The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back
 

What made you decide to lose weight?

For me, I got extremely frustrated one evening when getting ready for a party. I kept trying on outfit, after outfit, after outfit, and I was happy with nothing. I suddenly came to the realization (and this is going to sound ridiculous, because it is) that I looked fat in everything because I am fat. No clothing item I owned was going to change that fact!

I'd dieted on and off before that day, but never with the mindset I have now. It was like I saw myself for the first time that day and decided I didn't want to be obese anymore.

I'm curious to see all of the reasons we are here to lose weight!

Trying on a wedding dress for the first time. And then seeing the photos.

Ok, it wasn't that I hated seeing myself in pictures, it wasn't that I could no longer keep up with the family, it wasn't that I found myself leaning on the sink to do dishes, it wasn't even when I dropped something on the floor in front of my boss and I was too embarassed to bend over to pick it up, knowing that I would have to grab the wall for support - all of those were straws - but the final straw that broke the camel's back was when I looked at my wrist - and saw this thin little wrist with a big blob of fat all around it. It looked like a balloon that someone had blown up. It was the "duh" moment - you really ARE fat. It isn't about genetics - it isn't about being over 50 years old - it is about being so fat that all of those other things are affecting the QUALITY of your life. Suck it up - change your lifestyle so that you will HAVE a LIFE and ENJOY that LIFE.

UPDATE - just last week I looked at that wrist - the fat balloon is finally gone :D
And I am fit, and enjoying life the way a vibrant, sexy 50+ woman should :D

One morning during April, my husband looked at me right before he left for work and said, "Since I'm having to work so much, you think you could take <our daughter> to swimming lessons this year?" I said okay. He left.

Then I started thinking about it. And I realized...I didn't even own a swimsuit. And then I thought about shopping for a swimsuit. And then I thought about actually wearing said fictional swimsuit in public! I broke down and cried.

I finally came to terms with my own BS and realized - the fat and flab I'd gained over the last 7 years was NOT going to go away with me occasionally exercising, eating junk, and sitting in front of my computer all day. I had to actually get out there and DO stuff on a regular basis. I had to modify my eating habits, and not on a 'I can do this for a week' idea but 'I'm making a lifetime change here.'

So that's what I've done. I'm low carb, and I exercise - barring injury or illness (and I don't mean the 'oh I'm too tired today' illness) 6 days a week.

21 lbs. lost at last weigh in, will weigh in again in 2 days.

Like most people, it's really an accumulation of things:

-In the family wedding photos, I'm progressively fatter in every one.
-I love clothes & have boxes full from size 8(Australian)to size 20.
-I no longer even think of dancing, even in private.
-Shopping for clothes is a nightmare.

But what really clinched it is that I no longer feel sexy-ugh!

i have had many occasion where something happened that made me want to lose weight...the two final straws were: going on a hike with two people who were older than me (one was at least twice my age) and way not being able to keep up! the other was a very close cousin of mine (who weighs 70lbs more than i) decided to get wls, and i didn't want to be left behind in the realm of fattness!

My son begged me to be a room mother for his 3rd grade class field trip to the circus. I told him I couldn't. I was deathly afraid that the other kids would tease him about his Majorly Fat Mother. I was also terrified I would not fit in the seats at the auditorium...if I could even make it up the flight of stairs to be seated. He was so sad. His little face just broke my heart.

I've been a stay at home mom for 10 years, (work part-time from my home office). My job is being a mother, and my weight has got in the way of fulfilling my job duties. :(

Finding out my Dad has diabetes now too, not just my mom (plus two sisters had gestational diabetes) - too scary.

Canceled my trip to see my new great nephew and go to my other nieces' wedding because I was to embarassed for my family to see how fat I am.

Well I had tried to lose weight but I always failed.. then my mom told me about a program a few people at her work place did where they lost weight and kept it off.. (This was my freshman year in high school).
I didn't bother checking it out, I was so depressed, I thought what was the point?
Then that summer, when I was around skateboarding (lol, my skating/goth phase).. a bunch of kids called me fat. I also had come back from Chicago and I saw pictures of me.. I realized how big I really was and then gave it a shot during sophomore year. It was a rocky start, because I had trouble committing to the diet.. then finally, enough was enough. I realized that I would be going to college soon and I didn't want to be in college at the weight I was at. So finally, senior year, I did the program, lost a lot of weight, but ended up not going back to the program for the transition period (which is the most important part to keep from gaining it back) and well I gained a lot back.
In college, I tried, but with the meals there, it wasn't working. So I did manage to maintain some during the time but ultimately, I gained a lot back during the last semester but I planned on doing it over the summer.
So here I am, committed as ever to this program.. Since I lost it before, I know I can do it, and I'm about 10 lbs away from where I was last time, so I'm just trying to lose the rest!
The fatigue, the depression, the clothes not fitting, seeing other girls my age being so thin, and realizing I didn't want to be at that weight during the "best" years of my life.. well it was all a wake up call.. not to mention the diabetes that runs in my family.

