How did you gain weight?...

cmyrick75

I was always was on the larger side. HS i was around 180. Then college came and i was working 2 full time jobs and i was able to drop down to 145 (from constantly being on the run) Then, I got pregnant. Gained about 30 pounds and then didn't lose any of it. Instead, i gained due to horrible relationship problems and life stress (I am an emotional eater) I got up to 220. Then, i lost the bad boyfriend and lost 35 pounds. Then a few years later, I got together with my husband and the weight crept back up to 205 from being lazy and eating whatever whenever we wanted. I stated MFP and now am down 23 pounds so far. My goal is to get back to 145 and stay there!

Asomething

I was always "chubby" as a child & teenager. Then I moved out and had money only for bills & cigs and lost 30lbs. Then got married, quit smoking and tried to start having children, had lots of trouble (3 miscarriages & infertility issues). Between the meds and depression eating I gained 70 lbs. 3 kids & 8 years later I've inched up another 15 lbs.

Sarahr73

My gain started when I first turned 21 and drank a lot of beer. About 10 pounds later, I started trying to eat better and make healthier choices for alcohol. I was back and forth for another few years and at about 5 pounds heavier than I wanted to be, my boss did an exercise challenge at work. We got an extra 15 minutes of lunch time if we used it for exercise. I lost those 5 pounds in no time. And then, I met my fiance and got comfortable in our relationship and those 5 pounds were back. After we moved out of our parents house into a house of own, I gained about 15-20 more pounds in almost a year. So now, I am trying to lose 10 pounds before my first alterations appointment for my wedding dress on May 1st. I want to be the weight I was when I bought it, and then I will work on the next 10 and keeping them off for our wedding.

kalebsmama07

was skinny as a child...n tiny...we moved to a diff state after eleamentry school...started school n blew up after the first yr....stayed at 140's thru high school..... food was my comfort for moving n starting a new school n new friends...then after high school...things went down hill i got kicked out of my parents house...then me n my fiance now had our son....who is now almost 4...and after having my son in 2007 my parents split n i was an emotional wreck....so ive had my ups n downs n ive been working toward getting down to 140lbs since january of 2008 with a starting weight then of 188lbs... ive lost almost 50 since...now im just playin up n downs rite now and after almost 10 yrs with my fiance im getting married in 54 days....so this is another stressful n emotional time for me especially with food...n dealing with family matters of my parents..coming around each other since the split... ps...alittle of not enought exercise n bordem mixed into one...

baisleac

Not chubby as a kid, but not thin either.

I got a bit lazy after leaving the Navy and gained 10 lbs; got back on track for a few years but once I stopped using my tracking website (now defunct Nutrawatch.com) got those 10 lbs back again. THEN, I got pregnant. Let myself go nuts basically, hoping breastfeeding would magically melt the pounds away. It didn't. If anything I was hungrier when I was EPing.

10/2008 - 150 lbs (pre-preg)
07/2009 - 198 lbs (immediately post-partum)
10/2010 - 182 lbs (decided to get healthy again.

as1789

Parents didn't know anything about nutrition so fed me anything that was cheap as a child (and I was PICKY). I didn't know anything about nutrition, obviously, so I stopped eating in 8th grade because I was sick of being the fat kid. Got to a size 6/8 sophomore year in HS and gave up on not eating and stuffed my face. Gained it all back plus another 15ish to hit my highest weight of 235. Now (5 yrs later), my parents adopted a healthy lifestyle last year (as soon as all the kids left the house..) and lost a ton of weight. I am, again, sick of being the fat one, so I have to teach myself proper nutrition and exercise instead of not eating like last time because that didn't seem to work out too well.

Marjorielk

Got hooked on chips, love of pasta and hate exercise.

sassyg

Boredom eating, and not enough exercise

zeeeb

i gained some bad habits at home as a child. my mum was a nurse, so food was often convenience food (little packets of chips and chocolate coated museli bars for school lunches, packet creamy pastas with tea etc.)

but i don't blame it all on that, i got fit when i left home and was healthy and turned into a gym junkie, but i've always had a soft spot for potato chips and anything "bready" and love my chocolate.

i started putting on weight in my late 20's even though i was still going to the gym 3+ times a week, riding and walking to work, i just liked too much food. And then when i got pregnant, i used it as the biggest excuse to just binge like crazy and eat anything i wanted. i stopped exercising, and put on 10kg with each child.... yuck!

