how did you get fat?

dlvetter

I like to watch the biggest loser on Tuesdays and the trainers always try to get to the mental/emotional part of why the contestants are overweight. I struggle with this part because i have never been someone that likes to talk about my feeling. My family contributes my being overweight to the fact that my sister died when i was in the 3rd grade. I do believe that i eat to comfort myself. my thing is how to i overcome this feeling. My dad died almost four years ago, after his death i let myself go even further to the point where i was 340 pounds. This last year I worked hard trying to eat right and exercise and i lost 50lbs since then however i have gained 20 back. I have started today on my journey to a healthy weight and would appreciate any accountability that i can get.

heatypablo

Well, I would like to blame genetics since my mother and sister are so THIN... but that's not true. Lack of exercise and lack of healthy eating habits. I also had a horrible habit of eating the WORST foods very late at night. :sick:

uniquelady42

Just plain lost control!!! putting to much in!!! It's all my falt!!! I am to blam!!

skinnyminnie

I blame my mom!
But not in the way you'd think. She was always cooking healthy, low fat meals with small portion sizes for our family, encouraged us to exercise, etc. So when I finally moved out I though - "I'm free!" I had the stupidest mini-rebellion in history. I ate all the things that were banned in our household - and for a while, it was great! Everything tasted so wonderful. But then my portions got bigger and bigger, and it got harder and harder to feel satisfied till I was eating as much or more than my husband - and I'm small framed and only 5'3". That's why for me.

kimmi8

Hi,
I put my weight on when i was diagnosed with WENGERS..an auto immune disease which saw my body as an invader and started attacking me. its a simular disease to LUPUS. By the time i was diagnosed i couldn't walk, lift a cup of tea or do anything. The doctor put me on 60mg of steriods a day plus other medication. I took the tablets at 9am in the morning and by dinnertime i was able to get myself out of bed on my own . They are miracle drugs and without them the doctor said i would have been dead within six months. They do make you gain weight, but it has taken 10 years to get down to 2.5mg a day as they didnt want me to have another flare up. There isnt a cure so i will always have it, but they can keep it under controll with drugs. So i now need to shift this damn weight and get on with my life and enjoy it with my wonderfull husband and daughter :happy:

lkm111

There are many reasons for me - too many to list here. But for the past five years it was due to injury - disc rupture, sciatica, heel spur, plantar fasciitis and knee problems.

From all of those combined and because I spend my day on my feet, all I wanted to do when I got home was stay on my recliner because I was in so much pain. Resting seemed to help me heal, but it made me gain at least 40 pounds.

I had to start very slowly with exercise. I started two years ago with a Wii Fit and gradually was able to move more easily. I listened to my body and when I needed a break, I took one. I've now graduated to Zumba, KettleWorx and 30 Day Shred, so I think I've made a lot of progress. It was slow, but for me it worked! Now my goal is to run a 5K!

reesepieces

In middle school, I was a cheerleader. I was always active. I played softball during the summer all through high school. At 16, I began working at KFC. We were moving all the time, but I was also eating a lot more since the food was free for employees. At 18, I was too old to play softball for the rural league. At 21, I had my son where I gained 20 lbs after I had him. But the problem wasn't there. After I had him, I didn't do much moving around or anything because I was watching him. I lounged around and ate and got a desk job. BORING! I didn't eat the healthiest either. Fast food. Starches. Very little fruits and veggies...and so it explains why I got the way I did.

ropedancer

When I was in college, I lived a relatively active lifestyle. I walked pretty much everywhere, went to the gym occasionally, and was forced to keep my portions down because if I ate too much dining food, it made me ill (they didn't cook things as thoroughly as I was used to). Then I graduated and got one of those dreaded desk job. The furthest I walked was across the parking lot. As far as food went, my workplace had a fantastic little cafeteria that baked fresh cookies every day, and an everlasting supply of snack food in the break room that was on sale for charity (for charity!). My sweet tooth was in heaven, but I put on twenty pounds, like most of the staff. On top of that, I was incredibly dissatisfied with my work-life. Working in a call center wasn't what I had in mind while earning my college degree. The work quickly became monotonous, and I was tired of people yelling at me. It was very difficult to motivate myself to do anything healthy. Actually, it was difficult to motivate myself to do things that I loved, like read.

Now I've made a lot of positive changes, eliminating a lot of the bad elements of my life and bringing in positive ones. I feel more in contro, and am doing my best when it comes to acting more healthy. Granted, my time after college made me realize how easy it could be for some people to just give up hope and life an unhealthy lifestyle. You always have a choice, but sometimes it can be hard to see that.

SummerMerrill

I had a baby :O...and many snacks...probably over-eating.

chucko24

Hmmm Used to play high school sports, was in the light infantry in the US Army, and could eat and drink all I wanted.

Now some 15 years later i have the same eating and drinking habits. I have reached the point where I have said, "Thats it, no more , never again!!"

I have just become satiated with feeling and looking like crap.

Now I have started a blog at www.howtostartlifeover.com and am tracking my experiences as I quit smoking, get in shape, repair my relationships(including with myself) and start making real money again.

I encourage all of you to check in every once in a while to keep me accountable & I will be sharing strategies and techniques that I use along the way.

I understand it is not a destination, but all about the journey.

