Amusement Park Embarrassment

Nichole1017
Nichole1017 Posts: 41 Member
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I recently went to an Amusement Park (Carowinds) with my family one weekend. We were waiting in line and all I could think about was "Please let me fit in this ride, please let me fit in this ride!" It was a pretty tight fit for most of the rollercoasters, but this last one we were riding (Night Hawk) you had to lay down and one person in front of me couldn't ride because she didn't fit. That is total embarrassment for me because I'm a pretty shy person. It was my turn to get on and the waist guard was coming down. The guy said it had to go down another notch or I couldn't ride. So I sucked it in and it went down, but I was so uncomfortable. I don't know about you, but it was very embarrassing for me. That's why I rarely go to parks because I'm scared I'm too big. I will be 26 next month and I weigh 270 pounds and I'm only 5' 3"!!! I've lost about 25 pounds between October of last year and March of this year. I stopped getting on here and things got out of hand. I'm ready to get with the program and stick to it because I'm tired of being embarrassed.
Its the same with the club scene too. Who would want to dance with a big girl? I know there's a few decent people in this world, but if you don't have the J-Lo or Beyonce body, chances are you are dancing by yourself or standing in the corner because nobody will approach you. Can't you tell I'm venting today? First and foremost, I want to lose weight because I want to be healthy and live a long life. But I'm also tired of the embarrassing moments no matter how small. I'm ready to do this and show those people what they missed out on!

Replies

  • chrissyh
    chrissyh Posts: 8,235 Member
    I so can relate to the amusment park - I actually mention that in my 1 year blog...here's the thing - you are doing what you need to to try to change being here....continue on your weight loss path to healthier living! You can do it!
  • Shuutnstar
    Shuutnstar Posts: 46 Member
    Good for you for fighting back! I know how those moments can be horrifying! I still HATE going to clubs for the same reason, even though I'm not as big as I used to be. I was always embarrassed about my weight and stood against the wall, or danced with my friends, but I was always afriad people were pointing and staring. I know now that they weren't... but in the moment, it's hard to realize that.

    I wish you well on your journey to a healthy new you. Remember, this is what we are ALL here for and you are not alone!

    Congrats on the 25 pound weight loss. Way to Go! You can do this! :flowerforyou:
  • jodazary
    jodazary Posts: 144 Member
    im so sorry you went thru that fortunatly i have never been in that situation but i can undrstand some what my ex fiance is a big guy 5'11" 310 lbs he carries it well but when we went to the fair last year we couldnt find any rides cause he couldnt fit in them hee said it didnt bother him but i could tell he was embrassed he has since lost about 50 lbs good luck




    '
  • Shannon023
    Shannon023 Posts: 14,529 Member
    First of all, congrats on the 25 pounds already lost! :flowerforyou:

    Let that experience be the catalyst for your new, healthy lifestyle! :drinker: You're young and can totally do this!

    Good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • zebras
    zebras Posts: 600
    You have a great start, and incidents like this should keep you going. I am about 5'2" and started at 275 lbs so we are very similar. Last summer, we went to Ireland, and I had already made a significant change in my weight, however, at this ancient fort, they had stacked stones at the entrance to make it very narrow, so that the sheep grazing in the area could go through, and since I'm so short, my stomach did not go above where the stones were stacked and I could not squeeze through the opening. It is the first time my weight kept me from doing something I wanted to do, and I broke down. Sort of one of those life defining moments, I think. So, I have vowed that this is it, this is the time I will lose the weight, and not let anything set me back to where I was.
  • Nichole1017
    Nichole1017 Posts: 41 Member
    Thank you all. You think you are alone and when you get on here, you realize there are people out there who have experienced it and you are never alone! I try not to let it bother me on the outside, but it kills me on the inside. 25 pounds was easy, but I know I have a long road ahead. I just gotta keep my head up, stay focused, and know its going to take a while and I have to learn to be patient! Thanks again!
  • chicka200413
    chicka200413 Posts: 55
    sigh... I can sorta relate... I finally got asked my most feared question. The other day, I was in a work class and someone asked if I was pregnant! (and I'm not...) How embaressing... needless to say, It has motivated me to work harder...
  • golddogs
    golddogs Posts: 42 Member
    I have also been asked when my baby was due - I just said "I'm fat not pregnant"! and felt so depressed! I never want that to happen again!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Stick with us at MFP, Nichole.

