What was your final straw?

A couple of things

....having to ask for the extension belt on an airplane (so humiliating)
....realizing that I am going to be turning 50 soon -- and that I needed to deal with my weight problem before I got any older
....cringing each time I saw a photo of myself
....having pain in the bottom of my feet because it was too hard on my body to be carrying around that extra weight
....seeing work-related opportunities pass me by because of my weight (and because I was less confident because of my weight)
....worrying that I would die prematurely because of my weight

Etc. Etc. Etc.

I am so proud of myself for taking constructive action to tackle my life-long nemesis (my weight problem) this year. And I am so grateful to my MFP pals for being such a terrific source of support.

When I saw 273 on my scale...the highest I ever weighed and it scared me I was so close to 300.

Twelve years ago I was 261 pounds. And my then-partner picked up a new pair of size 26 jeans for me. yikes, size 26. Back then, I wore business suits and I was wearing the biggest size most plus sized stores carried. I was also a few months from turning 40.

I became a regular exerciser and began running to maintain my size 14.. sometimes up to a 16, but I always was under 190 pounds.

Then I started a new job this year. They have free food..a lot. I ate more pizza in the first 5 months of my new job than the last 5 years! My entire wardrobe was too small.

I refused to buy a size 18 again!

I've been using MFP for the last 3 weeks and seeing progress. Back to regular exercise and cooking with more vegetables. Size 16 is still a bit tight, but doable. I can't wait to wear all my cute clothes again!

Medically I've struggled with a condition that made it impossible to exercise half the month. Had a procedure done in March, healed by mid-april and I got myself into gear and have been working hard ever since. No excuses, exercise and counting calories it is!

I'm motivated for me but I'll readily admit my husband loving my body more and more is a huge bonus. (he never didn't love me, but I appreciate the enthusiasm, lol!)

When I was quickly outgrowing my size 20 pair of shorts. I was not going up to size 22 so I had to have a long hard look at myself and decided to make some serious changes in my life. That was a almost a year and a half ago and now I'm happily and comfortability fitting in 10's and some 8's.

I have kept that pair of shorts to serve as a reminder to keep maintaining and don't go back to my old ways. The last time I tried them on I can almost fit into one leg!

My final straw was expecting change but not changing myself. I have been eating double the calories I should and complaining why I can't lose weight, then trying to fix the sadness and self loathing by eating more, endless cycle.

My final straw was seeing that I almost weighed 200 lbs. Also, as I was looking through pictures of me and my boyfriend, I realized how fat I was compared to his skinny self.

I had made a New Years Resolution to lose weight but we all know how those ultimately turn out. On New Years day we had patriots tickets at the top, top, top, top of Gillette stadium. We have to walk up to our seats, up ramps, not stairs.

Getting up the ramps made me feel like I was going to die. We missed kickoff because I was slowing us down, just not a good time at all.

That was the day I was not going to be limited by my fat *kitten* ever again. I run now, in fact I've ran 2 races where I got to RUN up and down those ramps and I ran the @#$#@ out of them. It was an awesome race, you finish by running out of the big giant inflatable Patriots helmet and across the 50 yard line. I plan on doing that race every year until I cant move anymore to celebrate my hard earned fitness.

An added bonus was I did the electric run and was surprised that it ended running those ramps. I was hooting and hollering the whole time and people must have though I was a wierdo (shaddup you)

A picture of my niece and I. I almost cried.

There was a few:

Seeing I have been on this site for 3 years and I'm still at my highest weight.
Not being able to zip up any of my winter jackets.
Acting like a vampire when someone wants to take my picture/ seeing myself in pictures.
Feeling very anxious about going to the local pool because people can see my body.

So many final straws.... sadly, none of them very final. I've just about given up being disgusted with myself at this point and I'm just exercising to feel good and any weight loss that goes along with it is just a bonus. I don't hold out much hope of ever being much under 200lbs for very long, but I can do my best to keep my quality of life as high as I can for as long as possible and keep myself from having a preventable heart attack in my 40s....

I tried on jeans in a dressing room. I knew I had put on a few pounds (on top of baby weight), but I grabbed a size that I thought was a reasonable guess. Couldn't get them over my thighs. I left and immediately drove to a gym to join and buy a training package. I promised myself I wouldn't buy jeans in a size I wasn't comfortable being.

There were a few bad moments that could have been "final straws"...being told I had inherited my mother's hips and therefore a likely propensity for osteoarthritis there and I had to be careful...didn't work.

Struggling to do up my size 14 jeans...nope.

Having to go to my size 16 jeans...little flutter of panic, but not enough.

Struggling to do up my size 16 jeans...panic a little more, but again, not enough.

Go to the doctor to get a prescription refill...he makes me get on the scales...seeing that I was over 100kg...real horror and panic. That was my final straw. I could not, absolutely could not, be over 100.

I like to keep my stomach flat.

Took "my kids" to Schlitterbahn, a water park. After waiting in line we are about to get on the ride and I read the warning sign for the ride. According to the sign I was too heavy for the ride. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to leave the kids to ride alone. I didn't want to embarrass them or myself by breaking the ride because I was too heavy. I didn't want to make them skip the ride. So, I pretended like I didn't read the sign and rode anyway. I prayed and worried the entire time. Everything was fine but I decided right then that I would never put myself through that type of stress and anxiety again. That experience along with my realization that as a teacher I needed to be an example of good choices and health for my students set me on my weight loss journey. Went back to that same water park this summer and enjoyed the same ride knowing that I had absolutely no concerns about being too heavy.