What was your "rock bottom" moment?

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Replies

  • palwithme
    palwithme Posts: 860 Member
    I hadn't weighed myself in a long time and when I finally got on the scale it registered 230. That is more than my husband who is 6'3" and my father. That was definitely the bottom for me. I felt completely helpless.
  • OyGeeBiv
    OyGeeBiv Posts: 733 Member
    My first rock bottom was years ago when my son weight 89 lbs and I couldn't lift him, but I was more than 89 lbs overweight. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I was "carrying him" 24/7. I lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time, but did it in a stupid way and gained it all back and more.

    Second rock bottom was a few weeks ago, when I was lying in bed having chest pains. I was really scared and knew that if I was having a heart attack it was my own fault for not taking better care of myself. That's when I decided to make my health and weight a priority. (Also that night when I was having chest pains, not wanting to call 9-1-1 because of how embarrassed I'd been when it took 3 strong EMT's to get me off the floor when I'd been injured. I don't know why THAT wasn't a wake-up call, but it wasn't at the time.)
  • fitgirldrw81
    fitgirldrw81 Posts: 11 Member
    My rock bottom was when I tried to find a dress to wear at my niece's wedding and the wedding aftermath. I work in the medical field so I always wear comfy loose fitting scrubs. You know, the kind with the drawstring waistband that you can just let out a little when they get a tiny bit snug. I knew I had gained weight but didn't realize how much. None of my dresses or "special occasion" clothes fit at all. My mother and her side of the family are large women and I remember telling my skinnier teen self I was never going to get like that. Pictures from the wedding started showing up on social media and I looked just like my mother. Big belly, flabby arms, double chin, the works. I was embarrassed to be tagged in them. I got on the scale and saw 240 Lbs flash across the display. That was the moment I realized I needed to change things in my life.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    not sure i've ever associated it with "rock bottom" but basically i had some really effed up blood work that needed to be addressed if i wanted to live a long and healthy life and be able to watch my boys become men and spend my retirement years doing stuff rather than laid up in a hospital bed.
  • carlysuzanne85
    carlysuzanne85 Posts: 204 Member
    From my teenage years on, I was always gaining and losing the same fifteen pounds, always feeling a little chubby but pretty under control and (I know now) at a healthy weight most of the time. I'm 5'2" and my heaviest in college was 160. My college boyfriend was a depressed over-eater; I have those same tendencies myself and when we lived together, we really just brought out the worst in each other as we were both very unhealthy mentally and physically. After he and I broke up shortly after college, I lost 40 pounds and was down to 120. Through that, I found I'm most comfortable around 130 and I maintained that or close to it for a few years. Fast forward to age 28, I had a big, long-term breakup and moved out on my own and basically started my life over completely. I gained a good bit of weight (didn't weigh myself so I'm not exactly sure, but at least one pants size's worth) in the first six months after our breakup and then lost most of it (my current profile pic is that exact before and after) as I adjusted to my new life. However, at age 29, I gave into a lot of other life stresses and changes and gained all that weight back and then some. I was definitely in denial as to how much weight I was gaining until I had to go to the doctor two months ago. I weighed in at 169, the most I've ever weighed; I had promised myself years ago that I would never even approach that previous high of 160 again. I felt disgusted with myself and just incredibly frustrated that I have to lose this weight AGAIN. That was a big wake up call. Since then, I've gotten back into my healthier habits and am trying to be patient as I know the weight will take time to come off! I'm hoping my 30's will be the decade of maintenance :)
  • 13bbird13
    13bbird13 Posts: 425 Member
    The day I realized that only one pair of pants would zip... a pair that's falling off my hips when I'm at my goal weight. And I also had to chuck two other pairs of pants where the inner thighs had worn holes from friction. When I was in high school I used to wear holes in my pants too, but it was always hipbone holes in the front pockets... that's not a problem anymore.
  • Paulina1230
    Paulina1230 Posts: 215 Member
    When my doctor told me I had cirrhosis of the liver and it was caused from years of being overweight and eating fast food. My choices were.....lose weight and cut out fats, sugar, and alcohol....or face a liver transplant in my future. Im happy to say I chose the first alternative. Down over 60 lbs and am excersising almost everyday. Even started running. I feel great and although I wont know till my ct scan next month if all this hard work has really made a difference......I can say for sure that my liver pain is gone and it feels softer, (it used to feel like a baseball in my gut), and I feel sooooo much stronger.
  • KevinPsalm23v4
    KevinPsalm23v4 Posts: 208 Member
    This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the MFP Friends who help make this place a safe place to share such intimate details as what we shared here!
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    My rock bottom was finding out I was pregnant and that my child would not survive if I didn't start to eat. I weighed just under 6 stone at the time. I'm large frame and 5ft 4.
    I was fitted with a TPN, a feeding tube really. I was pumped with almost 3000 calories a day, a mix of macros. It was done over night to reduce the stress from consuming food.

