What triggered your weight gain?

stephanj · July 2013

Sperm.
:devil:

ohheyitsfelicity · July 2013

The stress of starting college, all my friends constantly going out for meals and deciding to join them, switching birth controls, getting "comfortable" in a relationship. Now that I'm going into my 3rd year of college and broke up with my boyfriend, I've decided that I desperately need to lose the 40 pounds I gained.

melissarae27 · July 2013

Alright... bring on the crazy vegans.

I gained weight after deciding to go vegetarian. The first few months I did it I relied much on pasta and I gained 30 pounds in the first 6 months. I soon figured out how to do it the "right" way and got as balanced as I could... but that weight didn't budge for 5 years. I followed Happy Herbivore to an absolute T... and I gained!

I've gone back to eating meat (organic locally grown so calm yourselves, vegans) and didn't realize how crappy I felt as a vegetarian. It just isn't for me. The weight is now coming off and I feel human again!

Healingnutritionsolutions · July 2013

I moved to the southern US in my early 30s to marry a southern boy - but I grew up eating mostly organic, natural and "hippy" foods... My body couldn't take the dietary changes... I shouldn't have made em! in ten years and with 2 pregnancies in there - I gained and kept a total of 60 pounds and didn't even realize it. Beating it back now! Great thread - gets ya thinking!

92joann · July 2013

Pregnancy, then comfort eating afterwards. My son has special needs so the first year of his life, I was a single parent and it was really stressful. Not to mention I was only 18 at the time and I couldn't cope very well with the stress so turned to food. We only got a diagnosis a month before he turned two, which was two months ago. Since then I've been able to lose weight because I'm not blaming it all on me being a bad parent, so I feel happier. Still gets difficult at times and comfort eat because he is 2 yet can't walk or talk so I feel really guilty (he has a genetic disorder that affects boys but he inherited it from me).

hep26000 · July 2013

Didn't know how to eat right. I could eat whatever I wanted and wouldn't gain a thing. Then I got pregnant at 19 and gained 70lbs. I was so big. I almost lost all that weight and then miscarried while trying to workout so I wouldn't get so big with that pregnancy. When I got pregnant again I decided not to lift a finger unless I had to. I gained probably 60lbs or so. I'm trying to lose that now. I am 185 and my goal is 165 (I'm 5'11")

Between having kids (they are spaced out 8 years) my husband deployed a lot and it was easier to get some drive thru after working all day to feed us instead of cooking.

smantha32 · July 2013

35 years of emotional eating. I probably lost and regained the same 40 pounds half a dozen times.

It took me forever to figure out my triggers to over eat. Now that I have, I still give in to them now and then, but not enough to totally derail myself. Now I'm going through cycles of maintaining and alternately trying to get the last of the weight off. No gaining though. Yay me!

smantha32 · July 2013

I moved to the USA, celebrated with my husband with lots of date nights that we couldn't have when we were apart (cue Cheesecake Factory anyone!?)

I think Cheesecake Factory and Chili's are the two most fattening restaurants in the entire USA.

quicklabs · July 2013

Work stress leading me to self-soothe with food and booze. Poor sleep. Arthritis in back, neck and both knees that limited exercise.

cwolfman13 · July 2013

No trigger. I was always very active...I grew up playing numerous sports and was a pretty decent athlete. After high school I went into the military as was very active there as well. When I got out I moved back home and started school and then a desk job, etc. I became less and less active as those years went by while continuing to eat like I was working it in the gym. 15 years later I had put on about 55-60 Lbs.

mgirard447 · July 2013

Stressful past relationship
Eating too much and stuff that wasn't even good - a lot of deep fried with the ex
University

blessedmomof3girls · July 2013

Getting pregnant twice in one year (my kids are 11mo4days apart). I had quit smoking and had food to mouth disease. I just took for granted always being 'skinny'. I didn't think after 1 child and staying within a minimum without difficulty I could do it again. Only problem is I was 7 years older, and didn't do anything to increase my activity (hard with 2 babies anyway lol). Had PPD really bad after baby #3, started taking medications to deal with the depression and those helped me gain weight as well as increase my appetite. Kind of slippery slope from there. Never really ever dieted or exercised so I didn't even know where to start. About 8 mo after I had my daughter I did lose weight successfully, but didn't have a healthy enough relationship with food to continue to keep it off. I went 'maintenance' which ended up being disastrous. After several binges with food over the last couple of years I finally decided I was back in a place to start my journey all over again. Right now i am trying hard to diet and exercise, and to heal my relationship with myself and food. With 3 beautiful kids, I've had to learn to put myself first sometimes.

sunshyncatra · July 2013

Food and poor food choices.

branbury · July 2013

Pregnancies, starches, sweets. Eating without thinking. Thyroid and insulin resistance >> metabolic syndrome >> weight gain >> fatty liver disease.

