How did you gain your weight?

gabbingfilly

It started when I went to college. Gained 20 from eating out and drinking. Then after college I maintained for a long time until I got pregnant and gained another 60. I managed to lose half of the 60, but then started to gain it back last year due too being sedentary and not careful about what I put into my mouth. I'm hoping to lose all of it I gained and another 15 on top of it.

ESVABelle

Type 1 Diabetes, lack of exercise, binge eating disorder.

formersec

Had a weight problem all my life. I used to spend a lot of time with my Italian grandmother. In her day, a fat baby was a healthy baby, and Grandma enjoyed making her granddaughter "healthy." Funny thing is that no one else in my family has a weight problem, and Grandma overfed everyone, so I can't really blame her for my excess weight. It took health issues, including a cardiac arrest, to make me change a lifetime of bad habits.

D6Spanky

Pregnancy! I am working on losing the post-baby weight so I can get pregnant again. I'm not willing to carry the weight into the next pregnancy. People in my family have done that and could never lose it. I'm tracking my calories so I can get out of the "pregnancy eating" mindset.

cathynicolette

I grew up on a farm so while in school I worked off everything that I ate. Growing up on a southern farm, we ate horribly. When I started college, I wasn't able to work on the farm as much, add to it the mounds of fast food and the fact that I went out with friends at least twice a week, so I was eating nasty greasy food at midnight. I realized I was 160 at 22 yrs old, but didn't want to do anything about it- I really like food. I tried (a little) on and off to lose it, bounced around a little from 150 to 170. I got married at 26 weighing in at 170. Pregnant at 28 weighing 180 giving birth at 199lbs (my highest to date). I dropped back to 150-ish due to nursing. My son is 4 and a half now and I weigh 191. that's my highest non pregnant weight. I just looked the other way for too long. I don't want a heart attack to force me to change my ways

sbrooks0387

i was my heaviest when i graduated highschool (school even i am not that heavy.) my last 2 years where hell. i hated it. i didn't fit it. between that and my parents not cooking the healthiest i was in a bad place. then i went to college and that started a whole new chapter in my life. i dropped 72 lbs in 3 years there. instead of the freshman 15 i lost 20 my first year.

now i have had 2 kids in 3 years. so i have some baby weight i am trying to lose (but even 9 months prego i was not as heavy as i was when i graduated). i was doing really good was 9 lbs away from my goal and my son started to nurse less but i did not adjust my diet to account for not needing so many cals and gained back so weight.

LastMinuteMama

I noticed when i hit the big 30, weight started to stick. My diet/lifestyle had not changed from what it was in my 20s so I am convinced it is age on my part. I believe when you reach a certain age, maintaining requires some work....

^^^ This. And I'm finding this whole "watch what I eat" thing daunting. I've always been thin. I will admit that I was way more active in my 20s as well, so it's probably more like age + laziness = fat *kitten*

margo36

I've always had a healthy diet just far too much of it

MrsWayneWV

Which time?

I gained my weight slowly, over several years, as my income increased and I had more things to do stuff for me. I used to cut my own grass, but I got married. I used to wash my own dishes, but I got a dishwasher. I used to have stairs to climb every day, then I got a single level house and a job with an elevator.

I simply neglected myself, ate what I wanted and didn't exercise.

I didn't gain it overnight. I won't lose it overnight either.

california_peach

I'm pretty sure it those Italian subs from Safeway.

agingwithfitness

I use to be thin and didn't have big portion sizes ever, but then the last ten years my portion size got bigger, we started going out to eat more, I had a job where I sat all day and then we went out to eat big lunches and snacks around office, I would diet on and off there but temptation always got me on donut day!

I am semi retired now but learning to have smaller portions, less bread, and dessert rarely instead of all the time.

And now I have more time to exercise and I don't sit for 8 hours either at a desk, that helps.

emmaruns

Which time?

I gained my weight slowly, over several years, as my income increased and I had more things to do stuff for me. I used to cut my own grass, but I got married. I used to wash my own dishes, but I got a dishwasher. I used to have stairs to climb every day, then I got a single level house and a job with an elevator.

I simply neglected myself, ate what I wanted and didn't exercise.

I didn't gain it overnight. I won't lose it overnight either.

