Why did you get fat and what triggered the change?

cofakid

i always thought i was fat and was told i was fat (now id kill to be that thin again) but i steadily put on the weight after school. i guess new lifestyle more time lots of takeaway and snaking and uni creates odd hours for meals with big snacks. procrastination eating to avoid assignments and stress. my last 10 kilos i gained from my stressful stressful job. a combination of uni and stressful work means no time to eat right or exercise. plus i like food, and junk food at that, and i hate exercise. or well i did im starting to enjoy it now. and a year or two of binge drinking and maccas hang over cures didnt help. plus i worked at maccas for 4 years so i ate it at least once a week when i was working there.

ive posted before about what triggered my change but it was a combination of feeling disgusted by my body and some health issues that came up due to my unhealthty life style

AnnaRocks79

My Reasons for getting fat...(Jeez i hate the word FAT)!!
1) My Mother is always at the back of my mind since my childhood "Eat everything on your plate"
2) I had two wonderful children within 3 years
3) My hubby eats what he wants and burns it quicker then i do
4) I started having bad eating habbits since leaving HS
5) Never really cared thinking "Ill do something tomorrow...and tomorrow turned into weeks...months..years"
6) Two weeks ago I have an ultrasound cause i had pain on my left side of my stomach on and off sharp pangs...found out that its fatty tissue around my Liver and I have high colesterol starting.

My reasons for wanting to loose the "FAT"
1) To be Healthy again
2) to have a bit of time for myself..to work on myself at the GYM
3) For my Kids...I want to experience and be there for every milestone yet to happen
4) For my Husband, so I can feel more comfortable in my own skin
5) Confident....right now I don't have any confidence in myself
6) Self-Esteem....I hate hiding my self in pictures...I'm a very emotional person....I'd like to change that!!
7) I want to be a stronger person, to look in the mirror and stand taller..
8) I want to be able to do things I can't right now...wear what I want, sit without a blanket on the couch, be able to be in front in pictures with the people I love...the list goes on
9) I just want what everyone wants to FEEL ALIVE!!

The good always out wins the bad!!

zombiesama

a combination of drinking/getting high/eating way to much/being lazy and that's about it.

looking at old pics of myself and knowing all my friends are in good shape but me.

RiseandGrind77

Why did I get fat?

Just enjoying food way to damn much, eating big meals really late. Also being in relationships where the girl I was with didn't mind that I was fat.

What triggered the change?

I was working in retail and a customer was pissed about something that wasn't in my control. As she was cussing me out she called me a fatass and I thought it was odd because I thought she was more out of shape than me. The next day I was walking back to work from lunch (huge meal from panda express) I looked at my reflection on a window from a store I was passing. I couldn't believe my gut was sticking out that much. It was reality slapping me in the face!!!

aquarianpixi

I've always been heavy. Always the "fat kid."

I decided it was time to change when I realized how much my weight and my self image was taking away from my life. I know if I kept on the same track I was going I would die young and alone.

woou

I never wanted any of the food my parents cooked. I only wanted fast food. Then college hit, got a job and could buy anything I wanted. Went on some yo-yo diets and maybe this is just another one. Time will tell.

What triggered the change this time was living with a classmate for a week. She is very smart and disciplined, qualities I aspire to. She also takes care of both her parents and her 2 kids. My mom is taking care of me. :frown: English is her second language, but she blows my grades in school out of the water, and I was born here with no language barrier. She wakes up and exercises every morning and eats her 3 meals a day. She works full-time and goes to school. I often don't see her relaxing until 11pm M-R. She relaxes after 5pm on Fridays and rest on Saturdays. She studies on Sundays. That saying, "be the change you want to see," has a lot of merit.

Carfoodel

3 kids in 3 years, pnuemonia that screwed up my lungs and seemed to leave me with half the energy I used to have, insane amount of things trying to cram into my life - at one time I worked 3 jobs when the boys were young and my husband didn't help with the housework so I had to run the house as well. even now I am a full time student, work weekends, do a nightclass, have high demands within the family due to people with depression, agoraphobia, asperger's etc and still have to run the house myself. I am the size I am as fast food and takeaways seemed a logical fast way of taking something off the list of things to do. I honestly thought that inbetween takeaways I was fairly healthy - but MFP has shown me that really wasn't the case lol. So yeah I ate too much of the wrong kind of food and didn't exercise enough.

