What was your turning point?

That pivotal moment when you:

1.  Reached a weight that began to compromise your quality of life and health.
and/or
2.  Had lost enough weight that you begain to regain your quailty of life and health.

For me, number 1 happened at around 230 pounds...a weight gain of over 100 pounds in about 7-8 years.  Can't wait to learn my answer to number 2!  
 
Look forward to hearing your experiences! 

Good question -

1. I'm not really sure. Bad answer I know but thinking back on it I was constantly making excuses for ailments/illnesses and not really linking it with my weight. If I had to pin it down to a number I'd say it was the 300 lb mark. Not only did I have health problems but I was really disappointed in myself that I had broken this Pound Barrier.

2. I think it's the magical 10% weight loss. I know that with having lost a little over the 10% things have begun to improve rapidly. My blood sugar is back to normal. My blood pressure is the lowest it's ever been in my adult life. I have energy to spare and I really feel like I'm alive and that life isn't about to pass me by.

You're going to be so amazed when #2 kicks in for you. Have a great Day!!!!!!!!

- Iris

3 weeks ago when I am lying in bed in pain from a pinched sciatic nerve (a constant problem) and that pain preventing me from bending over to vomit (TMI?) from my GERD flare up.

Ridiculous.. that is absurd to me.

I don't know another 29 year old that has ailments like I do- That just seemed to be the icing on the cake for me. I wanted to be running around with my kids, not so sick and in pain (all preventable and reversible) that I can't even move.

Yup, I'm done with this fat!

My turning point was when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea.  This was the last in a long list of 'ailments' that finally woke me up.

Degenerative Disk Disease - (has lumbar laminectomy 5 years ago and still had pain)
Osteoarthritis from the top of my spine to the bottom
Heel spurs on the backs of my heels and being told by the doctor on a scale of 1-10 mine were a 9.5 but he wouldn't operate due to :
Type II Diabetes
High Blood Pressure
High LDLs - Overrall cholesterol was 192 without meds but LDLs were 123.
Beginnings of problems in my right knee with pain and inflammation
Shortness of breath
GERD
Hiatial Hernia

I remember the moment I finally came out of denial and was thinking to myself - "I'm slowly committing suicide with my excess weight"!  During the time all this was going on my weight ranged between 241 and 285.  I had 'maintained' at around 270 for a couple of years.  My quality of life was going downhill. 

For me:

1. When I went to a cheerleading competition for my child, in Orlando.  We had to walk around, my feet hurt so bad that I had to get special shoes, and then when we went in to watch her, I sat in the stadium seat and I didn't fit.  I tried evey which way and I had to sit sideways in the seat for 3 days because my big butt didn't fit.  At that point I was like - OMG I am so big...

2. Lost enough weight..... hmmmm Not sure if I am at this point yet, but I am close.  I am about 5 pounds or less short from my goal.  So, how do I know that I have been able to regain my quality of life and health.........  I dont' hurt anymore, I can fit into any seat, I can wear any clothes, I can walk any distance, I feel good.  That is how I know... I feel confident and I feel good about myself.   That is how I know that I have been successful!

Kendall

Shauna,

You come up with some great threads my dear!

1. I had been toying with the 'idea' of WLS for a good 10 years, but my turning point came when I was feeling awful and couldn't figure out what was wrong so I went to see my PCP and had them do a full CBC. I got a call the next day asking me to please come into the office. I knew that couldn't be 'good news.' Of course, it wasn't and I was told I was diabetic with an HbA1C of 9.7 and that I had hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes Iron overload (my father died at an early age due to complications of this disorder). To top that off, my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney failure, within days. Her kidney failure is yet another complication of her own uncontrolled type 2 diabetes. I had been morbidly obese for more that 40 years and like many of us had tried just about everything ... I was actually amazed at the depth and breadth of what I had tried when I had to list it all for my Dr at Duke. At any rate, I realized then that if I wanted to live a full, long and healthy life, I would have to make significant changes which I had not been able to make without WLS. After some research and going to a few programs, I made the plunge and I'm so very glad that I did.

