How did you gain your weight in the first place?

Francl27

If I wanted to eat something, I just ate it.. didn't matter what it was, if I was hungry or not, etc, etc. And I ate huge portions of stuff.

doesthisappmakemelookfat

I wish I could click on these and reply right underneath. (are you reading that MFP?). Thanks for the input. Keep'em coming. Very interesting. Boredom seems to be a biggy....

kdz526

My family tends to be on the larger size. Every holiday or get together there is a TON of yummy food. As a kid, i was chunky but not way over weight, and as a young adult I just ate whatever and did not think twice about it. College is where I really packed on the pounds. Beer, late night munchies with friends, beer, eatting whatever crap I could get (cheap food can have alot of calories). I do find that when I am celebrating, its food related rewards, when I am upset or stressed, its food related soothing. Finding what triggers the mindless munching and diverting myself from that to something else helps. The knowledge of how many calories are actually in something, dissuades me from partaking now, which before I had a IDGF attitude, I want it, i shall have it.
I knew I was over weight, but untill i actually put forth the effort to gain the knowledge of how over weight I was, and what I could do about it, it did not click in my head. The internet and apps are wonderful tools.

cbnorris

just eating what I wanted when I wanted and not exercising. I'd say after I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had my thyroid removed it seemed to pile on even more.

cerise_noir

It went something like this
Oh, hi food!
OMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM
Bye, food.

In all seriousness, though.... Lots (and lots and lots) of emotional binge eating, and the whole "I've put on xx amount of weight" (proceeds to eat the fridge). Also, I would go days eating only 400-600 cals, then binge a few days later... *shudder*

I had the whole salty-sweet-salty-sweet-salty cycle going on. I was eating at maintenance for me at 230lbs....

Now I do IIFYM and CICO.

cwolfman13

I graduated college at 30 and took a job that was primarily at a desk and involved 12 hour days on average and about 25 weeks of travel per year.

prior to that, I was always a pretty active person. I was an athlete growing up and even though I didn't participate in sport in college or do any deliberate gym going, I was still pretty active...ultimate Frisbee with the guys, Frisbee golf, hiking and backpacking in the mountains, and I didn't own a car for most of that time so I walked and biked everywhere.

getting a job after school changed all of that.

rybo

There were 2x I gained weight. 1st time I was relocated for work and lived off a per diem. Fast food and eating every meal out for 2 months.
The other time was when I stopped working out regularly but kept eating the same.

Bj0223

married a military man and moved around a lot. I gained 15-20 pounds at every new base. I didn't know anyone and didn't get out much. I would say emotional eating, I missed my family and friends. 18 years later I found myself 80 pounds overweight.

However the last two years I have logged my food and added exercise and have lost almost 70 pounds!

Husband is 2 years from retirement and we are staying put in Tucson

brenn24179

neglectful parents, emotional eating when overtired or stressed at work. Food is like a drug to me like alcohol to an alcoholic, easier to eat than cope. Now trying to count calories and deal more with life, face it rather than run away and eat, run to the gym instead or some other exercise.

ckfox95

Honestly, I was so bad. I ate too much of whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Lots of eating out, lots of fried foods, beer, chocolate,etc. I would sit down in front of the TV and snack all day long.

jemhh

I became less active but didn't adjust my food intake downward when I was in my early-mid 20s. At a certain point I lost weight and then when I was very close to a healthy weight got pregnant. As much as I didn't like being fat, I wasn't uncomfortable enough to make any changes for a few years after that.

Devol82

Stopped being single lol then it was dates out to eat all the time, that started it, now when I am bored at work or tired I want to eat/snack all day, so I am working on fixing that issue.

devilwhiterose

My grandma died when I was around 17. I ate an XXL bag of m&ms in one day. That was my gateway drug. M&Ms.

From then on, it was cheetos and mountain dew. Add college and Monster energy drinks with a poor diet from working and going to school. Sprinkle in stress of work, a boyfriend, and never being home.

Move across the country with your spouse and those extra 20 pounds and end up having 2 pregnancies in 2 years (one of those being twins). Throw in having your combat military husband deploy 3 times in 4 years while raising 3 kids under three and working a fulltime job. Said spouse gets out of the military and has adaptation issues. Time goes by and the daily life is just one big balancing act.

I gained my weight from overeating, eating poorly, and stress.

justrollme

Chalk another one up for emotional eating. That and terrible preparation, especially with bringing meals to work--which I rarely did. Instead I'd buy something every day, sometimes thinking I was making good nutritional choices when that was not the case. So, I guess emotional eating + not mindful at all.

lauries8888

kshama2001 wrote: »

I especially like to weed or prune.

I read this (too quickly) as "I especially like weed" and I thought, yep, that will cause overeating...

