Why was I overweight?

motivatedgirljess

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question but here it is...
I have always been chubby since I was little. I rarely over ate or even had junk food very often. I don't even like pop and I always drink tons of water. Never really cared for sweets or candies much. The thing is... as long as I can remember I have always been insecure about my weight. At one point I was about 156pounds and only 5'3". I know that's not too terrible or a good weight either but the thing is I was never eating badly. I never did sports but I was always moderetly active. I've changed my diet completely (eating ONLY fruit and vegetables, nuts ect...(NO oils) and have been doing a lot of excersize and the weight is coming off! My question is why was I ever overweight? When I start lowering my excersizes (when I reach my goal weight) will I start gaining weight again? Do I naturally just have a slow metabolism..? Will I forever have to be deiting to maintein my weight..?
Has anyone else had a similar expirience?

For clarification:
I make sure that I get proteins, carbs, and fats I just make sure that they only come from foods that naturally have them. What I mean is that I eat foods that are natural e.g. oatmeal for carbs (without adding sugar (fruits naturally have them). Nuts (protein)... so on... I'm just not eating things like pasta ect... I make sure that I am eating healthy not just a crazy diet. I feel great and have much more energy.

jennifurballs

I'm overweight because I ate too many calories for too long. I'm guessing that's the same reason you weren't losing. Measure/weigh/log what you eat, then you can ensure you're not eating too much.

penny0919

Despite what you might remember, or WHAT you were eating, you must've been eating more calories than your body needed to sustain a healthy weight.

Sued0nim

You are overweight because you eat more calories than you burn

Your new diet sounds terrible...please widen it out...eat everything but weigh it and log it and not eat more calories than you burn

You will crash and burn and put on more weight if that's how you think a healthy diet works

You need protein, carbs and fats

penny0919

And it would be beneficial to pick nutrition and exercise goals that you can maintain after you reach your goal weight.

KylaDenay

You don't have to eat "bad" to eat in a surplus. You were overweight simply because you were taking in too many calories. Once you get to your goal weight, the only way you will gain is if you eat in a surplus again.

Once you get to goal, slowly increase calories to maintenance. Once you find your maintenance calories, stick to it. Even if that means you have to count calories for the rest of your life. Its up to you.

ETA: Why are you only eating fruits,vegetables and nuts? That is not healthy nor does it cover your macros.

Flookbird

Have you tried inputting what you used to eat on a typical day into MFP to see what calories you were consuming? You need to be completely honest with yourself.
Perhaps your portion sizes are too big? Perhaps you've been eating something that is high in calories without realising. Honest logging of food can be a real eye opener!

It's great that you are trying to do something to get healthier but please be careful not to restrict yourself too much. What you'll learn from being on here is that you don't need to 'diet'. You can just make changes to your current diet to lose weight. I don't know about you but if I was only eating fruit, veg and nuts I'd get fed up of that really quickly (as well as possibly making myself ill?) and go back to old habits.

You can eat 'normal' food and still lose weight as long as you are eating less calories than you burn. I've lost 75lbs since January and not given up any of the foods I love! I've eaten less of them, and I plan when I'm going to have them, but I've still been drinking wine, eating curry/fish and chips/pizza/chocolate. Today I ate an amazing chocolate eclair and enjoyed every bite of it. I still expect to lose at the end of the week. The difference is, I used to eat all those things too often without thinking about them!

Exercise is important for a healthy body, but try to focus mainly on your food. As far as exercise goes, try to find something that you enjoy and that you can easily incorporate into your life so you can continue it even when you do reach your weight goal.

Good luck with your weight loss - you'll get lots of helpful advice here!

ChrisM32205

Your metabolism changes as you get older. I was the same way as a teenager and into my early 20's I could eat just about anything and not gain. Now it's a little different that I'm older.

shadow2soul

Just picking healthier foods does not guarantee you will be at a healthy weight. You can still end up eating too much. Not all fruits and veggies are low calorie. Nuts tend to also be calorie dense.

