How did you gain weight?...

altavern

I've always been big (@14 I was 6'3" 268)...Maintained around there (230-270) while playing sports in high school and college...Then I stopped playing sports and ran a pizza shop for 1.5 years. Do you know what you eat when you run a pizza shop?? PIZZA! every day, all day...and then came the fast food breakfast (if I ate it), lunch AND dinner...I have probably eaten 80-90% of my meals out for the past 10 years....I am ashamed of that because I knew it wasn't good for me, just lazy. But hey, that is why I'm here!!

Thanks for the great thread!

deeharley

It all started with two Oreo cookies.

Seriously, I married a junk food junkie, picked up his habits, had two babies, moved 6,000 miles with three pre-schoolers in tow, got lazy and bored.

JEK717

Ahhh hostess cupcakes and chocolate cake...Ellie grins sheepishly.:blushing: :embarassed: :sad:

luvbugsmom

I was always a small kid. In high school I would have to buy clothes in the kids dept. I got engaged when I was 19, and we were together for a year before we split. Then I started to eat out a lot!!! It was easier since it was only me. Two years ago I had my first daughter. I only gained about 12lbs with her, and lost half of it shortly after I had her. Then when she was about 8 months old, I got pregnant again. Gained about 15lbs with her, and now I'm working my butt off trying to loose it!! I want my high school self back LOL.

shascallreyes89

I was an ok size back in high school. Kind of a hodge-podge when I was a kid until I went on a vegetarian diet in my junior year of HS, Lost about 50 lbs in 3 months (which I know is excessive) but it was just falling away. I "taught" myself to stop eating all the time and watch on what I was snacking....

Then came college and the extra 70 lbs! I went from a nice 130 lbs to tipping the scales at 200! I was so embarrassed. I have to say that I just was really lazy in college (still in college, this is my 5th years), always studying and eating, but never exercising.

Add on top of that, marriage weight. I married my husband after a little more than a year of knowing him, and with him as well, packed on more weight. He was very thin when we first got together, but he LOVES to eat, like me. Also, he's from the Dominican Republic, where it's very easy to keep the weight off due to the hot weather and everyone walks everywhere down there.... Anyhow, he's probably gained about 100 pounds (a lot of it is muscle because he LOVES to workout). It's mainly around his belly that's a problem for him.

Anyhow, We decided to give it a shot to get back to nearly our "old selves". We started a couples' workout regimen about 3 weeks ago. I don't think I've lost any weight, but I can see results so far in my thighs and upper arms, the jiggly is going away slowly....

Now I just have to keep being motivated to keep moving!

sillygoose1977

I changed from a very active job to a desk job, quit smoking and fell in love.

Oh yeah, I also ate a lot of food and drank a lot of beer.

mom2pne

The first weight gain from about 125 to 190 was because I got depressed because my bf wouldn't marry me or move in with me when I was pregnant with our oldest ds. But in 1992 he was ready to right from the get go when we found out I was pregnant. I m/c'd that one.

Then I put the weight from 190-260 something because I felt guilty and that I caused my 2nd ds's heart defect and the fact that I didn't take him in for a 2nd opinion sooner. His pediatrician said it was just a murmur and not to worry and just make an appointment with a cardiologist. Ty was born 7/28/1996 and his cardiologist appt was 8/21/1996. When the dr looked at him he had me rush him across the street to Children's Hospital of WI to have an echo done. I think everyone was amazed he was still alive with a 40% blood oxygen level and couldn't believe what they were seeing on the screen because there was probably 20-25 different people that came in at different times. It was about 6pm when I was told he needed surgery and the surgeon would meet with me the next day to go over the echo. He had his aorta and pulmonary vessels switched to each other's side of the heart. He had a small aorta which they made bigger, He will forever have a small right ventricle which they said was the best to have because the left ventricle is the one that does the most work in that it pumps the blood to the whole body. The last thing he had wrong were lots and lots of holes, which was the best thing because it caused the blood to mix keeping him alive for those 3.5 weeks,

The last was just baby weight.

Heather75

I was always skinny, but not fit. I just ate a lot of crap food, especially late at night and didn't exercise. It caught up with me.

LazyMogg

I think, like a lot of people, I really gained weight after getting married. He would eat big meals and I would eat the same. I know that's fairly common and often wonder why it happens.

Anyway, the weight would go up and down however hard I tried. Between relationships, though, I became very active and fitter and the weight came off again.

