Final Straw

skinnymalinkyscot

Thought Id share with people the "final straw" which made me decide to diet. Its funny, it wasnt funny at the time, but I laugh about it now. It wasnt health or appearance or anything, Id gone into a chinese herbalist shop , they had a big poster in the shop window as to how chinese herbs helped with different complaints, eczema, heartburn blah blah and tucked int he list halfway dwn it said weight loss. Went into the shop, quite a small shop but they had a waiting area where I sat down....and so help me god the chair broke and I ended up in the floor, I kid you not, looking back they were real nice, they didnt even ask me to pay for the broken chair, I just left the shop in a state of shock.

So what was YOUR turning point?

And woops!!! ive posted this is the wrong thread, moderators feel free to move , sorry all x

sammirust

my turning point....its actually quite a sad one.
my family is all overweight. that being said, they also tend to miscarry children. (if you ask any of them they will deny, but i have heard the whispers < < its a taboo subject in the family)
anyways, my husband, who was due to enlist at the time, wanted to start a family and i decided "why not?" im at that age, im married happily. he was going into the military, it was a fine time. so ya know how things progress and well we had "a scare." my whole family was up in arms. but it was my grandmother of all people who told me that basically i was to fat to be pregnant and that i was going to have a lot of complications. mind you, i have severe depression, so that didnt bode well. after crying my eyes out for a few hours, and talking to my mom- who insisted that my grandmother would never say anything like that, i felt even worse. she even told me that it was to dangerous, and that i should have waited, that it was a SHAME that i got pregnant when i did.
thankfully i wasnt, but at the time it was hard to hear. here i was thinking, "what a absolute blessing," and all my family could do was see the negative.
i decided then that i would actually try to lose weight. i had lost 20lbs before then, just switching from red meat over to leaner white meat- fish and turkey. so here i am. thats my story.

skinnymalinkyscot

Hi Sam, ..((big hug)) its great youre losing weight with the motivation of wanting to enjoy a healthy pregnancy when the time comes, it will definitely make a big difference and hopefully your family will be less worried for you

sammirust

Hi Sam, ..((big hug)) its great youre losing weight with the motivation of wanting to enjoy a healthy pregnancy when the time comes, it will definitely make a big difference and hopefully your family will be less worried for you

Thanks.

amy22076

Its sad to say this because my husband never ever said anythiong bad to me about my weight. I love him for that But I knew I had to lose weight when I didnt want to have sex anymore because I didnt want my husband to see how fat I had gotten. I also knew it was time to stop using the excuse well I have had 6 children yeah my youngest are 10 . So i started working out and eatting right logging on here then my son has to spend Mothers day weekend in the hospital last year and after that I got lazy again. I have notices that I gained back 10lbs of the 50 lbs I had lost and my husband asked me the other night what happen I was looking so good and working so hard for myself . Thats when I knew I have to try again and Hopefully not fall off the wagon again.
Amy

dhencel

And by eating healthy while pregnant, you won't have that much to lose after baby is born......Good luck to you....

agrant85

My turning point is so vain, I can't even believe myself. I told my husband for our anniversary next year, I wanted to go to the beach....well surely, I can't go looking like this! I already did that 3 years ago and it wasn't very pleasant. Can you imagine the wind blowing your beach umbrella away and you're too fat to run down the beach chasing after it? Yeah...I just let that sucker blow away! So then a couple of days later I found MFP and decided to get serious about my health in general. I have 4 kids who need their mom to be healthy....beach or not.

ewestsca

My weight loss journey started in August, when all the photos from vacation started showing up on Facebook. Vain, I know, but looking back I realize that I had also stopped caring and let myself go. I was tired of everything including myself and I needed to wake up. I joined the gym in September and hope to be close to my weight loss goal by years end.

