What was your wake-up call?
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I fell while running my Labrador Retriever in an agility trial. I tore up my knees pretty badly, and was also told that I had bone on bone arthritis in both knees. I was told I will need both knees replaced. While waiting for a bone bruise, sprained ACL/MCL and torn meniscus to heal, I was off from trialling for 5 months and I was miserable. I HAD to get back in that ring. Started seriously trying to lose weight and exercising on my elliptical. This past weekend, we were back in the ring and we were able to finish her fourth agility championship. My knees still hurt like the ****ens, but I wasn't even out of breath when we came across the finish line. I know I'll still need knee replacements, but I know all of that will come back all the stronger after my knee replacements.0
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I can relate a number of things posted so far. I had been overweight all of my life, anywhere from 10 to 40 lbs for the most part. In 2009 was weighing in at 185 lb (I'm 5' 9") but ok with it. Then things happened and I slowly gained, about 2 lbs/month on average. Not much to think about, but after 18 months, I was over 220 lbs. I could tell with tight clothes, losing buttons, getting worn out easier, but then I saw this picture of me at a pie eating contest.
Actually, I'm just part of the picture. My friend's boyfriend is next me and it was up on Facebook and I felt awful. Not only was I large, I had pie all over my face. I found myself using MFP a few weeks later.0 -
On my 25th birthday I was living about 35 hours from home. As I hadn't seen my family in over a month I TRIED to take a birthday shot of me with me cake to send to my mom... and well... the pictures didn't survive. Every attempted was more horrifying than the last. It didn't matter how much I stuck out my chin or raised my crown, I had a GIANT double chin. I ended up taking one in the bathroom of me looking up into the sun... and I was ashamed. I felt like a liar sending them a fake picture that didn't portray me at all...
A couple of days later (about a week) it was still on my mind and I obviously needed more proof... So I thought, I know, I'll take a full body picture of myself naked. I wanted to really see me... surely it wasn't as bad as I had imagined... after a few hours of crying and searching the internet aimless I found MFP. I've now lost 23lbs and have been going strong ever since. I actually just had my student card picture taken, no tricks were necessary!0 -
Turning 40....It's not going to get any easier....
And, my "recovering skinny person" line was getting old.0 -
I got a doctor's report after my phyical exam informing me that I am pre diabetic. Although I am overweight, I have always been active and healthy and do not take any meds for anything. I want to keep it that way.0
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my tummy slightly overlapping my jeans when i sat down
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Every time I heard a wake-up call, I hit snooze.
Clothes getting too tight? They must have shrunk in the wash.
Not being as thing as I was? What did I expect? I was getting older.
Being out of breath for an hour after running a quarter of a mile when the dog escaped? Just cold weather asthma.
Going to my high school reunion weighing more than I ever weighed before? So what? I still look good.
Then I found out about the Warrior Dash, and wanted to climb walls, crawl through mud, and jump fire, and here I am.0 -
It was my butt, oh no wait that was my stomach that looked like a butt in clothes. I told myslef if I ever got that way I would want to shoot myself. Since I do not want to do that, I decided to cut carbs. And althought i just started a week ago, I am still 9 pounds down, Yeah Me0
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when i was 3 pounds away from a number i NEVER wanted to reach....and now i am 53 lbs away from that number0
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Stepping on the scale one day and realizing I was 211 lbs. I still struggled with getting on track and keeping my lifestyle changes. but I never let myself go there again. I also began hating how i looked in every picture and I used to like how I looked in pictures0
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Two weeks ago.... I work on the second floor in my building and I was working on a project that required me to go from my office to the basement and back again throughout the day. So, up and down two flights of stairs. And.... I took the elevator. Because I couldn't face huffing and puffing up two flights.
I joined MFP the next day.0 -
I actually just posted about this topic on my MFP blog! I just moved to a new city with two friends, and I've been really sick of going out with them and feeling like the odd one out. The final straw was when some guy I didn't know passed our group while we were walking between places, scanned all of us, and made a comment to me that I will never forget. I felt like he just verified exactly what I thought about myself. Some stranger! After that I knew it was enough with the wishful thinking and time to start putting my words into actions.0
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1st tummy over lapped pants when sitting and just barley below the overweight line for my height Febuary 2011 stepped onto scale and realized I was close to being overweight.
