What was your straw that broke the camels back?

Betsy1111
Betsy1111 Posts: 19 Member
edited September 23 in Motivation and Support
What one thing happened to you that made you "see the light" For me it was when I changed my Facebook profile picture to one taken about 3 years ago when I was in shape. Someone commented on it praising me for all of the weight I lost, & wanted to know how much I lost and what was the magic trick... Yikes, I have yet to respond...
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Replies

  • Manda1987
    Manda1987 Posts: 207
    For me it was being in my friend's wedding. I cried when I saw the pictures... partially because she looked beautiful, but partially because I was literally more than twice the size of the other bridesmaid.
  • elvb
    elvb Posts: 423 Member
    Mine was putting on a pair of 18W jeans and having to suck in my rolls to button them. I cried trying to find something to wear to work because none of my clothes fit anymore. Knowing the next size up was a 20 freaked me out. I'm 5' for craps sake!! I was almost as big around as I was tall! Ick!

    I also have a picture of me about 2 months before I started....in a tank top at a baseball game. I looked miserable...and large. It's a horrible picture and I have it as a screensaver to remind me daily.
  • acknan
    acknan Posts: 261 Member
    I have a cruise planned in April and I am about to finish Grad school, so I finally have the time to devote to exercise! That and the pictures...
  • Roll_Tide_Meg
    Roll_Tide_Meg Posts: 255 Member
    The day I stepped on the scale and it said 192...that was wayyy too close for to 200 lbs for comfort. I'm now at 173 but that was the last straw.
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
    For me, it was when a guy I know (who's a month younger than me) had a stroke. All these people around me were getting diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, heart disease, etc. It didn't take much of a look in the mirror to see where I was headed unless I changed my ways in a hurry.
  • LilynEdensmom
    LilynEdensmom Posts: 612 Member
    For me back in august of last year, I took my youngest up to my dad office and they hadn't seen me in a few months...I gained like 40 pounds since the last time I had been in there...and the first thing one woman asked me "are you having a boy or girl this time".I wasn't pregnant :( ..I found MPF a few weeks later and haven't looked back.
  • jenneyd
    jenneyd Posts: 308 Member
    I broke my ankle the wknd before labor day. I could not stand the crutches because I was so heavy, and my hips were so wide! I could barely lift myself on the crutches, my hips had bruises from hitting the crutches as I'd try to swing forward. happy to say I have lost 21 pounds since then!
  • manymuses
    manymuses Posts: 162 Member
    I was just released from the hospital yesterday after having an emergency heart catheterization at age 43. I had to say goodbye to my 2 small sobbing children this week (thinking I might possibly never see them again.) While waiting for surgery, I only had time to write down a few brief notes to my little boy and girl and husband about the things I wanted them to know in case I did not make it. I wept over tear-stained pages for my children who would have no mother, and my husband who would have no wife. I wept over all the things I had wanted to accomplish in my life and all the things I had wanted to share with my kids. I was heartbroken that I had failed my children. They needed a mother to protect them, care for them and love them and I had failed them. My anguish was beyond anything I have ever experienced. I prayed for their futures and for my own peace of mind as the hours ticked away before my surgery. Finding a well of stillness and peace within my grief, I went into the operating room calm and resigned to whatever happened.

    I have no words for the relief and resolve I am experiencing now that I survived the procedure and live to tell of my experience. I know that I now have absolutely no choice but to fight for my life every single day of the time that remains. This is my one wild and precious life and it is worth fighting for.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
    My wedding day & my wedding photos. I didn't feel beautiful (like i should have) and I cringe at our pictures. It was eye opening, and devastating to feel ugly & fat on the one day in your life you're supposed to feel beautiful. I had to change.
  • jerinsmommy
    jerinsmommy Posts: 6 Member
    For me it was when I caught my husband registered on a dating site called "Married but playing". I looked in the mirror and realized that it's my own fault and I'm not going down without a fight. After 10 years of marriage, I am not letting some skinny b**** take him from me.

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  • bayles1
    bayles1 Posts: 408 Member
    I suffer from a chronic illness and recently had a flare.This resulted in me having to rest up for a long period.This then led to boredom and putting on weight due to snacking and no exercise.I have taken the decision to fight back and try and improve my health into the bargain.
  • jansus
    jansus Posts: 58 Member
    1)seeing photos of myself this christmas - why when I look in the mirror do I not see what the camera sees?

    2) my son got engaged and I dont want to look like a frumpy old woman when he eventually gets married

    3)I reaslised that I was using my other halfs weight gain and lack of motivation as an excuse - he will have to change his ways when he wants to. And I have to do it for myself.