I fell down the stairs and was in severe pain for a while having injured my coccyx. Although I didn't blame my weight at the time, I realized that the pain and lack of mobility was in my direct future if I didn't do something.

I was in total denial about my weight ever since I'd gained it. I thought all the pictures were just "bad" pictures and the size of clothes was "just part of getting older/having kids/being married". I bought a really good scale back in 2004 and when I stepped on it and it registered 250 I could not believe it. I must've gotten on and off of it like 20 times and just stood there in amazement. So I started losing weight, had 2 kids in the midst of it--both pregnancies with gestational diabetes and thought--no way am I going to get diabetes --- I CAN DO SOMETHING to prevent it!

It's been a long hard road, with alot of struggles, but I do plan to reach my goal one day!

I saw a picture of myself with my girlfriends and I looked disgusting. Not just fat, but gross. I was super skinny in high school and it was shocking to me to see the difference in the pictures.

Three things happened:

1. My loose fit size 18 Eddie Bauer jeans (which hadn't been "loose" for ages) became so tight that I drove home from work every night with the top button unbuttoned. I was completely demoralized by the thought of buying size 20 jeans. I had been wearing the same pair of 18 jeans for years (they were my only pair of jeans), I hadn't bought any other 18s because I didn't think I would wear them much longer, they were only supposed to be temporary utnil I got back to a smaller size. Now they were tight! and I needed bigger jeans! It was really traumatizing.

2. I hadn't seen my mom in person in at least 2 years. She's a true, naturally slender woman (5'4" barely 110 lbs my entire life). She wanted me to come visit for Christmas and I was horrified by the thought of my mom seeing me at 200 lbs, she had never seen me so heavy. I was dreading, actually dreading a Christmas visit to see my mom whom I love very much. It was tearing me up.

3. I went to the movies - Dawn of the Dead to be exact. I went to the bathroom, sat on the toilet and CUT the outside of my left thigh on a sharp-edged metal trash receptacle. If I'd been a "normal" sized person, my thighs would have fit just fine, but because I was heavy, I didn't fit. All of a sudden, all I could think of was seatbelt extenders on airlines and a lifetime of being too big to do normal things. I sat there, bled and cried, just bawled like a baby.

So, all of those things were churning in me. I was browsing in B&N, I looooved reading weight loss/diet books. I picked up a book by Dr. Stephen Pratt - Superfoods Rx: 14 Foods that Will Change Your Life and it was like I grabbed an electric fence. After 20 years of dieting, where I went from a slightly slightly overweight 140 lb high school sophomore to a 200 lb 35 year old depressed, tired, lethargic woman, all of a sudden I GOT IT.

Instead of dieting, losing weight and then stopping (and regaining weight), I would change how I ate forever and be slim forever.

Nearly 4 years later...here I am. 130 lbs, size 6, gorgeous legs, gorgeous arms (which I would never have dreamed possible), beautiful cheekbones, I lost 10 inches off my waist, I went from a 42DD to a 34D. I have changed my life, I make good food choices 95% of the time. I don't eat fast food, I gave up soda...and I am happy, I LIKE ME. Me and the mirror - we're PALS. Pictures? Love em, can't get enough. I live to shop. Forget one pair of ratty old jeans, I have a closet of adorable clothes and getting dressed every morning is a pleasure.

From the first moment I thought to do this, I didn't say "I'll start Monday, I'll start in January" I started that second, I never once truely doubted I would lose the weight and keep it off.

I was lying in bed one night when I realized there was something beside me. Turned out it was my gut. The penny dropped, and I embarked on the long journey......

A tiny, marathon-running, boot-camp-attending friend keeps asking me on vacations with her. I've seen her other vacation photos -- they involve tiny white bikinis, zip lines over Costa Rican canyons, hiking up mountains, etc.

