What was the final thing that you encountered that made you say this is enough? I have had numerous.

1. Leaving a wife and 2 sons, Husbandless and fatherless.

2. Not being able to get on amusement park rides with my sons.

3. Not being able to take my wife to a concert, because i could not fit in a seat.

4. Avoiding restuarant,movie theaters and sports complexes with tiny seats.

For me, walking through a a department store and some little child looking at me like im a alien had to be one the hardest things.

Respectfully,

Joe

Well the fact that i have an 12 year old and a 1 year old and husband to live for. Eating was a comfort for me especially when i was stressed and i just like food period. Then the fact that diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure, kidney failure is hereditary bc many are overweight in my family. I also got tired of my ankles and knees hurting when i got up in morning and walked. 31 pounds down since dec 2015 im a slow loser but at least its coming off. I also realized the more weight i was putting on the bigger size clothes i had to buy and they got even more expensive, and we all know petite single digit clothes well most of them are cheaper and easier to find. Im not at the size and weight i want to be still have 75 more pounds to lose but im getting there and i am happy i made the decision to get the sleeve. It was the best decision ever.

Edited April 18, 201610 yr by mrslopez

The "straw that broke the camel's back" was when my 5 year old daughter told me my stomach was bigger than my wife when she was 9 months pregnant. Her comment made me think about how I will get the weight off and keep it off.

I think I may be a little different. I haven't always been bigger. As of March 2015 I still weighed in the 160's and fit in a size 10 pair of jeans. I was in shape and was active in many different organizations. I started gaining weight drastically after that. I was the person that didn't understand why people didn't just get up off the couch and/or eat healthier to lose weight. Until it happened to me...Then I understood. IT'S HARD, DAMNIT!

I met my boyfriend in June of 2015. By that time I had gained weight but still wasn't very large. I still felt in shape. I maintained my weight. October 2015 I moved 5 hours away from my home in order to be closer to him. It was all down hill from there. (Body Wise, things are great with him and I)

As the weight came on I started feeling the pains of being obese.

-My clothes didn't fit anymore. I had to constantly buy new pants. The higher the number the more bummed I had become.

-My back started aching. This is something that has started happening recently within the last month. I noticed when I stand for long periods of times my lower back aches. I just want to sit down.

-My desire to get up and go do things went away. Since I can remember I have always been involved with SOMETHING. I started my own charity, was involved in multiple organizations and had all kinds of hobbies. I slowly see myself hiding from all these things.

-My attitude changed. I was irritable, angry and depressed. I would get upset about the smallest things. I would constantly think my sweet caring boyfriend wasn't attracted to me. That was NEVER the case. He thinks I am beautiful regardless my weight. Even then, I felt it was unfair to him because I was a lot skinnier when I first met him and he didn't sign up for THIS. (He would kill me if he ever heard me say something like that.)

My final straw was all these things added up and I had enough. I knew I needed to do something about it. I now understand what it feels like to be an obese person, how hard it is, how down on yourself you get. I feel sad that I

ever thought with the mentality that people stay obese because of laziness.

I have read each and every post on this thread and can relate on some level with just about everyone. My surgery is on June 18th and I am super excited to be healthy again.

Thanks for listening!

1. Having to check the weight limit to get on rides at amusement parks

2. Having difficulty buckling seat belt on plane rides

Helped my drug addict boyfriend kick a 30 year habit (and no I didn't know about it going in). He walked out on me and I realized that I had gained 50 more pounds in the two years that we had lived together. I was considering moving into a ground floor condo on account of the snap crackle and pop in my knees. Then when I would meet up with old friends for dinner I felt so rejected because no one would sit next to me (but now I realize that it was because there wasn't any more room for them to sit on my side of the table). I decided to spend my moving money on weight loss surgery instead. The rest is history. After I unloaded the dead weight around here I got sleeved and lost 88 lbs so far.

I had lots of reasons that should have been the straw -- not being able to walk up or down stairs normally in the morning, my heart jackhammering at night, my blood pressure spiking randomly. But those issues were more like the kindling. My brother telling me he was going to have the surgery and asking why I just didn't go ahead and do it was the spark that I needed. I had all of the reasons but it was like I was frozen until he said something to me. His words lit a fire under my butt and I just moved forward.

I went in for my first physical in something like 15 years. Being 32, weighing about 410-420 and having been overweight since grade school I was fully expecting some combination of high blood pressure/diabetes/heart issues. But nope, nothing, perfectly healthy aside from my weight.

Opened my eyes to how lucky I was and I couldn't really not do anything about my weight anymore. I had tried dieting, lost about 40lbs but gained it all back and then some within a year. All the info on the surgery I could find made it clear it was the best option.