What changed is that I realised that instead of killing myself slowly with food as a group activity, I had to work out what triggered the trips to the fridge and it may sound weird but when my house is shiny clean I don't feel guilty about going to the gym and the more I get to the gym the easier it is for me to eat healthy as I work my butt off and hate the thought of undoing the good of the sweat pouring off me and the scarlett face I have earned. I also realised that there is no point delaying this change to a healthy lifestyle for when my husband is ready to tackle our fast food (for lack of a better word) addiction. Also there is no point waiting for him to support me with the housework etc so I decided that the only way I feel good about the gym is by making that extra push to run the house inbetween work uni etc and supporting my lads. It does make me sad that it means we are growing apart as a couple, but I don't want our love of indulgence to be the thing we have in common.

What made me want to get to the gym? - I was daunted by climbing to the top of the building at uni and I had to pretend to nip to the loo half way up so that I could catch my breath so that I wasn't gasping for breath when the lecture started. - so ashamed and so annoyed that my lung capacity had dwindled again so much as it took me ages last time to build it up.

byoml2013

Boredom. Instead of getting up and and doing something productive, I'll open a packet of something and mindlessly finish it. By then you're ashamed and the notion of doing anything is too much hassle. I've moved countries recently and instead of facing things and taking steps forward to integrate into my new city, I'll sit about and eat. It's easier than getting out there and potentially facing something challenging. A few weeks ago, I got so sick of this cycle and joined a gym. Baby steps, but it gives me something rewarding to do and makes me feel like I'm doing something productive. With this, my eating habits have changed because instead of seeing two or three biscuits, I see 40 minutes on the cross trainer working them off.

wcsangel

I was a skinny child. I was a skinny teenager. I didn't pass 5 stone until I was 13, that's how tiny I was.

Then I went to university, and got mixed up with a bunch of people who I thought were my friends. I became depressed, and because I was living on the other side of the country from any one I loved, I turned to food to make me feel better. In my third year, I did make better friends, but I couldn't cut the old ones out of my life (they were on the same course, and had a lot of the same classes as me). However, by then, the habits were already set. I ate mostly junk food; chips, chocolate, crisps... When I graduated, I moved back home, but it didn't really change anything. I kept eating too much bad stuff and not enough of anything that was actually good for me.

My turning point was on a shopping trip with my best friend, just before my 22nd birthday (31/01/2011). I *begrudgingly* tried on a size 18 (UK) dress for her, and I couldn't zip it up. It was then that I took a good hard look in the mirror and saw my size 14/16 t-shirts barely stretching over my stomach, and the size 12 jeans that I could only *just* do up. I realised that if I didn't do something about it, it was just going to get worse and worse.

So I made a pact with her that if I could lose a stone by her birthday (13/08), we'd go shopping again. Well, on that date, I had dropped 19 lbs. I'm now 24.5 lbs down, and hoping to make it 26 by Christmas. I'm eating healthier, exercising more, and taking much better care of myself. I've also managed (in that time) to quit biting my nails, which is another habit I thought I was stuck with.

SeattleLove

I have been skinny all of my life, people even made fun of me during my childhood because I was too skinny.
But then I gained a lot of weight during my exchange year in the USA. Probably gained about 20 lbs. It didn't bother me while I was in the USA, because everybody was a little chubby where I lived (Especially the family I lived with had weight-problem) but as soon as I returned to germany i realized how much I really gained and how much my appareance has changed. Well, then I changed my diet, startetd working out and lost all of the fat and even more

