How did you gain weight in the first place

Annabear3

I've always been heavy. I've never been thin my whole life. I just never did anything about it. I enjoy eating, love sweets, and am a couch potato champion. I'm done though, I just want to get fit and healthy. I can't wait to weigh less than my husband! It'll be the first time ever in our 18 years together.

Lizajayne23

A combo of drinking too many calories (sweet tea and several cups of sweetened coffee with cream), eating little but ridiculously bad foods, PCOS and then to top it off, my thyroid went bad and didn't get diagnosed for years so that added some, too. But mostly, it was the calories in drinks. I eat more now but much better foods when possible and other than a cup of my special coffee a day (2 if I earn it), I drink water with flavor drops. I also exercise 6 days a week now unless there is a good reason that I can't. I still have changes to work on and a way to go to reach my goal, but I'll just keep swimming. And now I have that stuck in my head... I love me some Nemo. lol

feedmedonuts

Taco Bell, vending machines, uncontrolled portions, sweet tea, Frappacinos, family didn't cook....almost NEVER, laziness, TV & video games vs. exercise, second lunches and dinners.......yep, aside from the fact that my parents didn't keep groceries around regularly and we relied on fast food, I can say it was all my own doing :P

SWWIS

My weight has swung multiple times in my life. The most recent major weight gain (which isn't that recent anymore) came during 2009 and 2010. In 2008 I was playing lacrosse at school, club soccer, and club volleyball (which wound up competing at a national level) and I had been losing a bunch of weight from that. Then at the end of 2008 I was playing varsity volleyball at school, still losing weight from that.

The year 2009 was the polar opposite. In January, my left knee locked out of nowhere, and from then on I was constantly in excruciating pain. Since I was so seriously involved in sports and I was only 14 at the time, surgeons were hesitant to do anything besides send me to physical therapy. Long story short, that made the problem worse, and I wound up having surgery at the end of April that year. I stopped going to PT days before my volleyball tryouts in the fall. I was horribly out of shape and had already gained some weight from that, and almost every athlete has trouble trusting a freshly repaired injury. On top of that... my right knee decided to do the EXACT same thing my left one did, mid-season. I just played through it since I knew my fate was already sealed. When we lost in the county semi-finals, I couldn't even walk and had to get carried to the bus. I had surgery done on my right knee just before Christmas '09, and didn't finish PT until May '10.

I couldn't tell you a number because back then I had no desire to know, but it was probably close to 60 pounds gained based on pictures. Between going from a ridiculously active lifestyle to a completely sedentary one overnight, dealing with the constant pain, and having one of the few things that truly made me happy (competitive sports) temporarily removed from my life, I was a depressed, angry teenager, and I ate my feelings away.

Now that I've been in college for two years I've shed some of the weight (at least visibly, I know I've put on some muscle too), I think I'm ready to finally start tracking my weight and make a serious effort to shed the rest of it. Carrying around the baggage of my knee surgeries is, ironically, bad for my knees and I need to do something about it.

Jim1960

Growing up I was VERY active and I was involved with competitive swimming. In my teenage years until around 17 I swam at least 2 hours a day - hard. I was on a Michael Phelps diet - I could eat anything and everything - sometimes around 10,000 calories a day - and not gain any bad weight. I was adding muscle and growing - I ended up at 6'2" and a very healthy and fairly muscular 180lbs.

Then I went to college in Computer science. I was still active; but no where near as much as when I was swimming. Couldn't afford my old diet so things stayed ok - but I put on a few pounds. But not bad.

Then I graduated and got a job. Now I could afford that 10,000 calorie eating habit from my youth. But I had lost the exercise habit and stayed pinned to a computer screen all the time. Not to mention the fact that I "needed" caffeine; and my preferred means of getting it was Mt Dew. While I really didn't eat 10,000 calories a day like I used to; I definitely ate alot. And the inevitable happened. I topped out at a touch over 400.

Leighsters

ate more than I burned.
any other excuse is bull****

kbeloved

started with the job at the ice cream store and would always take a bunch of ice cream home
then when i got fired from the ice cream store for giving out free ice cream i went to taco bell practically every night and drove instead of walked everywhere
and smoked a ton of pot....
then i got a desk job quit pot and didn't exercise whatsoever
80lbs and 5 years later.....

