I had another one that came to me just now. I'm a college student we have a lot of thsoe chair-desk combinations where the desk is attached to the chair. (does that make sense?) I found that I could only fit in one style of those chairs, and those chairs were only found sometimes. It was embarrassing to try to squeeze into those desks. I hoped every day that I could fit comfortably in the chair, for the hour and half, that I could get out, that I could take notes comfortably...
And then I felt ashamed of myself for having such thoughts and this being the truth.
It was just over a year ago, I was only 19, and I couldn't keep up with a 45 year old man during an up-hill hike. I was breathing so heavy I thought I might faint! That and a very close cousin of mine was going for a gastric bypass, and I didn't want to let het get skinny without me!
I lost over 20 lbs in high school and kept it off for several years. I gained the freshman 15 and have been trying to lose it for the past 3 years. I knew my clothes were getting too tight, but I just kept ignoring it, telling myself they "shrunk in the drier." One day I was getting dressed and my underwear was too tight and that's when it hit--I needed to drop some weight. If my clothing made out of super stretchy material couldn't fit, what would? And the idea of having to buy new underwear because I got too big for what I had was just humiliating...
I had another one that came to me just now. I'm a college student we have a lot of thsoe chair-desk combinations where the desk is attached to the chair. (does that make sense?) I found that I could only fit in one style of those chairs, and those chairs were only found sometimes. It was embarrassing to try to squeeze into those desks. I hoped every day that I could fit comfortably in the chair, for the hour and half, that I could get out, that I could take notes comfortably...
And then I felt ashamed of myself for having such thoughts and this being the truth.
Glitterducky, I remember those desks. Some of our high school classes had them too. I've always been a pear and times when my weight was up, I dreaded those desks. Even when I would be ok, I would wonder how many other students were watching me thinking the same thing. Ugh.
My DH is in his last year of a masters program and he is very embarrassed by those desks. He has put on nearly 100lbs over the past few years.
Congrats on deciding to take hold of your weight and not let it control your day or where you sit!
I had a number of opportunities to have an AHA moment, like...
when I reached over 200
when I developed diabetes
when I developed fibromyalgia
when my knees hurt
etc.
But one day recently, my blood sugar was over 300 (very high).
I said to myself, you've passed up so many AHA moments to change.
Are you gonna pass this one up too?
What about waiting until the first heart attack or stroke?
What about waiting until they amputate the first toe?
Or maybe until you have "a little" kidney failure?
ENOUGH!! I said. THIS is my turning point.
AHA !!!
Last edited by Watercolor; 06-16-2009 at 04:55 PM.
Glitterducky, I remember those desks. Some of our high school classes had them too. I've always been a pear and times when my weight was up, I dreaded those desks. Even when I would be ok, I would wonder how many other students were watching me thinking the same thing. Ugh.
My DH is in his last year of a masters program and he is very embarrassed by those desks. He has put on nearly 100lbs over the past few years.
Congrats on deciding to take hold of your weight and not let it control your day or where you sit!
Thanks!!! I remember one horrifying incident, I was late for class and decided to sit anywhere, well I choseo ne of the smaller desks and I could barely fit in it. I was hanging off the edge because I could suck it in enough to get into the desk. The worst part, two guys were sitting behind me making jokes the whole time. I didn't know which was worse, not being able to fit or having to get up in the middle class to find a new place to sit. I chose to crouch on the edge of the seat. But on the bright side, those desks ARE tiny...even the thinner students filled up all the given space.
I had another one that came to me just now. I'm a college student we have a lot of thsoe chair-desk combinations where the desk is attached to the chair. (does that make sense?) I found that I could only fit in one style of those chairs, and those chairs were only found sometimes. It was embarrassing to try to squeeze into those desks. I hoped every day that I could fit comfortably in the chair, for the hour and half, that I could get out, that I could take notes comfortably...
And then I felt ashamed of myself for having such thoughts and this being the truth.
I am a college professor and I had to sit in those chairs sometimes. Talk about torture!!! So much better these days!
