Brutal Honesty - What was the final straw?

TaraTLC83

It's a very long story... but mine was my daughter. I'll make it short. Last year she was born 10 weeks premature... when she was 3 days old she... died. They were able to revive her and multiple complex congenital heart defects were discovered. Because of her prematurity she was unable to have surgery immediately. She lived with congestive heart failure, bacterial pneumonia and had 2 boughs of septicaemia before she had her first heart surgery two months later. She spent nearly 3 months on a ventilator, had a stroke... it's a long crazy story. She's had 6 surgeries total, three of them heart.

Fast forward to now, she is doing wonderful. Starting to walk, talk, she started eating just after her first birthday and came off oxygen shortly after that. It's been an incredible journey for her the last year.

She was just a baby and fought so hard to be a part of our lives.

That was my kick in the pants. As I sat on the couch one night eating a bag of chips, wallowing in self pity I realized that by being obese was mean. After everything she did to stay with me, I'm just killing myself slowly and sending myself toward possible cardiac issues in the future.

I was born with a perfectly heathy heart and have been taking that for granted for 28 years.

It ends now. I will no longer take my body and my healthy organs for granted. I will take care of them, and I will live a long life and spend as much time with her as possible.

gfraz

For me, it's a little different. I'm not technically overweight (yet ... I'm only about a pound or two away from that line), but my body fat percentage is in the sewer. And I'm surrounded by family, friends, and coworkers who are all battling weight problems -- up to and including morbid obesity -- and suffering mild to severe health problems. (An aunt-in-law nearly died earlier this year from a diabetic episode.)

I've always said "I don't wanna be there" and "That will never happen to me," because my metabolism had previously made things easy for me. Yeah, I was lucky. Until I hit my 40s.

Between 40-45, my metabolism slowed seemingly day by day, and it became a struggle to keep the pounds from piling on. Two flights of stairs would have me winded. Over this recent holiday, I wore larger sweaters to hide the fact that I couldn't button my pants. And a look in the mirror proved that my belly had passed my boobs : )

So 1/1/2012 was my marker -- better diet (though I'm battling chocolate cravings every day!), more consistent exercise, and no skimping on an exercise because I'm "getting" tired -- but instead powering through it until I hit my goal for the day, even when my arms and legs are jello!

somaol

For me it was when one of the female residents in the nursing home (im a p/t care assistant) patted my belly and asked was i excited!! Upon my confused reply she asked was there not a baby in there!!! I said no and she chuckled and said i must have been eating a lot over the holidays!! She is a lovely woman and i dont think realized how embarrassed and upset she had made me! I knew my weight had went up since starting university(college) two years ago but that was the final straw! Although I was upset then Im glad now as it has made me begin to change for the better!!

livinginwoods

A few things, however, the most recent was going to youth convention in October with our youth group and being out of breath from walking to the conference center half a block from the vans and then not fitting in the seats so I had to go find a chair and sit away from the group or stand behind them which screwed up my back and feet. I thought, wow, how did I get here? Even so it took me two months to get to the Dr. and see I weighed a heck of a lot more than I thought and that was when I started to get serious on here. Dec. 1. Next youth conference I WILL be able to be more active with our teens and not feel embarrassed because of my weight.

hubb56

Hi all and kudos to us all back to running the good race

My last straw was actually a desire to just be more selective and health minded about the straws I choose.
It has been a trying year for me, finally breaking free of some really destructive behavior, and finally the realization that through that destructive behavior I was not only destroying myself mentally and physically ( went from 165 to 240 some pounds) but the thought of depriving my dear girls of having their dad around was not only my selfishness in my pursuit of oblivion, but robbing them of what they do need and will hopefully need in the future..their dad.
So I finally gave up the ghost so to speak and have spent the last year getting back to an emotional and mental balance, and now am ready to get back to the physical balance through exercising on a regular basis, eating right making conscious and healthier choices.
My problem still is I tend to isolate myself and be a loner, not that I am unfriendly, but I really want to succeed at my physical training endeavor and realize that as iron sharpens iron, two or more are stronger then one.
Hoping to to make some friends and support buddies here and keep on keeping on to all.

geauxsaints1

For me, it was putting on my husband's 34 32 relaxed fit jeans; even they were too tight. I wanted to cry and I was angry. "You reap what you sow and today is your day of sowing from all your choices." That is what I heard myself say when I looked in the mirror. My choices, my fault, and if I don't start improving my health it won't get better. I have heard it so many times from other people - this has to be for life. Not a quick diet exercise program then I can ease up until my clothes get tight again. I am in my mid 40's and my friends are beginning blood pressure, cholesterol, and pre-diabetes medications. I need to be healthy and have energy to see my oldest daughter's wedding this year, grandchildren grow. Spend time with my youngest daughter now kicking the soccer ball or shooting baskets, later high school and college graduation, and then her wedding and more grandchildren. I don't want to be on the sideline with health problems keeping me from all of those things.

chelmsing

Breast cancer...The kind I had has a higher mortality in overweight women than other kinds of breast cancer.

