Why did you all put on weight in the first place?

lilbthebasedgod

Bullying all throughout the years while growing up, a stressful school environment, self esteem issues, all of which led to depression and led me to eat my feelings out. I was what you would call an emotional eater, I even "treated" myself when I was either happy or sad! It's time I take control over my own life

jnv7594

musicminx wrote: »

Was it because you were busy, sad, broke up with someone etc?
My troubles started when I was 21 and I went to live in the UK...not sure if the ingredients in the food I bought where different or because I started staying at home more? And then my weight went up even more when I moved to London (maybe it's partly down to living costs?). Anyway I put on 35kg all together!? I never thought that would be possible!
I have been living in Germany for a few months now and my weight is going back down already.

What's your story?

A lifetime of depression and using food as a source of comfort.

MelissaE27

first time for me I was in an abusive relationship and I ate to take away the pain... then I lost 100 pounds... this time it was the loss of my mom to breast cancer and my dad to prostate cancer within months of each other and having my son in law in a car accident the day of my dads funeral that put him in a wheelchair too much pain in a short period of time I gave up... food was my therapy...

12_oz_Curls

My picture says it all.

68myra

breastfeeding aided my weight loss after four big babies (i gained 70 pounds with each girl, 50 with the boy). Now I'm battling "emotional eating" weight gain, and i'm finally winning. albeit, slowly. very slowly.

NataBost

Stress, a loss in the family and tons of comfort food. Sheesh. Getting back to it, though!

reginastiffler

PTSD, Depression, and food tastes really good.

AlliRae81

Growing up, my parents were both on and off Weight Watchers, so I was exposed to a lot of healthy food and very little junk. Mom always packed a good meal for my lunches, and although I did have treats once in a while, they were just that - once in a while. So when I got older and started having spending money, I'd buy "treats" for myself. In excess. And it was so much fun to spend my own money and enjoy what I bought, I didn't care that my parents cautioned me that I'd end up like some of my obese family members. Fast forward to college, and I got to my senior year and was nearly growing out of my size 18s that I'd had enough and decided to try Weight Watchers like my parents did. Sheer determination got me through... and then I graduated and slacked a bit, living back home for my first year of teaching. Got back on the wagon when we moved to Georgia (from Ohio) and tried a Jazzercise class near my home... a year later, I was hooked.

I think deep down, part of my reason for wanting so badly to lose weight was that I'd never had a boyfriend, and was tired of feeling left out because of my size. I felt like nobody could ever want me like that. But then... I got down to a healthy weight and remained single. And eventually... I got tired of watching what I ate, and even though I was still working out, gained. I gave up on myself.

It wasn't until almost 6 months ago when I met an amazing man who loves me AS I AM that I've found a new desire to get healthy not only to inspire him to do the same (though I love him as he is as well) but to get healthy for myself and my desire to have a long future with him.

mom2pne

All my weight gain is because I'm a stress eater and also ate when I was depressed. The first 50 pounds pregnant husband wouldn't move in with me of his mom. She hated hoped we'd break up. That 1993- 1994 had oldest. Got second son late 1995 finally moved our We got married just days before turned 6 months old.

My next 100 pounds came because of all the stress of having a child who had to have 3 heart surgeries and was in and out of the hospital and tons of doctor appointments and also is autistic and very delayed for his age. He is going to be 19 at the end of July and he functions at a 6-7 year old and even n some aspects as a toddler. I blamed myself for everything that was wrong with him.

In 2004 I got diagnosed with hypothyroidism and that didn't help my weight at all.

2005 I got pregnant with twins and in 2009 I got pregnant with my last son. Which I was able to keep from gaining weight. What didn't help was having miscarriages in 2008, 2011, and 2013 because they made me so depressed and angry that I stopped caring about myself.

Cloverleafs1985

Mostly just a lifetime of eating bigger portions than I needed, and a fair share of those meals were pasta and bread. I am a supremely lazy cook.

kjrichardson521

I went back to school to earn my PhD...it came with 25 lbs.