Three years ago exactly, the middle of June 2006, I had regained 50 pounds over the previous four years (went from 170 to 220) and was within ten pounds of my highest weight (230). Then three things happened that made me realize I had to make a PERMANENT change:
1. I started having chest pains, almost to the point that I was worried I was having a heart attack.
2. My rear end almost didn't fit in the seat of an older roller coaster at a local amusement park.
3. I realized how horrible it must be for my daughter (7 at the time) to have a mom who was so fat.
I committed to a life change and decided the best way to accomplish it was to make small changes that I knew I could live with permanently. I've since lost 54 pounds over the last three years, nearly 30 of which I've lost so far this year. I am now at the lowest weight I have been in my adult life. My goal is not only to reach a healthy weight but more importanly to maintain the weight I have lost permanently.
There's a few AHA moments for me:
1. I have pre-diabetes at 19; no, it does not run in my family.
2. I tried on a brides maid dress and had to wear a size 24. I thought I was a size 20. Apparently not x_x
3. I can barely fit into jeans sold in the normal sections anymore. I have to go to the section for large women.
4. I had my brother take pictures of me in a bathing suit for "before" pictures. That was a HUGE eye-opener.
I was getting too tight in my size 16 jeans
All my clothes felt tight
I felt more than one chin
No matter what angle I looked at myself in the mirror, I looked fat
I was breathing heavily and felt like I was in slow motion
A few things happened in a matter of weeks that made losing weight make sense:
- My size 14 pants were too big, so I went to the Gap and bought my first (and only) pair of size 16 pants.
- I went to the movie theater in my new size 16 pants and as I sat down my thighs grazed the arm rests
- I weighed myself at the gym, saw 192, and made a mental note that I was just 8 pounds away from 200
- My boyfriend bought me an ipod touch for my birthday and while browsing the itunes store I came across the Lose It! calorie-counter app
- I heard on the radio that a study found that no matter what diet is being followed, what ultimately matters is how many calories are taken in.
That last item was truly my Aha! moment. I remember driving in my car and thinking "I can totally do that, it's just numbers." I went home, downloaded Lose It, and everything else just fell into place.
My 'aha' moment in 2004 wasn't all that dramatic. I had sort of been trying to get walking going, I was working with a pretty health minded group and I had been trying to figure out what to do. I wasn't all that miserable really (had sort of decided I was 'supposed' to be heavy or couldn't fix it and had long since stopped worrying about it) but I did realize the health issues were going to start catching up with me. I read something about the huge improvements that could be gained by losing just 10% of my weight and that seemed doable. I then STUMBLED into a tv show that suggested the 5 point plan that I started with and I felt like "I can do that" and so it began. That started the flow and I wound up going well past that 10% mark and at my lowest weight a year ago was firmly in the healthy BMI range.
The winters are always hard for me and this one knocked me off track in the biggest ways yet. I moved last spring and have lost my walking buddy and have struggled so much to get exercise done this last winter. I also always, always struggle with eating out and socializing around food and both things got completely out of control this winter. I had gained weight the last 2 winters too but had had major personal stuff going on both springs that forced weight loss. Fortunately, that didn't happen this year but I found my 'medium' jeans (of the skinny, medium, fat spectrum ) not fitting anymore and that was my aha this year. This is my fifth week back on track and it's finally starting to feel more like my old groove. I haven't actually weighed myself yet (for fear of really discouraging myself) but I would guess I'm in the lower end of overweight BMI so I want to knock myself back below that line but mostly I just want my lifestyle to be healthy and if I weigh this weight, so be it. I doubt it though.
I was hanging off the edge because I could suck it in enough to get into the desk. The worst part, two guys were sitting behind me making jokes the whole time. I didn't know which was worse, not being able to fit or having to get up in the middle class to find a new place to sit. I chose to crouch on the edge of the seat. But on the bright side, those desks ARE tiny...even the thinner students filled up all the given space.
) not fitting anymore and that was my aha this year. This is my fifth week back on track and it's finally starting to feel more like my old groove. I haven't actually weighed myself yet (for fear of really discouraging myself) but I would guess I'm in the lower end of overweight BMI so I want to knock myself back below that line but mostly I just want my lifestyle to be healthy and if I weigh this weight, so be it. I doubt it though.