Renonvme

Oh my gosh. What an inspiring story. You are amazing. Keep up the great work!

We had cared for my wife and my parents from 1995 to 2000 (ran 3 house and both worked full time jobs) And in the course of a year and a half starting in june of 2000, we lost all of them (my folks died 6 months to the day apart) I shut down lost my faith and turned to food for comfort. I few months later I blew out my knee at work and spent several months trying to get back to work (drove truck/delivered beer for budweiser) but never could and had to give up my job.... after that I shut down. Spent the next several years eating myself to death. By may of 2009 I was all but homebound at 560 lbs. had not left the house in over 2 years and could barely walk from my recliner to the bathroom. My family was there but moving on without me (they had pretty much given up on me and was just waiting for me to die) and that was when I felt totally and utterly alone. The walls felt like they was closing in on me and I spent 3 days in my recliner literally deciding my fate. (yes that means exactly that, hand gun in hand) At the end of the third day my wife came home from work and I said the two words she had wait the better half of a decade to hear... "Help Me" so she took the next couple days off and we started the process of doctor visit, therapist, etc.... Even though I didn't have a clue of how I was going to do this (staring at having to lose 300+ lbs., I had given into the process and stop resisting and saying no to everything and started saying Yes!! It is never to late to change your path no matter how bleak you may think things are, there is always a way out. You just have to want it and then go for it!!

livinginwoods

For me it was when one of the female residents in the nursing home (im a p/t care assistant) patted my belly and asked was i excited!! Upon my confused reply she asked was there not a baby in there!!! I said no and she chuckled and said i must have been eating a lot over the holidays!! She is a lovely woman and i dont think realized how embarrassed and upset she had made me! I knew my weight had went up since starting university(college) two years ago but that was the final straw! Although I was upset then Im glad now as it has made me begin to change for the better!!

I am a volunteer at a nursing home and recently, sometime this fall, a patient with dementia was being wheeled past me and she said " Oh my God!! Look at that!! Look at that woman!! She is huge!!" I know she meant no harm and had no idea what she was saying but it has stuck in my head and my heart. The RN looked at me with embarrassment and I said it's okay. But once I got in my car I cried and cried.

coppercurlz

Okay, I'm inspired, I'll share now. I can't say it was the final straw, but it hit home hard:

Facebook, Christmas 2010 I found a friend on there I hadn't seen in a LONG time. We were on the same varsity teams, basketball and track. Anyways, between the time I had last saw her at school and Dec '10, I had had two kids...she had 5 (trying for that elusive "boy" after 4 girls)... And she looks *better* than when we were doing two-a-days in our last season together. I couldn't stop staring at her FB pictures. It hit me that there was no reason why I should look/feel the way I do and blame it on "motherhood". I felt bloated and like crap all the time, and here she was with 5 kids, climbing figurative mountains and felt great.

After that epiphany, my best friend called me on Jan 1, 2011 and said she was tired of looking like a fat mom and was going to start something. I said I had decided the same thing and we've been supporting eachother ever since. She also introduced me to MFP on January 14th 2010 and I've been fighting the good fight here since then. I haven't made it to my goal weight...BUT, I've ran a 10K-82-obstacle-mud-run, a 5K, a 7K, a half marathon, and now I'm training for my first triathlon, I'm on two amazing volleyball teams, I can keep up with my two autistic children now, AND I gave my scale to my friend (who has lost a whopping 30 pounds and looks FANTASTIC! way to go mimi!). I weigh about 10-15 pounds less than I did last year, but I'm 2 sizes smaller and I can run circles and out lift that physically pathetic mother I was last year And this year will out-shine my 2011 self...just watch

Laner07

A lot of my friends had started eating healthier and losing weight yet here I was just as chubby as ever and gaining. I decided that if they could do it I could do it and started to eat healthier and exercise more. Finding the time to exercise is the hard part.

lookpretty

you asked for brutal honesty, it was following the seperation of my husband and I and I was feeling a bit, er, lonely, and the men that were aproaching me were not of the standard I was used to and the men I typcially would be with were not interested in me. Took a look in the mirror and went, oh, right, of course that makes sense now

AngelDoyle213

For me,its been a lifetime coming,I was in a horrible motorcycle accident when I was 17 (hit & and run by a drunk driver). My pelvis and my left femur were snapped like twigs.Although I recovered, this left me disabled, all I had taken for granted just slipped away from me.Even so,I pushed past the pain and gained the ability to walk again.From that point on ,exercise in the normal sense was impossible.As the years went by the pounds crept up on me.I left that hospital at 97 lbs.,(spring of 1984)and now I tip the scales at over 200(winter of 2012)! I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a couple of years back,which most could manage with diet and exercise. I just couldn't seem to do the exercise.Still, all these things never really bothered me,even after the diagnosis of degeneration to my spine. I still didn't care much for my health.Then it hit me like a ton of bricks!:brokenheart: My ex husband,(the father of my children),whom was still a dear friend, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer :sad: ! He passed away March 10,2011,less than a full year from diagnosis,and he suffered horribly.Seeing the devastation this caused my two grown sons was all the motivation any mother needs.Needless to say, I want to be fit and healthy for me,and my children who need me more than they will ever admit.I've decided to live a fit and Healthy Lifestyle,and lead my children by example.

