What was your rock bottom?

My passport photo ...

When I had two slices of cake and potato chips one day.

To a lesser extent, when I was 15 and realized hydrogenated oils were the equivalent of trans fat even though the nutrition label laws permitted the scumbags from omitting them from reflecting that in the numbers. Turns out all those Quaker's Oats bars were poison.

When I got diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

BackupFridge wrote: »

To a lesser extent, when I was 15 and realized hydrogenated oils were the equivalent of trans fat even though the nutrition label laws permitted the scumbags from omitting them from reflecting that in the numbers.

They aren't. Firstly, a fully hydrogenated oil is neither a cis nor a trans fat - it lacks any double bonds which could be cis or trans (that's why it's "fully" hydrogenated). For example, the new crisco shortening is a mix of an oil and a fully hydrogenated oil, and contains no trans fats.

Secondly, partially hydrogenation can lead to trans fats. If it produces trans fats, they do have to label it unless the amount is small enough that it's below the threshold they have to use. Anything with more than 0.5 grams of trans fat must label it, unless it's a natural trans fat (which hydrogenated oil isn't).

rankinsect wrote: »

BackupFridge wrote: »

To a lesser extent, when I was 15 and realized hydrogenated oils were the equivalent of trans fat even though the nutrition label laws permitted the scumbags from omitting them from reflecting that in the numbers.

They aren't. Firstly, a fully hydrogenated oil is neither a cis nor a trans fat - it lacks any double bonds which could be cis or trans (that's why it's "fully" hydrogenated). For example, the new crisco shortening is a mix of an oil and a fully hydrogenated oil, and contains no trans fats.

Secondly, partially hydrogenation can lead to trans fats. If it produces trans fats, they do have to label it unless the amount is small enough that it's below the threshold they have to use. Anything with more than 0.5 grams of trans fat must label it, unless it's a natural trans fat (which hydrogenated oil isn't).

I just want to verify and have you peruse this:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/trans-fat/art-20046114

"But most trans fat is formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes the oil to become solid at room temperature.

This partially hydrogenated oil is less likely to spoil, so foods made with it have a longer shelf life."

Just about every page I'm looking at say they constitute trans fat. Are you only touching on the difference between partial and full hydrogenation? If so, that isn't in dispute. The bars I was eating fulfill every all the criteria I'm looking at in the provided link. If I'm confused then please do clarify (I'd actually like to be wrong about this, haha).

Finally: you're echoing what I said about the nutrition labels and how they can exempt themselves from being precise. I was scoffing at the law, not saying they weren't abiding by it or anything like that. I just hate misinformation. I think consumers should be able to decide what is and isn't a relevant limit for themselves, and they should be able to extract accurate data and do what they will from there onward.

About a year ago I started having increased depression and anxiety and was dealing with it all by emotional eating. I would lie to myself saying it was because of my job and I didn't have time to eat healthy when I was constantly in the car driving. Drive Thru's were easier and it "made" me feel better. Fast forward after a year of living like this and getting as high as 240 (all time high for me) I started having medical problems. Horrible headaches which I attributed to stress turned out to be caused by swelling in my optic nerves which was caused swelling/pressure in my brain. Immediate fear for several weeks while I went through tests to rule out brain tumor, MS, and several other things. I was eventually diagnosed with a disorder called pseudotumor cerebri something that is most common in obese women in their 20s. This was like a slap in the face because until this point I figured my weight wasn't a problem health wise meant it wasn't really a big deal. I started the day I learned I might have pseudotumor cerebri and haven't looked back. Medical issues are scary but it was definitely the kick in the pants I needed to take weight loss seriously.

Over two years ago I was at an event and felt really jealous when my husband bumped into a high school (female ) friend. He did nothing wrong and I realized it was my insecurity. Then two months later I saw pictures of myself at another event and that's right when I started to change my habits.
It's been a long two years and a slow crawl but I'm roughly ten lbs away from
Goal.

Realizing I looked fatter when my son was 9 months old, than I did when I came home from the hospital with him. And having to do up my pants with an elastic, because I couldn't afford to buy a third wardrobe in a year.

Seeing photos of myself at an event where I had to do some public speaking in early August...followed up by a visit to my doctor who told me that I'm a candidate for cholesterol and BP meds in addition to being borderline pre-diabetic. Ughhh!

I turn 50 next year and I want to be active, not sick and debilitated.

My rock bottom was June 10, 2010. I was 265 lbs, 58 years old, retired and enjoying overeating and not much else. I was mowing my sis-in-law's lawn after lunch in the North Texas heat (105, I believe) with a push mower and started feeling nauseous. I literally lost my lunch behind the lawnmower but CONTINUED TO FINISH THE LAWNMOWING! (what an IDIOT!). I drove 30 mins home, still feeling bad, took a shower and laid down. I finally realized that "this ain't normal" and asked my wife to call the ambulance (1st time in my life). They came, loaded me up and took me to the local hospital. I HAD HAD A MILD HEART ATTACK THAT AFTERNOON WHILE MOWING THE LAWN! I was admitted and prepped for a stent the following morning. My cardiologist, Dr. Wahid (bless the man!) went in my inner thigh, looked around my heart and stopped the stent insertion. Back to my room with a big question mark as to what the hell just happened. In about an hour, he came in to tell me I was scheduled for triple-bypass surgery the next morning with Dr. Jett (another angel sent!). When he went in, he found three of my coronary arteries 90% blocked and adding a stent to one was NOT going to do them any good. I've never been so scared and so depressed in my life! I put on a brave face for my family but I've NEVER had a longer night of no sleep and prayer and anxiety and anger at myself for slowly letting myself get to the poor condition I had gotten into.
To make a long(er) story short(ish), I got out of the hospital a week later and swore NOT to die a sick, fat old man. The day after I got out of the hospital, I went out for a walk with my wife, went about 100 yards from my house and had to sit down on the curb and rest before I could walk (VERY slowly) back. In the 5+ years since then, I'm at 222 lbs today. I've steadily increased my aerobic exercise so now I do CrossFit 5 days/week, walk my dogs every day and try to improve my food intake daily (I now call that Fueling). I'm currently experimenting with the Paleo way of fueling and looking for ways to lose body fat. My goal is to get my body fat down to 20% initially and settle my weight at whatever it might be at that body fat level. If my dream comes true, one day I can visit Dr. Wahid and Dr. Jett and tell them my body fat is in the single digits.
I hope to use this and other forums to use YOUR expertise to find the most efficient journey from here (40% body fat - Category OBESE) to my primary goal (20%) and the onto my DREAM Goal (9% Body Fat). I have faith you all can help me be the fittest, strongest, bestest me I can be. The Journey Continues.