    We'll help keep you "pumped up" in more ways than one.
  • RosieB405
    RosieB405 Posts: 150 Member
    Hey if you are in the Charlotte area let me know we can be myfitnesspal buddies and go walking together and just keep each other encouraged. I have lost about 20 lbs so far but some days are better than others. I don't know many people here and would love a buddy to help me on this journey. Then maybe next year we can go to carowinds together and not think twice about getting on a ride.
  • Marla64
    Marla64 Posts: 23,120 Member
    Stick with us at MFP, Nichole.

    We'll help keep you "pumped up" in more ways than one.

    Amen-- hang here-- awesome people with awesome accomplishments--
  • Wecandothis
    Wecandothis Posts: 1,083 Member
    We're here for you and a lot of us has felt your pain in a very first hand kind of way!!! Amusement parks always worried me too. Standing in line trying to compare myself to those in front of me to see if they would fit in the ride or not.

    Bless you - keep doing what you're doing!! You said the first 25 was easy, the rest will follow in kind!
  • yankeefamily05
    yankeefamily05 Posts: 657
    I know how you feel. We went to one this summer and I refused to get on rides. I decided than and there that I was going to lose this weight before next summer when my daughter can ride the kiddie rides. I will be confident that I can ride along with her.:flowerforyou: You can do this girl!!!!.....Stay here at MFP....Everyone here is awesome. I could have never done this without the support of them!!!
  • mszSHOGAN
    mszSHOGAN Posts: 2,277 Member
    WHOOO HOOOO! I'm cheering for ya! You can do it! :drinker:
  • CrystalT
    CrystalT Posts: 862 Member
    I have actually been forced off a ride because the bar wouldn't close over my chest. I was mortified!!!! It was all I could do not to cry while I stayed on the ground and my hubby and his brother rode. I haven't been on a ride since. I've lost 45 lbs and I'm going to try to ride some when the fair is here in a few weeks. I'm hoping there will be no more embarrasement. Wish me luck!!

    You can do this Nichole!! If I can, I know you can!!
  • malibootie
    malibootie Posts: 614 Member
    A guy I was sort of seeing is obsessed with rock climbing and I kind of want to try. But I never would go because I didn't want to have to ask how much the ropes and harness would hold and then find out that I'm too heavy- and have everyone there KNOW why I wasn't climbing. Embarrassment has held me back from many, many things that I want to do. I am trying to work on not letting that happen anymore, but it is a long, slow- and at times torturous- road.
  • kissinthedark
    kissinthedark Posts: 26
    We have a big amusement park right near our house and my family is big on going regularly, at least once a month, during the summer. Last year I got on one ride & just barely fit but it was really painful on my hips & thighs, while another ride didn't even look like it'd be close! This year, before I even considered getting in line, I checked out the seats & made sure it looked like I could fit. It's really embarrasing when I have to tell my husband why I won't even try the ride. I can't wait for one day when I won't need to do that!

    Just keep up the good work and soon we'll both be there. =) Good luck!
  • havingitall
    havingitall Posts: 3,728 Member
    A guy I was sort of seeing is obsessed with rock climbing and I kind of want to try. But I never would go because I didn't want to have to ask how much the ropes and harness would hold and then find out that I'm too heavy- and have everyone there KNOW why I wasn't climbing. Embarrassment has held me back from many, many things that I want to do. I am trying to work on not letting that happen anymore, but it is a long, slow- and at times torturous- road.

    I too have been held back by embarassment. I couldn't even use our wii fit at furst because I weighed too much. I just told my husband and kids that I wasn't interested.When I lost enough to go on it.. I was on it all the time making up for what I had missed. I have not wanted to go on vacations because I was afraid I wouldn't fit in the sit and was emabarassed about asking for the extension on the seatbelt.

    Now ...things have changed fo rme and they change on a daily basis. I am my own worst critic on if I can do something or not. Everybody else just assumes I can!
  • leavinglasvegas
    leavinglasvegas Posts: 1,495
    I just went to Cedar Point for the first time in 11 years. Back then my fear was falling out of the rides, this time it was the opposite! I was afraid to ride with my daughter and kept pushing her to ride with our friend who is a tiny little gymnast. I was afraid that the belts and bars wouldn't go down far enough or tight enough for her because I'm so much bigger.

    I can relate with the clubbing problem too! I hate goin out and being the fat friend, so I just host parties at home now instead. I can't wait to put on my cute clothes and go out one day and look how I feel inside! That day will come for me as well as for you! Good luck to you!!!!

    Holly:flowerforyou:
  • RaeBella13
    RaeBella13 Posts: 153
    OH MY GOODNESS!