    I struggled with it greatly but my DD1 was born weighing 2lb 2oz and has not been ill a day in her life, now a grown up.

    My battles continued for 8 years but improved slightly year on year.
    In 2004 I had the light bulb moment as I call it. An old lady (I wish I knew who) in the GP surgery said to me that I looked like a clothes hanger with skin. That I should look at CICO and that I had the control, the food didn't!

    I went home fuming, how dare she comment on me or my size, what did that old witch know!

    It slowly made me start to read up, what was CICO? Why would that stop me getting fat! The more I read the more I trusted the process.
    I started to eat at 800 calories a day at first, didn't gain, trusted it more. Ate 1200, didn't gain. LOVED CICO.
    Fast forward to now, I run, lift weigh 120lbs and eat 2000 calories a day.

    Information and knowledge is power and saved my DD1s life and mine.


  • mandapanda240
    mandapanda240 Posts: 35 Member
    When I went through a box of clothes from a year ago and couldn't get a pair of jeans over my thighs....
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    I have had 2. One was an ED one when I ended up in the hospital for refeeding,etc.
    Second was this January when after ignoring symptoms for years I almost died from severe Crohn's disease, was on tpn, steroids, antibiotics, other powerful drugs including a drug they usually consider a last resort drug after ever other drug failed. I was 110 at 5 8 and my body even rejected water. Very scary time.
  • lareesa74
    lareesa74 Posts: 2 Member
    My rock bottom was when I tried to find a dress to wear at my niece's wedding and the wedding aftermath. I work in the medical field so I always wear comfy loose fitting scrubs. You know, the kind with the drawstring waistband that you can just let out a little when they get a tiny bit snug. I knew I had gained weight but didn't realize how much. None of my dresses or "special occasion" clothes fit at all. My mother and her side of the family are large women and I remember telling my skinnier teen self I was never going to get like that. Pictures from the wedding started showing up on social media and I looked just like my mother. Big belly, flabby arms, double chin, the works. I was embarrassed to be tagged in them. I got on the scale and saw 240 Lbs flash across the display. That was the moment I realized I needed to change things in my life.
    I can relate! When I was a teen, I too, would look at my mom and say the same thing, " I don't want to be fat like that when I get older". And here I am extremely close to her size then, with flabby arms, 'dunlaped' stomach from 3 C-sections, and over eating, and cellulite thighs. Now I'm here wondering if my 2 girls look at me with the same thoughts I had of my mother. I definitely don't want that!

