I have been a fat adult for 20 years now. I wasn't a fat child, I wasn't fat in my 20s, but I've been severely overweight and obese since 30. My health has been great, and my blood pressure and cholesterol have been very good. But, I started to feel that change.

For some background:
At around 40 I lost 80 pounds and felt great. Somehow most of the weight slipped back on, and I lost it again. I did Jenny Craig, and as long as I was "eating out of the box" I was fine. I also worked out like a dog. My usual workouts were about 5 times per week and about 2 hours long. I did an hour on the elliptical, followed by an hour of weights. I was a stay at home mom, so I had the time to spend at the gym. Then I decided to go back to school and complete the Bachelors degree I never completed. At first I continued to make time for the gym. Then one day I skipped the gym, that turned into a week. At that point, I was like a sneaky little child, I remember thinking, ha ha, I skipped the gym all week. Bad move in retrospect. That week turned into a month, then a year, then several years. By the time I graduated two years later, I was a fat pig again. I looked like a round blue glob in my cap and gown. Because I was ashamed of how I looked, I have no pictures to commemorate the achievement I am so very proud of. I have few photos of me and my kids while they were growing up.

Spring forward to the current time.
I work as an Accountant, an I basically sit at a desk all day. I still don't work out. I've known for some time that things have to change, but I am the type who has to mentally prepare myself for the challenge and change. We love Disney World, and we have spent many fall breaks there while the kids have been growing up. This past year, my husband, youngest son, and I went to Disney World again. I knew it was going to be hard this time. I was about 20 pounds heavier than ever before, and my body had begun to hurt. I was having serious muscle spasms doing the simplest things. I was having trouble doing some of life's daily routines. I knew something needed to change. One night at the Magic Kingdom, my body hurt so bad, and I needed to buy some sock to put on since I had not worn any that day. I was so sore and out of shape, my 17 year old son had to put the socks on for me. Talk about embarrassing. But, the most embarrassing moment came when I tried to ride the Harry Potter Forbidden Journey ride at Universal. The workers couldn't get the bar locked into position the way they wanted, and I had to get off. I could have died right there and then. I was mortified. They kept apologizing and asking me if I wanted to try again. Imagine the horror. They were apologizing to me for being too fat to ride the ride. My family didn't say a word about it when they got off the ride, but I was so embarrassed.

That was my moment when I knew I had to do something about my weight for good. It took me two months to mentally prepare. Silly me also had concerns about starting a diet at New Years, as I didn't want to appear to be one of those people who start because of a resolution and quietly failed within two months. I also didn't tell anyone but my immediate family that I was attempting to loose weight. Part of me kept that to myself because I didn't want to appear to be on the resolution bandwagon, and I didn't want to tell anyone in case I fail.

It's been nearly 2 months, I feel great. I'm down 18 pounds, and the muscle spasms have stopped. I feel better, and my pants are much looser. No one has noticed, but I'm okay with that. I figure in 20 more pounds it will definitely be obvious, and I'm okay if no one mentions it. I haven't even told my mother because I don't want the constant, "how is you diet going"? She once or twice told me, "you have such a pretty face if you could just loose the weight". Gee thanks mom, especially since I look just like you. Ha Ha.

I'm doing this for my health, but looking better definitely is a great side benefit. I'm looking forward to tearing up Disney World this October.

What your story?

Great job on your weight loss so far

My moment came when my doctor said I was very close to getting diabetes and I knew I didnt want that to happen so I started losing weight Jan. 16th of last year and I'm not stopping until I'm at goal of 150. I did get down to my lowest so far which was 279, I'm not there right now but I will get there again or maybe I'll get lower then that.

Mine was not being able to fit into some chairs over Christmas at a family's dinner...well, I fit, but was so uncomfortable that I couldn't wait to leave. After losing 40lbs I've realized that I sleep, breathe, walk better. Never knew I had a problem until I realized how good I felt waking up in the morning and that my knees, feet, ankles, etc don't hurt nearly as much as they used too. I've done all this before (losing weight), and look forward to those small victories again. But, after re-gaining the weight, I think I was so used to convincing myself it wasn't that bad...until I stepped on the scale.

