What was the last straw?

When I quit chewing tobacco over 2 years ago I used quitting as an excuse to eat all I wanted, never mind that I was already at 300 pounds. I could justify the eating to myself by saying "well at least I am not chewing". Eventually I got to the point where I could no longer tie my shoes or walk up stairs but worst of all, I could not play with my kids. I was miserable but I kept trotting out my get out of jail free card.

My final straw was at my son's baseball tryout when I was helping out and hitting grounders to the fielders and was winded just by doing that. Literally winded by standing still and swinging a bat.

No more get out of jail free cards. It is time to pay the piper and get off my much too large backside and get moving again...

I went to the video store to get a movie, crouched down seeing one of my favorites on the bottom shelf, and could not for the life of me, get back up. I thought, oh I will grab the shelf and use it as support, but it moved and all I could envision was the whole shelf coming crashing down on me. So I seriously had to roll on the floor like a taco and use my some weird combat role to get up. And I dropped the DVD. I am 52 years old and should be afforded the dignity of gracefully retrieving any DVD I so choose.

my wife told me that she no longer wanted to have sex with me. my weight was ust one of the reasons. i cant fix the others but i can do something about my weight. that was 6 weeks ago, now lost 19lbs so far.

My first initial thought to this question was, "At what point in my journey did I feel 'this is the last straw'?" Because over 7 years ago I weighed a least 241 lbs. During that point I tried tying my shoes and realized it was a struggle because my belly was in the way. I made some changes, and with help from roommates, dropped some weight. However, I never went under 200 pounds. Over the years, I tended to fluctuate around 215. Last year in the spring, my whole family realized we were fed up with being sluggish and I was sick of having a muffin top on my jeans, which I kept having to debate if I would have to buy a larger size...and I didn't want to!! Since last spring, I've lost 46 pounds, 61 pounds from my heaviest point. I still want to lose another 20 pounds, but I understand it's a process, so I'll take the time to get there.

When my twins were toddlers I didn't think much about my health - I was so wrapped up in them. One day when drying myself after showering I happened to catch a side glance of myself and my tummy was protruding further than my chest. I was mortified and disgusted at how I could've not noticed how far gone I let myself get. The next day I bought the old-school version WW formula on eBay for $0.99 (yes, the actual mathematical formula). I couldn't afford to join WW, but I had to do something. So I carried a calculator around with me and punched the formula in for every single thing that passed my lips. You can imagine how time consuming and tedious this was. But it worked. I lost about 70 pounds that year and got down to about a size 12/14 in the end...having left behind 18's that were a popped button away from 20's). Now I'm back at it, having regained maybe 10 pounds from that 70 loss, but wanting to lose another 25-30 from where I am now. My newest motivation is purely health. I don't want to die young of some preventable BS disease.

1. Tired of that bloated / full feeling
2. Tired of spending money after money on junk food
3. Tired of being out of breath all the time
4. Tired of feeling exhausted all day everyday
5. Don't want my daughter to be this way

beckystocking wrote: »

I went to the video store to get a movie, crouched down seeing one of my favorites on the bottom shelf, and could not for the life of me, get back up. I thought, oh I will grab the shelf and use it as support, but it moved and all I could envision was the whole shelf coming crashing down on me. So I seriously had to roll on the floor like a taco and use my some weird combat role to get up. And I dropped the DVD. I am 52 years old and should be afforded the dignity of gracefully retrieving any DVD I so choose.

You are awesome!

Way to go! I know its very hard with the knee problem but you are a great example to others that you can improve your health AND lose weight when you have limitations. Heres to your continued success!!!!

I have epilepsy and had to switch medications, and the new one caused a 40 pound weight gain in 6 months! This on top of the weight I had gained over time just by eating poorly and not moving enough had me flirting with 300 pounds, which terrified me. Then I found out both my parents have stage 3 emphysema, and realized I will likely lose both of them before I'm 50 (I'm 41 now). In a tearful call with my father, he said, "I'll do everything I can to be around as long as possible." In that moment, I realized I don't want to be saying that to my kids after I've already been diagnosed with something that will ultimately kill me. I owe it to them and to myself to make changes NOW, while I'm still healthy, that ensure I stay this way as long as I can. I've lost weight before, but I've never equated it in my mind with something I owe my children (which is just silly, but I didn't get to be 282 pounds without a fair bit of cognitive dissonance). There's nothing I wouldn't do for my kids, so I have a quiet confidence and a long-term mindset that I've been missing with previous attempts.

The excitement of my 3 year old to be a dare devil. I want to be there with her and be able to fit into roller coasters, go to water parks and run and play. Being a parent on the sidelines is my biggest fear. My parents are in their mid sixties and still water ski. I want that!

Saw a picture of myself when I was doing a run last year. Had always sort of believed I was "okay".
Then I saw this picture of me and my stomach was hanging over the waste strap of my backpack and the chest strap just highlighted my moobs
I want to be a dad who is around for my daughter for as long as possible, I want to take her climbing, snowboarding and windsurfing. All things I did when I was younger but now would just look like some fat unhealthy dude trying to be young again.
My daughter is 4 and by her 5th birthday, in November I intend to be fit again and never hear her mention daddies "boobies" again.

bump

always sweating, blood rushing to my head while putting shoes on, back pain when bending, and, gosh, my pictures...

I seen a picture of myself and was shocked...So, I am 9 days into a new lifestyle. At least 30 minutes of exercise every day! Still working on my eating habits, but I can and will do it this time! This is so encouraging reading everyone's posts. Thank you all for taking the time to share!

Well mine was definitely a combination of things. I had 2 PE's ( massive blood clots filling my lungs with blood ) contracted rhabdomyolysis in June and the Dr's actually called in my whole family to say their goodbyes because I wasn't expected to make it through the night, I almost died three times in the last 18 months, my wife, our youngest son, my mother and sister went on our first and probably only cruise of our life and I had to stay on the boat in the Bahamas because I couldn't make it off the boat and back, my wife bought me new Big Man's clothes and not one single thing fit then I went to the Dr in January was 410 pounds for the heaviest point of my life and my Dr said son u r killing yourself! He said another man is going to be with your wife, someone else will be walking your daughters down the aisle and your son is a sophomore but if u keep this up u may not even see him graduate! So this is a life or death decision! I started in January and have lost 49 pounds so far and have another 125 pounds to lose. Making a mistake is not " failure " refusing to get back up and try again is!