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Conference rocks::weight_control

Title: Weight Loss and Maintenance
Notice:**PLEASE** enter notes in mixed case (CAPS ARE SHOUTING)!
Moderator:ASICS::LESLIE
Created:Tue Jul 10 1990
Last Modified:Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:933
Total number of notes:9931

99.0. "The Last Straw" by STAR::YANKOWSKAS (Greetings from scenic ZKO1-1/F22) Fri Aug 14 1987 10:04

    An interesting topic that came up at a Weight Watchers meeting I
    attended recently was that of, "What was the one thing that finally
    made you decide to join WW" (or in other words, the "Last Straw").
    For some, it was the advice or admonishment of a doctor.  A few
    joined because some of their favorite outfits no longer fit
    comfortably.  One woman said she joined because she had been selected
    to be maid of honor at a friend's wedding, and wanted to look her
    best for the occasion.                                       
    
    As I noted in a reply to note 97, the "last straw" for me was my
    pre-employment physical before starting work at DEC.  (I came to
    DEC at the end of March of this year.)  At that time, I registered
    a weight of 206 and a blood pressure just above the upper limit
    of normal.  It hit me then that I had to do something about my weight
    or else face some health consequences down the road.
    
    Anyone else with any "last straw" stories they'd like to share?
    
    
    Paul

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99.1Sticker shockSQM::AITELHelllllllp Mr. Wizard!Fri Aug 14 1987 12:425
    I'm 5'4".  The scale up at the nurses' office said 179 1/2.
    I simply COULDN'T deal with 180!
    
    --Louise

99.2MY EARLY MOTIVATIONWONDER::COYLEFri Aug 14 1987 12:5011
    I found a scale that would weigh me (an acheivement in itself),
    it said 398. I couldn't escape the possibility of 400 and decided
    to get under 350 for safety.  
    
    One day at a time my resolve firmed as I progressed and though I
    never would have believed it currently at 218 I am looking forward
    to getting under 200.
    
    -Joe
    

99.3Puerto Vallarta is for swimsuits!SSDEVO::HILLIGRASSFri Aug 14 1987 20:0912
    My "last straw" event was planning a trip to Puerto Vallarta
    in October and realizing I can't wear my jeans.  Shorts *were*
    totally out of the question, and when I got to thinking about
    it I had not put on a swimsuit in 2 years.  UGH!  4 years ago
    I wore a size 10,  oops when did 16 pop into my life....started
    after I got married 3 1/2 years ago!  I dream of fitting back into
    my 10 clothes, they are much nicer and I dont' use as much soap
    to clean them! :*)
                   
                                            - Sue
    

99.4Mirror ShockCHOVAX::GILSONMon Aug 17 1987 16:524
    
    Seeing myself naked.
    

99.5HOTAIR::ARAGONKathy AragonMon Aug 17 1987 19:1011
 
		-< Biological Clock Ticking >-

I realized that TWELVE years ago I resolved to weigh 125 pounds
by the time I was 18 ( I weighed a "whopping" 132 pounds then, at 5'4").

I didn't make it...and I've put on 70 pounds in those twelve years.
I'm not getting any younger, and I REFUSE to be this weight when I'm
35!!!


99.6A Different DrummerNATASH::BUTCHARTTue Aug 18 1987 12:4635
    I did not so much decide to "lose weight" as to introduce sanity
    into my whole approach to food.
    
    The last straw for that decision was the last low-cal diet I was
    on.  It was balanced and all that, but it just wasn't enough.  I
    woke up finally one day, wondering how I could drag myself out of
    bed and go to work when I felt so weak, and wondering what I could
    eat and when and all of sudden it hit me:  _my entire life now revolved
    around what I did or did not put in my mouth and what the scale
    said!  I could think of nothing else!_  
    
    That sounded suddenly crazy to me; even I'd gotten fat before by 
    being careless with food consumption, the obsessive borderline 
    psychotic I'd become (who wept at mealtimes because her stomach 
    ached from hunger, who wept if she consumed one calorie more than
    her allotment, who no longer wanted to do anything else in 
    life, who read the food and restaurant columns 5 times a day, who 
    was out of work and didn't want to leave the house, who tore at
    her flesh in front of the mirror because it wouldn't shrink faster) 
    was worse.  I decided that if I had to be like this in order to be 
    truly thin, that if this was what the books called "motivation"--
    it wasn't worth it; that I wanted a full life and that maybe 
    a full body (within reason) went with that desire; that I had to 
    get sane about food, but for me dieting and food planning and weighing 
    and measuring and writing up each morsel I put in my mouth wasn't 
    the way to do it.
    
    It has been very slow going (success measured in years, not weeks
    or months) doing it "my way", but I wouldn't call back that former 
    state of mind (torture, actually) for the world.
    
    Here's to success, for ourselves, on our own terms!
    
    Marcia

99.7DELNI::SCHWINDTWed Aug 19 1987 11:217
    
    
    RE. .6
    
    BRAVO!
    

99.8Can we talk??OVDVAX::WIEGMANNMon Aug 24 1987 15:0825
    OK, I'm going to take a deep breath and say it - SEX!
    