PS this app on my i phone is helping me a lot as i have an easy way to track my calories. I got a nice HR monitor and am going into a full fledged p90x/ weight lifting/running regime. This should be fun as we go!

Good luck to everyone on here. I hope to hear from you all.

Amandac6772

I graduated from high school and quit playing basketball, got married young and gained a lot of happy weight you gain when you are "in love". Then just got lazy. I've gained and lost the same 30 lbs about 6 times...this is the last time.

311Phil

I've been overweight pretty much my whole life.

most everyone in my family is big, we have a large bone structure, and usually a big belly that goes with it.

I had pretty awful eating habits my whole life.....

not anymore.

lizziewhan

my story is similar to yours...except i have always been a little overweight. in highschool though i was active..on the dance team and the colorguard and in ROTC. but after highschool when i went to college the only activity i had was walking to class...and my eating habbits got worse. so in the 4 years after i got out of highschool i had gained 100lbs. then had a baby in 2005 and have never lost the baby weight

beeyootifulmess

I think it was a combination of things. I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrone) which effects more than just the reproductive system. It does crazy things to all sorts of hormones (including the way the body processes insulin). I started gaining weight when I was around 8 years old and at the time, I had no clue why. Secondly, I would say that poor eating habits and not being active enough are responsible. I've always had very full schedules and eating fast food all the time was convenient. I still eat fast food, but now I make smarter decisions, like grabbing a salad from subway instead of a big mac. I also only drink water now because i'd rather save my calories for meals instead of drinking them. Since joining mfp, I sit down and check the calories in different foods before deciding what to eat and I plan my meals. I haven't been a member very long, but as of this morning, i'm down 6 pounds.

ccrawshaw

I was fit in high school even though I was not an athlete, just a country kid that had chores and only about three channels on the TV (no cable). After high school, I gained about fifteen pounds in three years which isn't so unusual. I recognized it and did weight watchers which worked great. I maintained for a couple years before I just gradually (very gradually) started putting weight on. It took me about five years to put 25 pounds on, I was still active and not uncomfortable so I didn't worry about it. THEN I began taking college courses. I attained my Bachelors in only three years which translated into a LOT of sitting in front of the computer doing homework and since I was still working FT, I had no time leftover to exercise. I was about three months from completing my BBA when I began seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I started wondering what I was going to do with all my time when I was done going to school FT. I wanted to start exercising, but I am one of those that must take baby steps, or introduce change in my life gradually. This is the time that I joined MFP in order to get my eating under control. After all, that wasn't terribly time consuming. My goal was to lose 5 pounds by the time I was done with school. I ended up losing almost 15! I was so proud of myself.... I am now introducing exercise into my life (since Sunday) and making a conscious effort to drink the recommended amount of water daily (since Saturday). I'm already looking forward to the next 15-20 pounds which I believe will come off in the next four months. I welcome the knowledge of input vs output that MFP has helped me attain. This awareness will definitely benefit me throughout the rest of my life and any children that I raise.

Thanks for asking!!

tater8589

Combination of things caused me to gain. Since I joined the military I have a lot less free time and didn't go to the gym as often as before, my husband has HORRIBLE eating habits and its hard to cook 2 meals every day so I picked up some of his habits, I got pregnant--miscaried and developed hypothyroid. The thyroid issues caused me to gain 20lbs in a month, even with exercise and improved diet and I continued to gain. Now my eating habits are better, since I make my husband cook his own dinner if he wont eat the one I made. I have gotten approval to use some of my duty day to go to the on base gym. I'm still struggling with the hypothyroid, as the on base dr's are being very difficult and have not begun treatment. I have managed to lose some weight, but I can't keep it off-- its very frustrating.

bbygrl5

Except for a short time in college when I couldn't afford to eat (lol) and had to walk a mile to and from school everyday, I've always been overweight. My dad is a 300 lbs man, my mom is at 200 lbs. It took a long while to learn to break bad habits, but I have and I'm definitely never looking back.

BR1986FB

Carbs & junk food (processed crap). Except for fruits & veggies, carbs are the devil in my book.

Sasha_Bear

Actually all my life I've been a so called thick chick, and it was never a problem because in-spite of that I was always healthy and always active so thickness fell to the right places. I was always one to eat whatever whenever and was never really concerned about the consequences because even though I was thick I never got a fat stomach or gut.

Recently I moved to Chicago and my whole lifestyle changed. I became less active, got a desk job and a boyfriend who loves food more then I do! LOL So this past year I'm noticing my tummy area spreading, face fating and before I knew it, the weight just snuck up on me.

Karleyyy

I got pregnant at 16 with my first baby. Before that I wasn't skinny, but I wasn't fat. I was probably 135. I just ate so much when I was pregnant, I felt like I could get away with it. But after I had her, I still had a lot of the weight. I didn't do much about it. Then I got pregnant again with Kalani and I got really worried, because I was afraid I would do the same thing and this time I'd go over 200! But this time, I had such a severe case of morning sickness that I lost 12 pounds and then in the end only really gained 10 or so, and it came off instantly. Now I am just trying to get rid of what is left- 50 pounds. And it isn't just all from the eating while pregnant with Kai, I stay at home all day with my kids and the food is just there. I eat when I am bored.