I saw this post from 2006 and it was interesting so I thought I would ask everybody... What was your last straw?

I have a ton of them but really I would say...

feeling 55 when I am really 35

not being able to care for my toddler as I should

having to be a contortionist to freakin wipe myself

not being able to go on a trip with my family for fear of not fitting in the airline seat

dressing like a homeless person and feeling dirty all the time

so what did it for you?

Wow great question, all of the above plus my 11 year old autistic son saying "mum, you should go on biggest loser, they would take you" phew those comments don't roll off too easily. surgery June 27

gadgetlady - my reasoning was the same. I lost 40 pounds last year, and gained it over the six months before banding. I just couldn't face another failure. This won't be. I have my ducks in a row - a cheerleading team - and my head is ready to work.

I also had trouble wiping, tying shoes, walking upstairs, etc. I am old and am feeling older. I realized that I was making a choice, but I needed help. OMG - the band isn't the easy way out, but perhaps a more permanent change for me.

Gaining weight, not liking this one bit, and knowing that I was going to keep on gaining if I didn't do something drastic. :help: One girlfriend suggested work-outs with a trainer, I thought of serious lipo, another girlfriend told me about the band, and the rest is history. :biggrin1:

* Not getting the job because my BMI was to high

* getting all the way to 235 and gaining it all back and some

* wanting to do activities like sky diving

* want to do more for my GF in the sack :biggrin1:

For me my last straw was when I realized nearly every pair of jeans I had in my closet including my dress wear for work was super tight and I basically had a limited number of pcs. of clothes that I could fit in. I think also having to admit to myself that I'd let myself gain all this weight and was literally forced to buy a complete wardrobe in the next size up.........which sucks and is freakin' exxxpensive for us big boys!!!!

Always feeling bloated, getting winded over just walking up a few stairs, feeling crappy about myself, and having to wear plus size clothes. These are just a few.

I thought about this surgery for two years. During that time I decided to give it one more serious try on my own. I joined weight watchers. I lost 45 lbs. Then the weight loss stalled for a while. After that came the lose a couple, gain a couple phase so that i was just maintaining. Finally i wasn't losing at all just slowly gaining and getting more depressed by the day. I started seriously thinking about the surgery. I called my insurance to see if they covered it. I started researching the hospital and surgeon but I was still on the fence. Then I went out one night with a bunch of friends. One of my friends emailed me pictures from that night. One look at the pictures and how bad I looked in them did it for me. I picked up the phone and made my first appointment and haven't looked back since.

The thing that did it for me was a trip to Florida. I've always loved roller coasters and I've been there a thousand times. Well this time, on the Hulk (ironic, isn't it?) I couldn't get the bar down. I was too fat to go on the ride and the stupid kid working it made it loud and clear to everyone on the ride and waiting in line. I was humiliated and said "that's it". I knew I was done dieting and failing and this was my last choice.

The Last Straw(s):

• Having a physical and having my Labs come back poorly. My PCP told me I was "Pre-Diabetic" and my Cholesterol was High - and I was only 33!

• I had no energy and always made excuses to sleep the weekend away.

• I felt Horrible my in-laws could keep up with my 6 & 9 year old boys and I couldn't!!!!!!!

(this past mother's day I out hiked my 6 year old! He was begging to go back to the car and I was still truckin' with No Problems! - this felt Awesome!:clap2:)

• Hate the "fat clothes"

I could go on and on but I think that highlights the reasons...

The thing that did it for me was a trip to Florida. I've always loved roller coasters and I've been there a thousand times. Well this time, on the Hulk (ironic, isn't it?) I couldn't get the bar down. I was too fat to go on the ride and the stupid kid working it made it loud and clear to everyone on the ride and waiting in line. I was humiliated and said "that's it". I knew I was done dieting and failing and this was my last choice.