Unless you have a medical condition like PCOS or hypothyroidism, my guess is that even though you were making healthy choices you were still eating slightly more than your body needs.

motivatedgirljess

rabbitjb wrote: »

You are overweight because you eat more calories than you burn

Your new diet sounds terrible...please widen it out...eat everything but weigh it and log it and not eat more calories than you burn

You will crash and burn and put on more weight if that's how you think a healthy diet works

You need protein, carbs and fats

I make sure that I get proteins, carbs, and fats I just make sure that they only come from foods that naturally have them. What I mean is that I eat foods that are natural e.g. oatmeal for carbs (without adding sugar (fruits naturally have them). Nuts (protein)... so on... I'm just not eating things like pasta ect... I make sure that I am eating healthy not just a crazy diet. I feel great and have much more energy.

penny0919

If you like what you are doing then keep going. It isn't necessary to cut out food groups but if you don't have a problem with it and think it will be sustainable, then go for it.

motivatedgirljess

jennifurballs wrote: »

I'm overweight because I ate too many calories for too long. I'm guessing that's the same reason you weren't losing. Measure/weigh/log what you eat, then you can ensure you're not eating too much.

That's what I'm doing. Thanks for the advice.

Sued0nim

motivatedgirljess wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

You are overweight because you eat more calories than you burn

Your new diet sounds terrible...please widen it out...eat everything but weigh it and log it and not eat more calories than you burn

You will crash and burn and put on more weight if that's how you think a healthy diet works

You need protein, carbs and fats

I make sure that I get proteins, carbs, and fats I just make sure that they only come from foods that naturally have them. What I mean is that I eat foods that are natural e.g. oatmeal for carbs (without adding sugar (fruits naturally have them). Nuts (protein)... so on... I'm just not eating things like pasta ect... I make sure that I am eating healthy not just a crazy diet. I feel great and have much more energy.

Nuts are calorie dense but if that's your go to protein fine...won't fill you up

Do you weigh your food on a digital scale?

There's no reason to cut out pasta or any other food unless you hate them

Learn portion control, learn how to make sensible choices, no food is bad

wellthenwhat

I have lived on a farm all my life. Our main meat was turkey, because we raised them for Cargill. Turkey ham, turkey sausage, ground turkey, turkey tenders, and so on. We also ate a lot of vegetables because we have a large garden. We eat asparagus every day when it's in season, and have fresh vegetables all summer long. We can said vegetables, and eat them all winter long too. But I was slightly overweight. Why? Because I had larger servings and seconds than I needed. I was shocked to learn what a serving size actually looks like. ( I was eating 2 - 3 servings of a lot of things)

brandigyrl81

You mentioned that at one point you were 5'3 and 156 lbs. In some cases, that is okay, depending on your body type, shape, frame, bone/muscle size. For me, I'm 5'2ish and my goal weight is 165 lbs. I have big legs, big arms and big bones but at 165 lbs, I can easily fit into a size 6-8. My point is, consider your body type, as everyone who is 5'3 is not meant to weigh 115-120 pounds.

Also, it sounds like you're doing the Daniel Diet (eating nothing but fruits, vegetables and grains) which is a totally unrealistic way to lose weight. Trust me, I've done it twice and each time the weight came back. I'd suggest a more realistic weight loss plan that allows you to incorporate some of your favorite foods.

brower47

motivatedgirljess wrote: »

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question but here it is...
I have always been chubby since I was little. I never over ate or even had junk food very often. I don't even like pop and I always drink tons of water. Never really cared for sweets or candies much. The thing is... as long as I can remember I have always been insecure about my weight. At one point I was about 156pounds and only 5'3". I know that's not too terrible or a good weight either but the thing is I was never eating badly. I never did sports but I was always moderetly active. I've changed my diet completely (eating ONLY fruit and vegetables, nuts ect...(NO oils) and have been doing a lot of excersize and the weight is coming off! My question is why was I ever overweight? When I start lowering my excersizes (when I reach my goal weight) will I start gaining weight again? Do I naturally just have a slow metabolism..? Will I forever have to be deiting to maintein my weight..?
Has anyone else had a similar expirience?

