How can someone get to 538lbs?

pghsteelerfan

Well written post....putting down your feelings and thoughts helps others. Lot of it was relateable ( if thats a word )....Food becomes our "comfort" for numerous reasons..and b4 you know it the scale can tip in astronomical numbers....sometimes i wonder how much my body can take...quite a bit at times....but reading your post...so much felt like it was my own story...

Thank you for exposing your soul to us.....

shanaleereimer

Well Done!!!! You are an inspiration!

kelseyann92

WOW you are a true inspiration! such an amazing story:happy:

IsaacHudson

Brilliant story, thank you for sharing. Best of luck with your journey.

searching4spock

Amazing on so many levels. I am so very sorry for the loss of your niece. I cannot imagine how traumatic that must have been for everyone.
If you have never heard of Shades of Hope treatment center, they deal with the emotional issues behind the eating. I promise I don't work for them, but I did go there for one of their week long programs a few years ago when I felt my eating was getting out of hand and it was great.
I still struggle but am getting back on track once again. Wishing you continued success!

back2twentyfive

Thank you so much for sharing your story. You answered a question I have had for many, many years, about a cousin who was over 500 lbs. For many years, I assumed that hormone problems caused his weight gain and his inability to lose weight. When I asked family members, I was told no, it was because he ate too much. But I wondered, how that could be. He was a brilliant, kind-hearted, loving person, married to a very loving woman who respected him tremendously. But the family would only say things about how he would wear out the car seats every 2 months, and one family member was very mean and would say over and over again that he couldn't understand what his wife saw in him. What an awful person to say that. Your explanation of how emotional issues caused your weight gain makes sense in regard to my cousin. Thank you for enlightening me. Your honesty is awesome. It is so helpful to understand what my cousin may have been going through. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly due to an infection that he refused to go to the hospital for until it could not be treated adequately.

You have your whole life ahead of you!!! We all have regrets, but you are a shining example of taking your problems into your own hands! I am so in awe of your decision to turn your life around. You are awesome! And inspiring to me in my own weight loss journey. I hope that as many people as possible read your story so that they can understand.

Thank you for your honesty -- it is a rare gift to be authentic.

starrylioness

Thank you for sharing your story. You have such strength and courage.

softblondechick

You are very brave to share.

One thing we beat ourselves up with, is the existential failure, " I should have lost weight, 10, 20, 30 years ago...", and the realization of the impact the weight made on our lives. It is emotional baggage.

I am glad you are doing better. Continue the journey. You are not alone. No judging here.

RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle

You helped me understand. Thank you, it is complicated and different for every person. The only thing I want to say that might be contrary to your OP is that you are young! If you've wasted time it's just a blip in your life. You have many years ahead of you and congrats on getting your degree in the midst if it all!

PurringMyrrh

Read the initial post with tears streaming down my face by the end. I know what it's like to feel hopeless. Wanted to post to thank you for posting and also to have this for safe keeping. Your life is far from over and it has so much potential to become wonderful from here forward.

Ftw37

Geez, I totally relate, dude.

persistentsoul

Looking good, can see the sparkle has come back where you have decided to fight for better life. I relate to your story as I am sure many do. Life grinds so many people down to the point it feels there is no fight left and no chance to be happy. It takes a lot to be in that place and sometimes be there repeatedly but still find a tiny spark of hope and choose to build on it. It shows how much more powerful we are then we realise. Well done

muffinsmimi

I am so impressed by your resilience and not giving up. Losing your lovable, fun 6 yr. old niece when she was so young had to have been so very painful. You have plenty of great memories of her I'm sure...hold on to those. Congratulations on
getting back up and moving forward...one foot in front of the other.

I am my heaviest ever....215 lbs and CANNOT seem to lose even a pound no matter how hard I try. I need to get my butt moving in addition to eating healthy. Hopefully this will help. God bless you!!!

MichelleV1990

This is the most poignant, straight from the heart, autobiographies I have ever read! The first thing that struck a real chord with me was the lack of love you received growing up. There's so much dysfunction in the world, but I believe the lack of nurturing ones own child has got to be the worst. All children need hugs, kisses, and to feel wanted. The fact that you never experienced this makes me want to cry. The love and support of a solid family is what makes or breaks us. For you to have come this far in life and retain your sanity is a success story, in and of itself!

Words can't begin to describe how terribly sorry I am for the loss of your beautiful, precious niece. I'm thankful that you were able to experience the pure love she had to give! That is what life is all about!

Your inner strength is amazing! I probably would have crumbled beyond the point of no return had I been in your shoes. To see you rise up and triumph over your circumstances is inspirational! I have no doubt that you will reach your goals; and I pray that you find the love, support, and security that you so richly deserve. :flowerforyou:

lukewind

This is the most poignant, straight from the heart, autobiographies I have ever read! The first thing that struck a real chord with me was the lack of love you received growing up. There's so much dysfunction in the world, but I believe the lack of nurturing ones own child has got to be the worst. All children need hugs, kisses, and to feel wanted. The fact that you never experienced this makes me want to cry. The love and support of a solid family is what makes or breaks us. For you to have come this far in life and retain your sanity is a success story, in and of itself!