Chelz2013 · July 2013

I was always overweight as a kid. I know I was overweight even in the 4th grade. Around 10, I had a medical condition where I was on steroids (Prednisone) for about a year, so I gained a lot at that age. My stepdad was a cook. When we ate broccoli, it was served with mayonnaise for dipping. Brussel sprouts were slathered in butter. As an adult, I guess I didn't know proper nutrition, was never active (even as a teen) and had little desire to be active. I'd also say I'm a mindless eater and a stress eater. At 35, the medical condition resurfaced and I was on steroids again for a year. Then I got pregnant 2 years after I was all better from that 2nd round. I always seemed to gain 5lbs every year, which didn't seem like much at the time, but obviously adds up over the years. I can't remember how old I was when I last weighed under 200lbs. If I had to guess, I'd say when I was 22-24.

My highest weight, that I'm aware of, was 282 when I was about to give birth to my son. I know I gained 34lbs while pregnant.

I can't ever say I've been happy being overweight. I also can't say what "clicked" this time, but I feel so much more motivated to be active and work on my eating habits and watching my calories and it doesn't feel like a CHORE this time. It feels like a natural progression and that this is it. This is the time I lose the weight, get healthy, and be active. From this year forward.

Good luck to everyone!

ehilario13 · July 2013

Emotions.
Boredom.

I have been overweight since I was 2 though, so it's been 20 years of the above things causing me to over eat.

WilmaDennis91 · July 2013

I've always been involved in sports, but still stayed stable until after high school, I got to college, whenever cheerleading season finishes, I'll still eat like I was still in cheerleading cuz I burn so much that I pretty much eat anything without gaining. So I always work out hard in the summer but now I have to really maintain my weight.

KiwiJewels · July 2013

Was always skinny as a kid (you know the nicknames!), and was fine right up until my late 20's when I had my daughter... even managed to lose post baby weight by breast feeding and then I think it was a little bit of everything... getting older and metabolism changing, not ever having had to watch my weight before so not in the habit of watching what I ate, change of lifestyle (which included being a stay-at-home single parent) and eating patterns, and before you know it... you've overweight! Remember my mum saying "I never thought you'd have a weight problem" - thanks mum!! haha I can also remember getting on the scales every now and again, and I kept thinking "surely the numbers won't keep going up, surely it will just plateau at some point..." and by the time I realised it COULD keep going up, I was over 90 kgs! Sadly it is your life style that you need to change, and permanently... once you have them, those nasty little fat cells are just ITCHING to be filled back up again! Am on my 3rd time of doing this, but this time will do it without the help of Jenny Craig. JC works beautifully, but isn't quite enough real life for me - I can usually do well for a year or two afterwards, then I get tired, and I get lazy, and the food is there so I just eat it! Doesn't help having a daughter that is naturally slender who is eager for me to buy us both "treats" LOL I tell her that it's better to get into good habits now when you don't need to, then to have to change bad habits later when you have to! No one is immune, it can happen to any one of us, no matter what size we were when we were younger!

TheDoctorDana · July 2013

Car accident. My husband and I used to ball room dance. I loved it so much. The accident hurt my back and triggered Fibromyalgia. It hurt too bad and it broke me. Food made me happy. Now here I am.....

TheCaren · July 2013

Piss poor eating habits.

Lalasharni · July 2013

Greed. Plain and simple.

jenswan70 · July 2013

Pregnancy and depression. I went into a major depression while pregnant and didn't care about or even have the energy to do anything. I maintained a heavy but steady weight for 20 years and just couldn't care enough to do anything about it. Until, my son's weight ballooned up. He was an adult still living at home, so I took control of his home eating habits and in the process changed my own.