MonkeyMel21

I didn't start gaining weight until 2008 when I got engaged and moved out of state, new job, new husband, new environment, didn't bother working out. We would get chocolate chip cookie dough and make fresh baked cookies with milk (full fat, his preference) 4 nights a week. Eat out wherever we wanted. No portion control whatsoever. That lasted from August till about November/December when I realized I had put on 15 lbs. So I started back at the gym and focused on calorie intake, lost a few pounds, then found out I was pregnant. High risk pregnancy, which means no working out at all. I gained 32 lbs in pregnancy, lost 16 within the first 6 weeks but due to breastfeeding I was constantly hungry and didn't lose anymore. I didn't go back to the gym due to being content just being a new mother/wife. 1 year post partum is when I really got back at it and it wasn't too hard to lose. But still after almost 6 years since having my son I haven't gotten back to my original weight before I moved here. Well, I might have gotten down to it once but I realized it's extremely hard for me to maintain at that weight, and totally not worth it at all. Also, I'm 30 now instead of 24, so that's a good enough excuse for me, for now, lol.

Shanel0916

Hello, my name is Shanel0916 and I'm a binge eater. I have always been overweight, ever since middle school I would come home after eating practically nothing all day and raid the fridge eating any and everything in sight. Now as an adult I eat during the day and have dinner but still find myself having late night binges. I have been despearately trying to control it I get it in check for a few days by always fall through eventually.

MonkeyMel21

lauries8888 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

I especially like to weed or prune.

I read this (too quickly) as "I especially like weed" and I thought, yep, that will cause overeating...

Oh, this too, I forgot to mention, lol. Hence the cookies every night.........

Liss812

A. Told myself that my medications would make me gain weight & believed it
B. Blamed it on pregnancy
C. Fell back into old E.D. habits
D. Paid WAY too much attention to exercise & not enough on my nutrition
E. My husband is a chef. A really amazing chef.

lemurcat12

justrollme wrote: »

Chalk another one up for emotional eating. That and terrible preparation, especially with bringing meals to work--which I rarely did. Instead I'd buy something every day, sometimes thinking I was making good nutritional choices when that was not the case. So, I guess emotional eating + not mindful at all.

Yeah, not being mindful was an issue for me too.

Also going from being really active to not active at all without adjusting.

mk2fit

I quit smoking and discovered the wonderful, tasty world of food. Oops, forgot about exercise to balance things out. I have learned my lesson.

jemhh

Francl27 wrote: »

If I wanted to eat something, I just ate it.. didn't matter what it was, if I was hungry or not, etc, etc. And I ate huge portions of stuff.

Ah yes. This too.

I had very bad habits when it came to not limiting my serving sizes. If we had some sort of treat in the house (e.g., cake, cookies, etc.) my view was "I'm going to eat it all anyway so why not eat it all tonight?" Complete lack of moderation. It didn't even have to be normal treat stuff. I would routinely put my daughter down for a nap and then eat an entire sleeve of saltine crackers smeared with butter. And then I might "hydrate" with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Hahahaboohoo.

Timshel_

Was very active up to when I got married, had kids, and got heavy into my career. Then no time for sports/working out and ate like crap. Pretty simple, and 10 years of that went by quick and I hit 225 pounds. Not too overweight, but not in shape.

About 5 years back though I decided enough was enough. I changed up my job, changed up my eating, and with the kids being older I was able to take time to focus on myself. It wasn't just my body, but I let my mind and my spiritualism slides as well. I worked very hard to find my center and ground myself.

Always ways to improve and be a better me, but I am very happy with my progress physically, mentally, and spiritually.

BurnWithBarn2015

I was always eating a lot!
Owned a business, had my own huge organic garden, chickens etc etc
No problem with the amount of food i ate.

Till the moment that i went from an athletic to totally sedentary.
Anger, denial, bored, depressed i kept on eating what i ate when i was very active....so put on the pounds.
Blamed life in general, so i had a good excuse right?

NOT.....i am back were i want to be in life...lost the weight and active again

My determination helped me and the fact i told myself "I have no excuses to not lose this weight and be again who i always was".

Amberonamission

Baby, stabbed in the eye, mom's murder. It was a rough 10 years.

PeachyCarol

Lots of factors started me on the road to eating too much, mostly emotional issues that began with some pretty heavy stuff in childhood.

However, even after unpacking a lot of that emotional baggage, I still had the habit of overeating, the bad eye for portions, and the entrenched denial about my own responsibility for my weight that I had to deal with.

stealthq

Shifted to a less active job and lifestyle, started eating out more, otherwise kept eating as I had been. Didn't watch my weight. Didn't think my change in clothing size was anything special because I shifted from more casual loose fitting clothes to more formal clothes for my job. Of course they'd be tighter (I thought).

Figured out there was an issue when I was having trouble fitting into formerly loose-fitting jeans.

PinkPixiexox

Lots and lots and lots of food! Chips, cake, HUGE portions. Don't get me wrong - enjoyed every second of it

My body didn't though!

bwogilvie

As a kid, I gained weight because I was bookish, mostly sedentary, and ate too much. I lost that weight in my 20s.

As an adult, I put on weight in my 30s because I got a new job with more hours and responsibilities, spent more time driving instead of walking, didn't make time to exercise, and yet kept eating as if I were walking for transportation and exercising three times a week.

marissafit06

Storting a new job and not exercising as much. I love sweets and always have, but I used to be a super active person and a desk job doesn't burn many calories. Also meeting my husband and eating with him too much.