gloria581

Every time my husband left for a deployment, school, or long training, I would manage to lose 15 to 25 pounds. The last time he deployed, I had managed to instead gain weight.
When he came home for R&R, I was so dissappointed in myself and felt so unattractive that I let it affect my relationship with my husband and I almost ruined the precious 2 weeks I had with him before he had to go back to Afghanistan. The day he left to go back, I vowed I would lose a minimum of 20 pounds before he redeployed.
I started out by eating a little bit healthier and exercising 30 mins, 4 times a week. After 3 months I had only lost 10 pounds. With my husband coming home in 5 weeks I decided I needed to try harder. My daughter told me about MFP, so I decided to try it and I upped my workouts to 1 hour a day, 6 days a week.
The day my husband was back home safe, I had managed to lose 21 pounds.
We had planned on renewing our vows for our 20 year anniversary, which was in 4 months, so that gave me the drive to keep at it. I lost 50 pounds by my vow renewal party.
Now, after one year on MFP (today), I have lost 72 pounds. And after I lose another 4 pounds, I will be at the weight I was before my husband and I got married.

brittneyceleste

since i was nine years old, my stepmother and stepsister have always told me i was fat. i have always felt fat. i am nineteen now and i weigh 185. this is my biggest weight, but i have gained most of it over just the past two years or so. recently i looked at some old pictures of myself, and i saw how thin i really was. i have always been busty, but i was never 'fat' until recently.

and it makes me hate myself that i am making them right (if that makes sense). also, the other day while wearing my favorite pants, my stepsister told me my pants were too small and asked me if i wanted her pants from when she was pregnant. she's had three kids!

Also, I am getting married in september and I want to look great.

DoxieMama70

I went on vacation with some friends in October. We were around some beautiful wine country scenery and all of us were taking pictures. A friend took a picture and I was in the background also taking a picture (not realizing he was shooting). I remember seeing the photo later and thinking "wow that would have been a good picture if that woman hadn't been in the way..."

I then realized the larger looking woman in the picture was me... clearly I was in denial.

If that experience hadn't brought it home for me, hitting 200 lbs and having the next size I went up to be an official "plus size" made it official.

peachprl

For me it was a combination of 2 things. The first is that I was diagnosed with lupus a year ago and had a LONG year of health issues after that (brain tumor, gallbladder issues, etc.). I was not able to workout during that period and was told due to a connective tissue disorder I have (basically my body doesn't have padding at the joints due to not producing collagen), I could not run or do anything that was high impact on my joints anymore.

Not being able to do much of anything for that year made me very un-fit to say the least. I was getting winded by stairs alone, which just isn't me. So I wanted to get back in shape. What made me decide on the "when" was when I stepped on the scale and saw the highest number I ever have in my life. So I am beyond determined now (still learning my limits with my joints, though!).

sailorsiren13

i've always had issues i know what they are ....I go drastically one way or the other but really i just want to be at a happy healthy weight and finally practice what i preach to my teenage daughter so she NEVER FEELS how i feel about myself.

michelerich77

BULIMIA AND ANOREXIA...

Mine was suffering with bulimia and anorexia for over 14 years.. I would eat some days and throw up all day, and some days I wouldn't eat at all.. .... What most people do not know, is you don't have to be BONETHIN to have a eating disorder...

After a big binge and purge one night, I went to bed and I felt like I was just about over it.. I was afraid of leaving my 11 and 13 year old daughters to fend for themselves because I had screwed up myself to death.. It was at that time I decided no more throwing up.. I was going to do this the right way.. and make sure that I would be around for my girls... and my partner... Its been a hell of a road, but im traveling it.. Even if im alone, ill get through this....

Hugs to everyone!!
Michele

ales1979

I refuse to buy UK size 20 clothes. Trousers/ pants specifically, because of my shape, are always a trial to find in regular sizes and lengths, let alone plus sizes!

I also refused to see 200lbs or more on my scale!! I've come close! Closer than ever before this winter, but I am determined to get off a lot of the extra weight i'm carrying.

I have Fibromyalgia and the excess weight i'm carrying around my butt, my tummy and my hips can't be helping with the pain and difficulty I have walking, thanks to the condition!

My family has terrible medical history of heart disease and diabetes (type 2) so I want to avoid that at all costs!!!!!

I've spent too much of my life being forced into miserable situations because I've felt its whats expected of me! Which used to put so much pressure on me!! Which made me eat!! Which made me feel worthless! Which started the whole cycle over again!

Over the past 12 months or so, I've learned to say 'NO' and make sure that my first priority is keeping me happy and healthy! other priorities are very high, of course, but none as high as these!

I'm well on the way to a new me, mentally, now its time to start taking care of the physical side too!!

xx