My motivation is wanting to try for another baby by the end of this year. After being overweight with my son while pregnant...I look forward to being pregnant at a much lower weight. I also don't want to set my son up for failure with his weight by having unhealthy food around. I want him to develop an appetite for a healthy diet....something I'm now trying to do in my 30's.

For me, seeing candid pictures of myself always causes me to feel like I need to do something. Also sitting on the couch and looking down to see what looks like a lumpy pillow stuffed in my yoga pants and realizing it's actually my own stomach is pretty good motivation.

Thanks for sharing. I love this area for support. I met some wonderful people.
We can and will do this!

Definitely!

I guess I've had several moments, but the most recent one came when I realized all of my pants were uncomfortable, I was running out of clothing to wear, and my day-to-day routine kept bringing me up to a weight I was deeply uncomfortable with -- both physically and emotionally.

A little bit of context: I've lost over 110 lbs, and am on a break/plateau of sorts. The lowest weight I reached had me looking pretty good, feeling great, and about 20-30 lbs from goal. (After losing 110 lbs, that's quite close!! ) Fast forward to *that moment*, I had regained about 15-17lbs. I wasn't happy with any aspect of this regain. I felt physically uncomfortable in my body, dressing myself was developing into a challenge, and things I had come to enjoy, like crossing my legs, were starting to become less comfortable. I'd begun to feel concerned I would continue to regain and all of my hard work, plus the perks I had gained from weight loss, would be lost! I had far surpassed my "time to do something about this" re-gain limit. I wasn't happy, and I knew I wouldn't be at that weight or any higher weight. I also knew getting back to where I had started would take that much more time and result in even greater frustration with myself if I continued to re-gain. If I didn't nip it in the bud then, I would, eventually, find myself having to lose these same pounds but from an even higher starting weight while feeling even more miserable. I spent most of my life living that way and I didn't want to return to that place. The sooner I started, the less weight I would have to lose, and the easier it would be. So I put myself in "weight loss mode". I'm deeply thankful I've been able to get/stay on course so far. In a few weeks, I should be out of the danger zone, and still losing the re-gain but from a more comfortable and reassuring place. I attribute a lot of getting back on course to this community. I don't know if I could do this on my own, and I sure am glad I don't have to test that theory.

Of course you dont have to do it alone....Thats why I love 3FC and I'm here to stay even after I reach my goal.

Such honesty and commitment. Bravo.

I was not a fat child or adult. I was fit and smart and pretty. (and modest too!)

When I retired I didn't run every day any more. And with my children grown I had more disposable income (to eat out). I thought "You have busted your butt your whole life, now you can relax and enjoy."

So I did. And I got bigger and bigger and bigger.

My husband is retired also and jumped right on the relax and enjoy plan. But he has some health issues now like type 2 diabetes and back problems.
We began walking and riding bikes to help him lose some weight and every time we did, I had shoulder pain or arm pain or got out of breath. Usually it was my right side. The day I had shoulder pain on my left side I just KNEW I was having a heart attack.

I wasn't. But it did make me decide that at 53 I do not want to die from being fat and out of shape. I want to be fit again. (I am still smart and pretty,ha!)

Not much to add to the discussion because I find myself nodding in agreement with so many of the posts. However, ^^^^THIS is my experience to a T belovedspirit! I haven't gained it all back but certainly enough to know that by re-losing it now the sooner I'll reach my goal. You have a great attitude. Good luck to you and us all!

I was always the chubby kid. The fat teen. And the obese adult. I remember being a freshman in high school band and having to be one of the first to get my uniform, so I could get a size big enough to fit me. I was made fun of, and of course, all of the guys loved me "Like a sister" and nothing more.

I have been unhappy with my weight for as long as I remember. I made half hearted attempts to diet and/or exercise. But I always wanted a quick fix, and would get discouraged and give up too easily.

