The first time you realised you were actually over weight.

When the button snapped on ALL of my pants.

My boyfriend and I started talking about marriage. I started to think "What kind of dress will I buy?" Then I was realized I was going to have to buy a dress that covered my arms, my stomach, my back, my legs, everything! I didn't want to be a fat bride or wife. I am so glad I have changed.

I was probably the fattest vegetarian I have ever known. By 7th grade I was a solid 50 pounds overweight, but I had the confidence of a Victoria's Secret model. To put it bluntly, I thought I was the *kitten*. I had DD breasts, a very defined hourglass figure, a pretty face, red hair, and I thought I had it all.In my mind I was a curvy, renaissance Goddess. What I didn't see was the angry red stretch marks that had begun to form on my thighs and hips, and loose sagging skin on my arms. I ate 3 servings of pasta for dinner with absolutely no shame, not really understanding the consequences that came with it.

Once day my mom very cautiously approached me with a brochure about a "health and fitness" sleep away camp for teens. Basically it was a fat camp. I was shocked, appalled, and absolutely blown away. My mother and I were always very close, and I considered her my best friend. I know now that she was really concerned about my health and well being, but back then I felt so hurt and betrayed that she thought I was fat enough to get shipped off to some weight loss camp. Despite how angry I was over the incident I agreed to go to the doctor for a check up. 185 pounds, pre-hypertension, high cholesterol, and pre-diabetes were all permanently branded onto my medical history and I left the doctors office in tears. I went home and stripped down bare naked and looked at myself in my full length mirror.

Everything I had once admired was gone, and like a veil was lifted from my eyes I saw the sagging dimpled skin, stretch marks, folds and creases, and horrifying rippling at the slightest movement. It was soul crushing. I never recovered from the blow to my self esteem. Even 60 pounds lighter I still see what I saw in the mirror that day. The psychological impact was extreme.

My first time was when I had my second surgery for "female issues" and had a difficult time getting ONTO my bed. Getting out was a challenge anyway due to the incisions, but getting into bed shouldn't have been a huge problem. That was 13 years ago.

Since restarting MFP this year, I've lost 10+ inches, and 12 pounds. It's not a huge weight loss, but I'm not looking for a quick fix. I'm looking at a new lifestyle - one that will work with my life. Not an unrealistic eat healthy 100% of the time - that's not going to happen. I know that I'll have ice cream and cake and chips, just not everyday and not in the huge quantities that I once had.

Anyone looking for a quick fix (which I did in the past myself) needs to know that once you eat normally again you will most likely gain at least some of that weight back. I at one point had lost about 30 pounds, only to gain back 15-20 of them back (I managed to shrink my stomach some, hence not all of it came back).

I wasn't ever over weight, and I was so active that I could eat whatever I wanted. So in 2003 I was in a car accident. It left me on crutches 1 year, 6 months, 6 weeks, and 6 days. I counted everyday, because I could no longer do all the things I was used to doing. It felt like forever!!
Anyway, we had gone to a family Christmas get together. I had to buy a size 16 jeans, so I knew I was gaining weight. When I seen the pictures I was devastated. You'd have thought I would have said enough was enough then.

I had continued to gain, and when the scale said I was 2 pounds from weighing 300 pounds I decided that was my turning point! I refused to weigh 300 pounds! So, I was doing good. I lost 16 pounds. My dad passed away and I fell off. 8 months later my mom died to. I was left feeling like my whole world had changed, and like I needed a change. I half expected everyone else to change, but the only thing some people did was make me feel like an alien. So I told myself, "You be the change!!"

I spent a month thinking about the changes I wanted to make. I decided that there would be no more of me letting others walk all over me. I decided that I was going to live my life, and do things I wanted to do. Most importantly I decided I was going to get healthy so I could live a normal life. On May 7th I went to the Dr and told her my plan. She said it was doable. That day I weighed 281.4. On July 30th I weighed 250.

Had some fancy family photos done a few years back and when they came back I looked at the ones of me and my brother. My brother looked like my brother. I looked like someone who had eaten my brother for breakfast.

I knew I had gained a lot during my last pregnancy but it actually HIT me a few weeks while shopping with a friend in a plus size store and realizing that the clothes there would now fit me.

Not really the first time I realized it but the first time I realized how much in denial one could be about weight gain. I was in college and didn't own a scale, I knew I was gaining a bit but I was buying the same size jeans. I told myself they were "making them smaller and tighter" now because that was the style, everyone laid down to put on their skinny jeans. The day it finally hit me was when the front of my jeans just suddenly split open while out clubbing one night - no denying you are squeezing your self into pants three sizes too small when they burst open and not even at the seam! It was totally humiliating but thank God I had a long shirt on to hide my muffin top so no one saw it happen.

When I got a new job and was out buying a suit and realized that I had to get a size 14. I was so humiliated and went home and cried.

When I had to keep the button on my jeans popped open. Not after a meal, all the time. Got on the scale and looked in the mirror, yep I was overweight. Muffin top? More like a soufflé top...

I had no full body pictures of myself.

I pretty much always knew. But when my doctor said I had a shot in hell getting pregnant at my current weight I knew I had to do something about it.

Mine is weird but whatever... well i was in 10th grade and i realized that i could reach my own nipple with my tung... and i thought "my man boob goes that far!" freaked out and lost about 40lbs i felt like Peter Griffen from the show Family Guy when he was outside of the public pool and he makes a scene by licking his own nipple LMAO!

I knew I was heavy but didn't realize how bad it had gotten. I need to buy a belt as my pants were starting to get loose. I was excited about it until I actually went to buy a belt. I tried all the sizes in the women's department and none of them would fit, so I went over to the men's department and picked up a size 44 belt. Low and behold that was the one. I was so embarrassed. My heart just sank. To make matters worse my 5 year old was with me and made a comment about me having to shop in the men's department. I then also realized she was as tall as the length of the belt. So now I am without a doubt going to lose this weight. I don't care how long it takes, I am never going back.

I was in sixth grade. I had just moved to a new school and a lot of the boys called me "fatty patty" -- mostly because children are cruel. my name isn't even Patty!
my "friends" gave me the nickname of "Bounce" -- which I didn't understand until I was older.

I was extremely athletic, so I was bigger with lots of muscle. I never thought that I was overweight because I could out lift and out run anyone.

I started getting self conscious in high school after I tore my ACL -- because then all my tone disappeared