For clarification:
I make sure that I get proteins, carbs, and fats I just make sure that they only come from foods that naturally have them. What I mean is that I eat foods that are natural e.g. oatmeal for carbs (without adding sugar (fruits naturally have them). Nuts (protein)... so on... I'm just not eating things like pasta ect... I make sure that I am eating healthy not just a crazy diet. I feel great and have much more energy.

In the absence of a medical condition, the bolded portion is patently false. You've consistently eaten enough calories to maintain or gain your weight. Eat fewer calories than your body uses and you will lose weight.

motivatedgirljess

brower47 wrote: »

motivatedgirljess wrote: »

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question but here it is...
I have always been chubby since I was little. I never over ate or even had junk food very often. I don't even like pop and I always drink tons of water. Never really cared for sweets or candies much. The thing is... as long as I can remember I have always been insecure about my weight. At one point I was about 156pounds and only 5'3". I know that's not too terrible or a good weight either but the thing is I was never eating badly. I never did sports but I was always moderetly active. I've changed my diet completely (eating ONLY fruit and vegetables, nuts ect...(NO oils) and have been doing a lot of excersize and the weight is coming off! My question is why was I ever overweight? When I start lowering my excersizes (when I reach my goal weight) will I start gaining weight again? Do I naturally just have a slow metabolism..? Will I forever have to be deiting to maintein my weight..?
Has anyone else had a similar expirience?

For clarification:
I make sure that I get proteins, carbs, and fats I just make sure that they only come from foods that naturally have them. What I mean is that I eat foods that are natural e.g. oatmeal for carbs (without adding sugar (fruits naturally have them). Nuts (protein)... so on... I'm just not eating things like pasta ect... I make sure that I am eating healthy not just a crazy diet. I feel great and have much more energy.

In the absence of a medical condition, the bolded portion is patently false. You've consistently eaten enough calories to maintain or gain your weight. Eat fewer calories than your body uses and you will lose weight.

Uuups! Sorry I meant to say "I almost never over ate". Sorry about the confusion... editing that right now...

FredDoyle

What are you eating for protein? Nuts are not a good protein source. They're a fat source.

Canwehugnow

Unless you have a legit medical reason, you were overweight because you ate too many calories over maintenance.

BombshellPhoenix

I've seen overweight vegans, vegetarians, omnivores, carnivores. If you eat more than you burn, you gain. It doesn't matter where that source came from, a calorie surplus is still a calorie surplus.

caracrawford1

motivatedgirljess wrote: »

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question but here it is...
I have always been chubby since I was little. I rarely over ate or even had junk food very often. I don't even like pop and I always drink tons of water. Never really cared for sweets or candies much. The thing is... as long as I can remember I have always been insecure about my weight. At one point I was about 156pounds and only 5'3". I know that's not too terrible or a good weight either but the thing is I was never eating badly. I never did sports but I was always moderetly active. I've changed my diet completely (eating ONLY fruit and vegetables, nuts ect...(NO oils) and have been doing a lot of excersize and the weight is coming off! My question is why was I ever overweight? When I start lowering my excersizes (when I reach my goal weight) will I start gaining weight again? Do I naturally just have a slow metabolism..? Will I forever have to be deiting to maintein my weight..?
Has anyone else had a similar expirience?

For clarification:
I make sure that I get proteins, carbs, and fats I just make sure that they only come from foods that naturally have them. What I mean is that I eat foods that are natural e.g. oatmeal for carbs (without adding sugar (fruits naturally have them). Nuts (protein)... so on... I'm just not eating things like pasta ect... I make sure that I am eating healthy not just a crazy diet. I feel great and have much more energy.

Can I ask you why you would reduce your exercise once you reach your goal weight, whatever that is? This, plus relaxing on tracking food or paying attention to what we are eating is some of the reason why we gain back/become overweight again.