rahlpn

My final straw was when I had to go shopping for clothes to wear over Thanksgiving holiday. I was going through pile after pile of jeans in Old Navy looking for a size 20 and could not find a one! I saw tons of 8s and 10s and I just kept thinking to myself "you know if you weren't so damn fat you would've been in and out of here 20 minutes ago." It was so hard to find anything that made me look good let alone feel good. Then Thanksgiving came and I saw the pictures, ugh, I was even wearing a body shaper underneath! I had never, ever been that big. I decided when I got back to work to weigh myself (my bathroom scale was broken), it said 240 even (I'm 5'7"/8"). Never in my life was I ever that heavy, before kids my heaviest was 222, during pregnancy with my 9lbs 1oz baby girl I topped out at 226 and was down to 199 going home from the hospital after delivery. I was disgusted, depressed, angry, I literally felt trapped in my own body by my fat. Then my SIL got engaged and asked me to be a bridesmaid. There is no way in HELL I am going to walk down that aisle and stand next to her (gorgeous) and her gorgeous friends looking like a whale! I needed to do something. I need to do it for me, my husband, my kids, there is no excuse and no other option. I'm 30 lbs down since January 1st, I'm well on my way and there is no turning back

socajam

I am tired of my SO always mentioning the size of my stomach. Everything I wear, first comment its the stomach. One time he mentioned that I should never wear those pants again, just get bigger ones - Size 14. Talk about the hurt, tried on a size 10 Saturday, I was able to git into it, but I would like to lose 30 more pounds.

crazygirltara

I had several turning points:

1. When announcing " I have some good news" at a family get together and my Aunt yells "oh my god your pregnant I just knew it" ummm no Im going to be a grandma but thanks!

2. When shopping for the arrival of my new grandbaby the associate asked me when I was due and if I knew the gender.

3. I started to out grow my "fat" clothes and was contemplating asking my daughter in law for her maternity clothes!

4. I stopped going to any social events with friends and family and would rather sit at home in my "comfy" clothes so I would make up some excuse when the real reason was because I didn't have anything to wear that didn't make me look pregnant.

Im 2 weeks into my diet and Ive lost 7 pounds and I feel great. No more lounging on the couch in my comfy clothes Im off the couch going for walks or "cleaning" anything to keep busy.

caffeinated_frog

I put on a pair of jeans to go out, and my son commented that he hadn't seem me wear anything other than my yoga pants in awhile. This was because I really didn't fit in the jeans anymore, they were too small to be comfortable and I didn't want to admit that I needed new pants. They were already a Lane Bryant 1. I am determined to hit 40 (June 2014) in good shape, for the first time since jr. high.

KatelinJade

I guess my story has one major factor different from all of yours. I have no children nor am I currently trying too. Not that it really matters because the 'final straw' is the final straw. Am I right? haha

Anyway, I have been trying to lose weight on and off throughout my high school years but usually ended up stopping because I just didn't really care that much. My whole life growing up, I was always the heavy one in the family. Both my parents are smaller and all of my siblings are small. Not that I would say ANY of them are healthy by any means but they are small framed people in general. One of my sisters decided she was a vegetarian to lose weight (that she really didn't need to) and she did. Then she was a STICK. Hardly eating anything at all and everyone in my family would compliment her on how good she looked meanwhile they didn't realize she wasn't eating anything hardly at all. One of my other sisters is a big health nut and married to a personal trainer, so needless to say she is thin and fit (but too thin and over exercises if you ask me). One of my brothers eats and eats and eats all day long and won't gain a pound (high metabolism I guess) but NOT healthy at all.

Now I know your all probably thinking that I am super negative and not happy for anyone who loses weight, well you haven't met my family (lol). They have been very hard on me my whole life even when I was a under the age of 10. I look back on pictures and think "I was NOT heavy when I was a kid" but all I can remember is my mom and sisters saying "You should really start eating less or at least exercise". And then for Christmas and birthdays I would get work out clothes and a gym membership. Gee thanks guys, what a subtle way of saying I'm overweight. But the point is in high school I would always try to please them by losing a few pounds to shut them up and then gaining it back soon after.

I grew up a few years later and realized that I had gotten even heavier (for multiple reasons that I won't go into). I am not a depressed person or generally unhappy and I am most definitely not self conscious (I never have been, considering the kinds of "encouragement" I had to hear from my family). Anyway, I got up to 270lbs at 5'2" which is pretty high. I am the assistant manager at a drive in restaurant so it was difficult to resist the amazing foods we serve and I would always gain weight during the season and then in the winter I would lose about 20lbs and then we open again in spring and it would start all over again. I was gaining more and more weight though. I went from one winter to spring 230lbs up to 270lbs. As stupid as all this sounds, I really didn't think I had any problems. I didn't see myself as overweight. I didn't look in the mirror or weigh myself on the scale ever. I don't think I actually owned a working scale for years, I never thought I needed it before. Then I went to VEGAS! Well that might sound great but it actually was really humiliating. The amount of walking you have to do is insane and I had to stop lots and was sweating and huffing any puffing ridiculously. I can only imagine how it looked. It was so embarrassing for me. Even looking back at any pictures of me in Vegas is brutal because I have sweat stains and my hair is wet and my face is all red (ew). I wanted to go on this zip line at Fremont Street and I heard that the weight limit was 240lbs or something so I didn't even suggest it, even though I REALLY wanted to do this. I just felt limited to being "fat" (I dislike that F word).