WalkingGirl1985

I was always the skinny, middle child up until I was 11-12...lived with my mom and 2 sisters and we were ALL overweight. No healthy eating habits, no exercise whatsoever, I slept, went to school, work (high school) homework, ate and repeat daily. Then i was about 19-20, got back together with a ex boyfriend who lived 7 miles away and the only way up there was a bus/bike (sometimes our parents) a lot of times to save money for bus/gas I took my 21 speed mountain bike and rode 7-15 miles a day up and back and dropped 60-70 pounds over 6 months..then we broke up, i met someone else and moved away, then the weight came back on..ALL of it. Now im trying to lose again. :happy:

Jovialation

I was a big one as a little kid and through most of school.
Was totally anorexic in HS, got down to under 90 pounds (my mom took away the scales after awhile)

Then I got a serious boyfriend and moved in with him. Hes got the metabolism of a god and eats tons of food without gaining a pound.
Doesnt help that we moved to Chicago, where food is half the fun to be had.
Within the first YEAR I went from about 125-130 to 180.
Ouch.

kentlass

for me, i was always a chubby kid...at 21 i joined a gym and dropped over 50lbs....i looked amazing....fit, toned and tanned....then i got into a relationship...and fell pregnant.

i gained about a 15-18lbs having my little girl, then i fell pg with my son 3months later and gained another 14lbs ish with him...and being a mum to two babies i really didn't have much time to workout or eat decently...so i gained yet another 14lbs or so on top of the rest

sweetiev

Always the heavy girl through school, parents split, alot of emotional eating and have been struggling ever since.Quit smoking 2 1/2 years ago did lots of drinking. Now I have lost some weight but still working to get my BMI in the normal range. It took some time but I have realized there is way more benefits to being healthy than just enjoying food way too much.

Krissy_breann

I've just always been a little bit chubby, I've never been smaller than a 12 since 5th grade! But this past year I broke my ankle and couldn't really get around for about 6 months and gained 20 horrible pounds. I never really did play sports, either, and ate a ton out of boredom.

thecanface

relationship weight!! i was so happy and in love.. not a care in the world. happy eating

remembertheharddrive

When I was younger it was totally a lack of education or understanding about what was healthy, not healthy and how much was a correct portion size. My parents did nothing to teach me. My dad did manual labor all day, so he ate tons and was athletic. My mom was heavy and loved to cook. So I just ate whatever tasted good. I lost it in high school due to athletics, it just happened naturally, but when I was forced to feed myself in a high-stress college situation, it was booze and the exploration of new, abundant foods that led to my demise.

This past year, it was both emotional eating and injury-induced reduction in activity levels. I'm starting to pick up the pieces though. I'm not a marathon runner anymore, so I can't eat like one. And I'm rebuilding my self-esteem on the emotional side, rebuilding that self-worth -- making my physical health important again.

LovelySnugs

- Not working out.
- Eating crappy food and drinking 1-2 CASES of soda every day, facilitated by a job in the video game industry.
- Not getting on the scale.
- Not having honest enough friends to tell me I was getting big.
- Being on depo provera, which increased by appetite.
- Having lots of excuses to eat.

Yes, I had had weight issues all my life, but it became a serious concern after I started working at a company surrounded by people who would eat and play video games all day.
[/quote]

depo? really? wow. i'm so much less worried now. i thought i was losing my mind! but i wonder (TMI AND off topic, sorry) did you have extended bloating issues? cuz i think that's what's gotten in my way the last couple weeks and i don't know if/how i'm gonna get past it.

bpdai

I had to fight to keep weight on from the time I was born until puberty. Unfortunately, in the interveening years I developed very poor eating habits. My parents would feed me anything I wanted because the alternative was for me not to eat at all. I also bought into the "clean plate club" at the school lunchroom in elementary school. I still feel guilty about leaving any food on a plate, in the serving bowl, leftovers in the frige - you get the idea. I have fought my weight my entire adult life, and know that it is partly bad habits, and partly comfort eating. I must change the habits and my attitude to be successful.

ruthie3110

Wow I can relate to so many of these!!
When I look back now I really wasn't as big as I thought back in school. My BMI at the time was 26 I think!
I also just realised that from my lowest ever weight to my highest, there is a difference of 80lbs!! I put that on in like 3 years!

ruthie3110

I had to fight to keep weight on from the time I was born until puberty. Unfortunately, in the interveening years I developed very poor eating habits. My parents would feed me anything I wanted because the alternative was for me not to eat at all. I also bought into the "clean plate club" at the school lunchroom in elementary school. I still feel guilty about leaving any food on a plate, in the serving bowl, leftovers in the frige - you get the idea. I have fought my weight my entire adult life, and know that it is partly bad habits, and partly comfort eating. I must change the habits and my attitude to be successful.

I really struggle leaving a plate with any food on it!!

AndyBee

I was thin as a child, but always thought I was fat. I would go on crazy diets as a preteen and idolized bulimic and anorexic girls. In my mind, these girls had it figured out and I was weak because I had to eat. So I would beat myself up, and eat. Yeah totally screwed up right? I would workout in my bedroom at night instead of sleeping. But I always felt fat.

