Rock bottom for me had to do with receiving awful news. My best friend died, and I was all alone when I found out (and in a foreign city, traveling). After the crying part, my guess is that most people would turn to some kind of vice--chain smoking, drinking, whatever. I didn't smoke. I didn't drink. I did, however, consume a giant sandwich...and a supersized order of french fries...and a "family size" brick of chocolate...and an entire box of muffins.

Suddenly I realized how absolutely pathetic I felt. I also realized that food wasn't going to fill the void. Shortly thereafter I started googling weight loss things, and stumbled across 3FC for the first time. I was a lurker for about a year, and finally joined this summer

It was a few things...

I noticed that when I slept, I tucked my hands and half of my arms into my belly folds, and it grossed me out that I was able to even do this.

I noticed that I would rest my head/neck down onto my double chins.

DH said I started to snore loudly and at times, he woke me up from my sleep because he heard me choking. (Sleep apnea much!?)

DH called me out on eating multiple family-sized meals at a time.

I took naked photographs of myself to try to see what I *really* looked like and I was soooo horrified.

I couldn't keep it up. I was so unhappy...

Playground, I am sorry to hear about your friend. He or she gave you one last gift though: your health.

Aww, thank you. It's true- getting on a "healthier track" has definitely been a huge blessing

My rock bottom happend at my new job. At my old job, I weighed between 150-160lbs. I slowly gained weight once I started my new job (I sit ALL day & there's junk food EVERYWHERE!). My new boss saw a picture of me out with friends on my computer screen saver, and he asked me who that cute girl was. I told him that that was me, and he laughed and said "no way". After arguing with him, he finally realized that the picture was me and said "I seriously didn't recognize you. That picture doesn't even look like you!" I was crushed and extremely embarassed! I knew that I had gained weight, but not to the point where my old pics looked like a totally different person. That was when I knew I had to do something. I now use my old pics as motivation to stick with my good eating habits and excercise.

The second time, the time it really hit me what I had become, was at a carnival in Germany. I was walking around with a friend eating ice cream, and this man walked by, looked at the cone, looked me in the eye with this disgusted face and went, "Dich tier." You animal. My friend didn't know any German, but I know a little. I started crying and just told her my contacts were bothering me. Not to be dramatic, but I can still hear his voice sometimes when I think about eating.

What a horrible man!!! No one deserves to be spoken to like that! Good for you for losing weight, but do not let it be his voice in your head that keeps you going. Let it be your own voice saying "I can do this!" Good job on working so hard, and keep it up!

Gosh, I've had so many moments that I thought were rock bottom and then I keep going back to old habits.

I think right now my rock bottom is the fact that I keep disappointing myself by not sticking with the low calories/ workout and making up excuses. Also having 98% of my jeans not fit and feeling like my shirts look digusting everytime I put them on is a pretty low point for me. It almost feels like sitting here writing this feeling like **** for 2 weeks of good that's turned into another 2 weeks of cheating is my most recent low point.

I know what I want out of myself and I know I can do it especially with 3FC help!

I had made an appointment to visit my OBGYN... 7 months after my 6 week post partum check up. I had been having a lot of pain and problems. At my pervious appointment, I was 275...10lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. Perfect...I could keep the weight loss going.


Unfortunately...that's not what happened. I went back to work...depression kicked in...office job...a lot of bad food & choices...no exercise...and I had balooned up to 310lbs. I felt awful. I still feel kind of awful. But the 7lb loss has made a difference. I don't feel as bloated or uncomfortable...and that loss is only the beginning.

after my second pregnancy I kinda stuck to a "healthy" but I didn't count calories diet. I lost a bunch of weight and started out my third pregnancy 20 lbs lighter than my second. I then gained up to about 190something I think near the end of my third pregnancy. I had him in October, so I was like "I'm gonna take it easy through the holidays and just kinda eat healthy, like I did last time!"

well...yeah that didn't work. March/April of this year rolled around and I stepped on the scale again and I realized I'd had a seven lb baby and BARELY was 7 lbs lighter 5-6 months afterwards. I weighed in at 185. Sometime in that time frame I started to really count my calories and try to make a real effort to lose the weight vs "meh." like I was doing before.

