People who used be thin VS ppl who were always overweight

TaneeisFitforLife

Slow is better than not losing or gaining, right?

AmberMagdalena

Very true Taneeis!

WarmDontBurn

I was always skinny and got teased and bugged constantly. When I was married and we started trying to conceive I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism, once on meds I gained about 10lbs which wasn't a huge deal since even looking back I looked too sickly. Once I had children it all went downhill. I gained almost 40lbs with each pregnancy and since I was naturally skinny before (no diet/exercise) I had no idea what the heck to do. I have never watched what I ate or exercised on a daily basis before so it was all new territory.

Maybe knowing you were once skinny and wanting to get there again motivates you more then something you have never known? I know when I had a bunch of weight to lose I tried to tell myself I was comfortable with the weight I was at and at times I was but then I saw a pic of new me and old me and knew I had to change!

jodie_t

A lot of truth in all these.. and I should add you change in different ways as you go through life. I had no more than the usual probs keeping my weight in hand even after 3 kids, there was a line I wouldn't allow myself to cross, so would have to diet from time to time. Then I hit the menopause and now I'm finding it all but impossible! hormones changes make it a very different game.

fitnesspirateninja

I have always been up and down weight-wise. I was a very skinny kid, heavy in middle school, thin again in high school, heavy in college, and then have gone up and down in the past ten years. For me personally, my weight gain is always tied into stress and emotional eating. If I track my food and exercise, I lose weight. The biggest obstacle I need to overcome is my depression and anxiety - if I'm not doing well emotionally, I can't take care of myself physically. And if I'm taking care of my body, my mind does so much better. So I know that I need to take care of both my body and mind. If I start to slip with one, the other will start to slip as well.

Grokette

Is it just me or does it seem like people who used to be average weight have an easier time losing weight than someone like myself who has been overweight/obese my whole life? Just a thought....

No, that is definitely not true............

I was 125 pounds when I first met my husband 16 years ago. Weight loss for me is very slow now days due to thyroid and other hormonal issues that I am working on fixing.

kelly_a

I have always been up and down weight-wise. I was a very skinny kid, heavy in middle school, thin again in high school, heavy in college, and then have gone up and down in the past ten years. For me personally, my weight gain is always tied into stress and emotional eating. If I track my food and exercise, I lose weight. The biggest obstacle I need to overcome is my depression and anxiety - if I'm not doing well emotionally, I can't take care of myself physically. And if I'm taking care of my body, my mind does so much better. So I know that I need to take care of both my body and mind. If I start to slip with one, the other will start to slip as well.

this is me...I was always at a healthy weight as a child/teenager/young adult/ college/marriage/working a full time job/lost all but 15 after having 2 large babies. Then about age 28 emotional eating was in control. Changed jobs which allowed me to be home more and around food more. So, for the last 15 yrs I have done a lot of yo-yoing. I can lose the wt, but I have to be in the right mindset...which for some reason is usually consistent 3-4 mos a year...and never the same time each year. My longest 'healthy' stretch was about 8 mos. I sometimes wonder if I might be suffering from ADD ( my youngest son has it ) I know if I am not in the 'don't care about me' funk, I do well. There are times I feel so in control, almost obsessive then then there are times where I am out of control. Moods are high and low...no balance. It's a nasty roller coaster, and my body has definitely been affected. It is harder to lose wt at 40 than 30. If I log my food and follow it, and get exercise in, I have results. But if my mind isn't in it, all the hard work during those 3-4 mos is lost. And then, I just wait ( it can be months ) for that moment when I 'click' again, back to where I want to be and what I want to be doing. I have never been able to STAY there.

ItsCasey

This is such a paradox. I've been at least somewhat overweight my whole life but not always fat. I never categorized myself as "fat" until I was around 22, and I got progressively fatter over the next 4 or 5 years. Now, at 28, I'm smaller and in better shape than I've been since I was 16. The hardest thing for me about this process has been mental ... just the act of re-dedicating myself to making good decisions every day when I wake up. Now, it's a habit, and I don't have to think about it as much.

My older brother was a very skinny child. He started to fill out in college, and after he got married, he really started to put on weight. It's gotten out of control over the past year. I would estimate that he's at least 80 lbs overweight, and he has a hard time admitting it to himself. I think it's because he never had this problem before. He could eat whatever he wanted and not gain an ounce. He still eats the way he always ate, and because he never gained weight before, he isn't getting the picture that his diet does not work for him anymore. I don't think he associates the way he eats with his weight gain.

So I think both categories of people have difficulties, just in different ways. I think it's probably harder for people who have always been overweight to actually get through the process of losing the weight. But it may be harder for people who have always been thin to get into the right frame of mind about STARTING the process of losing weight because they have never had to confront the reality of being overweight.

CGerman

Losing weight is a huge mental game & no matter what you were before it comes down to how ready you are now.

I absolutely agree! I think until you're mentally ready it will be a constant struggle. I was a healthly weight until I got married and had kids, then I just got plain lazy and ate like crap. I'm determined to look and feel the way I did when I got married. Honestly, it's been easier than I thought to lose the weight so far (knock on wood), but I think it has more to do with my stubborn persistance than anything.

HealthyChanges2010

bump to comment later

ginnyroxx

I'm on the fence here. I definitely see how genetics plays a factor.
I used to be thin, but gained a lot of weight after my 1st husband died. It's been almost 12 years and it's still a struggle to fight the demons that cause me to turn to food when things are stressful, or when i'm feeling sad.
I can promise you, any weight loss i've had has been hard work both physically and mentally.

ItsCasey

Other than hypothyroidism and body type, I don't think genetics is nearly as big of an issue with obesity as people make it out to be. I know genetic studies have been done to show that there is a hereditary factor to it, but the fact that your weight is so easily changed (relative to something like height anyway) tells me that genetics cannot play that big of a role. I think genetics plays a factor in where you accumulate body fat (butt, hips, thighs, stomach, etc.), and I think there is some truth to the notion that basic metabolism is genetic. I just think that diet and fitness level are far more responsible for your weight than anything else. How else can you explain the astounding increase in the percentage of Americans who are obese now as compared to 40 or 50 years ago?