Manda_H

I had several babies right in a row and i was exhausted all the time... plus having so many young children, I was buying and serving highly processed foods. My diet was off which gave me insulin resistance and hypoglycemia so i'd eat more to avoid feeling the low blood sugar. My blood sugar was a HUGE rollarcoaster and my husband and I weren't always getting along so add in some comfort eating. Also lots of chaos between our extended families so add in even more comfort eating. It was a rough few years. My turning boy was when I weighed 270 lbs at the birth of #6.... and I was trying to take pictures of myself that i liked enough to be a profile picture for MySpace. I was taking 30-40 shots and I just coudn't find one that minimized my weight. A woman told me I looked beautiful and I thought to myself, you are so full of crap! (she was thin and perfect in body) Then right around the same time, my pants that i wore 9 months pregnant were getting TIGHT!! I wanted to undo the top of my pants so they would be more comfortable when sitting down. That totally is what pushed me over the edge. From there I lost 125 lbs before getting pregnant again... went up 80 lbs and now I am 16 lbs away from being back to my all time low. I had a taste of what fit felt like and it has driven me back down. Pictures of me at 140 lbs is what motivates me and I am ready to be that woman again

TheFitHooker

For me it all started when I had my first son. I gained 30lbs in the pregnancy, and I thought "Yeah I can get it off." I never been considered "Big" or "Fat" till after he was born. I shot up, and still failed to admit that there was issues. I had my son in 2003, in 2009 I was 250lbs at 5'3. I seen a photo of myself from Halloween that year, my dad just had a heart attack and found out he had diabetes. I started to realize that there was a problem and I needed to do something about it. I joined here in like Nov of 2009, never posted on the forum, by April of 2010 I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. I never really lost anything, cus when I went for my weigh in at my doc office for my first OB appt. I was 250. I also found out in my first trimester I had Gestational Diabetes. I started on a strict diet that my diabetic doc put me on. I dropped 70lbs in my pregnancy. I did that for my daughter, I know I did, I know I did not do it for me. After she was born I gained 25lbs back, I was at 205. This time I looked in the mirror and knew I had a problem, knew I needed to snap out of it. I started coming back here, and I'm pleased to say I'm about 175 (yesterday my weigh in said 176 just rounding it off). My reason for losing weight is because my marriage was suffering, my self esteem was suffering, and the looks I got just made me sick. I feel wonderful and I'm happy to be on the right track.

charlotteandalfie

I fell pregnant with my now one year old son and put on a whopping four stone. After I had him I felt like I couldn't enjoy him because I just felt so down about myself I felt disgusting. The trigger to loose the weight came when had to buy a pair of size 16 jeans I felt awful I'd never been more than a 10 my entire life so I felt huge even though it's not of you see what I mean. Xx

mrsdizzyd84

My story is a similar one to a lot of you. I modeled a bit in high school. Then I got on the pill and picked up about 10 lbs. That put an end to the modeling. When I went to college I was about 145. Then I got depressed and binged on fast food. I picked up about 20 lbs. I knew I was over doing it so I started eating better, but continued to carry the weight. From there my weight continued to creep up. I got to about 170 and decided it was time to lose some weight. My roommate exercised a lot. She was a runner and she introduced me to the concept of counting calories. We used FitDay. With her I got down to 160ish. It was much better. Then I stopped working out. My eating habits were good, but I was eating too much. Then I met my husband and started trying to keep up with him and his bad habits of fast food and desserts. Then I became sedentary while still trying to keep up with him... tada 204lbs!

The final straw for me was realising that I don't feel sexy any more. I hate to look at myself in the mirror. My clothes don't fit right, and my face is fat. The final straw for me was when I decided I wanted to get back into fashion, but I discovered I couldn't fit the fashionable cloths. I'm losing weight now and I'm loving it!

jmgcummins

I used pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted, and gained 60 pounds! Most of it in the last couple months (quick weight gain, blood pressure problems and swelling - I was being monitored for preeclampsia, took me off work which just caused me to sit at home and eat more).

Now the weight is almost off, but it's taken over a year because I just couldn't get motivated.

24man

That's the question I always ask myself...and others. What is the trigger in your brain to 1. get motivated enough to actually start working out and eating better....and 2. What's the trigger to stop those good activities. I'm sure the answer is different for everyone. Not only that but for me the answer can be different for each time I start and end.

First of all, how did I get fat? That's an easy one. One, genetics makes it easy, very easy for people in my family to gain weight. Not an excuse but it's true. That makes it all the more important for me to remain dedicated to eat right and keep moving. I get fat when I stop paying attention to my body. I eat what I want, when I want and I'm not exercising. Easy answer.