I totally agree with this. When I lived in Chicago I lived in a high rise with a doorman and worked in an elevator building. When I started a new job, I cabbed it door to door. My husband bought most of the groceries because I jokingly told him he was responsible for the "heavy lifting" stuff and the store was attached to our building.

Now we've moved and I feel like I'm always moving - doing dishes, walking on my treaddesk, cleaning the kitchen, making the bed. Now that I work from home I want it clean. And it helps that my house is ALL stairs!

I think this year is the year I tackle this thing.

Steph62002

I slowly put on weight in my early 20's, and after I had my second child it spiraled out of control. I had an infant who didn't sleep well and I was working full time, so I turned to sweets to help me cope.
My "baby" will be 4 this May, and I'm proud to say I'm about 1 lb away from losing 100 lbs since I had him.

iishnova

My husband.

Yeah that's right, I blame my husband. I do take responsibility for not doing anything to combat it.

My husband (or rather EX husband) has always been itty bitty (didn't hit 100 pounds until more than half way through high school). It was a very abusive relationship including him not eating anything I made at home (I went to culinary school and I made some darn good stuff) so we ate out a lot. He kept me isolated. He told me I could never join the Navy (he's active duty) because of my weight. I was 155 at our wedding, so already not my healthy weight but I looked good and I felt good. I had a miscarriage a year later and I was at just around 170. My stress levels were through the roof between him and working a job with 10-12 hour shifts. I was so unhappy. We separated 6 months later and I gained an extra 10 pounds in that 6 months. partly depression and partly depression meds (doc told me to stop eating so much, I was barely eating at all. side effect of meds? weight gain. caused more depression) Since our separation I've lost 15 pounds. No continuous work out (my self discipline is not what you would call helpful) but not for lack of trying. I got my control back. My power back, if you will. I stopped seeing the idiot doctor and found someone who took me switched my meds. I cooked at home more. I moved back in with my parents, and between us we cooked at home almost every night.

They say the best revenge is making yourself better. My husband stopped me from going to college. I'm about to finish my degree. I gained 30 pounds and stopped taking care of my self. I've lost 15 pounds and I'm the lightest I've been since before I found out I was pregnant. I've relearned how to stand up for myself, including my health.

So beyond my rant: stress and letting myself go.

Edit: We were married for less than 2 years)

emmaruns

I slowly put on weight in my early 20's, and after I had my second child it spiraled out of control. I had an infant who didn't sleep well and I was working full time, so I turned to sweets to help me cope.
My "baby" will be 4 this May, and I'm proud to say I'm about 1 lb away from losing 100 lbs since I had him.

Wow amazing!!

shiseido_faerie

I'd say a combination of things really...

Growing up I was always very tiny, I ate whatever I wanted, mostly junk food, but I guess my metabolism was just really good, I weighed about 90-95lbs in my senior year of highschool (no ED or anything, I was just one of THOSE people). I stayed this size until I was about 22 when my doctor decided to try to get some weight on me, after several months of working with a dietician and having "ensures" for snacks, I got up to 105 and stayed there until about two years ago when I

1) switched to a higher dose BC to treat endometriosis
2) settled into a relationship (more dinners out etc.)
3) took a desk job (as opposed to my previously pretty active retail job)

I'm now 31, i'm 5'2 and am up to about 130lbs, it's not a trend I would like to continue so here I am getting into better habits!

sinistertitan

Beer and sh!tty ( but oh so tasty) food. Plain and simple.

lilmer14

Freshman 30 - living in a dorm and the "cafeteria food" isn't all that great for you. And stress of course didn't help with my binge eating! Making healthier choices now that I live off campus!

ki4yxo

Met my wife, got in to a comfort zone, then quit going to the gym.
I was still eating good, so I was maintaining.

Then I got a job in sales working in a cubicle. I started eating
fast food on a daily bases, and it was all down hill from there.
Went from 160 to 190+. Fast foward 7 years, now I'm a stay at
home Dad that does side jobs. Weighing in at the low 180's, I
started MFP, and plan to get back down to 160'ish again AND
lower my sodium intake.

Manda_H

pregnancies and being sedentary (hard to go out and do things with little ones so I stayed behind the tv or computer)