I think the biggest shock to me was that it REALLY WORKED! The whole "counting calories" thing actually worked! Before I think I just minimized the effect of a 200 calorie snack. I was accustomed to carb counting (I'm a gestational-therefore-future diabetic, the nutritionist grilled carb counting into my head and I can do exchanges in my sleep!), but not to calorie counting. It was like a huge shock to me! LOL!

My rock bottom is current. I was at my highest a couple of months ago 165. Which officially makes me obese. For some reason, the number creeping up wasn't affecting me. Some close friends of mine had been talking about very large people they've seen and thought there were disgusting and started talking very negatively towards overweight people (never anything toward me) and it made me feel incredibly bad for the people and for myself because I fell into those categories. Finally, I went to the doctor about some acid reflex and the only thing she told me to do was lose weight. The comment made me feel really angry. I'm not sure if I was as angry at her, or angry at myself. I have vowed to get on the right track, but I'm not sure what I need to actually make my changes last.

I think the number on the scale was really shocking to me, my scale shows in kilograms, and I somehow understood that going over 90 would be crossing a line that I did not want to cross. It showed my weight gain was getting totally out of hand and I was teary and despairing over how on earth I was going to stop gaining. So I knew deep in my heart this time is for real, no excuses, this is extremely serious and I will have to reduce my calories no matter how hard it feels. Buying bigger clothes hadn't been an eye opener but the number on the scale was telling me I could no longer fool myself that I was anywhere near the size I've been most of my life.

I think rock bottom was when someone at work thought I was pregnant due to weight gain. He meant absolutley no harm by it.. there were 3 girls at work that were pregnant and I was one of the younger girls. Unfortunatley for me around the time they got pregnant was the same time I was gaining weight quite rapidly. Mind you this was an older man.. and he asked me "soo do you know what your having yet..." at first there was a really akward pause because I wasnt sure what he meant. AND then it dawned on me.."omg he thinks im pregnant" i sheepishly told him no im not pregnant i know ive gained alot of weight tho.. to where he turned red and appologized a million times. But it was none the less one of my most in the face realizations that I had gained too much! Im at a new job now.. so they just think im fat.. they didnt watch the weight go up.. but im determined to lose it this time!

The worst was when I came stomping into my living room in the dark, wearing Uggs (from the kitchen) and didn't see one of my cats. I stood on his claws as he pulled away and crushed two. I was destroyed, my cats are my WHOLE WORLD and all I could think was that if I wasn't so heavy and greedy my baby wouldn't be in so much pain. I am so ashamed. He's fine now though, thank God. Cats are so stoic, he was purring like five minutes after.

The other incident was when I was so sick with tranquilisers, cigs, coffee (15 cups w sugar measured by hand, WTH?), & food, that I had to get out and walk in the middle of the night to try to get some peace. My brain was on fire, my stomach was killing me, when one of my mum's friends out late with her dog, stopped me and asked me when I was due. I'm clueless about pregnancy but she didn't batt an eye when I said "seven months". I didn't want to embarrass either of us!!

Something clicked and I thought, what's going on? Something's very wrong here. Started a week later.

Daing reading these stories make me so sad!! Thank you all for sharing them.

I didn't have a "rock bottom". I used weight as a security blanket to weed out the guys who only focus on the physical aspect of girls. When I met my husband he thought I was sexy and fell in love with me at my highest weight. I promised myself when I found the one, I would lose weight. And that's what happened. From day one of our relationship I started to slowly work on my weight loss (June 2009). No turning back now


Oh plus I want to make sure I have a healthy pregnancy when we start trying for babies and I'd rather start that journey when Im small

At 197. I've always carried my weight well but then I started noticing little physical things that really bugged me like dimples in my arms, etc. Also, at 189 my doctor told me I should lose weight as my blood pressure was getting high. One day I just woke up (literally) and decided to diet and was successful. Just like when I knew I had to get braces, I woke up one morning and was like "Okay lets go get this started!" haha.