I am so glad that this thread is active again! I have been maintaining a new lifestyle since 9/2010. I have lost 56 pounds and I feel really good. I would like to lose 48 more. I woke sick with a really bad cold today and without the energy to work out. I browsed here and found this thread.
My last straw came on August 28, 2010 when I was diagnosed with diabetes. Lucky for me, I found a compassionate doc who put up with my crying for 2 hours in his office and got me started on oral meds. I met with the diabetes educator and dietician. He told me to lose weight and said, (kindly) that I would be a candidate for bypass surgery. I was horrified! I told him that I would lose the weight. He is so pleased by my progress and my last two A1C tests have been 5.8 and 5.2. Wahoo.
I have been obese all my life with a brief time 20 years ago where I dieted down to a size 8. I got divorced, ate my way through the stress, and I was in total denial about my weight. My dad has diabetes and my uncle died from diabetes complications but I kept telling myself that I would deal with it "before I got older". I was 51 when it happened. Given that I had really high blood pressure and high cholesteral, I was headed for a heart attack any time. I am so much healthier now.
At the time, I thought that my diagnosis was the worst day of my life but now I think it is the beginning of my life. I feel terrific! and I intend to continue.
Come on over and join us in the diabetes support group. You will find us in the dieting with obstacles and it is a good group.
Going dress shopping was the last straw for me. I'm 5'2, 27 and have always been within the recommended weight limits. Even after my pregnancy I got back down to a size 4 (pre-pregnancy size). Over a years time I packed on 40ish pounds by snacking on sugary sweets and not excercising. I had lost my job and hit a bit of a depression you could say. But When I went dress shopping for my BF wedding...I could not fit into a single digit dress size. I shocked myself and made that change.
For me it's this Summer. I'm tired of avoiding clubs in the summer because I can't wear stockings and refuse to wear jeans, I'm tired of wearing hot jeans all the time, I'm tired of searching the stores for a shirt or dress with sleeves. I live right by the beach and won't go because I'm big and my legs are horrible. I'm just tired of hiding in the summer. I'm like a backwards bear! lol.
I too have had countless "last straws," but one of my really memorable ones was this:
I was filling out forms for one reason or another (can't remember by now) and under "weight" I wrote 142 without thinking about it, because I knew my weight had ended in "42" when I looked at the scale that morning. I finally got it when the lady took my forms and gave me an odd look - I actually weighed 242, but that number just seemed so ridiculous to me that it never even occurred to me that it was correct.
I too have had a lot of "This is the last straw" moments but it really shocked me last night when my biggest pair of shorts didn't even fit me. And I was already upset last summer that I had to buy a bigger pair. I swore not to feel sad and just get back on track. I feel motivated and happy, now. Not upset about my weight, just "Keep on trying".
I can relate to that racrane. I was similar with my jeans... they were way too tight but I refused to buy anymore in a bigger size... but I also knew that it would be daft to continue buying a size way too small so I just stuck with the same 2 really tight pairs of jeans. I even ripped a pair in my denial! But it turned out to be just being bloated because a week and a half into my new diet and I'm already safely back into my size 10s. I even bought a new pair today! You'll get there!
My last straw was probably a comment my friend made... she suggested that I use my housemates bus pass, but after I pointed out it has her face on it she suggested "Just say since you took the photo you got fat." I was gutted! Trying to make a joke out of it, I told my housemate. She then told everyone we met. What was worse than accidently being told I was fat by my friend, was seeing other peoples face's as the story was relayed to them. No one said "But you're not even fat." They all laughed awkwardly or looked at me sympathetically. THAT was when I knew that I had to lose weight.
Last edited by cantgetenoughchoc; 05-13-2011 at 07:09 PM.
My last straw was just last week. I saw a picture of me and a group of my friends and I was the biggest one there. I just said f*#% that, I'm not going to be "The Fat Friend".
Last straw for me was a picture posted on Facebook of myself at a New Year's Eve party. I looked awful in a horizontal striped tshirt that clung in the worst ways imaginable. I still have the shirt and plan on doing a before/after thing with it when I hit 200 - and again when I hit a healthy weight.
Bridesmaid dress shopping. Not only were they going to order the largest size dress, it was going to need alterations to drape correctly over my gut. And vanity sizing is dead in those dresses - that dress is 4 sizes bigger than my jeans.
I'm sick of squishing into airline seats.
My knees need a break.
The last one - TMI alert - I got a very painful sore in a skin fold. That's it - I was done. I am so sick of being fat.
I've lost 22 pounds since my last straws. I can do this!
Last edited by Riddy; 05-15-2011 at 04:16 PM.
Reason: accidentally hit post too soon
A few days after our 25th wedding anniversary I found out that I am not the only woman in my husband's life.
In 15 days I have lost 16 1/2 lbs. I am very overweight, now 268.5 and plan to use this newfound control to start a new life. The day I found out I of course felt like not eating and and now it is a game..how little can I eat in a day. It gives me something to think about other than the end of life as I know it.
This last straw felt like someone took a plank and hit me on the side of the head. I don't plan to ever get another last straw.
Hey there, I'm new For me it was a combination of watching my daughter put on weight and finding out I had high blood pressure. I knew I had to make changes or I was going to be sick and my kids were going to be worse off.
Last straw - I was on a cruise with family including my sister who I hadn't spent much time with over the past 30 years. We were in a pool chatting about when we were kids when she suddenly asked me is I had considered gastric bypass surgery. I was so crushed - felt I had been punched. She told me that my weight would shorten my life and that she was just getting to know me again and didn't want me to die. (My sister is a nurse)
I decided when I got home I never wanted to feel that way again - I also found I kept thinking about death ans I didn't like it.
So.......have been home a week and have lost 6 lbs........
P.S. - After I got over the initial pain/shock of what my sister said I spoke with her. I know she was coming from a place of caring however I let her know that the first time one spends time together in 30 years might not be the best time to approach such sensitive issues, even if she was coming from that caring place.
My last straw moment came during my Senior class trip. We had gone to Virginia Beach and Busch Gardens. I went on a ride and found that I could barely pull the bar down. It was not an enjoyable ride
Having to throw up constantly from the severe acid reflux created by my unhealthy diet and the realization that I knew the food was going to make me sick and yet I kept on going. Who does that?
We all have that one person we know that we internally tell ourselves that we'll never be "that size". I do not mean this in a nasty or evil way, but we are human and we internally compare our size to others. I had a WHOA moment when I realized that the person I thought I would never gain into was just 10 pounds more than me. I realized then that I was in MAJOR DENIAL and was able to see the reality of my size because of the physical image reflected back at me. I did not truly see where I was and now I have a physical model reflected back at me.
Stepping on the scale this past week and realizing that my scale couldn't hold me. All it said was "ERROR". The scale goes up to 330 pounds. I went to my friend's house where she has a medical grade digital scale that goes up to 500 and my weight popped up to just shy of 340 pounds. Knowing that I couldn't even use a regular scale in my own home was embarassing and inspiring all at the same time.
For me it was a combination of watching my daughter put on weight and finding out I had high blood pressure. I knew I had to make changes or I was going to be sick and my kids were going to be worse off.
