What did you eat to get heavy?

MelaniaMadison

A lot of weight loss forums/success stories focus on what to eat to lose weight. But I'd like to switch it up and talk about what people ate to get to their heaviest? And how did they change that and what is different now? I've noticed on weightloss shows they often show overweight people, pre-diet, gorging on junk. I know that for me, it wasnt so simple.

How I gained:
For me, I got into a bad habit of eating exclusively restaurant foods with hidden fats and calories. Id always skip breakfast then order a salad, but it'd be loaded with cheese, fried chicken, buttered croutons, etc. I would fluctuate between starving and stuffed. I noticed high fat foods put weight on me moreso than say, starches like bread and pasta. I ate a lot of desserts too. I was never a binger or a snacker, I just ate the wrong foods and was def guilty of waiting too long between meals- then Id make the wrong choices.


How I lose:
Well, I just started but Ive completely changed everything. FIrst of all I try to eat "clean"- meaning mostly whole organic food fresh food. Nothing in a bag..For example, I eat fresh cucumber salads w lemon & sumac with bit of hummus. But I dont buy pre packaged hummus. That stuff has so many preservatives in it. Real hummus has a shelf life of only 1-2days in the fridge. I try to do as much plant based eating as possible- green salads with lemon and olive oil, brown rice in squash, with 2-3 oz of fresh animal protein at each meal. I eat grains like rice or a slice of homemade bread. I really steer clear of pre packaged food. I avoid restaurant food I think its all bad.

I always eat breakfast. Ive learned I can not do a grain or fruit based breakfast. Some people do smoothies in the morning. I actually do smoothies for dessert sometimes, only a few ounces 1/day but it cures any sugar craving and is full of fiber. I add spinach and some chia seeds too.

For breakfast I have the same thing everyday bc its easy: whole wheat organic lavash + raw spinach+ egg whites+ 1slice cheddar (my only dairy), and fresh avacado. I get so much energy and I find that I never get too hungry so when lunchtime arrives I dont overeat or choose the wrong thing. Breakfast is sooo important to me.

I eat 3 meals/day one snack (smoothie). I used to skip meals all the time which lead to crazy appetite swings and inadvertant overeating and poor food choices and sugar cravings. I always drank a lot of water, but now I exclusively drink water and nothing else. Before, I drank a ton of diet coke.

queenbekks

Pizza and wine! With a side of pizza and wine! Eating out is definitely what got me here, too. Its just so darn convenient!

kalisk

Honestly I ate all the same stuff I do now, just a lot more of it and a lot more often.

Sreneesa

Too much daily wine.

And I liked burger and fries and ranch. So I would eat burger, fries and ranch most days.

High calories. Not necessarily overeating for me...that with several glasses of wine. lol

runningagainstmyself

I ate all the things. 'Nuff said.

Deborah105

For me it was fast food and junk. Junk junk junk. Love my Doritos the damn things. And I USED to love quarter pounders. Luckily, fast food is heinous-tasting to me these days, but those Doritos, even though they always give me a tummy ache the 3-4 times I eat them a year, still sing to me.

You did not ask for a critique of your food plan, which is fantastic, but my unsolicited advice would be to eat the yolks in those eggs. That fat is so good for you and the nutrients are in there as well. JMHO.

Carry on with your plan. BTW - you rock that bathing suit! Lovely!

tanashai

How I gained:

Slowly for me too. I got the 'freshman 15' and then was preggers straight after graduating. I actually lost some there (morning sickness) and then when I gave birth and had the kiddo to take care of, I wasn't sleeping right so I snacked a lot, stress ate, and generally ate too much crap. Ladle on some depression (I didn't even REALIZE I was depressed, but looking back, I really was), a healthy dose of denial and sheer laziness and voila-200 lbs on a 5'7" frame. I just ate too much!

How I lost:

Ate less and tracked it. Nothing was cut out per se-I certainly still eat pizza, chocolate and ice cream and the occasional alcoholic beverage, but I ate less of it and told myself that those treats would still be there later. Over 60lbs later, I'm trying to keep that mentality even though I'm now maintaining That's kinda tricky, lol. I drink a lot of water too, almost no juice (other than occasionally ice tea) and only rarely drink soda. And I get out to exercise more.

Nikoruo

Well. I was fat to begin with. Always was a big gal. Born big, grew big, and grew bigger. hahaha.

Eating unhealthy sure didn't help but it wasn't the only thing that made me so big.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

To gain weight I just ate a little too much and moved a little too little over the years. My weight crept up gradually.

To lose I ate smaller portions. That's it. I didn't do anything that I couldn't do forever. Now I lift weights, walk a lot, hit my macros, and try to get plenty of veggies.

Elsie_Brownraisin

Lots of booze, crisps. chips, cheese and pretty much what I eat now, but portion sizes to feed 3 :embarassed:

cadaver0usb0nes

Too much fast food and not enough home cooked meals.

emilyisbonkers

a lot of alcohol, flavoured cider being the worst.. Crisps all the time.. doritoes covered in cheese and then melted.. kfc, greggs, bread

litsy3

Too many starchy carbs - I still eat them now but when I lost the weight I took a break from them for a while, long enough to totally change my idea of what counts as a portion size. I used to think the recommended serving of pasta on the packet was a joke because I could easily eat at least twice that much. Now I think it's a normal serving and possibly even slightly more than I want because I'm short. I stopped building my meals around starches and started building them around protein instead.

lewispwest

Just before I started MFP I kept buying own brand chocolate bars you can get in like 8 packs such as milky ways, mars bars and twixes and just grabbing two or three at a time and chowing down. Add that to constant takeaways, fizzy drinks and no exercise over a good few years and that's how I got so bad.

PonderinGal

Everything.

tiffanycherie

Eating out too much.
Not paying attention to calories and portion sizes. Once I started logging my food I realize how little attention I paid to this
Waiting too long to eat and then devouring everything in site
Being lazy, not moving my butt

aalbert_82

I was slim until age 14/15 (mid 90's) when bagels were all the rage. Unfortunately this was also during the low fat craze. I didn't even know what a calorie was but I was counting fat grams. I used to eat three bagels a day as snacks, between meals, because they only had two grams of fat. As I got older I became a lot more educated about nutrition. I no longer followed fads, but portion sizes became my issue.

MelaniaMadison

For me it was fast food and junk. Junk junk junk. Love my Doritos the damn things. And I USED to love quarter pounders. Luckily, fast food is heinous-tasting to me these days, but those Doritos, even though they always give me a tummy ache the 3-4 times I eat them a year, still sing to me.

You did not ask for a critique of your food plan, which is fantastic, but my unsolicited advice would be to eat the yolks in those eggs. That fat is so good for you and the nutrients are in there as well. JMHO.

Carry on with your plan. BTW - you rock that bathing suit! Lovely!

thx beauty!
I avoid the yolks only bc I dont like the taste. Thats why I add the avacado, for the fat. But I agree with you, yolks are our friends too

DancingMoosie

I think my weight gain was a combination of not enough exercise/no strength training, and bad food choices. I drank too much alcohol, which also led to snacking. I had a bad habit of eating rolls of saltines with slices of cheese, large bread rolls (bolillos) with butter at dinner, chips without portion control, and heavy lunches followed with snacks.

I exercise more and smarter now (incorporating circuits, weights, cardio and HIIT) and make slightly better food choices. I still eat snacks and sweets, but my portions are better and alcohol consumption is way down. I also don't let little mistakes derail my day or week.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

I ate all the food, all the time. I did not discriminate.