anyone found the root cause of why you gain weight?

brenn24179

I am not sure of my root cause, hope some of ya can give me more insight into this. I guess mine is stress,boredom, toxic people, rainy days,sadness,happiness, who knows? I am trying to learn ways to comfort myself though and exercise helps a lot and disciplining myself to just don't do it and to love myself not do destructive things to myself like overeating. It could just be a bad habit and when I was a kid food was comforting and now I have to find other ways or maybe food taste good and I keep on. It seems some people have found the root cause, have you? heck, maybe we don't need to know just discipline ourself like overspending has its consequences so does overeating.

s_uhall

Eating too much (as in not a good selection and way too many calories)
Stress
Riding a desk for a solid 9 hours a day - as in I sit down and don't move except for an occasional bio break, driving an hour a day,
Having NO time to actually exercise much
Not getting sleep....
Injuries that precluded much serious exercise the past 13 months.

norcalskater

My root cause was eating without paying attention to calories and macro nutrients. I grew up eating whatever I wanted and I would never gain weight, I was very skinny. When I hit my early 20's that started to change and I became overweight. Now I can still eat whatever I want but I do it in a controlled manor. I've lost 15 lbs and now i'm where I want to be with my weight. The key really is to develop a lifestyle so you keep the weight off. Mine is tracking my food each day and exercising 6 days a week. I can do that the rest of my life. People jump on these exercise programs or whatever the new fad diet is then they lose weight then when they quit the program they gain it all back which is why I say developing a lifestyle change is how to maintain it.

nancybuss

I like food.

All the above reasons you mentioned.

Food doesn't have the immediate concequence of our healthy like not having any money in our wallet so its hard. We don't See what is happening inside. It takes committment to go with what you Know and keep it healthy with only occassional treats.

WBB55

For me, it seems like my root cause was laziness, denial and excuses.

Too lazy to cook. Too lazy to exercise. In denial about how many calories I ate. In denial about the harm I was doing to myself. Making excuses that "my whole family is fat, it's just destiny." Making excuses that "I don't have time" "I don't have the willpower" "I don't have a treadmill"

When really what it took me was deciding it was important, not making excuses, and being honest with myself about what I was putting into my body.

SezxyStef

The root cause of weight gain the same for everyone...more calories in than out.

The reason for that is different for everyone....mine was being lazy and loving to eat.

Momto4minions

Food!

I tend to munch without thinking. Logging is the best thing in the world for me. I would make a healthy lunch and then snack while making olates and still make a full plate for myself. If the kids snacked, I did too...

I just ate without thinking of what it was or why or when. I was often eating like my kids and well, I am not a growing kid, a teenage boy or nearly as active!

HikerRR50

Oreo's

BrotherBill913

Food. that's it. Period.........

techgal128

I gained weight with the help of two evils that when combined, caused chaos.

Stress and Taco Bell.

Not even kidding.

rbn_held

Eating to much and exercising to little

Elsie_Brownraisin

Medication and food. But pretty much entirely food.

DoctahJenn

I'm a sugar addict when I'm stressed, and since having my daughter, I'm always stressed. If she's not having a bad day, there are money issues, or family things, or my health. And when I'm stressed, I go right for the sugary foods because they give me a little boost of energy you can't get from a carrot.

Now of course I've found ways for quick energy that don't involve as much sugar, but it's still hard when I hit a bump in the road.

Routerninja

Desk jobs, video games and depression, oh, and being lazy. And eating more than an average family of 4.

AlysonG2

I just like food. Slightly emotional eater, but mostly, I just really like good food.

somefitsomefat

Justin Bieber made me do it.

UpEarly

Large portions, too many snacks.

Amandawith3kids

for me, it was not eating properly while pregnant, and then not knowing how to get it off, after a lifetime of eating what i wanted and being stick thin. then i had another baby, and compounded the issue, then a THIRD baby, and ending up with get. diabetes i didnt gain as much with him, along the way i also had a drop in activity when i became a sahm, i went from a very active job, walking miles (yes miles a day at work) to sitting on my butt all day, and somehow i got addicted to pop tart. ate almost nothing but poptarts for about 4 months. (wrecked my skin and OMG i put on like 30 pounds)

really though, i just never learned how to control my diet and what was good vs bad when i was younger, so the second i faced a challenge i didnt know what to do.

cwolfman13

Yeah...I used to be very active and involved in all kinds of sports and other activities. When i wasn't actually playing sports I was out on my bike, going for hikes, playing two hand touch in the park, playing frisbee golf with my buddies, shooting hoops, etc. I ate big and played big.

Then when I hit 30 I started a "real job" that had me sitting at a desk for 8-12 hours per day...I also traded in my bike for a car to get to and from work as it seemed more "professional". When I'd get off work I'd go home and plop my *kitten* down in front of the t.v. for a little more *kitten* sitting time. I didn't have time for sport and all of my friends were going in different directions with careers and families...no more Saturday afternoons playing frisbee golf for hours with the boys...I had household chores to take care of and a budding family. I often gave the excuse that I just didn't have time to get to the gym to workout...so I didn't. Basically I stopped moving...but I continued to consume food like I was training for the Olympics or something.

Basically, my activity level substantially decreased but my intake stayed the same.

mulecanter

I blame my mother.

beamer0821

thank you for this thread! i think its an area that people dont talk about enough! what is the real reason you are overweight? and its not b/c you love food so much.
for me this has taken years (and still working on it) to find that missing link of what causes me to make poor food choices for myself. with the help of a therapist im able to really manage this. and sometimes not, and thats ok too. i just keep working on it.

for me its when i get overwhelmed or anxious or hurt feelings, or some type of emotional need is not met. sometimes its not a matter of me finding something other than food to solve my problem, sometimes its just me recognizing the fact that im going through "something" in the first place and thats enough to deter me from making poor food choices.

if youve struggled with significant weight issues for many years i highly recommend a therapist. personally i believe when your are *in* it its hard to see it all a therapist can help.