Last year in April I finally had it (because apparently how humiliated I was in Vegas didn't cut it). I got tie up shoes. I usually wore slip ons or crocs. Basically I went to tie my shoes... I broke down crying. There was too much stomach in the way. I started to freak out. My one friend witnessing this was just watching me and telling me to relax and calm down (me dramatic? no... haha). Well anyway, that was the day I decided to get serious about my health. At the time it was about my weight but as I have now lost 61lbs and counting!! I am deciding it is also about health. I want to be healthy for myself. I have finally realized that if I want to do this, I have to do it right and for myself only. No one else. And you want to know the funniest part? My "awesome" family hasn't even noticed, or at least if they have they sure haven't said anything about it.

I feel better than I have in years. And I feel confident in a healthy lifestyle change and will continue this for my future. It is worth it. Even if food is still one of my favourite things in the world, I don't feel trapped like I did before and my self confidence has taken a big boost. Next time I go to Vegas, you WILL see me on that zip line! And I will never buy slip ons or crocs again just because I can't tie my shoes.

TLCorsini

My turning point was when I realized I wasn't "myself" anymore. (not to mention my EX said I had gotten "fatter") I'm a 23 year old female who doesn't like to go shopping, who hates wearing a bikini or going to the beach period and is ALWAYS self conscious! I hardly want to do fun activities because my fat jiggles. I HATE HATE HATE HATE taking pictures because I look so big in them. Im all about taking pictures and saving memories to look back on for when I'm old and grey. A single day doesn't go by that I'm not upset at how I've allowed myself to change. When I was in high school I never cared what I wore because I was 125-130 and looked fine. Now I'm 185-ish and wont do ANYTHING because I feel so self conscious about myself. I'm not asking to be my High School weight, because now i'm an adult reaching my "birthing" years and my body is preparing for it, I just want "Myself" back and to truly be happy with myself.

donthegeek

Here is one from a guy's perspective.

My final straw was a set of random things all at once:
1. My grandmother died, she always brought us Krispy Kreme when I was growing up.
2. My blood pressure was hitting the danger level
3. Work reduced our health benefits and we have to earn them by getting points on VirginHealthMiles
4. I hit 295 and thought uh oh here comes 300
5. My 30th class reunion is in two years and even if I don't go, I want to be able to go and not be "chubby"

The first time I tried to walk 3 miles after I decided to make the change, I was suffering before the first mile. Last night, my wife and I walked over 4 miles in 90 minutes and felt good about it.

knitbytes

For me, it was a long process, but there was a distinct final straw. I've tried (or, well, "tried") to lose weight for years and years, but never stuck to it for long or saw any results. Everyone in my extended family except for my siblings either is or has been very obese. I assumed I was a victim of genetics and nothing would ever work. Other people told me that too-- even my dad. I had pretty much accepted that I would never be able to lose any weight.

Well, then over the past two years, I saw several people close to me (including a couple of people whom had also assumed they were "victims of genetics") lose a lot of weight and totally take control of their lives, and I kept thinking "well... if THEY could do it... maybe..." but of course it just got put off over and over.

But then in December I got a rude shock in the form of a massive infection of the connective tissues in my left leg. The moment that stuck in my head was when I was leaving one hospital, going to another, unable to put any weight on my leg at all, and the big burly hospital security guard had to help me out of the wheelchair and into the car... and he had a lot of trouble holding me up. There was no way my husband could have done it. That started the gears turning in my head... what if I had not been able to get from the house to the car in the first place? What if I broke my leg and couldn't stand up at all? Who would be able to help me?

As soon as the infection was gone, I joined a gym, and I haven't looked back. I still have a long way to go, but I'm already almost 1/4 of the way there and much, much stronger than I've ever been in my life!

workaholic_nurse

the end of the old me was on 1/10/2013...