2nd People and friends making comments about my cloths and hinting at weight (not like they said I was fat or anything but they made me feel unconformable about my appearance on a number of levels, started April 2011 and was a major influence in June and July of 2011
3rd started comparing myself to other people and friends and seeing how thin they were in pictures and being around really them on Weekends (when I tend to eat more) and bigger people during the week made me semiconscious. So I started dieting in February of 2011 which was majorly influenced by #2.
So here I am thinner but I still compare myself to thin people and still don't feel thin enough.0 -
I was telling a stranger I was sa next to at a dinner about my weight problems and she said 'aww well never mind you have a pretty face'!!! She seemed a nice person so don't think she meant offend me, but I was offended, it was like saying, 'yes your body's a mess but at least your face is nice. But then I thought well I am at least 4 stone overweight, whats Ts better response, that or a lie f 'o youre not that big'. Made me realise how other people see me.0
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My friend and I were in San Diego for a weekend get-a-way and we decided to treat ourselves to a specidl visit to the zoo. We wanted to ride the Segways and feed the animals. It sounded amazing and I had the extra cash for it!
Unfortunately, a Segway can only hold so much weight before it can no longer roll...
250 lb MAX
I weighed 267.
My friend didn't get to go on the tour because my chunky @ss exceeded the weight limit.
Unacceptable.
That Monday I began using MFP and have lost 32 lbs in 6 months. :bigsmile: I can Segway all night long now, baby!
"They see me rollin'...they hatin'..." :laugh:0 -
A woman's size 12 being too tight!
XL in shirts and underwear.
A bra extender *sigh
Back fat
Belly sticking out more then my butt
Double chin0 -
Looking down past my boobs at my belly sticking out. The number on the scale. After having lost so much weight, I was yet again above 300, which made me just sick to my stomach. Realizing they weren't all just bad pictures, I really did look that terrible. Having a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear because in a few months time I had 'outgrown' it all. Realizing I no longer wanted to go ANYWHERE because I felt and looked so much bigger then everyone else, and it was just too embarrassing. I suppose I have no one defining moment. Just an overwhelming buildup of 'I can't keep living like this'.0
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Chronic back pain that was impeding my movement, my social life, my personal life etc. Saw a doctor who gave it to me straight - lose weight and the back pain will go. It will hurt at first but you have to start somewhere. Plus I had ballooned to over 220lbs and was wearing size 18 (sometimes a generous 16). Pictures from our holiday in Turkey, where I looked fat. It all gave me the impetus to start.
Fortunately I was referred for physio for the back pain, and just being able to go to a gym once a week to do my rehab exercises in a supervised environment was so helpful. Since then I've lost just over 30lbs since I started logging, and I don't plan to stop yet. Size 12 is my new goal, and it's looking achievable.0 -
As I saw my 60th birthday on the horizon, i got very depressed and my weight bloomed up to 230 pounds. I was depressed because the things I thought I'd do "someday" have turned into things I admit I'll never do.
My wake up call was wearing a size 20 mother-of-the-bride dress to my youngest daughter's wedding. I still have one of the photos posted on my "frige, to remind me not to go there again.
I got over my depression by accepting life as it is and moving on. OK, I won't do the stuff I'd hoped, I can choose other stuff.
Losing weight and getting active helped beat my depression. I'm a happy 62 now, 66 pounds lighter, and very active, (especially in Jazzercise). I retired in April and I'm loving it.0 -
When my sister was always heavier than me, she is now on the weight watchers diet and has become smaller than me. I realised that I had to do something, I don't want to look huge against my sister! We go everywhere together! Battle of the sisters I say!!0
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ive had more wake up calls than i care to admit. recently, my oldest son, 16, informed me that he is embarrassed of being with me in public due to my obesity. i was finally able to admit that I am embrassed too and its time for a change.
im in awe of the stories here and each one i can relate to in some way. thanks.
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First - Congratulations to everyone - might have taken us a bit to wake up and see the thorns but we've all decided to get our butts in gear and change ourselves into the roses we should be!
Secondly – Just call me Cleopatra – Queen of Denial!