T1DCarnivoreRunner

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (not the same as type 2), and was underweight at the time. Back then, the treatment methods were not nearly as advanced as today. So the endocrinologist and CDE basically came up with insulin doses and food amounts (based on the no longer used exchange diet). I had to eat the same number of exchanges for each meal category (i.e. at the same times each day).

At first, it was tough to eat that much, and I was basically being told to "eat, eat, eat!" After a few months, it became easier as I gained weight and appetite. Within 1 year, I had doubled my weight. After a few years, I had gained so much weight that I developed type 2 diabetes as well. My appetite continued to increase, and I developed Hashimoto's disease (which is common for those of us with auto-immune disorders such as type 1 diabetes). Since I don't make amylin, I am not able to regulate digestion speed, which means that I can be hungry again shortly after eating.

Since type 1 diabetes treatment methods have improved to allow flexibility in meal times and amounts, I've eaten what I wanted and steadily gained weight. Whenever I tried to lose weight, I would end up with hypoglycemia... treatment for that means I have to eat more calories, which cancels out the benefits of exercise I would have just completed. I tried for years, on occasion, to lose weight and would always give up because it wasn't working. I have finally figured out how to very very very slowly lose weight safely, and that is what I'm doing now.

horsehockey

Years of inattentiveness + a desk job, and the weight slowly just packed on. There's more to it than that of course, but that's the general story .

Hybrice

Wow that's a hard one....erm I think for me it began in Uni, final year. The majority of which was spent in my room or in the lab on my *kitten* doing very little other than revising/working. I fueled these stints on energy drink and often (and I mean OFTEN) partook of convenience/fast food because I simply didn't want to waste time cooking etc. During my spare time I'd sit and play games at my computer.

That kind of followed on from there, once I got a job it was working at a desk, I'd go home by bus, sit at a desk, eat poor food and game. Then I met my girlfriend and a year later we had a baby, which led to more restless nights, energy drinks and convenience food.

Only now am I doing anything about it, now she is older and sleeps through the nights!

AmZam05

I've always been big and I thought it was all determined by genetics, so I didn't bother with being active or eating healthy. I grew up with access to junk food and I always just ate whatever I wanted for my entire life.

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JeralynSh

I got a disease called CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/reflex_sympathetic_dystrophy/detail_reflex_sympathetic_dystrophy.htm

I'm currently going into remission, but the medication packed on weight. I'd been slowly getting heavier anyway, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back, and it really pushed me up. It didn't affect my health otherwise and my legs were fine. So, with my physiatrist's and occupation & physical therapists okay, I started running.

Well, not only did I lose weight, but I was able to get off one of my meds. And all my doctors think that the exercise has been helping me go into remission.

Glossysweets

Pregnancy.

I've always been a snacker but with all my exercise and such I was always able to maintain. If I gained a couple of pounds then I would just eat a little less and snack a little less and then keep working out. But since pregnancy I lost quite a bit of it but am still holding onto some of my pregnancy weight over two years after the baby. I'm definitely not gaining but either maintain or lose very slowly if I don't watch my food intake (especially snacks).

nesto610

I went on a bulking cycle for about 15 years and forgot to lift heavy weights.....

LHudson53

I work from home and sit in my office all day. I don't exercise. I love to eat. That's my magical trifecta to being obese!!!

At various times I have worked at it and taken the weight off, but I always seemed to go back to old habits and end up weighing more than ever.

Now that I am 60 years old, I realize that I am actually living my life towards an early grave. So I have snapped out of it, and although I still work from home and sit in my office, I am moving more...exercising more...cutting out junk food and eating healthy. Drinking water instead of diet soda. Making myself accountable for my own actions.

