I'll start...

I didn't really notice that I had a huge weight problem until my daughter, which was 4 at the time, mentioned that she wants to look like her daddy when she grows up. I was taken aback by this because I thought girls wanted to be and look like mommy instead of daddy, so I asked her why, and to my SHOCK she said, "Because Daddy is this way and you are this way." She showed me what this was meant at her age and dad's this way was long (verticle) and mom's was wide (horizontal) which she bounced with her hands like it was explanding. This actually broke my heart to pieces and made me tear up. I had to gently take her from off my lap and sit her in the chair so that I could look away to wipe tears away.

Her explaination made me open my eyes to my weight being a problem in general. Again, sometimes we live our lives in a state of unconscious awareness. It also opened my eyes to the legacy that I was creating for my children that it is alright to live an unhealthy life, so I wanted to break that generational curse starting with me and my family. I went on the Atkins plan and lost 87 lbs with exercise and managed to keep it off for about 3-4 years, but gained it back when I lost my Mother. Then I went on another plan and began the yo-yoing so here I am today wanting/needing to make a lifetime commitment for my family.

My mom lived by herself until my sister and her 2 girls moved in after she broke her ankle. My mom was considered morbidly obese and did not have a lot of strength. Her ankle healed and my sister still stayed there. Well, my sister and her girls r not exactly clean freaks so my mom would always b picking up after them. She fell agn cleaning up after the girls (ages 14 and 16), and fx her hip this time and had 2 have pins put in so she was laid up agn. She came home healed up and can u guess what happened next?? Yup u got it, she was cleanin up after them on the porch and fell agn fx her shoulder. She was too weak to get up on her own and sat out on the porch on the cement for 3 hrs...o ya, it started raining abt 2 hrs b4 she was found. She Healed from that, came home and felt the need to clean up after them yet agn and fell forward and hit her face. We took her 2 the hosp and she had pneumonia so they kept her and from there the probs kept mounting. She ended up getting an infection called c-diff. C-diff lives in ur intestines and causes diarrhea, nausea, no appetite, etc. Its spread by contact so that means the staff there was not washing or gloving properly. This last fall happened right after this past Christmas, and she passed away April 30th of this yr. Those past 2 yrs of watching my mom lose mobility, having my hoarding sister and her lazy girls live there and cause my mom to fall all the time from cleaning their pig messes r the final straws that broke this camels bk!

Needless 2 say Im not real thrilled with any of them right now, and don't know if I ever will b but im ok with bein pissed at them right now. I don't want 2 b in my moms position of not bein able 2 get up if I fall. I have MS and sometimes im not real stable on my feet. Ill b walking and all of a sudden I look like im drunk, staggerin and swayin. I don't want my kids 2 have 2 c me go thru what my mom went thru.

Whew, that was longer than expected lol

I never really had the self perception of myself that I was very overweight until I saw myself in pictures. Then I would get quite a jolt. When I saw my daughters wedding pictures I found myself not framing and displaying what was one of the happiest days of our lives, because I couldn't stand to look at myself. On top if this, I have fibromyalgia, and the pain in my muscles and joints put me on a path of a chronic pain clinic. After a few years of this, my pain meds stopped working for me. The thought of going on a stronger med or a stronger dose horrified me. The other option was to get off my butt and get some exercise. It was hard to do in pain and at 243 pounds. Something had to give! My mother is also morbidly obese, and to see her walking with a walker, in pain, barely able to breath was just like looking at myself in the future. It finally got through to me what I needed to do! I am a slow looser, and have a ways to go yet, but I am looking forward to a wonderful future!!

I have always struggled with my weight. But I had aggressively trained (over the last 4 years or so) to the point that I was doing pretty extensive physical activities (Triathlon, Swimming .. running etc.) I had managed to reduce weight for a couple years - then with a couple tricky medical conditions I could not keep it up. My efforts ended up slanting more and more to weight loss. And It was a losing battle... the weight just kept coming. At some point I had to stop running because I could not physically recover from my runs. My feet and ankles and knees were just getting beat up. I then had to fight my insurance company for about a year to get the sleeve done. Happy to be on the road back now.

I was watching the "Biggest Loser" with my kids and my youngest looked at me, and in all seriousness asked, "When are YOU going on the Biggest Loser?"

I was horrified! My first response was "I'm not THAT fat!!!" But, I am. The difference is that the Biggest Loser tends to choose short contestants and I am just a smidgen below 5'8" (I shrunk)...

I knew something had to change..and going on the Biggest Loser just isn't a realistic option.

Sad to say but my moment was when I went to an amusement park here in Florida and was too big to ride any of the roller coasters. I was devastated when I got on the ride and was turned away in front of everyone because the safety strap would not lock because I was too big. I decided then and there that I had to do something. This was the first time in my life that my weight kept me from doing something I loved.

I will have my surgery on March 20th and hope that I can get my revenge on the roller coasters by this summer!

it was a week before christmas and me and the fam went to visit my Dad. My step sister is a photograher and wanted to do family pictures since we have a new addition in june. she took the pictures and I though, these are going to be great... oh boy was i wrong. I looked like a whale! I broke down crying on the way back home... I was just thinking to myself... how did it get this way? I had lost over 100lbs before the birth of my first child and after that my body has never been the same, just packing on the pounds...and then to add insult to injury a week later my toddler tell me i have a big butt and im "BIG" with hand gestures and everything. Dont you love how toddlers have no filter? Anyway, I told my hubby that, i couldnt live like this anymore and thats when i found Dr. almanza! 30 days cant wait!

Mine was when I had to ask for the extension for the seat belt on an airplane. I was hiding it from 'HER', and she made me show her it was latched, not even close and everyone was staring at me and I was so embarrassed. When I arrived home - 3 planes later and 3 embarrassing moments later, I decided that no matter what - this is not going to be the way it is any more. 24 days to the new me!

Not being able to tie my shoes

It was about two years ago. I had hit 385lbs and was not able to fit into my clothes. I hit the exercising hard. I lowered my blood sugar, lost just under 60 lbs. I was feeling great.

And then I bruised my tailbone. And it hurt to do anything. All the weight I had lost came back within a year with a few extra pounds.

Meanwhile, a highschool friend who'd always been bigger than me got WLS. I am ashamed to say that I laughed behind her back, saying she had copped out.

Well... here she is two years later, healthy, happier than she has ever been, and 25 lbs under her goal weight.

And here I am. I can't fit into most of my clothes. I'm not healthy or happy with where I am at. So, it's time to make a change.

And that is just what I am doing.

I tried to get on a ride at GA and could not lock the bar. It would not fit down over my belly at the time. So I "faked" like I was about to throw up and got off the ride as fast as I could. I know the people in line saw me struggling to close it then all of a sudden get "sick". Too much. AND I still gained 70 lbs after that. SMH

I went to my best friend's new house and went to sit on the porch rocking chair. I was too big to fit on the seat. That was the final straw.