- I wasn’t overweight – overweight people eat all the time – I eat once or maybe twice a day and overweight people eat a lot of sugary crap and drink soda all the time. When we’d have a pot-luck lunch at the office I was only eating 1 plate of food not the 2 & 3 plates that others are eating
- I wasn’t that big - could still buy/wear clothes in regular sizes. Didn’t acknowledge it when I cried the first time I had to buy plus sizes and then when it went from 1x to 2x and then finally to 3x or when I had stopped wearing short flirty skirts to long flowing skirts finally to no skirts.
- I ignored the sore knees (they've been bad since long before I gained weight so that was nothing new) and the almost constant back pain and said all the time that I'd exercise as soon as I found an exercise that didn’t aggravate my knees, and back - pain sucks – not fully making the connection that if I exercised and lost the weight that there wouldn’t be the pain in the first place
- I wasn’t that big – look at my family – I’m one of the smallest in my family - can’t fight genetics. The couple of thin people in my family are married ins or anomalies…hmm…The only thin people in my family are the ones that are always on the go - the aerobics instructor cousin, and the workaholic that bikes or walks to 2 of her 3 jobs and the cousin that does landscaping 11 months a year – might be a clue here if I think about hard enough!
- I had a desk job with a 3 hour/day commute who wouldn’t have put on a pound or two with all that sitting – hmmm the teeny tiny can wear anything and look gorgeous girl across the hall works & drives the same hours as I do – maybe another clue here
- I was tired all the time no matter how long I slept (not even going into the now noticeable sleep apnea or the new mattress because the old one was done after only 6 yrs.) I blamed it on the stressful job, long commute etc.
So finally this summer was my breaking point when the back of my brain finally connected with the front of my brain during an excruciating trip to by a swimsuit for the first time in about 18 yrs – dressing room mirrors don’t allow you to deny crap!
- I admitted that I ate crap – I am the queen of drive thru take out you know!! and I was overeating – portions?? What are portions?? – I used to order a small pizza once a month and it lasted 2 meals minimum now it’s once a week and it’s a large pizza that’s one meal and maybe a snack if I’m not that hungry – forget the 2nd pizza for the rest of the family!
- I admitted that I was eating a lot more sugary crap than I ever did and soda and large iced t’s had replaced my always preferred beverage of water – not to mention the extra-large coffees with 5 sugars every day
- I might only be eating half or less of what everyone else was eating at pot luck lunches but I was eating the pastas, meats and breads and everyone else was eating the salads
- I admitted to myself that I was out of shape and overweight (round might be a shape but not one I want to be!) when I had to take a break for 10 or 15 min to catch my breath after coming up the 1 small flight of stairs and one short hallway to the apartment.
- The 8 hour flight to Europe this spring for my dream vacation was uncomfortable not because the airlines had small seats (they weren’t) but because I was overweight.
- I admitted to myself that I was tired all the time because I was carrying around the equivalent weight of a 2nd freaking person – Duh!
I was overweight by 135lbs, had no more excuses so what was I going to do about it.
- I made a lifestyle change and joined MFP and now a gym (two of the best decisions I’ve ever made!!!!!) I hired a personal trainer – no point in saving for retirement if you aren’t going be here to retire!
- This is not a diet because statistically diets fail and I AM going to succeed and get my life back in control.
- I am going to quit smoking, I’ve set my quit date for October 1, 2012 (not someday when I get around to it)
- I am going to be here, healthy and fit when my very first grandchild is born in April 2013 (7 more months to get used to saying “Gramma” gotta practice that one!)
Love and luck to all in your journey!0 -
I got tired of looking at all the cute clothes and curvy dress, so I decided to lose the weight so I could wear them instead.0
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My friend Ryan was walking me home from a party, and we had to climb this hill to get to my house. I'm little, and he's tall, so I had to walk a little faster than usual to keep up with him. Walking up the hill, by the time I got to the top, I had to fight to hide the fact that I was labouring to breathe from an insubstantial hill. He was fine, I felt like I was gonna die.
I was 39, and thought, holy crap, there's no way I can live like this. I'm not 90. I should be able to walk up a damn (not even steep) hill.