I've found that the older I get the harder it is to shift it but still I try.

sassyg

You know what they say - A single girl comes home, looks at what's in the fridge, sighs, and goes to bed. A married girl comes home, looks at what's in bed, sighs, and goes to the fridge! :laugh:

ItsTerriC

I never had a problem with my weight. I was blessed with a great metabolism and the energy to work out every day. Until I hit my 40's. My metabolism nearly stopped. We moved and I changed jobs. No time to work out, eating lots of fast food and age contributed to me gaining about 40lbs. After seeing pictures of myself at my daughter's high school graduation, I realized I didn't even recognize myself. I joined a gym and started watching what I ate. I lost the pounds, and looked really good. I actually had people asking me what I did to stay in such great shape. Then life happened. My mom became ill and needed my care. There went my gym time. I was trying to add weight to her, and she wouldn't eat if I didn't. After she passed and my first grandchild was born prematurely and died after just 3 hours, I was too depressed to care. I got lazy. My kids all grew up, I became a grandma and life was so good that I just quit paying attention to myself. In the past 5 years I've gained back 25 of the 40lbs I lost. It came on slowly, so I didn't really notice it. Again, seeing pictures of me playing with my grandkids brought me back to reality. I'm fat!
I know it won't come off quickly, but I have rejoined my gym and I'm watching the food intake again. I want my body back, not this one that I don't recognize.

hroush

I was overweight since I was 7-8. Between 7th and 8th grade, my dad switched jobs, allowing me not to have to work on the farm any more, so all summer I just sat on the coach, watching tv, and eating horrible food. I gained 20 lbs that summer :noway: This trend continued so that I was 280 by the time I left high school. When I was in my community college, I signed up to take a spin class and lost 70 lbs in 7 months. I still ate horribly, but at least I was at a much healthier weight. After moving on to my undergrad, I stopped working out, but continued to eat horribly and started to put weight back on (see a trend ). I hit about 240 at one point. Two years ago I started eating better (half of what I could) and started losing weight again. I looked to see if my grad school had sin classes, but none fit my schedule, so I volunteered to teach a class. I now teach two classes at night and am now down to 200 lbs (lowest I have been since 8th grade). I have a little more to lose, but I think I may see the light at the end of the tunnel.

yanicka

You know what they say - A single girl comes home, looks at what's in the fridge, sighs, and goes to bed. A married girl comes home, looks at what's in bed, sighs, and goes to the fridge! :laugh:

Love it.
Me, I got pregnant again, and again, and again, and again......oups missing a few again. In the last 12 years I have been preggo 9 times and gave birth to 6 babies. I feel reall lucky to only have 10 pounds to lose. I hope it's the last time I have to lose baby weight!!!

teachparents

a car accident kept me immobile for 4-5 years.. still in physio, chiropractor and acupunture every week,,,, but able to move finally so looking to take off the 30 pounds i gained in that time....

michelegbowman

I gained all my weight after my twins were born. It was ironic. I had the twins at age 41 and I actually weighed two pounds less after the birth than before I got pregnant. People thought I was a rock star...

but then the stress of having premature twins while working full time with no help from teh hubby and living on 3 hours of sleep per night did me in.

I gained 80 pounds in just three years.

I went from a size 10 to a size 18.

It's crazy. When I walk by a mirror I am always surprised there is a fat lady looking at me. In my mind I am still an attractiive young woman but people who haven;t seen me in a few years don't even recognize me, then their mouth drops open. It's hurtful.

So my mom's club has a weight loss contest and i joined in. It's day seven for me and I've droppped eight pounds. I guess I just needed to feel not so alone doing this. All of you are a great help and so supportive. Thanks. Michele

esphixiet

It started when I finished high school. I went from skiing competitively, playing rugby, mountain biking etc, to... nothing. Add to that scenario, going on the pill and eating cafeteria food for the next 8 months. I went from 145 to 195 between 2001 and 2004. That year, my father died of a heart attack and I realized I needed to do something about my weight. I managed to lose 30 lbs doing Weight Watchers in 5 months. I was very proud of myself. But then school ended, I started working in an office environment (that they filled with food!), and I stopped counting points.
Time passed, and I did okay, gaining back 10 lbs in 2 years. I was 176 when I met my spouse. We moved from Ontario (Cultural Epicentre) to Shilo MB (Hickville), and between job dissatisfaction for both spouse and I, then eventual layoff for me, Tour of Duty for him, and being stuck in this godforsaken hellhole (No, really), I ate myself into complacency. I'm now 230 lbs, and I hate myself quite a lot for doing this to myself.
Now we're getting posted back to our home province, and I don't want to show up there looking like a fatty. So here I am.

kaymd

I wasn't a really, really thin child but gained some weight when my parents split up when I was about 15 or so. Lost some weight in high school. I was never really skinny in high school 150-160 but thought I was fat (I would love to be that weight now). The very end of my high school year I met my now husband and 10 months after we met I found out I was pregnant. It's been mostly downhill weight wise since then, until now. I weigh about the same I did about 3-4 months pregnant (with my first child) about the same time I got married.

