Why do/did you overeat?

Francl27

For me now when I overeat it's usually because 1) I'm hungry (PMS, typically), 2) it's a special event and I just want to enjoy the food.

Before it was just because it tasted good.

Lounmoun

I became more sedentary but just ate the same as when I was more active. I didn't know how many calories I was eating or how much I needed.

JudithNYC

Because the food was there. Yep, I am one of those. If it's there I will eat it. Which in a way makes dieting a little bit easier in the sense that it's mostly out of sight, out of mind. Luckily for me I live by myself and I am retired so I don't have to deal with watching other people eat all the stuff that for now is either off limits or carefully portioned.

JanelleG0122

I used to be extremely active as a child/teenager and than 6 months after my graduation, I rolled my car and broke my knee, shoulder and ribs. I was laid up for a while and gained a bunch of weight, but the relationship I was in, my boyfriend never said anything about it, so I just let it go. I started to not really care about anything and cared about making him happy (yes, that was the beginning of a horrible relationship) I found out he cheated on me five years later, and I was done. I lost about 60 pounds through MFP then. I ended up getting a desk job and messed up my shoulder yet again, and had a shift 12-930, which resulted in no exercise and bad eating habits. Gained about 35 pounds of it back. About a month ago, I decided enough was enough, so i'm back and trying to control my overeating. Not letting my horrible schedule or anything stop me this time! Good luck to everyone!

professionalHobbyist

I like food.

Nothing changed

Now I see the other edge of the sword...

I have to exercise it off if I eat extra and I can choose more filling veggies to make room to eat my lusty foods!!

I had some baked chicken wings last night. I could eat 30 of them I'm sure.

I just didn't. There are more important things in life now.

Food has been kicked out of God status.

So my body is the se old body, food is still the same. The only thing that changed was how I think about it.

lemurcat12

The first time I gained weight, in my late 20s, it was probably: (1) Didn't really think about calories or food choices or portions, and (2) lack of knowledge about food/cooking, plus (3) became more sedentary than I had been.

More specifically, I'd always been an okay weight without thinking about it before then, so never bothered learning about how many calories were in things or how to cut calories. I mean, I knew stuff like cake or cheesy pasta dishes were generally higher cal, but it wasn't something I'd ever had to think about. In my mid-20s I started working a high stress/long hours job that had as a perk lots of expensive restaurant meals (including delivery to the firm when one was working late) and a decent amount of travel, that would always involve going out. (I recall that everyone would joke about how free food must not have any calories too.) I also adapted poorly to the stress by not fitting in workouts and became much less active. In that I'm only 5'3, I gained weight pretty rapidly over the next few years.

When I realized how much I'd gained and how out of control I felt, I decided to apply my skills that made me reasonably successful at school in the past and at my job and understand why I was gaining weight and it seemed super obvious once I did. So I figured out a way to add in exercise and prioritized cooking for myself, and simply exercised more sense at restaurants/with restaurant meals.

Kept that weight off for about 5 years and regained more for emotional eating reasons (which I think was part of it the first time too, but never really acknowledged), as well as because I again became sedentary. Basically, I was drinking way too much (although I didn't really gain weight as a result of that) and then got pretty depressed (related) and stopped being active at all. When I quit drinking I was kind of eating more to compensate and although I knew I was doing it I was scared that being too strict with myself would interfere with my sobriety which didn't feel secure at all yet. Once I started feeling more comfortable and maybe ready to get back to more healthy habits, like paying attention to what I ate and not using food as comfort, I entered into a 2 year period of extreme stress and crazy hours at my job and just let myself not worry about food or exercise (which was a mistake, but I'm not sure I was ready to do anything else). Once I was ready I couldn't believe how fat I'd gotten and vowed never to stop paying attention (or weighing) for that long again and got back to my old healthy habits.

The first time I lost I didn't focus on calories, so it was interesting to learn this time that apparently when I'm at or around my goal weight and sedentary my maintenance is only 1500 or so. I never would have suspected it was that low, and that explains why I can gain weight when I'm sedentary without really eating huge amounts, especially if am careless at restaurants and so on. Having this information now is helpful for me, and also an incentive not to get sedentary again if I can avoid it.

daniwilford

I was unhappy, mostly because of Men. I didn't hate them, but often I feared them. Food comforted me when they broke my heart and I felt fat protected me from predators.

callsitlikeiseeit

Because..food tastes good. Really good. Mmmmmmmmmmfooood lolololol.

tomatoey

Thanks so much for your thoughtful replies, everyone.

