What was the final straw for you?

My moment was a picture I found of me 6 years ago. I was getting ready for my sister's wedding and it's a picture of me from the back. I can acutally see my shoulder blades the way my arms were. That made me think I wanted to get back to that weight, about 125-135lbs. Also that I had to give away almost my entire wardrobe to GoodWill because nothing fit me anymore!

Mine was when I was walking down the hallway at work and noticed I could feel a roll of back fat. LMAO! :laugh:

A roll of fat was all it took for me :happy:

Mine was just finally getting disgusted enough with my spare tire to want to do something about it. I have a very big belly, and at age 56, I actually look about 7 months pregnant! I'm not kidding. Clothes never fit me right because if the waist fits, everything else is way too big. Also, every time I look in the mirror I'm surprised by my big belly. I need to lose at least 35 lbs to get to the high end of a normal weight, and I swear that whole 35 lbs is in my middle. I am the apple of all apples, lol!

My final straw came when I got some blood work back that was not so hot. I had some really bad side affects of some medicine I had to quit. I started feeling so much better and the tests were worse. The new medicine is so expensive. I was very upset. I around and saw that I take care of everything for the people in my life- my 90 yrs. old mom, 2 daughters, my husband ( I am separated from), my brother. Now it is my time and for the next 4 months it is all about me. Strange to say that because I still have them to tend to. I hate being a chef but now I AM one with my food needs , my time to exercise, my time to work, etc.. I HAVE EXERCISED FOR 3 STRAIGHT WEEKS . YOU JUST CAN NOT IMAGINE WHAT THAT FEELS LIKE. i HAVEN'T HAD AN ASTHMA ATTACK NOR HAVE i QUIT BECAUSE OF THE PAIN IN MY HIP. SMALL VICTORY. .

The final straw for me was when I was shopping at a plus sized store (Fashion Bug) and realized that 4X was the biggest size they carried. There was no where to go from there.. I am 33 years old & Id have to be shopping from a catalog catering to 5X+ sized woman.. I never thought it had gotten that bad.. But it was. I took a hard look at myself, my life & my family & knew that I was capable of DOING THIS.. And doing it without surgery. I was 4 months away from having gastric bypass surgery when I decided to try it on my own.. Im down 22 lbs & have since cancelled the surgery. I KNOW I can lose 100+ lbs. It used to seem like an impossible feat- But I know with the tools i have learned here & the amazing friends I have made who help me every poundo f the way that I CAN and WILL do this.

I have always been thin. Almost 4 years ago I met my fiance and started getting into the daily routine. He's 6'2" and weighs around 130. He can eat whatever he want so the pounds started adding to me. I went in to get my insurance for my car changed when we moved and the lady handed me a book to read while she processed my information and it was "What to Expect When You're Expecting" I was mortified and cried all the way home. I knew I had to change something as soon as this happened. I understand because I basically only carry my weight in my stomach, but I couldn't believe that had happened to me.

My birthday came a week before Easter in 2009. I had to renew my driver's license, which meant a new picture. There I sat, weighing more than I ever had, wondering what the h3LL happened to the 13 lbs. I lost in the prior January when I had a planned surgery. What happened to my plan to "watch it" and keep losing, FINALLY? :mad: Well, I DID watch it....just that "it" went back up, to where I had been, + a couple of pounds of "interest" :noway: because I was fooling myself about how much I was eating, and how much "exercise" there really was in walking two (at that time, now it is three) pesky little doggies, who like to stop and smell the roses, a LOT!:laugh: :laugh:

I decided the best birthday gift I could give myself for the following year (2010) was to lose 100 lbs. During the week before Easter, I began searching out weight loss info online, and read some important basic truths. People who record their food intake and exercise calories burned are more likely to be successful at LOSING, and if those same people adopt a "lifestyle change" rather than going on a "diet" that they eventually plan to go "off" of, they are more likely to KEEP the weight off. I also found that people who had a support system, whether it was in person or online, were also more likely to continue for the long haul.

I searched for free calorie-counting websites, found another one I can't recall, and MFP. MFP seemed much more user-friendly, than the other site, so I registered and started using it every day on April 13, 2009. I started walking (without doggies), and for a while during the summer, I was doing about 25 miles per week. The weather and shorter days made that pace impossible to maintain, but I still tried to walk outdoors when I could, and at the Mall, when the weather was uncooperative. The secret was to KEEP WALKING PAST the Food Court!!!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

It took me 7 months and 3 weeks to lose 50 lbs. In December, my doctor removed one of my BP meds and cut the dosage of the remaining one to half of what I had been taking. I sustained a head injury in January, 2010, and the aftermath of it, put me off of trying as intensely to lose for a while. I didn't gain, but was not losing anymore--just going up and down the same 2 or 3 lbs.

Along about July, I was getting fed up, since what I had done the previous year to lose wasn't working. As a result of posts on MFP, I researched the HCG diet, and found it was supposed to be helpful for someone experiencing a plateau due to being at a setpoint (a weight that you held for a long time in the past, and when you get back to it, you can't get below it). I knew that I was right in that neighborhood and I was sick of it. My original expectation had been to lose 100 lbs. in a year, but when April 2010 arrived, I had only lost half of that.