    4) I fell over 4 times last year and ended up in hospital once - and it hurts when you ar heavy and fall onyour face.lol
  • ChristaS
    ChristaS Posts: 49 Member
    A friend sent me a pic she had taken of me holding my 6 wk old daughter, it was a good pic... of a fat chick! its the one I've got on my profile as my before because I don't have any other of me at my heaviest, I hid from the camera all the time.
  • YayMe17
    YayMe17 Posts: 62 Member
    Everyday getting dressed, looking in the mirror- that was the straw. Everyday I neglected to change. I don't know exactly when the straw really broke. Maybe when my boss called me out in front of a couple of co-workers. We were discussing arthritis & how it has made my joints swell & I couldn't get my wedding ring on. She said maybe it's from the weight I had gained. Well that was embarrassing. :embarassed: A few months ago my hairdresser & I were discussing diet, eating right, exercising & she mentioned this site. One day I just logged on & here I am. 9 pounds lighter & loving it.
    PS watching what I have been eating has lessened my arthritis symptoms & I can get my ring on. It might be the weight loss too. :wink:
  • jansus
    jansus Posts: 58 Member
    For me it was when I caught my husband registered on a dating site called "Married but playing". I looked in the mirror and realized that it's my own fault and I'm not going down without a fight. After 10 years of marriage, I am not letting some skinny b**** take him from me.

    Thats realy sad- but make sure you are doing it for yourself as well.

    From the other perspective my other half has gained an awful lot of weight and although 'I do still love him and would not stray it does sometimes make me feel that he does not love me enough to look after himself - does that make sense?
  • Betsy1111
    Betsy1111 Posts: 19 Member
    I was just released from the hospital yesterday after having an emergency heart catheterization at age 43. I had to say goodbye to my 2 small sobbing children this week (thinking I might possibly never see them again.) While waiting for surgery, I only had time to write down a few brief notes to my little boy and girl and husband about the things I wanted them to know in case I did not make it. I wept over tear-stained pages for my children who would have no mother, and my husband who would have no wife. I wept over all the things I had wanted to accomplish in my life and all the things I had wanted to share with my kids. I was heartbroken that I had failed my children. They needed a mother to protect them, care for them and love them and I had failed them. My anguish was beyond anything I have ever experienced. I prayed for their futures and for my own peace of mind as the hours ticked away before my surgery. Finding a well of stillness and peace within my grief, I went into the operating room calm and resigned to whatever happened.

    I have no words for the relief and resolve I am experiencing now that I survived the procedure and live to tell of my experience. I know that I now have absolutely no choice but to fight for my life every single day of the time that remains. This is my one wild and precious life and it is worth fighting for.

    Friend me. You can do this!
  • YayMe17
    YayMe17 Posts: 62 Member
    I took a look at your before pic. What a difference. You look great! Congrats- keep it up.
  • Betsy1111
    Betsy1111 Posts: 19 Member
    1)seeing photos of myself this christmas - why when I look in the mirror do I not see what the camera sees?

    2) my son got engaged and I dont want to look like a frumpy old woman when he eventually gets married

    3)I reaslised that I was using my other halfs weight gain and lack of motivation as an excuse - he will have to change his ways when he wants to. And I have to do it for myself.

    4) I fell over 4 times last year and ended up in hospital once - and it hurts when you ar heavy and fall onyour face.lol

    I completely know what you mean about the pictures. I can not believe the fanny that is on what seems to be all pictures of me... Where did that come from?
  • That_Girl
    That_Girl Posts: 1,324 Member
    Well, (TMI) but my husband and I were gettin busy in the daylight and I saw myself in our vanity mirror.

    I was repulsed and joined the next day.

    :)

    I just want to look good naked.

    It didn't help that the week before, an old friend sent me pics of myself from when I was 20. I was speechless....
  • That_Girl
    That_Girl Posts: 1,324 Member
    My wedding day & my wedding photos. I didn't feel beautiful (like i should have) and I cringe at our pictures. It was eye opening, and devastating to feel ugly & fat on the one day in your life you're supposed to feel beautiful. I had to change.

    ME.TOO.

    So...when I'm at my goal weight, we're redoing the wedding pics. I'll put on my dress (maybe get it sized) and we'll go back to the beach with a photographer.

    :) You can do it too.
  • spunky_spit_fire
    spunky_spit_fire Posts: 103 Member
    The Day the Dr. told me I had diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, heart disease, etc ect. ect. and not happy with the way I looked I use to always be 115 - 120 pounds and I let myself go becasue of Depression and weighted 198 at the Dr Visit and I have 6 Beautiful Grandchildren and I refuse to take pictures of me and it dawned on me that my grandchildren would not have any pictures of them with their Nana in the past 2 years because of me being Fat and Ugly ! So The Time Has Come For A New Healthier Me !!! AND ONE OF MY GOALS WHEN I GET DOWN TO MY GOAL WEIGHT LIKE ABOUT 120 IS TO GET A FAMILY PICTURE WITH ME AND MY 3 CHILDREN AND 6 GRANDCHILDREN
  • p_cakes
    p_cakes Posts: 282
    Let's see..
    My mom is overweight and I see her stuggle with it every day. She had knee problems, borderline diabetic, high blood pressure. It worries me because she's my best friend and I don't know where I would be without her. I want to be able to show her that if I can do it so can she. I'm hoping that once I lose some mroe she'll start going walking with me or doing the exercises with me.