Eventually I gave up and decided I was never going to be beautiful. (I was a size 6 and looked great, but just couldn't see it) I ate whatever I wanted, and just didn't care anymore. No exercise either, so the pounds started coming.

They didn't really hit me hard until I married this "wonderful" man who made me miserable. I ate out of emotion all the time. I was depressed and hated everything. When we finally split, I ate because I was free and was happy. This past year has been full of ups and downs (very low downs, my son was stillborn in October) and I ate out of stress and severe emotion.

Now I'm doing this for me. I know that I can be healthy, but I have to take it slow. I don't want to become obsessed again, but I will never feel defeated again. As long as I take care of my body, my body will take care of me.

p_cakes

Let's see, I was never a big child. I never paid attention to my weight until about 8th grade. I think Freshman yr in high school I was about 170, which for my 5'3 frame it's a lot. I stayed 170-175 in high school, but then college came, I lost a bit during my first yr of college, then I met my boyfriend. He lived wiht roommates, their dinner was takeout or takeout...Then he moved back home with his parents, and they cook a FULL meal almost every night and always wanted me to join them.
There I go up to 197! That was the highest weight I had recorded. I'm sure it may have hit 200, but when I saw how close I was to 200 I said that's enough. I didn't want that anymore. Even to be back to my high school body would be great.
I'm now down to 184.8 and hoping to be to 165 in May.

katiemeridien

I gained 40 lbs when I moved to LA.

Let's just say that living with an obese person will tempt you into massive weight gain!

I just love to eat...and mild depression + friend who eats for fun = 40 lbs gained. Now I'm 32 lbs down... 15 to go until my goal!

DeBlue

I tend to put on weight when I'm happy. :happy: And conversely when I'm under a lot of worry and stress the pounds just gather around for the party. :frown:

Now if I'm in an all-out-crying-crisis, the pounds just fall off. :sad:

It would be pretty sick if I needed to get fired or be dumped by my BF just to get my weight back where I'd like it.

rebeccaS85

I gained most of my weight through my two pregnancies. I 2006 I had my first child and put on 45 lbs during the pregnancy. I struggled to lose that weight for quite a while but was eventually able to lose about 20 lbs. My husband and I decided to have another baby and struggled getting pregnant. Turns out I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom, which means I don't ovulate (which is also why I was not able to easily lose the pregnancy weight). After taking Clomid I was able to conceive my second child. With this last pregnancy I only put on 30 lbs. Now my daughter is 7 months and I want to lose this weight!!

JPRobocker

I gained some weight around 14 or 15 but lost most of it in high school when I made a concious effort. I gained most of my current weight after college. I went from working full time at a movie theater and restruant while going to school full time, to working at a desk 40 hours a week. I gained 20 lbs in only about 3 months. I realized how bad it had gotten when my sister had her baby and a full term she weighed the same as I did. I decided I needed to get rid of the excess weight before it got worse. I am looking for more of a life style change than a diet. I'm young and healthy and need to start making good choices while I still am.

kelika71

I had a mother who was an awesome cook.
Puberty hit.
Emotional eating.
Not working out.
Eating more.

fteale

Having children! I used to exercise a lot and cycle 8 miles a day too and from work, as well as swimming, tai chi, gym, and rowing. When I got pregnant I was too sick to do anything, then had bad water retention and couldn't move, then had a bad emergency caesarean and couldn't exercise for months. Then got PND and the antidepressants made me put on weight. Then got pregnant again, lost the weight very fast after my second as I didn't drive and was walking miles a day with a double buggy, but when I learned to drive I put on 1 1/2 stone. I never got huge, my highest weight was 12 stone (I am 5'5"), but bigger than I liked.
I am happy with my size now, I am back to my pre-pregnancy heavy weight, but I would prefer to be more toned.

Liatush

I have been on a constant diet my whole life. Which is strange because when I look at pictures, I was always pretty fit! I had an athletic body, so not model skinny but definitely not as bad as I remember feeling. Maybe it was because my family is thin as a rail... who knows?

I think my major weight gain has been my injury to my knees which made it impossible for me to work out. Instead of watching what I ate, I watched as I ate everything in sight, thinking ah well, I can't work out, might as well enjoy the food I want... I will work it out when I feel better.... except that the issue persisted for longer than I expected and before I knew it, a year had gone by and I gained a whopping 50 lbs!!!

I knew I was in trouble when I went for my yearly check up and my dr made a comment about it... it felt pretty awful and was a rude awakening. I realized then that injury or not, I have to watch out before the 50 lbs turned to 100....

Jon_Rod

Wow I gain weight because I was too skinny and I wanted to bulk up..so i started eating to bulk up but found out i could not stop after i reached the weight i wanted to be......So thats why im on here trying to turn all my unwanted pounds into muscles.....