I had a physical the morning of the eighth and my bloodwork was back. Despite being on a statin for my cholesterol, all my values still went up(thank you genetics and smoking) and my liver enzymes were starting to become elevated. Doc told me that I had to stop the medication, which was fine with me because it evidently wasn't working anyways. I also wanted to quit :smokin: , which I had been using Zyban for the past year for(it was really helping, let me tell you:noway:), but I didn't want to gain the weight. Enter a book I hadn't been planning on reading by Allen Carr which I first saw mentioned in the forums here...50% of the way through the book and:noway: more :smokin: for me since. MFP has literally saved my life....

Remember through all the :brokenheart: , the :sad:, all the people that said :noway:, my friends on here have gotten me through it with a mixture of :laugh: :smooched: and quite a lot of :drinker: (j/k)....Everyone on here is motivation for me..

Keep on keepin' on even when you want to :explode: and everything will eventually turn up :flowerforyou:

RobertHendrix

For me it was when I went to my doctor in august for a physical. Our work has an incentive program that you can earn money back towards what we pay for our health insurance. You have to get 4 biometric screenings (BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar) and if you meet their standards you get a certain amount of points if you don't meet them you can do online or phone coaching sessions to earn the points and a certain amount of points equals certain amount of money. Anyways, I knew i was overweight and had no disillusions that I wasn't overweight and knew that I was at least 400lbs but had not weighed myself in a very long time and I knew I had type 2 diabetes and that I did not take care of it very well so my sugar was going to be a bit high but figured I would pass the other 2 as I had never had any issues with those so I would have to take 2 coaching sessions to earn the max points/money. Needless to say I failed all 4. So here I was 37 years old and had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, my ACI came back at 11.1% (should be under 5.7%) and weight checked in at 489lbs, I am 6'3" so that is a BMI of 61.1. I was almost 500lbs, the first thought that went to me though was not that I was almost 500lbs but for some reason it registered (looking back I am so glad it did) as OMG you Fat A&$ you weigh almost a 1/4 of a TON. Think about it what sounds like more 500lbs or 1/4 of a TON. I just couldn’t get that expression out of my head all night.

The next morning I decided to make a change, I knew I couldn't just go hard core and make all of these drastic changes so I made a deal with myself. Show myself I am committed to changing by changing my eating habits by instead of eating two to three subs from subway eat just one, no more 1 box of hamburger helper for me and 1 for my wife and daughter and just start eating less and see what happens by the end of the year. If you can get under 450 by then it would be time to start getting serious. By the end of the year I was at 448. So on 1/15/13 I joined a 12 week lose big program at the gym. The program includes sessions with a nutritionist and 3 1 hour sessions a week with a trainer. The nutritionist is the one who got me linked up with MFP. Flash forward another 10 weeks in I have lost an additional 49lbs (weighed in at 399.8 yesterday ,first time under 400 in at least 8 years) and we had the biometric screenings at work and my tests this time was a pass of all 4, blood pressure normal, cholesterol normal, ACI 5.1%, and weight at time was 407.4 so BMI of 50.9 (to pass BMI need to either be under 27.7 or show an improvement of 2 points or better).

So my turning point was a simple thought to myself I couldn't shake " OMG you Fat A&$ you weigh almost 1/4 of a TON"

(edited for spelling errors)

rahlpn

RobertHendrix- I hope this means something coming from a total stranger. Your story made me so proud it brought me to tears, proud of YOU! As a nurse who works with patient's with diabetes and HTN and HLD this touches my heart. You have done a superb job so far and you are no doubt on the road to reaching your goal. You have made tremendous leaps already. It puts stories like mine to shame. Here I am at 210 lbs feeling like "yeah, I've lost 30 lbs but I'm not even halfway there. I'll never reach my ideal weight/shape" and I have so much doubt in myself. Stories like yours make me realize that what I'm going through is a piece of cake compared to what others have done already. Thank you for being strong and healthy for your family and for you and for other MFPers like me, to whom you are an inspiration.

learnerdriver

Here's mine:
1. Xmas photos- my face-- whooah!
2. School Function- too puffed out after 5 minutes on the dancefloor
3. Sex- obstetrician told me that losing weight might help me to regain the feeling, and I'd rather lose weight than undergo surgery to try and improve things internally.
4. Cholestrol- GP told me to start dropping my levels.
5. Giving up smoking- I didn't want to put more on.

jolene_ca

Saw pictures of myself on our annual Disney Christmas trip. I can't believe I let myself get that bad.