When I got a 'save the date' notice for a family wedding in September, I decided I HAD to get it in gear if I was going to be anywhere close to where I had planned to be by the end of the summer. On July 19th, I started the HCG diet. About 20 days into the process, after losing about 12 lbs. I experienced a week of severe carb cravings that seemed to come out of nowhere.

After a few days, I figured out it had been triggered by artificial sweeteners--something I had not been using, but they were in something I had eaten away from home. Not realizing that was the issue, I tried to "solve" my cravings by having a squirt or two of sugar free syrup in the decaf I was getting in the evening at Starbuck's. Then I was coming home and gobbling multiple servings of crackers, and even some of the candy stash that I had no trouble ignoring for the previous three weeks.

A look at my food diary for that week helped me figure out what had happened, and within two days of stopping that sugar free syrup "fix," my cravings disappeared, and I began losing again. I "lost" a week, and probably cost myself being at least 6 lbs. lighter than I am now, but I am not dwelling on what can't be changed. In another 4.5 lbs., I will be "overweight" ONLY (per BMI) for the first time since 1989!!:drinker: :drinker:

Almost as good as that day will be, last week I visited my doctor and when my blood pressure was checked, it was 100/74!! Mind you, before this time, the best I could do off meds was about 114/80. My doctor was very pleased.

So now I am trying to get to a loss of 100 lbs. by the beginning of November, 2010, which would put me at the high end of a 'healthy weight' for my height. Talk about something to be thankful for!!:drinker: :drinker:

Anyway, that is the story of my "final straw"--a driver's license picture from hell. Within the last two weeks, two people have looked at it, at my bank, and looked at me and said "You need a new photo!" So probably this Fall, I will pay extra to have it redone.

My final straw was a family vacation at the beach 4 weeks ago. The whole week I was miserable and hated going on the beach. Struggled to get up out of those beach chairs (the ones that sit low to the ground). My breathing was awful just walking down the the beach. We went to an amusement park and for the first time in my entire life, I was worried I wouldn't fit on some of the rides. Thankfully, I could but at that moment, I told my sister, "this is it! When I get home Sunday, I am eating better and exercising, It makes no sense to be so miserable and unhappy when this is something I can control." So that Monday, I found this website and began the journey to a healthier and happier me.

I have been off work for a year now & I went to the doctor for some blood work & found out that I am a daibetic. I am getting married in 2 weeks. My fiance went & had his done too & we both are diabetic. We have decided that we wanna live our lives together & we are getting healthy together. I have gained about 50 lbs while I have been off work & he has gained about 60 the 2 years we been togeather. It has been to hot to exercise much but I got the Biggest loser video so i'm going to try it.:flowerforyou:

I have just started my weight loss steps and what started it for me was the day I got married ( August 7th 2010) and i was looking at my self in the mirror and thaught WOW im a FAT bride and was disgusted with myself. I have just started and set a goal of 60lbs in the next year by my wedding anniversery. I would like to weigh what i weighed in highschool a wopping 3 years ago...

I HOPE I HAVE THE STRENGTH TO MAKE IT

I had started not feeling comfortable in my own skin when I first joined the site in Feb 2008, but lacked the motivation to stick with it. That summer and fall I ended up spending it swollen and in pain due to an autoimmune disorder that had developed, I hit 300lbs, and tried on a size 24 pant and they fit! :noway: . That was the final straw for me. Jan of 2009 I had finally gotten some medication and the swelling had gone down and the pain had decreased. It wasn't until after I started losing that I really truely saw how big I was in pictures. It was quite horrifying actually.

When I finally woke up and noticed that the girl that I imagine inside of me no longer matched the woman on the outside of me. I needed to wake up and realize that if I gave everything of myself away to those around me - - - then there was nothing left for me.

At the end of the day - - - I had no energy left for me - - - no inspiration left for me - - - no courage left for me - - - no drive left for me -

ENOUGH - - -

I looked at myself in the mirror and wondered - - - why do I look SO OLD - - -? What the heck is up with my hair - - - ? When did I get so FAT - - - ?

WHEN DID I STOP SMILING - - - ???

It was the day I did not recognize myself in the mirror - !!!

After I got my results from my sleep study and being told I indeed had Sleep Apnea but defined in the doctors observation as morbidly obese in the summary. I've had a lot of joint and muscle pain for the last year. I knew I was over weight but the words Morbid and Obese punched me with a huge dose of reality when I looked back at pictures in the last year. I've lost about 10 lbs before starting MFP but really want to stick with it.

You go girl. Yeah, whatever motivates you, but know that you are really doing it for yourself. :bigsmile:

The kicker for me was that when I was 13 I weighed almost 200 pounds at only 5 feet tall, I had to buy size 38 men's pants, which was the largest size Pacific Sunwear used to carry. This was before Torrid or any big-box stores sold cute plus-size clothes for teenager girls. I remember just crying looking at myself in the mirror and hating how I looked and felt. I lost 80 pounds over the course of a few years when I cut meat, dairy, and eggs out of my diet. Once I started eating all of those foods again, got engaged, and starting eating the same portions as a 6 foot tall man, I started gaining weight again. I saw a picture of myself before the summer started this year and I saw the fat teenager all over again and decided to get serious. So far I've lost 20 pounds and just bought a pair of size 4 skinny jeans and I feel fantastic! I'm even training for a half marathon. I never would have thought that all those years ago, the same person standing in the mirror crying would be as athletic and addicted to diet and exercise as I am today.