what made you realize that you HAD to lose weight??

For me it was Christmas. The only thing I told my mother about Christmas presents was that I did NOT want clothes. And then not only did she get me almost entirely clothes, but they were in a size that I'm not comfortable mentioning even here. A lot of the clothes ended up not fitting (too big, just oddly shaped or both) but the fact that she would even estimate that I was that size shocked me into realizing I had to make a change. 

What was it for you?

For me it was getting to damn near 200lbs and having to buy a size 16 in jeans...that was the weight i always told myself i would never get to and after that i was like naw, i'm too young for this and i really need to do something.

My turning point came 2 months ago. I'm graduating from college this May but I bought my graduation dress last summer at a sale. The dress was beautiful and it looked sooooo good on me.

In Feb. of this year I went to try the dress on to see if it went with a pair of shoes I just bought and the dress didn't fit me. I was horrified at this. The dress was soo tight I couldn't get it all the way on. I had no idea I had gained that much weight. Instead of getting depressed I searched the web for some advice. That was when I found CC.

To think if I had not tried the dress on again and May came around. I would have been in tears.

I'm now 10 lbs and 3 inches smaller and still losing. I have 3 more weeks until my big day and I am hoping I can lose another 6-8 lbs and/or a few more inches before that day arrives.

In case you are wondering, I tried the dress on again just last week and it fits me. Its a little tighter around my stomach then I want it to be but that wont be a concern when my big day comes because I am still losing. I have confidence.

For me it was a combination of lots of things. I hadn't even stepped on the scales in months, and when I finally got on, I had gained 30 pounds since my drivers permit number!!! I knew I had gron and I knew i had gained weight, but not that much. (Still, I know I will never get down to that same weight, as I have grown alot). Then there was just that my favorite clothes didn't fit well anymore, my chest was huge (i have always been big-chested, but i was bustin' outta all my favorite shirts!), and I felt sluggish and bloated all the time!!!

Well since starting caloriecount I have lost and kept off 5 pounds! 

Going home is what did it for me. I was going home to India after 17 months and I've never been away from home that long . I was so excited  about going to be able to spend Christmas with my family that I could hardly sit still on the long flight. When I arrived in India my brother who was picking me up did not recognize me as I got out of  the airport. That shocked me a bit. But when my parents saw me they too were a bit taken aback. And the final straw was all the people I met at parties expecting to see a new me because I was back from America and people here are believed to be very health conscious. They didn't bother hiding their sentiments and felt free to let me know that I look nice but...........

 

That was when I decided I will never let myself feel like that again. The next time I go back home I REFUSE TO BE OVERWEIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I looked in the mirror.  I sit at my job and I sit at home, and I realized from watching tv people who want to lose weight work out HARD, and I don't. 

I weighed less when I was pregnant, ouch.

 

orchidtigress

 

 

I got home from my Christmas vacation on New Year's Eve and stepped on the scale. I saw 150, and I got MAD. I gained 15 pounds in my last 2 years of college. I would have expected something like that to depress me, but I got mad enough to do something about it. And I am. 5 to go!

I've been whining about needing to lose weight for a long time. I didn't grow up fat. That happened after getting married and having kids. Not an excuse or a good reason. I am getting  ready to turn 50 and recently had to have knee surgery. Yes, its time to quit whining and get to work. I like being able to walk without knee pain.

1. I was getting worried that pretty soon the seat belt in my car wouldn't be big enough.

2. I got diabetes.

3. I'm sick of this.

4. I want to feel what it feels like not to be fat.

5. I want to buy cute clothes not old grandma clothes.

 

I looked at pictures of myself and my newborn girl in the hopspital and instead of thinking I love her so much I was thinking I hate myself because I am so fat. 

A few things.

A picture of myself on vacation, where I suddenly saw my obese grandmother looking back at me.  (My earliest picture of her, she was about 5 years older than I am now and at the lightest weight at any time in here adult life.

Another picture, about 10 lbs heavier, where for the first time, I looked more overweight than my husband.  My hands looked so fat, I was horrified.

A growing realization that if I didn’t change my ways, I would end up old and  morbidly obese with heart disease and diabetes, unable to enjoy retirement.

Mine was remembering one day (1st or 2nd grade) having a spat with a friend on the school bus and her screaming at me about how fat my mom was! I was heartbroken and mortified.. Up until that point my mom was just mom- I loved her and thought she was the most beautiful person in the world. How could anyone think anything different? Of course my mom was obese but as a small child you don't care about things like that until it becomes a social pressure.. I remember my mom begging me to tell her why I got off the buss crying my eyes out and I just couldn't.. it was a very hurtful situation for a small child and I don't want my kids made fun of or put on the defensive because their mom is fat! Being a kid is hard enough!

Going to Universal Studios with my kids and husband and having to be squeezed and shoved into the rides, hoping and praying the WHOLE time that it would actually fasten and that I wouldn't have to get off of the ride.  

 

My friend, who was the better part of 350 lbs got a sleeve gastrectomy. She lost 60 pounds in 4 months. I was aghast. Then I realized that she was going to start looking a lot better than me really soon! HAHA. So one day I came into work, sat down at my computer and typed, "calorie counting" into google, and CC+ was the first thing that came up. And here I am 3 weeks later, 11 pounds lighter, and looking forward to what I look like fit. I have never actually been thin, so I don't have pictures of myself to look back on and say, "I want to look like that again." I only have pictures that I can say, "I never want to look like that again."

My boyfriend at the time told me that I was a little big, and that his brother said I was too fat to date.

I'd like to see what they say when I'm down to a nice weight.

My mother getting diabetes and becoming disabled all in the same year and seeing her health at 54 decline. I maybe was headed down the same direction and I need to be there for my 4 kids and I want to teach them healthy habits.

Looking at pictures of myself when I was 14 and did cross country (and weighed about 40 pounds less- OUCH!)

My hips and knees hurt and I had too many chins.....

that did it for me.....

today the $60 cute destryoed capris that my mom brought me a few weeks ago ripped while i walked up the stairs in my chorus class.

 i have no idea how many people saw but i was humilitated and depressed that i ruined the jeans that my mom paid soooo much money for.

i didnt tell her and i plan on saving up to buy a new pair... in a lower size (:

any advice on how to get over this? i have htis sinking feeling in my stomach every time i think about it

I went to buy a wedding dress and they only had the dresses in size 10, which is normal for a couture shop.

Not only did the sales people treat me like I didn't deserve to have a gown like that, but, I was so big that they couldn't even get some of the dressed over my stomach.  They had to hold the dresses up in front of me and just tell me to imagine what it would look like.  

I had to order a size 20 bridal (size 16 regular).  Luckily, this what what I needed to lose weight and I was able to change my order to a 16 bridal.  Now I am a 10 regular and plan to be an 8 before I get fitted for my dress.