I really wanted to go but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with her -- and I sure didn't want to see any vacation photos with me in a muu muu and her in a tiny white bikini!

I realized that my weight was destroying my life. Did I want to spend the next few decades watching TV, with the only man in my life the delivery boy from the sub shop? No!

So I got back into making healthy choices and told my beautiful fit friend that I'll go scuba diving with her this coming Christmas.

As of today, I've lost 10% of my total starting weight. Yay!

For me it was seeing pictures of myself! I just couldnt stand how I looked because of my weight. As many of you know pictures show it all. I hadnt really took pics for years until about 8 or 9 months ago because of my weight. Now when I take pictures I see a difference and I love it and that is what keeps me motivated to keep going. I also feel that this time is the time that I am going to accomplish my goal because I have never been this into losing weight.

For me it was when my doctor said she didn't want to perform a tubal ligation on me because I was too fat. It was the first time I realized my weight was getting in the way of something I wantd to do. What the heck took so long I'll never know. :p

Awful pictures, where I could see how full my face got and how BIG I was....I actually cried. (at this time I was 203#).

I've gained weight back the last 2 years and am fighting to put everything back in place, despite age and menopause! I had forgotten how much I loved going to the gym...now I'm back for good!

No one big 'ah-ha' moment for me. I just got sick and tired of losing, gaining, losing, gaining. Bleh! Finding out that my BMI put me into the 'obese' range vs. just the 'overweight' range DID push me but just being tired of being fat was the real kicker.

In a nutshell this sentence is now my mindset:

Why this time around I get it and not before? Who knows! Just glad I finally, finally, finally got it through my bonehead. Glory, thanks for these words; it truly doesn't get any simpler than this. :)

I started getting heart palpitations while lying in bed (in my 20s!) and couldn't fit on the rides at Cedar Point. I had stopped really living my life, but I didn't think I could really change anything (or didn't know how) until I saw a 20/20 special about David Smith, a young guy from Arizona who once weighed 630 pounds and lost over 400 after a lifetime of morbid obesity. I figured if he could do it, so could I!

For me the final straw was seeing an old friend who had lost a lot of weight and kept it off. She looked fabulous and I was bigger than ever, after a lifetime of yo-yo dieting. I hated clothes shopping. I was determined not to be a size 16 or 18, and had to shop forever to find 14s that would fit me. I hated going places because I hated how I looked and never had anything cute to wear. Also, my sister-in-law found out she was pre-diabetic and I could see the same thing happening to me. She had lost 30 pounds and I figured if she could do it, I could do it. She has since gained back the weight and then some but I'm still going strong.

Pam

Three things:

1. It was December 2003 was 264lbs and I would supposed to go to Italy for 5 months beginning August 2004. I did NOT want to be the 264lb American and I knew that no matter how much fun I was having or how beautiful everything is there, I would ONLY and ALWAYS feel like the big, fat 264lb American...

2. I went to buy clothes at Lane Bryant one day in, I think, November 2003 and - OH MY GOD - I tried on a size 24 blouse and... IT DIDN'T FIT. I was approaching a size 26/28. To me, THAT was my scary-size... one more size and I couldn't shop at Lane Bryant anymore. THEN what would I do?

3. My (at the time, size 10-12-ish) friend and I bought matching long skirts (one size fits all, and it DID fit me) at this street fair downtown. We both LOVED the skirt - it was so cool looking. She looked *GREAT* in it. *I* looked like a fat gypsy. I stared at that skirt, hanging on the hanger in my closet, cursing myself for being so fat.

I have been up and down so many times. But it had been over 2 years since I really cared at all about what I ate...I had given up. My skinny husband had no understanding of how difficult it is to lose weight.

The local radio station was having a contest...a Biggest Loser type of thing. called "The Fit Club", they picked 4 contestants, I had to write an essay of 100 words or less why I wanted to join The Fit Club. The prize was a $500 mall gift card. I wrote the essay...The hardest part was keeping it under 100 words.

On January 6, my father in law passed away. On January 7, I was rummaging through my closet for funeral clothes that fit and the phone rang...it was the dj from the radio station...I had been choosen as a contestant. I got a 6 month gym membership, and nutritional counseling, and the support of my dj buddy.