Words can't begin to describe how terribly sorry I am for the loss of your beautiful, precious niece. I'm thankful that you were able to experience the pure love she had to give! That is what life is all about!

Your inner strength is amazing! I probably would have crumbled beyond the point of no return had I been in your shoes. To see you rise up and triumph over your circumstances is inspirational! I have no doubt that you will reach your goals; and I pray that you find the love, support, and security that you so richly deserve. :flowerforyou:

Thanks much for the kind words. I appreciate it very much.

Great_Mazinga

Your story sounds so much like my own. I got to 397 before I got serious about doing something. I'm not as tall as you, but always had a linebacker's build. Like you, I believed it didn't really show so much on me, as I was so naturally big. Well, that was probably true up to about 260, no one ever thought I was that heavy. Somehow, I gave up or got comfortable on my way to near 400.

Our families sound nearly identical. Parents never wanted kids, and treated me as such all too often. We never talked about feelings, expressed love, etc. Even had my dad's dad push me away when I tried to hug him as a child. I am so sorry for the loss of your neice. I have one neice who is very loving, but the attention is spread so thin among in-laws I don't get to bathe in it the way you did. Despite your short time together, you were very blessed to have her in your life. I'd keep a favorite picture of her or her and you together where you can see it daily. Take time to remember that love every day. I was lucky as a child to have one Grandmother who loved me like that. I didn't really realize it, feel I deserved it, or honestly appreciate it until she was gone. I always aspire to be who my grandma thought I was.

Anyhow, I'm tearing up writing this. I'm happy for your change of heart and health. Love to add you to my friends and watch us get there together.

MichelleV1990

Funny everyone on here saying anything to me has 4k, 5k, 6k, 9k posts. I wonder why?

I am not sure why you feel the need to try and tear people down, usually that is the sign of a person with severe emotional problems.

People lash out because of their doubts about themselves. Hell I know because I have done it myself. If you read my story instead of skimming you would know that even though at one point I might have blamed others for some of my issues I do not do that anymore and I take full responsibility for how big I got. I don't want sympathy or anything like it because it doesn't really help. Kind words are always nice and I appreciate everyone who had some kinds words to say. My post was about a question that I get quite often when people find out how much I weighed and its a question a lot of people get and so many just can't comprehend. All I wanted to do was address that question with some honesty. You cry excuses, but people do certain things for certain reasons. I was simply explaining the reason why I ate so much. I fully admit that I was wrong but that doesn't change how I felt at the time.

I assume you are attention seeking and I appreciate that you at least wished me well but saying it like that is quite passive aggressive and very childish. I wish you luck with your health goals.

First, let me apologize for quoting your entire post...I don't know how to quote bits and pieces. Second, I forgot to congratulate you on your fantastic weight loss, so here's a toast to you! :drinker: Third, let me say, you don't have to justify yourself to anyone. You put your heart and soul out there in the hopes of enlightening and encouraging people. There will always be people who have difficulty with manners. Maybe if they would have had good examples growing up, they wouldn't be so snarky! And lastly, it is us who should be thanking you for your selflessness and candor! Enjoy your journey to wellness, and best of luck in all you do!

lukewind

Funny everyone on here saying anything to me has 4k, 5k, 6k, 9k posts. I wonder why?

I am not sure why you feel the need to try and tear people down, usually that is the sign of a person with severe emotional problems.

People lash out because of their doubts about themselves. Hell I know because I have done it myself. If you read my story instead of skimming you would know that even though at one point I might have blamed others for some of my issues I do not do that anymore and I take full responsibility for how big I got. I don't want sympathy or anything like it because it doesn't really help. Kind words are always nice and I appreciate everyone who had some kinds words to say. My post was about a question that I get quite often when people find out how much I weighed and its a question a lot of people get and so many just can't comprehend. All I wanted to do was address that question with some honesty. You cry excuses, but people do certain things for certain reasons. I was simply explaining the reason why I ate so much. I fully admit that I was wrong but that doesn't change how I felt at the time.

I assume you are attention seeking and I appreciate that you at least wished me well but saying it like that is quite passive aggressive and very childish. I wish you luck with your health goals.

First, let me apologize for quoting your entire post...I don't know how to quote bits and pieces. Second, I forgot to congratulate you on your fantastic weight loss, so here's a toast to you! :drinker: Third, let me say, you don't have to justify yourself to anyone. You put your heart and soul out there in the hopes of enlightening and encouraging people. There will always be people who have difficulty with manners. Maybe if they would have had good examples growing up, they wouldn't be so snarky! And lastly, it is us who should be thanking you for your selflessness and candor! Enjoy your journey to wellness, and best of luck in all you do!

No worries, I knew when I wrote it that at least one person would have issue with it and not really read it. Thanks for all the nice words.

randi475

I am so sorry for your loss.
I'm 28, and while I had a good cry and looked regretfully at the past years of my life I've decided I wasted nothing. I gained life experience. And really, for me, I absolutely loved all the food I was eating to get me here (My highest was 500lbs 3 years ago) and while I wish I knew how to portion and control myself sooner, I won't beat myself up. I'm just going to look forward, and I hope you just look forward, too.

martinel2099

Congrats on the amazing weight loss and thank you for sharing your story. I'm also very sorry for your loss, it's not easy losing someone you love more than yourself.