OH God Ive been there. I dont go to Six flags Great Adventure anymore because I dont fit into the rides anymore. Im a rollercoaster Junkie and it hurts me to my heart that I cant just go to any park and have fun. I have to choose carefully. Sucks really. I want to go to Disney World soo bad but my weight makes me fear that an expensive trip like that would go to waste because Im too big to ride. So I take relaxation vacations when I really want to take active ones. I mean Im in my 20's and I feel old.

My last straw comes in waves renewing my resolve to get banded.

So, I have several.

Lots of thing made me get the band. Wiping, tired all the time, only being able to walk a couple of block then my hip and knee would hurt. Climbing stairs, wanting sex, but not wanting my husband to touch my fat. Afraid that my daughter was ashamed to be seen withme. Only going out to eat, never to do anything else. Tired of eating everything, no matter what it tasted like. Decided it was time to realize that I wanted to live for a long time and not just sit around and wait for death.

My biggest reason for getting the band was when I was in traffic and this guy cut me off and called me a fat bi*ch, I went home and was devastated but I knew I needed to do something, I wanted to be active with my 2 year old, and not inherit all the wonderful heart disease in my family! Every time I lost 30-40 lbs, I would gain it all back and then some, I LOVE MY BAND!!!

My last straw was my weight. I was a yo-yo dieter for about 30 years. Yes I am almost 40 and have tried every diet on the planet. When I hit 200 lbs I was in shock and knew I had to do something. I am only 4'11" so 200 lbs on my small frame is huge. I have two young children and I want to be here for them for a long time.

this is an excerpt from my life weight story:

After season finished, I swam spring season and did Water polo, and during the summer there is never a day you can't find me in some body of water. In addition to swimming I began taking shakes as a meal substitute. Again no results. The following year, I began taking Meridia, a pill designed to help with weight loss, I lost around 12 pounds, but again gained it back.

This trend continued until this past fall, fall 2006. During the first part of swim season we always run. The day we ran the football stadium stairs (this consists of running ¼ of a mile and running up 14 stairs, and back down three times, and repeating this around 4-5 times) I was at the top of the bleachers and couldn’t breathe very well, I began to get light headed and returned to the ground. By the time I got back to my coach, I was crying from not being able to breathe, and the frustration that I had that I knew that I could do this but my body wouldn’t allow it.

In the middle this season I was diagnosed with depression. I knew it was my weight; my whole life has revolved around my weight. At this point I am out of ideas; I'm frustrated with my weight to the point of tears. In my freshman year we went to Cedar Point in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sandusky</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ohio</st1:State></st1:place> for the national physics day. That year I finally get the backbone to ride the Millennium Force, all of my friends and I got in line. I decided to sit in the chair outside the line to make sure I fit. Well, I didn’t. At the age of 14 I couldn’t fit on a roller coaster seat. Not just this ride, but many others too.

This fact still taunts me, especially because my high school’s honors choir is going to Disney this spring, and I am scared that I will lose the Disney experience because of my weight. When I shared my fears with my mother this past January, we decided something needed to be done. After a lifetime of failed diets and gyms, a lifetime of frustration and just wishing on every start that I could be ‘normal sized’, I am finally taking my first steps toward a healthier lifestyle, and a new me.

My last straw... I couldn't weigh myself on my home scale - and it goes up to 380!! (at the docs I was 382.)

I'm thrilled to see others mentions bathroom hygiene issues! That is a major embarassing point for me. I actually bruised my hand on the rim of the toilet once!!

And airplane seatbelts!?!? I can get it fastened, but its not easy! I have to discretely lift up my stomach and let the belt slip under my fat, to where it is just on top of my legs... and its a very tight squeeze still.

Clothing... for the past year I have sufferend and only had 2 pairs of pants, and 3 shirts that fit me. Thank goodness I'm a nurse, so I get to wear scrubs to work everyday, but still. Even my work uniforms are getting tight. I refuse to buy them in a bigger size... if I could even find a bigger size!!

AND, I can't even count the number of times I have stayed home rather than go out with friends for a night out on the town... so self conscious about my fat...

Ahh, I get banded on Friday... AMEN!