I was exstatic, I was going to make the most of this shot. But first the doctors appointment to get medical approval...I was mortified I weighed 300.2 pounds. i knew this was nearly literally do or die!!! Then I had a dicussion with hubby. I said he had two choices he could support me with words of encouragement and kind compliments...or he could sit down, shut up and enjoy the ride. I would be driving to the gym daily...that gym was 30 miles from home. Since then I have joined a local one...it was cheaper than going to my "Free Gym" with the price of gas.

Fit Club last 6 weeks, I started out doing Flat Belly Diet. A good plan, but the website was kind of flat, and too much "I can't..." talk on the boards, not much encouragement. I read an article in People magazine about women who met in an online diet support group. The article listed a few different online diet support groups. A few days later I decided to check them out....3FC was the only name I could remember.

I read a few goal stories...but Glory's stuck with me. I actually read it 3 times back to back...I read it to hubby and said, "That will be ME one day!!" I think he actually kind of understood weight loss, weight control is not a natural thing for some people, like it is for him and I couldn't just "diet" for a short period of time...I had to do this for life. I ordered Super Foods RX. The six week Fit Club ended. It was based on percent of body fat lost. Well I had lost 18.4 pounds in those 6 weeks but only abut 1.4% body fat. I was not the grand prize winner. But I truly believe I gained something much greater than a $500 gift card!!

I began this journey on Jan 21 with the start of The Fit Club, today I am 56 pounds lighter. I feel remarkable!!! I do not focus on what I can't eat...I strive to eat the foods I should eat. I do not allow myself a weekly "cheat meal" like Glory did...I am not sure I have enough control to do that....not yet anyhow. If I want a treat I work it into my plan. I plan ahead....for everything. I try to find menu and nutrition information online before dining out. I buy many things in bulk and divide them into portion size servings and freeze or refridgerate the small portion so I have grab and go meals and snacks.

I don't think of myself as being on a diet....I see myself as making wise healthy food choices and incorporating a healthy level of physical activity in my life.

Sorry the post got so long.

A hill in Lisbon. I had to keep stopping to catch my breath and my daughters were terrified that I was having a heart attack in a country where none of us spoke the language. I would like to go back now and kick that hill's butt!

Last month I was trying to get dressed for an event. I tried on one after another after another of my "dress-up" clothes and I looked like heck in all of them, that is, the ones I could actually get onto to my body either up over my hips or down over my chest. I looked in the mirror and came to the conclusion I'm fat. Excuses like menopause and being over 50 didn't fly with me that evening. I decided to do something about it and the journey began.

When I saw 250 on the scale, I realized "Hey - I am half way to 500 pounds - and only 1/4 of the way to half a ton."
I was disgusted about how I looked. I hated shopping at Lane Bryant.

I couldn't ignore it anymore.

I knew I had gained weight, but I think I was in a bit of denial about how much weight I had gained. I was sitting at work one day, and I had on a sweater vest with a blouse underneath. The blouse wouldn't stay buttoned, and it wasn't just one button that kept popping, it was like 3 or 4 of them! Luckily, I had on the vest on top, so no one could tell, but what if I hadn't? :fr: At that point, I knew I had to lose some weight or I would be replacing my whole wardrobe. When I lost weight back in 2005, I got rid of all my old clothes and bought a whole closet full of new ones. I didn't have to replace them again with size 18/20s instead of 14/16s!

I went on WW May 10th, and started South Beach this week.

Ars, the scenario you described about not being able to find anything to wear happens to me quite frequently. My friends are always like "why is it taking you so long to get ready"? And I just tell them that I can't find anything to wear. Maybe I look fat in everything because I am fat!?

When I saw my Mom the last time before she died. She looked nothing like herself, so ravaged by diabetes and heart disease. On the way home I realized that I was having symptoms of both of these diseases twenty years earlier than she did. It hit me how crazy it is to treat my body this way. Years of not caring what I ate and no exercise were making me very sick. I got on the scale today and I'm down 51 pounds and I feel so much better! Can't wait to see a one-something on the scale.

Watched my grandma gain weight until she could no longer walk.

Watched my dad binge and starve, binge and starve, binge and starve.

Realized I actually ENVIED my drug addict sister for being so thin.

Just want to live a long, healthy life.