    Also, I can 3 lbs away from 200. I have never been there. I can't ever remember being below 170. I always remember how much I complain about not being able to fit into cute clothes. I decided I wanted to do something about it. I was tired of making everyone listen to me B**** about it.

    I want to be a hot girlfriend. I love my boyfriend with all my heart. He and I both could use a little help in the weight department. He says he'll start eventually, and I know when he does he will lose a lot faster than me. I'm hoping that once I start to really recognize that I'm losing weight that's when he'll decide to join me.

    I guess I've just been tired of it. I want to be healthier. I want to live long enough to get married, have a family, and see them grow. I always want to inspire a few others in my life that if I can do it so can they.
  • arwsgirl
    arwsgirl Posts: 75 Member
    This Christmas my sister came back from Taiwan where she teaches/lives and she's TINY! The last time she was here I said something about loving a pair of her jeans and she gave them to me this Christmas as "incentive" to lose weight. Wow. That was well intentioned but it kinda felt like a smack in the face. :0( Now that i know my girls are happy in the gym childcare I have no excuses for not going once a day!
  • mresta
    mresta Posts: 33
    Being 23 years old, 181lbs and my doctor telling me that I was pre-diabetic, and if I didn't do anything about it I'll be diabetic before I was 30 and dead before the age of 65.

    Seemed to do the trick, got down to 129lbs, just 21 lbs to go.
  • purplespeckle
    purplespeckle Posts: 652
    What one thing happened to you that made you "see the light" For me it was when I changed my Facebook profile picture to one taken about 3 years ago when I was in shape. Someone commented on it praising me for all of the weight I lost, & wanted to know how much I lost and what was the magic trick... Yikes, I have yet to respond...


    wow! that'd be tough. i try not to look at older pics. yikes! actually there is one pictures that i hate looking at. i had so much of a chin its crazy. thats the pic that made me really want to lose weight. but i just kept "starting over" every week. well on jan 1 i decided i was going to have to either lose it or just quit worrying about it and just be fat and happy. right now i'm on day 29 and still going strong! ;) another thing was that my husband mentioned that i've been "dieting" since i've been with him [2007] and it's true!! since i've been with him i've actually gained 22 lbs though instead of losing.
  • purplespeckle
    purplespeckle Posts: 652
    The day I stepped on the scale and it said 192...that was wayyy too close for to 200 lbs for comfort. I'm now at 173 but that was the last straw.


    wow...that's another reason for me too i hit 182 which is my highest ever and was just thinking the same thing you thought "thats "weigh" (lol) too close to 200" i'm 178.2 now
  • backinthenines
    backinthenines Posts: 1,083 Member
    What one thing happened to you that made you "see the light" For me it was when I changed my Facebook profile picture to one taken about 3 years ago when I was in shape. Someone commented on it praising me for all of the weight I lost, & wanted to know how much I lost and what was the magic trick... Yikes, I have yet to respond...

    Mine were some photos taken and uploaded on FB at our tri club's Christmas party. They were just awful!!
  • 1wendyrn
    1wendyrn Posts: 6
    The Harry Potter ride at Universal Orlando! Waited in line an hour and didn't fit in the seat when I got up there. Had to leave through a Fat Ppl exit they had created just for that reason! I wasn't the only one, but was HUMILIATED!!! My husband and boys got to ride while I walked around red-faced in the gift shop. :( Have got to do this! Youngest son is begging to go back!
  • backinthenines
    backinthenines Posts: 1,083 Member
    For me it was when I caught my husband registered on a dating site called "Married but playing". I looked in the mirror and realized that it's my own fault and I'm not going down without a fight. After 10 years of marriage, I am not letting some skinny b**** take him from me.

    hmmm... I am not sure whether a woman's weight gain directly corresponds to, never mind is to blame for, a husbands loss of moral fibre!!! :huh:
  • donas64
    donas64 Posts: 2 Member
    Want to be around as long as possible for my 1 yr old baby girl. Gotta be fit to keep up with her! She's a bundle of energy! Plus, I want to release my inner stud! I know he's in there! I'd lost around 50 lb with weight watches but gained almost 30lbs back when I stopped going (financial reasons). I've got the exercise habit down, but my eating habit's still need work.
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