flying: seat belts

yeahfatty

Hi!

I recently got back onto the calorie-counting wagon after motivation had been slipping for a little under two years. You see I recently flew to London & the seat belt almost didn't fit! It was a VERY tight squeeze & even though I moderately watched what I ate in London & we walked plenty, it was an even tighter squeeze back like to the point that if I gained one more gram, I wouldn't have been able to close it.

Another ridiculous thing is I could've flown with Ryanair & saved a lot of money but I know they have smaller seat belts so instead of losing weight, I purchased a plane ticket that was four times as much!

I've just returned a few days ago & I'm flying again tomorrow so I've definitely found my motivation for count calories now but I am SO scared I won't be able to close it.

Anyone else have good or bad stories about flying when fat? I'm 300 pounds myself & whenever I'm at the gate, I always survey the people standing there & I am almost always the fattest person there.

Candi_land

You can always discreetly ask a flight attendant right when boarding for a seatbelt extender to make yourself more comfortable. Most of the time they quietly and kindly accommodate you and usually none of the other passengers even notice, as they are too busy trying to get settled in themselves.

Missjulesdid

I have flown a lot and it always caused me a lot of anxiety. I would go to seatguru.com to find the exact dimensions of their seats. I would only fly on days when the planes would not be crowded. I would always survey the crowd to see if anyone was fatter than me and very rarely did I find anyone larger than me. The heaviest I ever flew at was 340 and I sometimes needed an extender and sometimes didn't. I could always squish into the seat but my fat would ooze into the seat next to me. Usually I'd ask for a window seat so I could squish up against the window as much as possible in order to avoid oozing into the seat next to me. I didn't want to be someone's story about flying next to a fat person who took up half their seat so I was REALLY conscious of trying to stay out of their space. I was once on a flight and I couldn't get the tray table down because my belly was in the way so I just didn't eat or drink.. It was a 7 hour flight.

The seatbelts can vary in length on the same airline or even on the same PLANE... asking for an extender was NOT the end of the world. I felt plenty embarrassed to have to ask for one but I didn't die of humiliation I promise you.

On my most recent flight I still checked the seat sizes.. I was concerned that. for one leg of my journey, I was booked on little tiny plane with 16.5 inch seats. It was tight, but I fit. At 235 pounds, I'm still plenty fat.. But I'm no longer the largest one everywhere I am. I don't feel worried that the person next to me is going to complain to the flight attendant that I'm taking up her space and I don't worry that the seat belt won't fit.

RHSheetz

I always hated the look of Panic people had when they were afraid I was going to sit next to them. It was a great feeling when I was able to fit in the seat AND not need a seat belt extender.

sbjmorgan

I don't know where you are, but I fly delta in the states and I've always had extra room on the belt (I'm about your size). Hopefully that's the case for your next flight! I also read about quietly asking for the extender when you board; I haven't ever needed to but it's a good option to have.

miss_vdb

I actually bought my own seat belt extender when I was going on a long haul a few years ago just so I didn't have to worry. You are supposed to the airline rather than take your own but I double checked mine was safety checked and just used that without any issue.

I am going to NYC middle of next year and I have already decided I'm not taking my extender and if I can't use the regular seat belt I will be forced to ask for one and be embarrassed.

I will therefore be sure to try my very hardest to loose as much weight as I can (without being ridiculous) before I fly in order not to have to suffer this embarrassment. I'm just going to use this to spur me on.

yeahfatty

Great news guys! (:

I didn't have to ask for an extender on either of my two flights! & FYI to other folks, KLM's seat belts are bigger than Aer Lingus' as both seats were 17 inches but I had a little more give with the KLM seat belt.

& like some of you good folks mentioned, the flight attendants were super professional & discreet as one guy did need an extender & I think I was the only person who noticed.

Now I'm just excited to see how much more room I have when I fly back to Ireland on the 28th of this month. (:

Missjulesdid

Great news guys! (:

I didn't have to ask for an extender on either of my two flights! & FYI to other folks, KLM's seat belts are bigger than Aer Lingus' as both seats were 17 inches but I had a little more give with the KLM seat belt.

& like some of you good folks mentioned, the flight attendants were super professional & discreet as one guy did need an extender & I think I was the only person who noticed.

Now I'm just excited to see how much more room I have when I fly back to Ireland on the 28th of this month. (:

I'm glad to hear it!