Next day, I joined a gym. Two years later, I'm down 75 lbs. Never going back to that feeling. It sucks.0 -
I have tried Weight Watchers three different times, but I never really applied the principles. I decided I would give it another "try". I stepped on the scales and saw my weight. I was shocked, then hurt and devastated and just how fat I had gotten- I did not know I weighed that much. I know I am a guy, but it shook me to the core. I was nearly in tears.
It was then and there I said, "I'm going to make this work." Weight Watchers gave me a good start. I like being able to go weekly and be accountable to a group, whether I fail or succeed. However, the tracking here is so much easier than with Weight Watchers, and I feel I have better control. The combination of WW and MFP have helped me lose the 28 pounds I have lost so far. Also, I am walking and sometimes running, and that has been a prime factor in my weight loss thus far.0 -
I was at the doctor's office and got on the scale and the nurse started chuckling and said to me " You're rolling with the big girls now!" I did NOT think it was as funny as she did!!! I'll never forget that! Plus I am vain- and I want to be hot! LOL
I would've literally punched her in the face0 -
This. This is the one picture I saw where I broke down to tears. This was July 2, 2011 at a wedding from a dear friend I had in high school.
I was always heavy. I wore size 22 by the time I graduated high school. I was in total denile that my fast food habit (I actually had a meal I called the "fat-girl special") and my eating was going to catch up with me. I remember the first time I had to go to size 24. I kept telling myself that size is only a number. Then before I knew it I was buying 26's and they were tight. I was hoping that the button wouldn't fly off in some humiliating movie type circumstance, busting a window and knocking someone out.
Prior to that, November 2010 (I was 22 at this time) I was put on a double dose of blood pressure medication. My blood pressure was 152/160's. The doctor couldn't believe it. I was blacking out, headaches, and losing mental function. My blood pressure was surging so hard into the brain that the swollen vessels were causing issues. This should have helped me get motivated however it didn't. I accepted my fate. I was a fat piece of *kitten* and I was going to die that way. I was never pretty, I was never loved, I'll just enjoy it until it takes me. It wasn't until July after the wedding where I actually wanted to die. I was so embarassed that people had to even see my fat self and to make matters worse I managed a gym. I managed Curves, A franchise type facility for women and my family owns one. Can you imagine the stares I got when I was the one talking about weight management, diet, and exercise? I am very educated, I know what to do but I was so much a lost cause I said screw it, It isn't for me. We went to a regional meeting april of 2011 and again seeing the pictures of me just made me physcially ill. In july, after the wedding, my grandmother came to me and said that curves had changed the weight management program into a program they call Curves Complete. We said we would give it a try together. 15 pounds came off the first month. I cried. I wasn't that much of a lost cause. This dog had some fight left in her.
It has been 13 months and have been following Curves complete. I love myself. I am sexy, I am curvy (yet I still have a long way to go) and I am 87 pounds down. I ride on average 15 miles a day on my bicycle. I strength train at curves 3x week and do an hour long high intensity zumba class 4x a week. I hold my head high when I walk down the street. I don't go to a restaurant and hear the jokes about "the food being gone" anymore. I walk into the store and pick out size 16/18. I feel like myself. The strong, confident kayla that had once shown it's face was back. I am not some stranger in a fat suit. My husband, who has done this journey with me, is so proud. Our marriage hasn't been better. When I was heavy and at my lowest I didn't care about anyone or anything. On our 4 year anniversary this halloween I will actually dress up like we did years ago.
I am no longer embarassed for people to see me anymore. As I write this I am tearing up but I am telling anyone who doubts, anyone who just wants to dissapear, you can do it.0 -
High cholesterol, pre-diabetic blood glucose, and the scale reading with a 3 for the first digit.
Got up to 310. Something I never thought I'd ever see. 2X what I weighed in 1983 (granted I was underweight then).0 -
Having been very active in my youth Cycling, Golf, Ice Skating. Job became more desk bound and working shifts, became bit of a couch potato,
Knocking on 17St with the wife badgering me + the old knees are not liking the extra weight bearing down on them0 -
it was a combination of things for me as well.
1. I reached my highest weight of 191
2. The Dr. told me I was heavy and needed to lose weight
3. I was depressed and avoiding gatherings
I'm down to 156 now and life sure is a lot better! I still have another 10 to go and I'll get there.0
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