Time will tell, but I finally think I have it right. Just started back on MFP yesterday so I can't get all flag wavy, but I have a lot more self-realization now than I did before, so I think I just might succeed.

salenar2014

I kid you not I have ALWAYS been big! I came into this world big I stayed big during my childhood. My mother was and still is obsessed with every diet fad out there and made me her diet partner at age 10. I was on a 1600 calorie diet with food journals and all kind of restrictions. I also played basketball and volleyball since the 2nd grade and even was a stunt person in high school lifting 90- 120lb girls alone. STILL heavy! My parents never bothered to take me to the dr and just told me I was eating "sugary" vegetables like green beans and thats why i was fat! The healthiest weight was when i was hiding a teen pregnancy and the year after that. But then i was told my thyroid was slow so i was put on some pills and then the weight came back. Even now that i DILIGENTLY weigh my food and measure calories burned my weight will not move. My dr now refuses to do anything to help with my weightloss because i dont fall in the morbidly obese category (even though my BMI is like 2 points away). My health has always been fine no diabetes, or heart issues even though it runs rampant in my family and I still enjoy the high i get from exercising so really all I can do is keep at it and hope for a change in my genetics lol (all i can do is laugh about it or else id cry everyday)

likehemingway

Break of my five year relationship, and I quit being vegan and went crazy on mac and cheese.

Sharon_C

I ate too much and I didn't exercise enough

Bostonsoul

I was kicked out of college, too much Sigma Chi, not enough class. I had no skills to speak of except that I was funny and had a great radio voice so I did stand up comedy and radio for a while...well, I never paid for drinks, food..drugs...nothing...and after a while that piled on to the tune of 100 pounds. Once I grew up and decided I needed to do more in life, I went back to school and eventually started losing the weight. I have 30 maybe 40 pounds left to lose and am on track to be there by December hopefully, and wound up getting an MBA so all things considered, I'm doing ok now.

Siannah

No excuses, I just ate too much.

Maggies90

I got a BF :laugh:

dpwellman

Two Ds: Depression and Denial

Depression - didn't care what was happening
Denial - refused to believe what was happening was a big deal

Case and point: I thought half a box of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls and pint of milk was an ok snack.

accelerashawn

I brought my horrible eating habits from highschool to college...and then from college to the desk job.

Two SEC Croissants, Triple whoppers and 3 helpings of meatsauce spaghetti don't do much when you run around school all day carrying a 45lb bookbag, then go to tennis practice where I'd run around campus 2mi then do a series of drills for an hour or so...then go to soccer practice and run around for another hour...then go home to play street basketball with the neighbors.

Buffet breakfast, class, buffet lunch, class, AIM, internet, alcohol, taco bell, bed.... There's a good start to the weight gain. Freshman 35 anyone?

Fast food breakfast, fast food lunch, big dinner + no activity = first few years of professional career...That solidified the weight gain.

Pictures of myself at 240...start the reversal process.

BlueBombers

Ate way too much and sat on my azz all day long.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

I have PCOS, a thyroid condition, metabolic syndrome, depression, insulin resistance, gained weight during my pregnancy, just went through a breakup, can't afford to eat healthy, don't have time to exercise, and work a desk job.

All those things but in no way is it because I eat too much.

I'm guessing there is some sarcasm there. I'm not going to pretend that I couldn't have made some better choices, but there have been a lot of times when I had to eat something or I would have a seizure and perhaps even die. If you have never tested your blood sugar to find it read 20, then you really don't know what I mean and shouldn't even go there.

I was just looking at a report yesterday that showed I've tested with low blood sugars 40 times in the prior 7 days. I have to eat carbs when that happens. For people who have no medical issues and can lose weight really fast and safely, great! Just don't knock those of us who have legitimate medical challenges that cause difficulty for weight loss. We are on this site because we are making an effort. Just because my efforts don't provide the same rate of return as yours doesn't mean that it is because I "eat too much."

ashm233

I like food. And it's hard finding time/energy to work it off.

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enterdanger

I quit smoking at 29 and gained 50+ lbs. Then I got all happy and married and turned 30 the following year. Happiness = fatness for me. Then I had 2 kids. I've just gotten back to pre-kids weight. Now I have to get to pre quitting smoking weight.

Guess I replaced a vice with another vice.

Meerataila

Most of my adult life I gained back weight just by eating what tasted good and not paying attention to nutrition and ignoring the scale and upward expanding clothing sizes.

But this last time was different. This last time I decided life sucked and started digging my grave with a spoon. Not sure what snapped me out of it. Maybe it was taking too long.