    I began to take a serious look at the whys and wherefores, and realized
    that my asthma and his late hours were not the excuse - it was that
    I couldn't stand the thought of him seeing me in all my cellulite
    glory!  What would I do if he said "YUCK" out loud?  Or what if
    he was absentmindedly fondling what he thought was an erogenous
    zone and it was really a fat roll!  My God!  This goes beyond the
    line of thinking that if he loves me, he loves me the person, etc,
    etc.  I mean I was uncomfortable, embarrassed, couldn't relax, grossed
    out when my mind was saying I was lithe, supple, sensuous but my
    body was telling me I was lumpy, squishy, awkward!  We are not talking
    about the 5 or 10 pounds of "curves" here, but more like 50 excess
    pounds!  And to make it worse, he is about 80 pounds over weight,
    so at a certain point, it all becomes comical trying to picture
    the two of us together!!  No mirrors on the ceiling for us - yet!
    Anyway, anticipating and fantasizing a normal sex life is quite
    an incentive - especially as we've only been married a year, and
    the memories of when we were falling in love are still very fresh
    and the weight has come since then!!
    
    I apologize if I have offended anyone, but we all know it is reassuring
    to know that others are feeling what we feel, so someone had to
    broach the subject, eh?

99.9PREGGIE WEIGHT WITHOUT THE BABY!WONKA::DAVAULTThu Sep 17 1987 16:4910
    The last straw was when I realized if I put two more pounds on I
    would be at the exact weight I was 14 years ago when I was nine
    months pregnant.  Also realizing my wrap around skirts weren't wrapping
    too well and my stretch pants had reached the limit.  Probably the
    silliest was I didn't want to tell my parents to buy me size B
    pantyhose again this Christmas.  My father couldn't understand why
    at 5' tall I needed pantyhose for people 5'6".  I almost told him
    not to bother buying them last year.  In fact just loosing 11 pounds
    put me back to a size A and I feel sooooooooo much better.

99.10HPSCAD::DMCARRRaised on a PDP-9Thu Oct 15 1987 09:166
    ...was being chosen as the anchor during the tug-of-war during our
    department's engineering picnic. (Hey, I know I looked bad, but not
    *that* bad!)
					    -Dom

99.11I admit it, I was jealous :-)ARGUS::CORWINI don't care if I AM a lemmingThu Oct 15 1987 14:008
The last straw for me came last summer.  After months of not really being
serious about dieting, I saw the success my supervisor was having with
Weight Watchers, and I wasn't going to let her get down there without me!! :-)

We're both lifetime members now, by the way!

Jill

99.12MPGS::MULAFri Oct 30 1987 07:527
    The last straw was looking in the mirror in my aerobics class and
    noticing that my legs were twice the size of just about everyone
    else in the room.
    
    Nancy
    

99.13You're *not* the only one!RSTS32::KASPERBeverly T KasperWed Nov 11 1987 14:109
    There've been different last straws over the years.  I've never
    liked being fat; realizing that I wasn't going to make it on my
    own was a gradual thing.  Clothes had a lot to do with it, and yes,
    so did sex.  My husband finally admitted that the reason he tended
    not to be interested was that I had gotten unattractive.  He's heavy
    too, but when I diet, he does too.  We both feel better, and life
    is much happier!
    

99.14The last straw was...SRFSUP::TERASHITACalifornia GirlThu Jan 07 1988 18:099
    Not being able to enjoy going to Disneyland with my husband (his
    favorite spot on earth) because it was such heavy going to lug around
    216 pounds on my 5'4" frame.
    
    Also seeing my back problems get worse with each successive pound.
    
    Lynn
    (Getting Thynner)

99.15Who healed the camel's back?CADSE::SPRIGGSDarlene..Making Music ALL THE TIME!Thu Jun 23 1988 12:3526
    If I collected all of my supposed "last straws", I could make a
    pretty nice basket.  The funny thing is that at the time it really
    feels like the "last straw".  Somewhere along the line it seems
    like that old camel gets up feeling rejuvenated.  It begins to walk
    again trying to see how long it can carry the load before another 
    "last straw" is thrown on.   If we could only somehow be in control of
    when that camel's back is REALLY broken.   Dieting reminds me of
    the classic horror movie.  Let's take "THE TERMINATOR" for example.
    Everytime they thought they had killed poor Arnold, he would surely
    get up again (mamed as he was).  Each time they thought they killed
    him, they would relax for a while.   At that precise moment, he'd 
    begin to come again.  I often feel like I have conquered my appetite 
    and my cravings, but the second I relax, here they come again.  I 
    guess I'll just have to keep going and maybe one day I can truely 
    say "this was the LAST straw".
    
    
    P.S. -- My latest last straw is that I bought a wonderful swim suit
    	    that I don't look so wonderful in.

            Before that, I was getting married.
    	    
    	    Before that, .....
    

99.16The never-ending battle...JJM::ASBURYThu Jun 23 1988 14:1118
    re: .15
    
    >		      I often feel like I have conquered my appetite
    >and my cravings, but the second I relax, here they come again. I   
    >guess I'll just have to keep going and maybe one day I can truely
    >say "this was the LAST straw".                                 
     
    Darlene,
    
    I know what you mean! I have begun to believe, however, that I will
    never totally "conquer" my appetite and my cravings. I will not
    ever be able to completely relax. I guess it's just gonna be a lifelong
    process of doing the best I can to control these things.
    
    Good luck.
    
    -Amy.   

99.17I can built a hut with last straws...SHIRE::BIZEFri Jun 24 1988 04:3513
    Darlene, 
    
    You really hit a nerve there! One of my last straws was when I was
    sooo fat at my daughter's first birthday... She is now 8 years old,
    and I weigh exactly the same now, having lost and regained the SAME
    30 pounds at least 6 times...
    
    Maybe, one day, something really awful will happen, and the impression
    will be so strong that it will last me all my life... Unfortunately,
    I don't wish that to happen either!
    
    Joana