I've been up and down the scale my entire life (with all the downs done in horribly unhealthy ways) but on this last trip up I was in total denial - I didn't own a scale and I rationalized that a size 12 was only "a little" bigger than a 10, then a 14 was only "a little" bigger than the 12. Then it was the usual "they shrunk in the dryer" and then it was clothing manufacturers not being consistant, until I was bursting out of 16s and switched to men's jeans so I wouldn't have to admit being in an 18. Then when even the men's jeans were getting too tight I was still (this part does not speak well of me as a person - feels a little like making an admission in an AA meeting :o ) looking at a coworker and saying "at least I don't look as bad as she does". Even being threatened by a doctor with a whole laundry list of meds didn't really make it sink in what I was doing to myself. Then, after last year's company Christmas party, I was looking at the pictures and thought "oh, there's so-and-so". Wrong! so-and-so hadn't been at the party! I was looking at me and had mistaken myself for the person I thought I looked so much better than! For the first time in my life I understood the feeling they try to convey in the movies where the entire room seems to be moving away from the person.

The next day I went on line and ordered a piece of exercise equipment with a dvd program to follow and the day it arrived I bought a scale. I went out and found a new doctor that was more interested in proper nutrition than writing perscriptions and he got me started in the right direction. Around that same time I stumbled across 3FC which must have been fate :D because the advice and support I've found here have made it almost impossible for me to look anywhere but forward. :carrot:

I got up to 180 once and lost 40 lbs.
I got up to 190, then lost 53 lbs.
I told myself that at least i never hit 200s, i would NEVER let myself go to the 200s.


I got up last sunday morning and weighed my self.
It was 200 lbs right on the button, then I changed everything around, and this time I'm gonna lose it and keep it off!

My big thing was this past Christmas. My son, 3 at the time had picked out a hoodie for me. He was so proud! A black Hello Kitty hoodie with skulls on it, he loves 'scawee' things and he couldn't wait for me to try it on. It didn't fit, I couldn't pull it up over my arms, heck my elbows - and it was an XL. It was crushing to disappoint my son. I never want to disappoint him again, and knew it would be the first of a string of disappointments unless I started right away. Also, my husband gave me a few cashmere sweaters, didn't fit.

I was mortified.

I resolved to start on January 1st, and here I am almost 6 months later still keeping to my resolution. It's the first resolution I've stuck with this long.

I will be wearing that hoodie this fall. Next fall it will be too big, but if my boy wants me to wear it I will. The cashmere sweaters are now too big :)

I'm just starting because I realized that I wouldn't go to my 20th reunion this summer because I've packed on so many pounds. Now I need to use the pain I feel when I see photos of myself and turn it into a will to lose-the-weight. I've exercised all week so I'm off to a good start! :)

My size 18s got tight, and as an apple I was sure I would be unable to find size 20s that fit - if they fit my waist I've have yards of baggy fabric. And they'd all be pull up stretch waistbands. I wasn't going to be able to find any clothes I'd care to wear.

And I suddenly realized I was seven pounds away from being 100 pounds over the weight I was in my late teens and twenties.

I'm definitely seeing a lot of stuff I have faced in your replies! The breathless up hill walks, the looking bad in pictures, the denial about changing sizes, the not fitting on an amusement park ride. I've been through all of that, but somehow it never made me change my ways. It's odd the things we sometimes manage to rationalize.

Hugs all around, I'm so glad to have found this board and all of you! :hug:

Not having the energy or stamina to do ANYthing... I went for a walk one day after not walking for about a year more than in the house, and i couldnt do it.. i walked about 5 yards and had to stop and rest.. it p£$%ssed me off to no end... how had i let myself get to this point? i am 43 years old and was /am living in a 150 year old body ( at least it feels that way)... but one thing i have noticed.. in the last week and a half with making myself MOVE, i feel loads better, have more energy, have lost 10lbs, and it has all deepened my resolve to keep on truckin lol... if i feel this good after a week and still being huge, what will i feel like after a year and being 100 or so lbs lighter??? I am soo looking forward to that:)

I was blissfully happy with my second husband, whom I had been married to for three and a half years. I looked across at him while were driving to do the grocery shopping and I figured that if I wanted to be alive long enough to grow old together I had better do something about my weight. Our grocery shopping that day was VERY different to grocery shopping excursions in the past.

I was similar to Glory in that I didn't decide to start 'tomorrow' or 'next week', but I started that minute and I never, once, thought that I wouldn't lose the weight I needed to. I am also like others in that I didn't go on a 'diet'. I changed my lifestyle - FOR LIFE!!!! That way, I am never going to 'stop the diet'. I just keep living my new, healthier lifestyle. It has made it SO much easier.