  • bandedup
    bandedup Posts: 17 Member
    When the doctor wrote morbidly obese on my chart.
  • OkieFitness
    OkieFitness Posts: 43 Member
    Probably the time while walking through the state fair here, saw a former coworker at a distance, who motioned to her stomach and said, "What happened?!?" That hurt, but you know what? She was right!!! What DID happen?!?! Rhetorical question. I KNOW what happened. I got lazy! Poor choices, etc. etc. Weeks later I'd had enough and Helen's comment (and other factors of course) motivated me to reboot. Experiencing success already!
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    I never hit rock bottom. I was just very determined.
  • rstrobridge10
    rstrobridge10 Posts: 10 Member
    Just a couple of weeks ago. I was getting ready to go to my in-laws' for a family dinner with my husband... and none of my clothes were fitting. My belly was obvious no matter what I put on and all of my pants were too tight. It was embarrassing. I had been wearing flowy cardigans to try and cover it so I could lie to myself, and I couldn't anymore. I literally looked pregnant. I had also been getting weird pains and got tired just from something like walking around the mall. I had become lazy, sedentary, unhealthy, and unhappy, and the desire to not be those things anymore has become stronger than my desire to stay the same. That night was the icing on the cake to several smaller events I tried to tuck away and forget about, but I just couldn't hide anymore. I had the face the girl in the mirror and admit I didn't like what I saw and that I needed to change.
  • guinevere96
    guinevere96 Posts: 1,445 Member
    I couldnt make it through a single day at work without buying snacks in the break room. I realized I truly was just stress eating and i needed to make some serious changes.
  • PinkyPan1
    PinkyPan1 Posts: 3,018 Member
    Grabbing my chest and being unable to breathe due to suffering a heart attack January 2013. It turns out that the heart attack was a blessing disguise. I am healthier and stronger than ever. I just celebrated my 55th birthday and I am looking forward to an awesome year.
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,868 Member
    Putting on size 12 pants one day and thinking they fit perfectly. Except a year and a half ago I was size 8 at 5'2". I realized I'd be size 14 or 16 soon if I didn't make a major lifestyle change. Going through menopause is no excuse. I'm now down to 125 and a comfy size 8. Almost at maintenance and feel stronger and have more energy than I have in 8 years.
  • shinycrazy
    shinycrazy Posts: 1,081 Member
    This summer I couldn't ride the kiddie roller coaster with my 3 year old because the attendants couldn't get the lap bar down. My son luckily wasn't too upset when we had to get off, but I sure was. I've lost 60lbs so far and we are riding that roller coaster every visit next summer.
  • Stefie_G
    Stefie_G Posts: 69 Member
    I sat next to a man on a roller coaster and our arms were so squished together - I could barely fit. I don't want to live in a world where I can't ride roller coasters!
  • treebek
    treebek Posts: 261 Member
    edited November 2015
    The last rock bottom moment was when I saw pictures of myself in Paris. I was so disgusted with myself that I lost almost 50 pounds. Got pregnant with my daughter and now she's 3 1/2 and I'm right back where I was the first time around.

    This time, besides looking and feeling fat and ugly, I hate being embarrassed to take pictures with my kids. I made the decision to get back to weight loss and coincidentally got blood work done - I'm pre-diabetic, have low Hdl (my good cholesterol), and my uric acid is high so I'm at risk for gout! What the heck? I'm only 44, way too young to fall apart. I want to live, I want to love my life, I don't want to be fat anymore!
  • distinctlybeautiful
    distinctlybeautiful Posts: 1,041 Member
    I don't think I had a moment. I mean, three times people mistook me for pregnant, and that didn't even phase me. I think I took those comments in stride because I'm pretty self-aware and knew I carried most of my extra weight in my stomach. I also consistently weighed myself, so there was no shocking number that stopped me - although I did pride myself on not seeing anything over 189.5 on the scale! (Stupid, I know!) Honestly I'd never been a very healthy eater, but what kicked off my binging was giving up another habit I'd had. After a while I finally realized that I'd simply replaced one bad habit with another. I had never addressed whatever was underlying the habit. Well, call it a poor choice, but I decided one day that it was either continue gaining weight at a ridiculous pace or go back to my old habit. So that's what I did, chose the lesser of two evils. Since then I've gotten married and have a little more accountability, and now I'm eating healthily and exercising and am doing much better with the original bad habit!
  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
    Growing up very thin I've always had that "thin" image in my head of myself. I've never been one to "self-loathe" or anything like that, but I knew I was putting on weight in the past 10-15 years so I would try on and off to lose, always unsustainable, always gaining weight back plus more. I didn't feel overweight when I would get ready in front of the mirror, but when I saw pictures or videos of myself I didn't recognize myself (weird how that works). My moment when I decided to do something was when I tipped the scale at 180. I had been in the 170s for a few months and always thought- "I need to lose"- but didn't do much about it. I figured 180 was just water weight, fluctuation, etc. But it stayed there and I knew- I would just keep gaining if something didn't change. With heart disease along with bad knees and diabetes in my family, I knew that I needed to do something to change. And I did.

