What made you fat?

DTigger60 · February 2019

me...I made me fat... using food for comfort and as a means to escape... how's that for taking ownership?

middlehaitch · February 2019

It was the dust hippos under the bed. They came out every night, collected crumbs from around the house, then stuffed them down my gullet while I was sleeping.

Once I discovered what was happening I gathered all the dust hippos up and set them free.

They are now living happily with the dryer lint and stray socks.

Cheers, h.

seltzermint555 · February 2019

zeejane03 wrote: »

I gained weight by not understanding how CICO worked-had no clue what a calorie was, no idea there was such a thing as portion sizes etc.

Lost the extra weight by learning how CICO works, learning what calories are and then learning what portion sizes are.

All of this is kind of the case for me as well. I really did NOT understand about calories. I made a lot of weird assumptions about food being "bad" or "good" without ever truly examining the calories or other factors (like fat, sodium, carbs, etc).

I thought eating "healthy food" was enough and boy did I have a lot of surprises once I finally discovered calorie counting. I used to eat a big bowl of shredded mini wheats with 2% milk and 8 oz. of orange juice thinking that was a good choice. Not that those things are bad but it was probably close to 600 calories. I didn't even like cereal and would have been WAY happier with all of my current breakfasts that are around 200 calories and involve things like waffles and scrambled eggs and yogurt with fruit. Mindblowing.

cwolfman13 · February 2019

When I was 30 I went from being a very active college student who didn't own a car and walked and biked everywhere to a guy working a desk job in an office 10-12 hours per day and commuting by car who did little in the way of deliberate exercise.

jlynnm70 · February 2019

Obviously - eating more than I was expending.....

In general tho - I've always struggled with that few pounds (like maybe 10) After I had kids - I gained and lost - but got out of shape - in my early 30s I was probably in the best shape of my life (karate, roller skating, didn't drink).....Then I got divorced, new relationship -then I got pregnant, quit working out - and married a chef - so I ate a lot of rich foods and learned to love wine. Had a rough marriage - ate my feelings - drank my feelings and tried to keep up with what he drank (went from a glass of wine a night to a bottle! - and like every single night - worse on the weekends) Lost the ability to moderate my crap food intake (a whole bag of chips instead of a portion - 20 candy kisses instead of 3-4) - and ate more crap than healthy all the time, along with a sedentary job and no exercise. (so a whole bag of chips every day - or a couple candy bars - EVERY day). Lost about 17# maybe a year ago (last winter) as I wanted to look better for my daughter's wedding - didn't lose as much as I wanted - but it was a start....Moved out into my own apartment last Nov and am learning to make adjustments and take ownership of my own issues (food/exercise among other issues -like debt and depression) Trying to make changes slowly so they stick this time and have a goal to lose abt 15-20# (more on how I look and feel - but you gotta have a goal! - Which is to get into an old pair of jeans I've kept!)

WayLessWendy · February 2019

Kids. And not in the I just had them and didn't lose the weight. Before kids I liked to walk around the neighborhood for hours. I never counted how many miles I walked or exact times but it would be for at least two hours a day twice day. Most days...something like that. After kids I couldn't just walk aimlessly anymore, I had to take care of them, so my walking stopped but my eating habits didn't change.

StormToday · February 2019

It was all my fault but...

I got pregnant at 17 I was 135lbs and was pretty active. I graduated at 5 months pregnant and was all of a sudden not active anymore since I wasn't in school and I ate low calorie while in school but I began to indulge and ended up 190lbs pregnant.

I never did much about it. I got pregnant again at age 23 after having my second I was only 6lbs over what I started my pregnancy at so I was 176.

I breastfed which made me so hungry all the time and I wasn't active.

I saw a photo of myself and couldn't believe how big I had gotten.

Once I stopped breastfeeding I changed my life and lost 50lbs and got to 125 but that was too much to maintain so I gained 5lbs back and was perfect.

Then I got pregnant again at age 27 and I didn't want to gain too much again BUT...

Everytime I exercised I would start cramping really bad and after having 3 miscarriages that scared me so much. I stopped working out completely and slept a lot because I work nights I was exhausted. I was also constantly worried of another miscarriage so all that I gained 35lbs at the end of my pregnancy.

I was 165 after having my son I dropped down to 150 but breastfeeding and not exercising I was eating A LOT and gained it all back.

I just stopped breastfeeding and have dropped down to 150lbs.

20 more to go and this time I'm keeping it off.

atgnat1 · February 2019

I just grew up eating too much. The same portions as my older brother and sugary sodas at school and no one thought anything about it. I'm not blaming my parents, it was a pretty traditional family and my mom cooked awesome and nutritious food every day while my dad worked (stay at home moms were phasing out by then but she was blind), but I think in part due to my mom's disability I got used to thinking of a pretty sedentary lifestyle as normal, and being way into reading growing up I was fine with sitting in my air conditioned room instead of going outside where the heat and mosquitos were.

I tried to lose weight even then and so did my mom but it's incredible how much more I know now about how that all works. There wasn't nearly the same kind of information available even when the internet started becoming a thing. I used to think for instance that a 'real' meal had to include a starch, a protein and a vegetable in equal measures, because that's what I grew up on.

teahlee123 · February 2019

Being depressed from a personal loss and injury. I was a person who channeled my emotions through exercise, but then I lost that ability for a full year of being on and off crutches and having restrictions to exercise. Food was my substitute and now I am paying for it.

nygr8guy · February 2019

Stress eating, not being mindful about what I was eating, no tracking. All of this combined with dieting for a lifetime, only to yo-yo and have to do it all over again.

grimendale · February 2019

Stress snacking. I had a very bad habit of stopping at the gas station on the way home from work on stressful days (which was almost every day) and picking up around 1200 empty calories. Cutting that out and getting back on into my running groove has helped immensely.

blobby10 · February 2019

I am fatter than I was because I am less active. I no longer walk the dogs (both were pts last year) or play and coach rugby, or go running. I do work much harder in the gym at lifting and believe that I am stronger but I have not moderated my eating enough to take into account my less active lifestyle. And I don't think I am prepared to do that so will stay, forever, about 20lbs over my ideal weight. I have been for the last 35 years (I'm 50 soon!) and have always been fatter than I should have been according to the charts but at 5ft 9 I've got away with it..