MakingAChoice

Well, considering I was scrawny until I got out of the military and not big until 18 years of marriage I will blame relationship weight - lol My wife and I never cooked healthy and never really cared. So the pounds just added up until one day I woke up and realized I was not the man I had become. Now I am fighting as hard as I can to get back to pre-marriage weight at a minimum. I am also hoping that my healthy lifestyle will rub off on my wife and kids. For now they just seem to resent that I point out everything that is wrong with the foods they eat. I hope one day they will 'wake up' too, my wife is on so many prescription meds that I am shocked she just accepts it and goes through life like there is nothing she can do about it. So frustrating.:grumble:

skinnyhopes

I wasn't ever "fat"; my peak was 130 on my 5'3" frame and lowest was in the early 100's. I don't know when it started but I ate the huge bag of cheese chips and ice cream every single night for 1 year and at bigger portion sizes out of the blue. until I realized it needed to go bye bye, and I'm still working on that. I've lost 10 lbs already and waiting for 10 more (:

jllipson

I was skinny as a kid until I started making my own money. Guess I can blame myself - started babysitting, cutting grass and gardening for neighbors and grandparents. We had 2 stores within walking distance and I remember spending a lot of money on candy in both. Loved chocolate and even just chips and cokes. As kids my mom gave us kool-aid except on our Sunday rides through the country, then we had Coke and pretzel sticks - not enough to go there... Of course the older we got the more food she prepared, and we learned to go for seconds. As a family, we pretty much all gained weight together. I lost weight, moved out on my own and gained more back. Never been one to weigh until I was pregnant with my oldest. Actually lost weight during pregnancy, but couldn't seem to keep it off. Up around 260 got pregnant with #2 - again lost weight during pregnancy. Again didn't keep it off, added 18 more to 278, then hubby and I both decided we were getting too lazy for a couple that have a 2 and 4 year old.

My hours were cut to part time - so it's been rough, but on the plus side, I have more time to spend with our girls. Looking at how we spent last summer (very little outdoor time) I decided - I WANT TO CHANGE! So my main goal - be down enough on weight and in shape enough to spend off days at the pool teaching them to swim and at parks having fun!

Rosie958r

Emotional eating.
Gained weight after I left school

hairburner

TURNING 50 SOON! BELIEVE ME THINGS CHANGE! I COULD ALWAYS LOSE WEIGHT ANYTIME BUT THE OLDER YOU GET THE HARDER IT GETS! NEVER BELIEVED THAT WHEN MY MOM TOLD ME BUT ITS TRUE!

pinkgigi

July 2008 my husband died, and I saw pictures of myself on holidays not long after and I just looked so sad, fat and unhappy.
I joined a gym to get fit (after posting a terrible blood pressure reading) and very slowly lost the 20 kgs (44 pds) to be within reach of my goal weight.

Jan 2010 my 19 year old son is diagnosed with secondary cancer, and after 9 weeks of chemo and two operations I found myself with 13 kgs back on by Christmas.

Now my daughter is away at university I have much more time on my hands and am kicking and fighting to get back down to my goal.

Thanks to everyone here for being an inspiration.

GG

daddyratty

bump for later

Tisha247

I gave up smoking and took up eating. Lollies, ice cream, chips. I ate and ate and ate! 15 kilo's later I decided this isn't me. I haven't had a cigarette in almost a year : )

Tisha247

I love your response, it struck a cord with me. I still see myself as thin and yeah am shocked sometimes when I see myself in the mirror and then realise I'm fat.

Raw07

emotional eating , stopped smoking, have 3 kids by c- section, I gave up on myself.

adjones_21

I have always been over weight. Started about 2nd grade. Gain, lose, gain , lose. Was 255 when I wad pregnant with my son, over the next 7-8 yrs after he was born gained 100 pounds. Topped scale at 355. Still up and down, up and down. Now determined not to go back up...at about 302. Emotional eating, stress, kid, bad food choices, office jobs, name it, it probably was causes for my weight gain.

Jojo42

Came off the pill in my twenties to have a baby and gained 5 stones in under a year, turned out that the pill masked PCOS. Been a nightmare ever since as the only times I have lost weight weight was through being pregnant(after fertility treatment)

No one told me that this kind of condition makes you insulin resistant, all those low calorie/low fat diets were never right for me.

I'm now low carbing , it's working but...I have a long journey ahead .

kelscot30

For me I would be honest and say I was just greedy! Was always dancing as a child and most of my young adult life, after stopping it soon caught up with me and I went from being a tall slim girl with a fab figure to gradually becoming what I am today. I LOVE FOOD! There's no denying it! My main vice is indian take away so I am teaching myself to cook this food from scratch (cutting out the ingredients that involve coconut milk!). I'm also a vegetarian but do not like the meat replacement products like quorn etc as to me it is still like meat. Tend to cook nice healthy meals for kids and husband then munch on something high in fat for myself. This is changing!!!