A few things contributed to my turning point. First of all, my husband and I are going through a separation and will be divorcing. He has always preferred larger women, so I think a part of me was worried he wouldn't find me as attractive if I lost weight. Well, now he's really not a factor anymore. And, I know eventually I will feel up to putting myself out there and dating again, and I'd like to feel more confident. That wasn't my main reason, though.

My parents both have high blood pressure, and my mom also has diabetes. With single parenthood looming, I kept telling myself I need to be healthier for my son's sake, and I need to set a good example for him. Back in November, I had several cysts removed from my scalp. When they put me under anesthesia, my blood pressure went insane. Finding that out when I woke up scared me. A lot. The next month, my very morbidly obese (almost 500 lbs) Aunt started having issues due to her weight. There was pretty much nothing that could be done that wouldn't potentially cause more issues due to her weight. They needed to put in a breathing tube, but in order to do so, would have had to do reconstructive surgery first to remove excess fat from her neck. Due to her weight, the surgery itself could have killed her. She passed away a few days later after family decided her quality of life would not be what she wanted. I don't want my son to have to make decisions someday about my medical care due to weight issues.

I knew my town's annual biggest looser competition was coming up, and an old friend of mine from high school was leading a team, so I signed up. This time I'm not doing it half-hearted.

I've had a couple of major turning points. My turning point was weighing myself in January 2005 and seeing 275 lbs on the scale. Even though I was a chubby child and I remember being over 200 lbs by the time I was 12 years old, I just saw 275 as being wayyy to close to 300 and it resonated with something in me and I knew I had to do something even though I'd never really tried to diet or lose weight before.

I had another major turning point last year when I realized my slow creeping regain from my gluten-free baking hobby had turned into a more than 40-lb regain out of a total of 120lbs lost. I saw myself at 196 lbs so close to 200 and I knew i had to stop lurking around on 3FC and come back. And the funny thing is after goal, I stuck around and maintained my loss. After the regain started creeping, I started creeping away.

I'm down almost halfway of my regain and I feel like I'm having a turning point now like almost every couple of months in different ways. But those two mentioned have been the two major ones. You guys are so awesome and inspiring and have such great spirits that came through in your stories. We'll all make it! I know!

Like - I do better if I stay on the boards, too.

Thanks! I think so many of us are in the same boat, or at least swimming the same waters. We can definitely do it!

For me, I'd see candid photos and go ugggh. But nothing happened. Then my mum was cooking for me and advised it was from the Marks and Spencers diet range, to "help" me with my weight. As I wasn't dieting, I laughed and brushed it off but a nagging feeling told me to get on the scales. I then realised I had gained nearly to stone in the last 2 years. 2 years ago, I knew it was bad that I'd gained ten pounds but thought they'd just go away.

When I realised I was 235 pounds, I cried. Googled people my height and weight and ended up at 3FC. This is the longest I've stayed motivated (11 days) so I'm happy!

My turning point should have been the night I was hauled out of work in an ambulance back in January. I had all the symptoms of a heart attack. The doc said it was an anxiety attack. But that wasn't, in fact I continued to put on weight.

But then I got to a point where I could barely walk I had so much pain in my knees and ankles. I wasn't sleeping well. Even the littlest bit of physical activity made me sweat... A LOT! My clothes were getting uncomfortably tight and I was having a hard time finding a bigger size in something I even remotely liked.

I had my second grand baby on the way and I knew I wanted to be healthy. I also knew if I did not make some changes I would not be around to see her grow up. I knew I had to something. I researched WeightNot. I was skeptical, but the plan made sense. It offered results similar to weight loss surgery...without surgery. (Three years prior I had looked into weight loss surgery. Long story, but I decided against it.) After a couple long discussions with my hubby and the WeightNot staff I made the investment.

Tomorrow marks 4 months since I began WeightNot, I have lost 81 pounds. I am not at my goal weight yet, but I feel confident that I will get there!