What did your weight stop you doing?

I used to get winded walking a couple of blocks. I used to shop for big clothes and my knees hurt. I always had high self esteem but after a while, it took its toll on my mood. Losing 89lbs over 3 years, I feel like I can build up to do anything I want. Confidence is through the roof.

I avoided mirrors and pictures

Wow what a thought provoking and slightly depressing question. This is what I came up with

1. being forced to shop at big girl clothing stores
2. feeling like im big so why care about my appearance
3. Wistful thinking (wishing i looked like other smaller people)
4. not being able to purchase a watch without buying more links
5. not being able to skydive without paying extra money for weight
6. not feeling sexy
7. not being able to wear heels because of weight on ankles
8. stops me from interviewing/applying for a new job due to lack of confidence
9. stops me from living without back pain/ankle/knee
11. stops me from wanting to have pictures or video taken of me
10. stops me from being the best overall person I can be.

Well, not sure if it's weight, but:

Stops me from walking like I used to love to do, because of severe ankle pain. It's Achilles' tendinitis, which I am hoping weight loss will help.

Stops me from wearing any of my two closets of nice clothes.

Stops me from having self confidence.

It stops me from living my life to the fullest traveling cause I know i will have to pay extra I hate the mallcause i cnat fit anything but accessories.I dont participate in my son school activities cause i will embarrass him i have a daughter with a trach and she is practically off her ventilator and her nurses that live there would like to take her to the park but i wont go to big It stops me from going back to school for pulic relations and just stay at my current job it stops me from playing with kids and nieces it stops me from clubing with friends ashamed of my body and oh yeah im a fantastic dancer . It stops me from fitting behind the wheel of my honda my thighs to big so my husband takes me every where mostly it is making me feel like a 60 yr old woman with no energy sad case:(

Ugh. It stopped me from being able to really be a parent. I couldn't keep up with my kids, and didn't want to go anywhere, because I was so out of shape that I had a hard time walking anywhere without having to pause frequently to catch my breath.

I always had to park closest to the door and drive around because I was too scared to walk very far.

I couldn't fly anywhere. It kept me from going to conferences I needed to go to for a position I have at work.

AFTER I lost about 115 pounds, I NEEDED to fly to Florida for a family emergency. I was really terrified. Went to the airport, walked around without really needing to stop at all. Got on the plane, not only could I fit in the seat, but I didn't "lap over" into the seat next to me, and DID NOT need an extender for the seat belt!!!

Next on my list is to lose another about 130ish pounds, and get skin removal surgery. I promised my kids that when we return to Disney in 2016 that I'd be able to wear a bathing suit and go swimming with them. I can't wait!!!

I don't think my (obese and often morbidly obese) weight was really all that prohibitive (often 260-270 lb at 5'8" and got up to 307 at one point). In fact, I have friends who are barely overweight and have more issues w/ avoiding certain situations and activities because they aren't comfortable with their bodies. This makes me feel kind of lucky that I didn't have a lot of the same problems.

However - I did have issues, too!

I avoided photos in most situations. There were a few times I didn't mind photos being taken, like if it was my mom or a close friend I knew would just photograph head-and-shoulders, so I'd look okay. Or when I could hide half of my body behind my (also morbidly obese) ex husband, that was all right as well.

When I was a teen and in my early 20's, I didn't go swimming (an activity I love) for about 12 years because I was ashamed of my body and outgrew my swimsuit from middle school but couldn't bring myself to try on new ones. Then I had a poisonous spider bite and almost had to have my leg amputated...at that point, I decided F**K that and started swimming again.

I avoided roller coasters for about a decade. Recently, I returned to a nearby amusement park (rode everything and had a blast!) and saw women as big as I used to be who were actually fitting onto most rides w/o a problem at all. But I was too concerned about the possibility of not fitting & being humiliated.

Going into stores without a plus section - especially Victoria's Secret or juniors specialty stores - was something I would NOT do when I wore exclusively plus sizes. I felt like the minute I walked in, even if I was looking at shoes or accessories, some kind of bell would go off and all of the thin sales clerks would be laughing and asking me if I got in by mistake...ok, not really...but my attitude about it was kind of like that!

One more thing I've only come to realize since losing a lot (125 lb total, so far) is that I shied away from making female acquaintances into friends unless they made the suggestion to hang out first. I didn't feel that I was inferior to them, or anything, but in some way I felt like average to thin women might not want a fat friend, and I just got into the habit of waiting for them to ask ME to hang out. I still kind of do that, out of habit.

I didn't walk at my High School Graduation cause I was too fat. I was so self-conscious.

Wearing some of my clothes
Feeling confident
Initiating sex with my husband
Wearing a two-piece swimsuit

I think that's about it. I'm about halfway to my goal and I can say that I'm much more confident, especially about initiating sex. My husband has NEVER turned me down, even at my heaviest, but I was so scared that I let it stop me from trying a lot of the time.