What was the moment?

-Going on a trip with friends and my husband (none of whom have ever had a weight problem) and being horrified that the seatbelt on the airplane was barely able to clasp shut! I had to do some weird maneuvers to get it to clasp and I know my friends and husband noticed. Humiliating.

-Having to tell people I'm afraid of carnival rides when in fact I'm too embarrassed to tell them I'm terrified of not fitting in them. I love rides. :ohwell:

-Having to also say that I get sick on boats for fear of the lifejacket not fitting and of how the boat will react to my heavy weight. As you can see there was a lot of making up lame excuses to avoid embarrassment.

-The anestisiologist (spelling?) having difficulties freezing me when having C-sections with both children because of so much back fat.

-Always having to worry in social situations where light physical exertion is required. I was always the one with a beet red face and sweating while everyone else looked completely comfortable.

I'm sure there are many others I haven't even thought of. I'm down about 85lbs now and I can happily say that none of these would be an issue today. This weight loss journey has freed me so much and I feel like I can take part in life now instead of sitting out in constant fear of humiliation. Thanks for this thread, it really made me remember how much I don't want to live that way anymore. :flowerforyou:

I used to always hate how I looked in pictures and was so unhappy with my appearance for a long time but what it finally took to make me want to change was when I realized I was missing out on dates with my husband. Whenever we were going to go out to dinner or a movie or pretty much anything I would try on everything I owned, but it would always end with me crying on the bed because I couldn't fit into any of my clothes. Not only did I develop low self-esteem, but I was missing out on so many fun memories that I could have had. I didn't want to continue living my life like that and missing out on things so I knew I had to make a change.

I have lost weight many times over the years... always had weight issues. I have been down to a size 12 and my biggest pant size was a 20. Well here I am today at the highest weight I have ever weighed and in size 22 pants. Totally unacceptable. I decided I am done with this insanity!! So here I am.

I have made a lot of changes already, but still having a hard time losing weight. Not sure what that is about, but I am keeping on keeping on. I wish you the very best with your weight loss journey.

I lost 50 pounds 3 years ago and have kept it off until now. I hit a certain number on the scale again and said oh no way. I'm now motivated to lose the 40 I stI'll need to take off

The day that I casually looked up my height to weight ratio and it told me I was clinically obese. That was the day my 5'4", 195 lb *kitten* started getting serious.

There were a lot of moments... when the biggest size in the big girl store didn't fit me any more, when I didn't want to go out because I had nothing to wear and I felt so incredibly self conscious, when I couldn't go to restaurants that only had booths because I couldn't fit, when I had a hard time breathing just after walking short distances, when my back hurt from doing simple things like housework, when I realized I was sacrificing my health and my quality of life, when I saw myself in the rare photograph that I allowed to be taken, when I was out in public and people looked at me as if I was a freak of nature, when I looked in the mirror and thought, "this isn't me any more". Enough was enough, somehow the switch in my head flipped, and I am now heading in the direction I want to go :-)

Not recognizing myself in a picture. I had a birthday party at my house for my son. When reviewing the photos, I saw a picture and I thought "Who is this woman in my house?"....It was me. Granted, it was a candid shot and I was slouching, but I could not believe I had put on so much weight.

That was October 2012. I had a couple of months after that which were still a bit stressful and busy (between work and school) so I did not start my weight loss right away. For Christmas I requested a balance ball, weights and workout clothes. The day after Christmas I started MFP and started moving.

Just a little background - I have always been athletic and slim. In my early 20's, life got busy and I put my fitness on the back burner. When I saw that picture, I was probably about 25ish lbs. overweight. For me, that was a lot. I am 28 and I figured if I don't get my health back on track now, it would just be that much harder as I age.

I am so happy I saw that picture. I had gotten to a point where I was like "I am older now, so my body is different." Yes, it may be different but it also had a bunch of fat on it I am working now that I am pretty close to my goal weight to decrease my body fat percentage rather then just drop pounds.

I looked in the mirror one day around Christmas and though "I don't like how I look, or feel." Something has got to change. And it has for the better.

Went to visit my GRAND girls in Denver. Ended up at some kind of water park. Had to wear a swimsuit. Fell off some dang raft on a "lazy river" ride. Could not get my butt back on the rafter. I was on the verge of crying the entire day. Picture from that day is one that motivates e. Now I have skinny pictures to encourage me.

Shirley in Oregon

I hit 250 lbs and my wife hit almost 190 lbs. We both basically freaked, nodded at each other, and started fixing it. Seriously fixing it starting in January.

I've got around 10-20 lbs more to go, but that's fine. I'm still somewhat pudgy.

I told myself I'd never get above 200 pounds in my life, never thinking I'd really even get close to it because through out high school I'd been pretty attentive to my weight, and when I graduated I had dropped a lot.

It happened though, slowly, and looking back I see those mile markers that I should have noticed.
The moment though was when I bought a large swimsuit online and it would barely go past my knees when I tried to put it on.
It still hurts to think about since I use to wear a medium.
AND they suggest you buy a smaller size.

I couldn't do it after that, I couldn't bare to be 2x anymore. It wasn't even the weight that was bothering me, it was the fact that I let myself keep making excuses to accept something that was only my fault, no one forced me to over eat, no one forced me to stay on the couch and watch TV.
Those were my choices, and I felt like I was being irresponsible with my body.

My moment was unfortunately on my wedding day when I realized that I had gained 20 lbs since I'd bought my wedding dress 7 months prior. (I eat when I'm stressed....) Thankfully the dress was laced up the back and all the alterations were done around the same weight I was on the actual wedding day.

I'd been on the edge of normal/overweight BMI for a while but hadn't really tried hard enough at any diet plan or lifestyle change so they all flopped.

Spent most of my time self-harming, thinking about self-harming, and having suicidal ideations . And when I wasn't doing that I was busy stuffing my face with whatever was in the house. After having a terrible breakdown in December I decided that I couldn't live like that anymore. I wasn't happy with what I let myself become. Overweight, uninspired, and empty. I needed something in my life that would help me cope with my emptiness and day to day boredom. I'm quite happy now. I'm stronger than ever, and I'm in love with lifting and running.

A culmination of things... firstly complacency. Couldn't see it, was so busy living my life and telling myself my clothes had shrunk in the wash or that a certain store's sizing had gotten far less generous etc... stupid I know, complete stubbourn refusal to see what was happening but it didn't feel that way at the time.

I did a charity skydive and it was the first time I'd stepped on a scale in about four years. I kid you not, I had gained 20 pounds. The guy who had to "carry me" in the tandem jump was the same guy who'd just come back from "carrying" a guy who was about 6ft tall and not slim by any means. I got the biggest guy because let's face it, I was the biggest girl. I have no idea how I was still getting into those clothes.

It was like a window shattering, it all made complete sense. I'd been eating whatever, doing little to no activity and just telling myself it was okay because I could squeeze myself into something. And all of a sudden I could see it wasn't sticking zips or loose buttons... it was me. And I could see the thick band of fat around my hips, oozing around my waistband. I could see my belly in the photos, it wasn't just an unflattering angle.
As cruel irony, I just dug out my "fat shorts" as I'm on holiday in a few weeks and... no. There's no way I can do the button on those. Even the clothes are trying to tell me now!

As you said, what am I doing? I have something that can be worked on and contolled... so I'm setting out to do it!