the next few days
- when someone compared me to an actress who is known for being very large, and I thought about it and realized I'm larger than she is
- seeing pictures of myself next to other people I thought of as large and realizing I'm larger than they are

I had a duh! moment recently where I realized something that should be very simple: the more I avoid the things I crave, the less I crave them, the easier they are to avoid... if I give in to a craving I fall back into a pit until I can wean myself off again.

I had a series of "flickers" over about a year or so. The absolute last straw came this August when I went back to college to take a class. I was too fat to fit into the desk.

I got in there but it was miserable. The semester is almost over and I'm still wearing the desk but it is better! I plan to be very comfortable by the time the spring semester starts in late January!

Melanie M.

I thought of another A-HA moment for me. I was at my sisters house and her floor creaked real loud when I walked across it upstairs, My BIL looked at me like I'd just fallen through the floor. It was embarassing for me. I felt like the lady from the movies "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" where they had to reinforce the floor studs to accomodate her size. That immediately popped into my head at the time.

Trophywife, it's funny you should mention the desk. This Wednesday is parent-teacher conferences at my daughter's high school. And that's what kind of desk/chairs they have and I also just barely squeezed into one. And I was thinking come this Wednesday night, maybe, just maybe it'll be a little easier.

I think you'll feel a BIG difference. You're 50 pounds lighter, after all. Good for you.

You know what I hate? I have several friends who love antiques. I hate those little frail chairs that they have sometimes in their homes. I pick the strongest looking one, I don't wiggle, and I pray, pray, pray!

Melanie M.

Trophywife, you would not believe the hours and days I have spent worrying about fitting in and breaking chairs. What about those inexpensive outdoor plastic chairs, I was always so afraid of breaking them and beach chairs and folding chairs oh and the list could go on and on.

Trophywife and fedup- All those, and I have an irrational fear of hammocks and porch swings. I'm terrified the screws are going to come loose and BOOM.

Oh those stupid school desks! The worst ones I encountered were swing chairs screwed under tables, and the way they swung out meant that your thigh had to be about the size of my ARM to get between your chair and the one next to it. Owwww!

And theatre and stadium seats. I get bruises from the arms. *sigh* Someday I will fit.

Oh yes the hammocks and swings, I avoid those at all costs. The boom factor is too scary for me. But maybe one day..............you never know.

And of course theaters and stadiums and public buses and .............

But it is nice to be able to share this stuff with somebody.

My face in pictures was what did it for me. For a while, I had a slightly heavy body and a thin face. But, when I couldn't have face shots taken anymore because I looked like the state puff marshmallow man, enough was enough. I'm still battling to get on track, though...