What triggers me to start to lose? It can be another person I know who IS eating right and exercising and finding results. I'm happy for them and I use them as an inspiration to get that good feeling when you are getting healthier and looking better. Any trigger can be an event coming up. When my daughter got married I lost 40 lbs in 4 months before that blessed day. I wanted to look good in the pictures. Success! And sadly a trigger that will always make me start to lose weight is hitting 200 lbs. Which is sad because I like to be in the 160s. Why does it take 40 lbs before I flip that switch?

Now, what is the trigger that makes me stop? Usually it's reaching my goal...ie my daughter's wedding. After the wedding I put on 20 lbs in a hurry, and about 40 withing a year. Terrible.

I think the trick is to constant make new goals. Not just weight goals. Like cholesterol numbers, blood pressure, body fat %, etc. Also make it a goal to track all your food, constant go through exercise videos, or many other exercise goals. Also I think it might help to make it a goal to stay within a 5 lb window of weight, to keep you vigilant. Not that the scale needs to be your god, but for ME, at least, the scale keeps me aware and vigilant in doing the right things. If I don't weigh in, the lbs tend to creep back on. I know weighing in is a personal thing. I tend to like weighing in often This winter when I start adding more muscle on, that could be tricky, as muscle can add the lbs on. then I'll have to keep track more on measuring biceps, waist, chest, etc.

The trigger....it's always there, can be different for everyone.

Good luck on your path to health, everyone!

ps. this site helps A LOT!

dianalee93

I got fat because I was extremely stressed out I was pregnant and in the Army I was not sure what to do and how to do it so I let myself eat whatever I wanted and blamed it on eating for 2. Then after I had the baby it did not stop I kept eating hostess cupcakes and sonic tater tots like they were nothing. I then got out of the Army which was an extremely tough decision on me because I loved it but I loved my daughter more and I got stressed worrying about whether or not I made the right decision so I kept eating worse and packed on a lot of weight. Well I had been seeing a nutritionalist for almost a year now and I lost 20 pounds but I still wasn't fully motivated to lose weight I just would make sure I lost a pound or 2 to stop my nutritionalist from giving me lectures and bad looks. It was not until I quit smoking and gained 5 pounds in 1 week that I was like wait hold up I am freaking fat and I am getting fatter, I am almost at 300 pounds how the heck does someone who used to run every day and do sit ups and pushups every night before they go to sleep let themselves fall this far. Well anyways that was 2 weeks ago and I have lost 10 more pounds and I am still motivated to get back to the me that I really am, and I have my 5 year old to help me stay motivated and on track and she loves that Mommy is making healthier choices and when I slip up and make a non healthy choice she has no problem correcting me.
I wish us all success on our weight loss journey and I am sure if we give it our all we will all be looking good in bikinis someday.

denisebowyer

In July 2002 I had a severe stroke. It turned my world upside down. I was only 33 at that time and was a very healthy Jazzercise instructor. I started gaining weight first of all, because I had to take steroid medication due to my stroke. I wasn't able to exercise anymore. I was severely depressed and I ate to comfort myself.
What has triggered the change for me is I weighed 210 lbs two months ago. I was getting ready to have to buy size 16 pants because size 14 wasn't fitting anymore. I insisted I had to do something. I saw a friend recently who told me about myfitnesspal and I thought I would give it a try. So far, I have lost 15 lbs. and I plan on losing about 45 more. myfitnesspal is a lifesaver for me. I don't want to be fat! I also don't want to continue taking high cholesterol medication. I have developed skin tags on my body. My doctor says skin tags are a sign of possible diabetes. I definitely do not want diabetes. Thank you myfitnesspal. I feel like I have control again!

ImaSongbird

I started binge eating at the age of 4 or 5. I was desperately unhappy and used food as a substitute for the love and affection I craved. I've been doing it ever since.

At age 18, I began dieting. I lost significant weight each summer, only to gain it back, plus an extra 10 or 20 lbs each fall/winter. Eventually, I was wearing a size 24 and those clothes were becoming tight.

When my daughter went to an orientation for incoming freshman at her high school, I found that my bulk did not fit into the seats in the auditorium. I spent an evening in pain and feeling humiliated as the armrests cut into my hips. That was the clincher for me.