For me it was not being able to do things with my family. Im only 36 and i was always hurting somewhere, didn't like going out to eat much cuz sometimes i wudnt fit in the seats... I was always uncomfortable in my clothes. I wanted to have a long life with hubby and kids now all teens.

When i hit 280 I said Oh no I can't keep living like this..and decided to look into this surgery since i saw a co-worker had gotten hers done and her results were amazing. I don't regret it. Yes im still in the process as im only 10 days out since surgery BUT i know it WILL get better and I already feel great... I was 269 preop appt, on my surgery date i was 259 and today im 250ish... I can't imagine how much more i will lose!! I'm excited!

I went in for my first physical in something like 15 years. Being 32, weighing about 410-420 and having been overweight since grade school I was fully expecting some combination of high blood pressure/diabetes/heart issues. But nope, nothing, perfectly healthy aside from my weight.

Opened my eyes to how lucky I was and I couldn't really not do anything about my weight anymore. I had tried dieting, lost about 40lbs but gained it all back and then some within a year. All the info on the surgery I could find made it clear it was the best option.

I was also healthy in terms of BP and stuff thankfully...the only thing i had developed was Water retention and achiles tendonitis which by the way i haven't had any issues with any since surgery!!

Getting the phone call a couple of months ago that my older brother had dropped dead from obesity-related heart failure. He was just a few years older than me and our lives and health tracked each other precisely. He was chubby teen who got skinny in his 20's and then at 30 gained tremendous amounts of weight. I did the exact same thing. My father and grandfather did also. I was diagnosed with diabetes at the exact same age as my brother. Everything was the same, it just happened to me a very few years after him. Heck, we even looked almost like twins. Many people thought we were twins although he was 9 years older than me.

I lost my obese grandfather, father, obese mother, and obese brother all due to hear failure. After losing my brother, I made a appointment with my doctor right away. I demanded heart tests, a referral to a bariatric surgeon, a referral to a gastroenterologist, the works... I'm just starting my journey to changing the pattern.

I'm not ready to die yet.

Riding the scooter at the zoo because my back hurt too much to stand up all day and walk around.

Getting the phone call a couple of months ago that my older brother had dropped dead from obesity-related heart failure. He was just a few years older than me and our lives and health tracked each other precisely. He was chubby teen who got skinny in his 20's and then at 30 gained tremendous amounts of weight. I did the exact same thing. My father and grandfather did also. I was diagnosed with diabetes at the exact same age as my brother. Everything was the same, it just happened to me a very few years after him. Heck, we even looked almost like twins. Many people thought we were twins although he was 9 years older than me.

I lost my obese grandfather, father, obese mother, and obese brother all due to hear failure. After losing my brother, I made a appointment with my doctor right away. I demanded heart tests, a referral to a bariatric surgeon, a referral to a gastroenterologist, the works... I'm just starting my journey to changing the pattern.

I'm not ready to die yet.

My sister was 10 years older than me! When I went to her funeral, her daughter-in-law said "you look just like your sister." I had started this weight-loss journey with her! At that time I was pre-sleeved! I did not tell our family about my surgery that would happen 4 months later. She died of a massive heart attack after returning home from the gym. That was April 2014. I am not at goal but in a better place with my health. I have not seen the rest of my family in two years. I don’t physical look like her anymore body wise and less each day. I miss her and it hurts. I am not ready to die yet too!

Sent from my SM-G935P using the BariatricPal App

Edited May 6, 201610 yr by LadyK44

Just looking in the mirror at myself...can't carry on like this.

First signal was seeing myself in a group picture. It did not match my internal image of myself.

Last straw was having to ask for an extension on an airplane. I vowed to not fly again until I adress my increasing weight issue once and for all.

I am now 7 days post sleeve and have no doubts I will be flying, without extension in no time!

In the country I live in now, if you call emergency services for help, if you have a special medical or safety concern, a message flashes up on the screen. The message alerts the call handler and dispatch that the person at this address may have a special concern that may mean other agencies need to be involved in the call or be notified. I took a call one day to find the man at the address was flagged up as weighing 23 stone or more. (322 lbs) Anyone with that weight might need additional crew to attend the scene to help carry them, and may need larger or reinforced equipment to get them to hospital in an emergency. This might cause a delay, which is why emergency services are warned in advance. At the time, I weighed 22 stone. I was 14 lbs away from possibly facing a life-threatening delay if something ever happened to me. That realisation scared the hell out of me.

The final, final straw though is the realisation that I was avoiding meeting people I had not seen in a long time (or to meet them face to face after making friends online) because I was self-conscious about my size. I am normally a confident person, but realising that I was shutting myself away from the world because of a sense of shame about who I am...

Booked a surgery for mid-July. Absolutely over the moon!