PS --> 5'4 HW 169/CW 160/ GW 145. Looking for friends to stay motivated.

pumpkinpocalypse

Depression and a total lack of knowledge on everything calories/nutrition for my whole life until I started dieting because I saw it well that it was already too late and I realized I wasn't happy with my body. My mother never was home at mealtimes AND she never ever would let me indulge sweets/junk food, so when I was a kid I'd eat alone al lthe time, jump on the occasion whenever there was junk food around, and eat badly since I would have to do with what I had. Example : chocolate bars, muffins, candies bought from the corner store...then like maybe an omelet and a few spoonfuls of minced beef at dinner since I had snacked all day. I was difficult with food and never would eat normal stuff (i loved my veggies though, somehow.)
Then teen years came around and I was a chronic depressive. I didn't give two *kitten* about anything, and I didn't really notice I was actually getting really chubby, all that mattered to me was to find comfort in eating ''forbidden' foods and stuff. I always ate out or almost since I didn't really like the lack of interesting food at home (egg egg egg egg minced beef egg). So yeah, I'd eat a 2-3 servings plate of pasta at the school's caf, with a big cookie, or two cookies, and then afterschool get some kind of sugary snack like donuts, had dessert from the hidden provisions in my mom's fridge that night, etc. Really, the worst kind of diet you could possibly imagine lol. I was the kinda person who comes over to a friends place and constantly asks for snacks because we don't have any of these at home, holy *kitten* that tastes amazing, but oh no i'm not all that hungry for dinner sorry for not finishing my plate and looking uneducated in front of your parents.
After a particularly hard breakup which involved cheating is when I realized how much i suddenly hated my body image and tried to change it and eventually tried to eat less, then to eat healthier...the adaptation was real hard at first lol. now i'm somehow the biggest health maniac i know haha

Ang108

I was never overweight until I was 58. Cancer and another health problem caused me to self pity eat. Too much rice and pasta ( most days and often about 6 portions during a day ) caused me to gain quite some weight. The fact that I have no longer a thyroid and another autoimmune disease only played a minor role in my weight gain. Most of it was from eating too much.

get_fit_fritch26

I simply became complacent and "ok"...I stopped trying to eat well or better my fitness. I just was fine with how I looked, I got in a relationship that was bad for my (both my habits and my health), then I lost the loser and some weight...and then it found me but in a different way. I fell in love with my husband (my best friend and love of my life) who is in the military...he was away for a year and a half of our relationship and honestly I turned to food when I was stressed...then I lost weight for our wedding...then after moving half way across the country, not being able to find a fulfilling job, and having few friends made being home alone during the day stressful and sad...so food came back...now here I am unhealthy and unhappy with my appearance and I'm done with the yo-yoing!

amy8400

I grew up being very thin. Played outside or did team sports all the time. Mom didn't cook much but junk food and pop were never allowed in our home. In my 20s, the weight crept up to the 135 mark but not until I hit my 40s did the weight start to creep on 2-3 pounds a year. I just didn't pay attention and figured I was always going to be a healthy weight. The day I hit 200 was my wake-up call. Three years later I got serious and that's why I'm here and not leaving anytime soon.

sweetteadrinker2

Depression after a breakup and 3 huge losses in the family. I ate because it was the only thing that was comforting, still is. I just sleep instead.

heathervazquez75

I was divorced, single, and a dancer. I was naturally slim during that phase of my life. I married a man who cooks heavy (delicious) food. I also stopped dancing. I picked up a lot of bad habits from my husband. I had to get him to accept that I can't just 'eat less' of his meals. That doesn't quite work for me. I also let stress at work get to me and ate to manage the stress. I have been practicing yoga for two years now and that is my new passion. My husband is now very supportive of my new lifestyle choices.

Throughout my life I have lost and regained more and more weight. I guess I just fall back to lying to myself and cheating and it ends up catching up on me. I'm on a new personal mission to not regain the weight I lose.

PixelPuff

Being a pig and not giving any crap about caloric values, if I even checked them. Also... Currently managing with meds from doc [much higher dosage of an OTC med, will not say what for safety purposes], but I had zero hunger shut-off. I would be crying with pain, throwing up from overeating, and still be starving. Now it is just a dull thread in the back of my head that I can easily ignore.

... Thinking about what I used to eat, I'm shocked I wasn't heavier than I was by over 100lbs.