I have been losing weight since, and am currently sque-e-e-ezing into size 12 pants. But I still struggle with binge eating. It's just no longer part of my daily life, partly because I don't keep any binge foods in my house. But thoughts of food plague me day and night. Often I lock myself in my bedroom in the evening so the refrigerator can't get me.

cydonian

I wouldn't call myself fat but I stuck under 100 pounds until I was 17/18 and then suddenly jumped up to 120. I know part of it was starting birth control when I was 16, I began slowly putting on weight at that point. I also know that my age contributed as you naturally gain a little weight when you begin to hit your 20s. I've stuck at 135 since I was about 20/21 (I'm 24 now) and I'd like to get back down to 130 but I know it will be a struggle because it's only 5 lbs!

jacalou

I was always a skinny kid, but when puberty hit, the pounds started packing on. I really didn't see it happening. When I realized that I was too big, I began a cycle of yo-yo dieting. Would look great for a while and then resume my old eating habits... and gain back the weight plus some. Before having my first baby I lost 38 lbs and was feeling fabulous. Then I got pregnant and used that as an excuse to eat. I was frickin hungry all the time!!! I gain well over 50 lbs in my pregnancy. I never totally lost it... maybe 30 lbs or so and then had another baby and ballooned up to 225 lb in that pregnancy. That little one is 2 1/2 now and I am weighing 175 lbs. A good 20 lbs more than my weight before my first baby.
I have come to realize that I almost always want the easy way out of things. I victimize myself and say that it's not fair that my husband can eat whatever he wants and never gain weight. I was always looking for a magic pill! Something that would lose the weight for me!
What kind of life lesson is that for my kids? What am I teaching them? I am changing and making this commitment for myself (to prove to myself that hard work is good and the results of hard work are most gratifying) and to help my little girls understand that nothing worth having in life is handed to you on a silver platter. Working for your goals makes you accomplished and strong! I want them to know that the efforts that they make are for them and will benefit them. I don't want them to be jealous of people who seem to "have it easy".
Oh.. and I want to look hot in a bathing suit again! :blushing:

ukgirly01

Wow that got a great response, thanks everyone who posted an answer, it's great to see so many taking responsibility for themselves with the : I ate too much answer. Also hammers home what an emphasis parents and childhood can have on weight. Good luck all with your weight loss journeys

driaxx

I think it's cause I was happy once I finished high school! So I was comfortable and just ate and ate. + All those crazy hours at uni + the busyness.

2Bgoddess

started with fast food and partying, when I got a car, i didn't have to walk anywhere any more. it gradually creeped on for years, then 4 pregnancies in 5 years along with not being able to afford to buy fresh foods because processed crap was fast, easy and cheap.
I have been trying to get fit for 10 years, but have only been actually successful in the past 6 months with the help of my doctor, dietician and a fitness instructor friend of mine.

hlandry6

I feel like college, getting married, and commuting to school got me fat and realizing that once I start having babies my body will never be like it could be now...

alliebeck2

1. I love to eat. A lot.
2. I bought a full-length mirror from Ikea.

jakeschafer

Parents divorced, was homeless because of the divorce (it was and still is really bad) ,moved to another state my senior year (last august), and the trigger is so that my anxiety will hopefully diminish and be more qualified for the armed service

catshark209

Way too much drinking and eating way too many calories. I put away between 3000-4000 a day on weekdays, God knows on weekends. Alot of those calories were in liquid form,he he.
I was swollen and gross. See my before pic.
What triggered my weight loss/fitness was seeing my beer belly in the mirror.

MinnesotaManimal

Sick of being embrassased of how I look, size 38 mens jeans were too tight, friend told me I was too fat to ride his horse. who knows where the tipping point was. been over weight since I was 12. I got down to a healthy BMI right after highschool, kept it there for a year, then gained for the next 10 years. enough was enough. now I weigh less than I did was 13 and am several inches taller than I was then. I am focussing on changing my body composition now to be lean and strong.

mem50

High metabolism as a child and able to eat anything and everything I wanted till I was 23. Got pregnant and gained close to 100 pounds. Lost the baby in the last month and went into depression and gained more. Bad relationship, low self esteem did not help.

What triggered the change? Being in the hospital for a month for blood clot and surgery. Dropped close to 40 lbs while in and decided to get my life together once and for all.

Almost dying was my wake up call!