Did you have a "Moment of Clarity?"

When my Doctor told me that I should consider it because I would die long before my time if I didn't lose weight.

 Dang, Dan ..  yoru big moment made me think of Ramon (BigDawg's) big moment hat I think he said was what drove him to make the big decision ..   IIRC, he said he was with a friend (family member?) at a stadium or some place when someone made a "Fat Albert" crack at him .  From the sound of it, he snapped and he and the guy got in a fight over it and ended up going to jail ..    I know my own came after I went to my doc's and I got on the supersized scale (I had bought and donatedit to my doc's clinic, since he didn't have one and many of us needed to be weighed there) ... I was so shocked to see my weight was up to 461 lbs. (and of course my diabetes was still out of control, despite huge insulin doses 2x a day and two types of pills 2x a day).  I remember I just sat there silently in a deep depression for the longest time.  When I left the office, i went to get into my car (a beloved old Jag I had for many years) and no sooner had I squeezed into the seat and sat back then I heard a SNAP! and the seat back fell backward.   I guess my large weight had actually snapped one of the pairs of the metal support brackets that hold the seat back up.   I was SO mad and frustrated, knowing I would have to drive home that way ..  I sat there and actually started crying over my situation ..  I vowed then and there I was going to do whatever it took to get out of this huge body, or die in the attempt ..   And THAT'S when the time usually comes for most of us, I think   --  when we realize we will die w/o the surgery (either of natural causes or our own hand) and we risk therefore nothing by having it !

Guys. Thanks so much for sharing these. It's something to see that some have had moments where they knew and for others it came gradually. I'll hold onto those memories of when I was 525 all my life I suppose. Maybe it'll help motivate me when I get to my goal weight, whatever that is.

 Wow - Dan  ..  I just read your profile ..  525 pounds???   and look at you now @ the 250s  ..   GREAT job!   ^5

Um.....great question here....Dan! My own moment came at my pcp's office. She asked me softly, how old my youngest was, and I replied that Tanner our son was 14. She then asked me how long it would be, in my opinion, until he married, and I thought for a sec, and said oh, like maybe 15 years lets say. "Too bad you won't be at that wedding," was all she said. And she stared at me with a look of concern. I blustered and I sputtered and replied that he LOVED me. My son would NEVER not have me at his wedding....and then I stopped....and I got her point. I was in shock. I didn't know what to say or do for the next week or so. I told my wife of course, and she nodded, that most likely our Dr was right....and I felt so dang bad...that I might never hold my grandson in my arms in the future. Couple that shock, with the story that my brother-in-law told a week or so later about his boss that had just come back from his one year postOp trip to Michigan after getting his "stomach stapled" and had lost hundreds of pounds.... And here I am. So for me it was the sudden clarity of my Dr saying I'd not live 15 years into the future to go to my son's wedding that made me realize that I COULD do something....a real boon in retrospect. My Dr is great and her care and support thru all this has been terrific...and I do so much "owe" her for her comment that day.... Jim