    Almost the exact same story as me I've never related to someone more!!! My rock bottom though was getting forced out of a job I was under performing in, due to being overweight and depressed.
  • akboy58
    akboy58 Posts: 137 Member
    November 13, 2013 -- I had an appointment with a specialist to get the results of a home sleep study, and was told I had severe apnea, and had to be fitted with a CPAP device right away. I HATE the very thought of those things, so I made a deal with my doctor: take the CPAP off the table, and I lose 20 pounds. He agreed, and I started my diet the following morning. I was 255 then. Twenty pounds came off, then forty, then sixty. Now I'm eighty pounds down, apnea-free, no more blood pressure or heart meds, and I'm in better physical shape now than I ever was in my twenties. I wish I'd had the epiphany sooner -- like fifteen years ago -- but better late than never ...
  • ekruska802
    ekruska802 Posts: 79 Member
    Not really "rock bottom" so much as a kick in the butt. Twice in 2015 I attended family events that generated lots of photos, many of which were posted on Facebook. The first time, a particular relative got a weird pic of me (strange angle, weird lighting) and posted it. The second time, about 8 months later, there was another weird angle photo. But both times I realized that regardless how weird the photo, I was still chubby in the photos. So - that's my kick in the butt.
  • niajones95
    niajones95 Posts: 59 Member
    Mine was a few weeks into Uni. I always knew I was big and it was strange because it bothered me a lot but never enough to lose the weight, even when most of my friends from school were slimmer than me, and I knew the boys ignored me in "that" way in favour of my thinner friends. I was bigger than all my flatmates in Uni and eventually I realised that they were comfortable with being thinner so they made an effort with their appearances whereas I never did because I was always so self-conscious that I'd look stupid if I made and effort. I've lost 44lbs since being in Uni and I'm in my final year, I have another 30lbs to go :)
  • summerdaze120
    summerdaze120 Posts: 425 Member
    1. Back in 2011 when my mom was getting married to my step-dad and I couldn't find a dress that fit me. I ended up finding a size 16 dress that looked nice on me (I cried when I saw that number and the pictures).

    ***From 2011 - 2012 I went from 166lbs to 130lbs. I graduated college in 2012 and got a job right away. From 2012 - 2015 I went from 130lbs to 155lbs. Working a full-time job and trying to manage an active lifestyle was hard. I quit my old job in 2015 and started a another job that I am happy at with very little stress.***

    2. Recently, in August, when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. It was a real reality check that I needed to improve my health and enjoy every moment that life has to offer. It was hard to accept her diagnose and I guess instead of locking myself in my room and crying, I went to the gym and ran, or the beach and ran. I still cry, but it pushes me to get stronger.

    ***Since her being diagnosed in August, I went from around 156lbs to 144lbs. I go to the gym almost every day and do some type of physical activity. I enjoy working out, feeling strong, and being active. I have also just started really focusing on my nutrition and food consumption. My goal is to go from 144lbs to 120lbs.***
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    My rock bottom was when I was underweight for my frame.

    It was after losing somewhere around 80-100 lbs in about 3 months. The height of my eating disorder was August 2013-March 2014, however the vast majority of the weight was lost between October and December. The weight loss had started out slowly and unintentional, but as I grew obsessed with not eating (the obsession for me was with controlling food rather than weight), I lost weight quicker and quicker. Until, eventually, I had lost an entire person in just three short months. That alone should have been my rock bottom, but it wasn't. By that point, I was barely aware of the fact that I was alive. I remember going to sleep, not dreaming, and being afraid that one day... I wouldn't wake up. Still, I hadn't truly hit rock bottom. By January, I wanted to get better, but at the same time I wanted to cling to it all. I didn't want to let go.

    I didn't hit rock bottom until March. That was when I had binge ate (likely because I needed the food, although to someone who is starved, that amount of food could literally be dangerous) and ended up being taken to the hospital. My stomach was bloated to about the size of a four month pregnant belly, and I was in so much pain that I was keeled over in the waiting room in tears. That alone didn't do it, though. I was finally taken to the back, and there was a long stretch where I was alone while they ran my tests, and waited for my results. The doctor came to me, confused. He had admitted that he had only let me stay in the waiting room so long because he thought I'd be a simple case of the flu, but was confused by my blood work. It was terrible. Most of it. And I, apparently, had the liver enzymes of a 43 year old alcoholic who had been drinking every day since they were 20. When he saw my age - he said - he nearly had a heart attack.

    I frequently look back at that day, and know it was my rock bottom. Liver enzymes coming back so bad is quite frequently a harrowing sign for patients with restrictive eating disorders. They kept me there for a while. I was put on pain killers, and I felt like it was a chapter right from that book about anorexia - Wintergirls - in that I saw every possible path I could take from there. And there was only one that would mean instant death, and I realized that wasn't the one I wanted to take.

    After that, I got more serious about recovery. I don't know what my liver enzymes are today, but I do hope they're better. I do know I've gained 10 (needed) pounds since then, at least.
  • kwilks62
    kwilks62 Posts: 2 Member
    This Thanksgiving, when at 207 pounds, I realized I was heavier than my 70-year-old aunt who has been obese since I was child.