Justthisgirl1994

Started partying a lot. I was binge drinking all the time, and eating a lot of drunk food. I was also too hungover to workout most of the time. When I was sober and able to somewhat function I had to be cramming for my exams or writing papers. I was like the definition of freshman 15 Deffs going to cut down the partying next year.

cparsons_60

I was never skinny, but I wasn't significantly overweight growing up. I'm 5'5, weighed 120 when I graduated from high school; at 30 I weighed about 140 and was in great shape -- I didn't have a car, so I walked and biked everywhere. From age 30 on I gained about two or three pounds per year. (Got my first car in my mid-30s.) Some years I didn't gain any, and other years I gained 5, but for the most part it was so gradual I hardly noticed. At 55 I saw the number on the scale brush 200, and couldn't understand how I'd gotten there. (Well, I could, but again, it was so gradual...) My goal weight is the 140 I weighed when I was 30 and super-fit; I've got 5 to go. I feel great! At almost 57 I'm turning the clock back to age 30.

SillyCat1975

rachael00679 wrote: »

My son being diagnosed with leukaemia and the three years of chemo that came there after (now in remission)
My husbands affair
The dissolution of our marriage and our divorce
Losing our home and being homeless with a very unwell little boy and my youngest son who was a toddler at the time for around 6 months
My mother getting cancer, then thankfully going into remission
My grandfather dying
My father being diagnosed with cancer and then dying without warning very suddenly (at home).
Having to put down my dog of 15 years
Then having to put down my cat of 18 years
My mothers cancer returning and her dying a year later
The CONSTANT bitter feuding with the extended members of my family (who I have now cut off)

Take your pick. My weight gain is the culmination of all of that... happening in quick succession.

What I have realised.... life is pretty crappy at times and you have zero control over what happens and when. But everything always works out... not always for what you perceived to be "the best"... but it works out one way or another. Just keep going. No point giving up.
Also the answers are never found in the bottom of a bottle of Johnny Walker. Ever.

I'm so sorry, Hugs!

emtjmac

Eating made the pain go away. Now I exercise and the pain makes the pain go away.

KateKyi

I think most of us for one reason or another either lost control over food or never had control over it. Im from a large family that grew up with little money. Chips were cheap and could feed a large family. Any "treats" were usually food related. Mum and Dad were always overweight. We did nothing for exercise. I grew up fat and stayed fat, worked hard in an office sometimes up to 12 hours a day, there was no room for exercise. I was lucky to see daylight. By the time I was 40 I was hitting 20 stone. At 42 someone close to me in work had her son commit suicide and that started my downward spiral. I have been cronically depressed for 7 years. I have always been alone. No one to judge me and what I was eatting. I would eat late often 3pm my start of eating. Latte coffees during the day fed me. Once I started eating I wouldnt stop. I rarely find myself hungry so dont eat, then when I start eating I never feel full so continue eating. Every day is the same, no food til 3 over feed til 7. MFP has helped me stop this. I make sure I eat 3 meals a day and dont consume more calories than I should. Its shameful to admit it took me until I was 50 before I took my contol back.

GooeyGoobert

Growing up, I was always heavy. When I was young, it started with me being on the larger side but not quite overweight yet. As I grew older I went from overweight to very obese. Every year it seems like I always put on some weight. As a kid, my mom always cooked for us. We never ate out due to dietary restriction due to religion, which sounds like the perfect recipe to be healthy, except my mom cooked a lot of heavy, oily food with really big portion sizes. This isn't me trying to blame it on my mom, just how things were. And as I grew older, I became more and more sedentary. When I went to college and moved out of my parents house, there wasn't anyone to cook for me and since I stopped practicing the religion, there was nothing stopping me from eating out. I became a vegetarian in sophomore year of college, but really it was more like I became a carb eater. Surprisingly it's very easy to be a vegetarian and not really eat your vegetables.

Anyway, long story short, I never paid attention to the food I ate + I was a huge couch potato which leads me to my current dilemma.

natboosh69

No interesting story, emotional issues or excuses here - I just love food and have always overindulged, until now

icck

Overeating, really. I like to eat A LOT and can easily graze all day - I've always eaten "well" and don't have much of a taste for things like chocolate or crisps/chips, but if you're eating too much of any food you will gain weight. And I did.
I was always big even as a child but used to be very active too, until pregnancy left me unable to walk unaided for nearly a year afterwards. I was still eating the same and quickly piled on the pounds, I gained 3 dress sizes.

Boredom eating is a big factor too. Now I'll exercise instead, but if it's a time where I can't then I head straight for the peanut butter sandwiches.