For me, my first major gain was definitely in some way related to a medication I took, which saw me gain 50 lbs over 3-4 months. I'm sure I ate more than I did before the meds, and probably a bit more carby/fatty stuff than before, but I didn't (and don't) feel like it was a lot more, in quantity. Certainly poor planning was a big part of it (forgetting/waiting to eat until hangry and vulnerable). I think the fact that my activity reduced by about 1 million percent might have played a bigger role. If I wasn't sitting or sleeping, I was driving. Regardless. That was one phase.

I lost a bunch of that by moving to a different city, ditching the car, and walking or taking public transportation everywhere.

Then, I gained some back, via not thinking about calories at all / eating at restaurants 5-6 out of 7 days. Dinner usually involved heavy sauces, curries, etc. Plus wine or beer. Plus dessert. Nearly every day. And I'd have a huge breakfast sandwich (let's say hoagie-sized) with a latte every morning. And a hot full lunch, as well. It's amazing I didn't gain more. I'd estimate I consumed at least 3000-4000 calories a day, at that time. (But I still didn't gain as much as I did on the medication, during which time I feel pretty sure I ate much less than I did during gain 2. Gain 1 = zero booze and many fewer restaurants visited. Didn't count calories either time, so no way to know for sure, and of course there was the addition of walking the second time... but it was really just enough to do my groceries or catch a bus to work, it wasn't purposeful activity. So that's confusing.)

Liftng4Lis

Cortneyrenee04

I overeat because if there's food around, I can't think of much else until it's been eaten (hopefully by me).

Today, I got an ice cream and made it all the way home (3 minutes) before I had a bite. First time ever! I ha clenched fists and tapping feet the whole time... Issues

85Cardinals

Pizza and beer mostly. I guess big sandwiches and chips too.

mjgrin

I have social anxiety and I've been using my weight to keep people from getting close to me. I eat when I'm bored. I eat when I'm happy. I eat when I'm celebrating. I eat when I'm sad. The list goes on and on. I'm an emotional eater and an anxious person who tried to self-medicate with food.

I'm not like that so much anymore, but it is amazing how quickly I will just go into the fridge and grab something without really thinking about it.

DeterminedFee201426

_Emotional eating _boredom _and_mindless eating _

MynameisChester

Denial for me. I've lost weight before. So when I wasn't too overweight, I sort of gave myself permission to eat unhealthy again. As I looked in the mirror, I kept gaining weight but kept telling myself I didn't look too bad until 45 pounds later, I could hardly fit into any of my clothes.

MynameisChester

That and a strssful desk job.

Conspiracy19

Boredom and I just like food :')

kthompson601

I find one problem I have is something I call rage eating. If I have a really bad day at work, get into a serious argument with a loved one, or receive terrible news, I suddenly want to stuff my face with every piece of food in a ten mile radius. Normally small, lightly aggravating things like getting cut off in traffic or stubbing a toe don't trigger it, but depending on my mood and circumstances, sometimes I really struggle. I had one particularly bad reaction to learning of my aunt's serious health issue--I wanted to devour a greasy pizza and a pint of ice cream. I got as far as dialing domino's before I was able to recognize the desire and go to bed instead. Rage eating is a struggle for me. I can easily eat a few thousand calories as an emotional response.

teahlee123

Long story short, I was given oral steroids for a medical condition, increased my appetite, on top of severely injuring my ankle (fractured it in three spots) and not being able to run off what I was eating. I gained 25 pounds in two 1/2 months because of it (and mcdonalds to cover up my disappointment in not being able to play in tournaments for coed softball) wish somebody would have just told me i was getting fat, or not bought junk food all the time... Now i definitely am taking my life back...yay MFP!!

tedioustrainingap

I had to take a medication which is an appetite stimulant and causes insulin resistance and metabolism problems in some people. At the same time, I came down with ME/CFS and became very sedentary. So, along with eating more than I usually did and my body processing that fuel less competently than it had, I could not exercise to compensate.

Things are on the up now though