    I have been there....and it is one of the most embarassing moments of my life. I was @ Cedar Point and had never before had a problem fitting in a ride (I was 18 @ the time and I can guesstimate that I was probably 265-270 @ the time) I was getting on the Millenium Force with my friend Danny and the belt wouldn't reach around my belly. I'm sure that if I was to mess with it a little longer it would have been fine, but I was dying of embarassment and had to feign an anxiety attack to walk off without explaining to Danny why I couldn't go on. This left me nervous about every single ride from that point on. I made up excuses not to go on Top Thrill Dragster and Magnum XL. I have not been back since but I PROMISED myself I will go this summer. (it'll be 7 years since I was there if I go summer 2010) I gradually gained weight over the years and am currently @ 311, I started my new lifestyle on 8/17/09, weighing in @ an all time high of 324. By the time Summer 2010 comes around I am hoping to be 230 and in a size 16. I'm big boned and have a large frame so that will be good. My ultimate goal though is 175 by January 2011.

    Good luck on your weight loss!!!!

    :heart: Rachel
  • cdickey
    cdickey Posts: 230
    This is part of the reason I started with MFP in February. There is a program that the school does that takes the kids to a park at the end of the year and my co-worker kept talking about going with her boys this spring. Well I got to thinking and since my oldest is in his first year of school he'll be eligible next spring. I knew right then and there I needed to lose some (a LOT) of weight before then. I am going to go and enjoy that with him and I pray and hope I can continue to lose and fit into the rides. Several years ago we went to Kings Dominion in VA and we rode the boat thing that flips all the way over. I wasn't near as big then as I am now but the bar didn't latch tight on me and every time we flipped I came up out of my seat. I was a crying mess and I haven't been back to a park since. I used to love them too. I hope we can both lose lots more weight and have tons of fun the next time we venture to one of them.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I got heavy, but I am tall enough (6'1") that I never faced these issues. My embarrassment was more in the fact that I worked in a fitness-related industry, with a lot of ex-athletes and so my "imperfections" were magnified. I was also older than most of my coworkers by at least a decade. I used to dread our annual sales meetings because they included boot-camp style workouts and other activities that I couldn't keep up with (I could hold my own in a gym, but, ironically, that was rarely part of the program). It was also hard to see people from my past, or my siblings, who knew me in my athletic, distance-running days--I was always the "health and fitness" guy, so, again, I really stood out.

    But nothing I faced was anything like the stories here -- some of them have literally brought tears to my eyes.

    You guys have so much courage to share your stories and take those first steps to a better life. I am humbled by your determination.
  • Nichole1017
    Nichole1017 Posts: 41 Member
    I can't think everyone enough. I know when I get down, I will look at this thread and it will get me motivated again! Its nice to know there are people out there who have experienced the same! It sucks that we have in the first place, but I believe everything happens for a reason! MFP should take over an amusement park for the day, lol.
  • Mamakatspokane
    Mamakatspokane Posts: 3,098 Member
    Nichole, I am inspired by you! Anyone who didn't take a day like that as an opportunity to eat themselves into a coma and instead got on MFP to share your experience is an inspiration. A day like that would have made me eat more (like that would have helped...) anyways. I just wanted to tell you how great you are! I think we all need to hear that sometimes and you sharing your story made others share and I think everyone feels better. Someone else said it best when they said "Congrats on fighting back!"

    Keep up the good work :)
  • Nichole1017
    Nichole1017 Posts: 41 Member
    Nichole, I am inspired by you! Anyone who didn't take a day like that as an opportunity to eat themselves into a coma and instead got on MFP to share your experience is an inspiration. A day like that would have made me eat more (like that would have helped...) anyways. I just wanted to tell you how great you are! I think we all need to hear that sometimes and you sharing your story made others share and I think everyone feels better. Someone else said it best when they said "Congrats on fighting back!"

    Keep up the good work :)

    Thank you mamakat..That really means alot..Its nice to hear that..We all need to be told we are great every once in a while. It puts a smile on my face! Thank you for making my day better!
  • Nichole1017
    Nichole1017 Posts: 41 Member
    I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the treadmill! I think thats a start!!!!!!!!!!
  • jclguru
    jclguru Posts: 123
    First of all, I'm terrorfied of rollercoasters. But the girl I was with convinced me to go on the 'baby' coaster at Cedar Point called the Mine Ride.

    At the time I was 298 pounds. I didn't even think for a second on not being able to fit...until
    I got in and they tried to close the bar across my stomach. Took them a few tries. I'm praying
    to let this bar close because of the possible embarrassment. Luckily they got it to lock.
    I couldn't breathe, but it the bar was down :tongue:

    Now I can't wait until next year to go. I should have an easier time at it.

    Doug
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