2. I am not sure when I think that I lost enought weight that I could say that I was regaining my quality of life. Maybe even within the first 25 to 30 lbs. I looked much better and was able to fit better ... into seats, clothes, etc... My diabetes was resolved and I was able to quit using that darned CPAP! By the time I had lost 50 lbs I found that I was able to walk long distances and had much more energy. I really began to look 'average' by then and I hadn't looked anywhere near average since I'd been in high school. I was able to buy clothes in the misses department and was feeling much better. I think I had decided that I had lost 'enough' weight when I got down to about 150. I looked good and felt even better. I know that my weight is just about what my Dr. considers ideal and honestly, if I didn't look like I was related to a sharpei, I might be just fine with my size, but the extra skin really bothers me. It's not as noticable when I'm a bit heavier and I'm more comfortable in my own skin a bit heavier. If I stay where I am it will be okay and I think I'll be fine with it if I gain about 10 to 12 lbs. I guess just time will tell. The real reason I did this was not my 'size' as much as the quality of life and health issues. My quality of life hasn't been so good in at least 2 decades, if not more, and my health ... well, suffice it to say that my HbA1C dropped from a 9.7 down to a 5.3, my cholesterol is down over 100 pts., my BP is usually about 100/60, my BMI is in the 21.x range ... so on paper, I'm younger than my years! That's something to crow about! I'm not nearly as comfortable with how I look. I hope that I will become more comfortable with time, but only time will tell.

Thanks again for the great thread. I'll be checking back to see what others have to say.

Barb

I am not sure exactly at what weight that compromised my health, but when I reached 263 - my very highest, I knew I had to stop.... I had already been miserable for some time, but I still just kept on doing what I had always done...
Now I had been looking at WLS surgery off and on for 2 years before getting serious about it.  So it was the last of March - first of April when I actually filled out a health questionaire and found that I met those requirements.
I actually had been working on the ambulance and it was about that time that I decided that I had to looking seriously into retirement.  I did retire June 1st of this year and weight had a lot to do with my decision.  I could no longer climb in and out of the ambulance with such a struggle.

Now I have lost 45 pounds and I am starting to regain some of the quality of life and health that I yearn for.  I am not there yet by any means, but I can feel the energy and more confidence building.  So I will have to let you know more later on this question.

Thanks, Shauna for this thread!

Shelia

1. I was in denied my whole life....a healthy fat girl!  The point if made a choice and fought for it was... when I thought I was having a heart attack but it was high bloodpressure. I went to the emergency ron at NE and had to spend the night on a monitor. The DR.s all told me I needed to consider wls.....so I did.
2. I am not sure if I have reached the pivital  point yet. I am aware of my success but  I have not truly accepted it yet not can I see it in the mirror yet. When I can see it  and know it I will have arrived. I guess I have a mental block and think fat. Maybe I will be there after my hernia is fixed.

I hope you have a wonderful wls adventure!
Mine has bee great so far.
Myrtis

I was never a person who was obese my whole life.  My problems started in 2004 when I gave birth to my first baby.  Since that time I had gained over 100 lbs.  At 259 lbs. my asthma was worse than ever...I was using my inhaler 15-20 times per day.  I was recently diagnosed with Sleep Apnea with 78 episodes of apnea during one night.  I realized I couldn't do it alone.  I wasn't successful and I didn't have another 5 years to keep trying.  My boys are 1 and 4, and my time was NOW.  I need to give them the experiences they need as little boys to be happy and healthy.  At 7 weeks post op I am down 59 lbs from my highest weight.  45 lbs since the day of surgery.  I take absolutely NO asthma medicine now.  I had no problems fast walking 3 miles on my treadmill yesterday and I can run and play ball with my 4 year old. 
My boys are my world and honestly, I did this for them!!!

1.  Even at 305 lbs I never really thought I was that *fat*.  I thought I looked pretty good. Until the day I went to get a hair cut and the stylist (whom I had never met in my life) asked me when my baby was due.  From that day on, I felt like I looked ~ fat and miserable.  Not to mention at my last physical before I decided on WLS, my PCP told me I was borderline diabetic and since it runs on my Mom's side of the family, I knew it was just a matter of time for me.  And my blood pressure was thru the roof and I was told it was just a matter of time before I had a stroke or a heart attack.

2.  I had lost like 39 lbs within 4-6 weeks of my surgery and could already tell a big difference in my health.  My knees didn't hurt as bad when I did a lot of walking and I was off my blood pressure meds and my sugar numbers had already dropped significantly.