Why are you / Why were you fat?

jadedone

I have never been small. Except for when I was born as a preemie.

I haven't really dieted other than a week or two of reduced calories maybe 4 times in my life, so I am not a yoyo-er either.

I probably have a slower metabolism. I am generally considered one of the lighter eaters in my social circle. (I am also hypothyroid). This probably has the most impact. My level of activity also is really dependent on my work, I currently work at home, which cuts out a huge portion of daily activity for me. No water cooler. No walking to lunch. No walking to a coffee break. It is pretty hard for me to be so confined.

When I was younger, I was definitely more of a junk food junkie (inherited from my day for sure) but I was also pretty active. I rode my bike all the time, played outside and used my power pad when I played video games. But I mostly stopped drinking soda around age 12. I didn't drink that many of my calories after I cut sodas (about 1 cup a day all through high school and college. I watered down juice, koolaid and gatorade.). Junk Food consumption really decreased starting in college. I've been eating at least 75% clean since 2004.

For me I HAVE to focus on calories in, portion control and exercise intensity. Moderate exercise does absolutely nothing for my weight at all. A couple years ago I switched jobs, and added around 3-4 miles of walking to my day. I gained 15 pounds after a year.

The only times I ever lost weight (it was probably 15 pounds in college and about 4 years ago) I either: did lots of intervals, or lots of hill walking. This time I am definitely focused on losing weight for good, and continuing the rest of adulthood smaller, so I am focusing on lower calories, strength training and intervals at high intensity.

nominal

I love cake

Sidesteal

I ate too many calories.

CrazyHedgehog

I'm not very good at anything..... but damn, can I cook!
from chocolate croissants, cakes, roast meals,
well,
I am pretty good at eating too!

leanmachinedream

Baby weight. I gained 50lbs. I thought pregnancy was a free for all. I wish someone would've told me to put the fork down.

DeborahStanley

Poor eating habits as a child, back & sight problems limited sport options & now I love to bake & I love to eat what I bake ..... Been fat, been slim, really need to find a balance.

BlooQKazoo

I really love chocolate, cheese, and bread. No psychological problems here.

melsinct

I love to cook
I love to eat.
I love to drink wine when I eat.

I started packing on the pounds after graduating college and transitioning to the life of a desk worker.

charmingtrouble

I've been overweight since junior high at least, at 14 yrs, 5 ft tall, I weighed in at 125 one day in PE...that junior high offered fresh baked cookies, hot cocoa, and donuts to buy during breakfast and boy did I buy haha. More junk food offered in highschool, especially with vending machines and now 6 years later, 20 yrs, 5'1 and 150 I have better access to cheap fast food in college. My favorite food is also mashed potatoes and gravy I'm not very good with stress, so family and school problems lead to me seek comfort in food.

stepped on a scale at a friend's house, googled my bmi one day and bought a scale, sports bra, and running pants a week later!

I found the mobile app and website on my ipod touch this morning and LOVE IT. It's so much fun punching in numbers

as much as I love the cup size at this weight, I hate the gut size that came with it

jjmaag

I'm in the military and spent a year overseas at a very middle of no where base, i've been back in America for about 3 weeks and have successfully gained at least 8 lbs. At this rate i'll be fat soon, already fatter than i'd like to be. Thank god for me, I have no choice but to stay in shape, hoping this little blunder is over, ate healthy food at work today instead of going out to Burger King even though I was VERY tempted.

vypeters

I ate waaaay too much and sat on my butt.

OK, maybe a little more complicated than that. I have always used food as both comfort and reward. Happy? Celebrate with food. Angry, sad, bored? Comfort with food. And I have always been a plate cleaner. You put y amount of food in front of me, it's gone. Put y times 3 amount of food in front of me? Gone.

rayleansout

I ate and drank way to much and never moved unless it was to a party or to a kitchen, basicly a fat lazy slob!

Then I got fed up lost 120 pounds lifting, cardio, sweating my *kitten* off and eating nice clean foods and after getting in amazing shape I had a virus attack my heart, leading to heart failure and I gained 3O back primarily from meds and some from depression and not moving.

Now that I am better I am having a hell of a time getting rid of this 30 although my diet and workouts are spot on. I kicked fats *kitten* once and I will kick its *kitten* again!!

Kandygirl

i just stopped taking care of myself. i used to workout and play sports then i stopped but i didn't stop eating like i was still really active. then after two kids, i decided that needed to change.

Weathers58

Alcohol.

Me too. Too much booze and munchies. Dont drink or smoke anymore and run. I went up to 18 stone

Sidesteal

I'd like to change my answer to:

1) corn.
2) My poop sank.

SmartAlec03211988

I used to be active and eat 'ok' and was actually a little underweight at the time. Then I had an injury, was required to be sedentary for months, and the pounds packed on. After the injury was long gone, my new less-than-stellar eating habits combined with the lack of activity kept the pounds continuing to pack on over the last 8 years, until I reached 206 lbs in April 2011.

I was HORRIFIED that I was over 200 lbs, from being 120 lbs only eight years ago.

Well, I got active again, started eating properly, and now I'm 130 lbs 10 months since getting back on track. I'm aiming for 127 lbs, because I have grown a little bit since then so 120 lbs would not be ideal as it was back then.

bluberrygoo

I gained too much weight during my pregnancies, because I was ALWAYS STARVING! It's funny actually, I gained the same amount of weight with both my sons, even though I ate fast food, sweets, and a gallon of chocolate milk a day with one and fruits, vegetables, and whole grains with the other.

TONYAGOOCH

I'd like to change my answer to:

1) corn.
2) My poop sank.

OMG! This just totally made me LOL. And I understand your comment cuz I was just on the corn thread. lol

pineapple1989

Because when I was a kid I could eat anything I wanted, basically as soon as I turned 16 this seemed to stop, and unfortunately this was around the time I got my first job and had much more money so all I seemed to do was buy junk food. Just gradually gained over a couple of years then when I turned 18 I ballooned which I know related to alcohol. I have hovered around the same weight for about 2 years now and to be honest I dont know why I have suddenly become so determined to lose it all... I just wish I had been mature enough when I started gaining to realise how big a job it would be when I finally got some sense into me!

emily2tx

I would have to say that I got to the weight that I did because of continuous love of junk food and cheese. I also tend to be a binge eater, which is difficult to stop. No joking, there was like almost a year where I ate fast food every day. Sometimes I would go to one FF place and then go to another to get something to add to my meal.

I did this too, except I think it was more than one year for me. LOVE fast food restaurant hopping! I am addicted to sweets and junk food. It started when I got my first job at a fast food restaurant. Ate candy and soda for lunch everyday of high school and ate fast food for dinner. Not a good start to my adult life. I thought the whole calorie counting was a big joke.
Three children later, I take care of me, including exercise and a good balance of good foods. I eat minimal processed sweets and I don't buy tubs of ice cream or blocks of cheese anymore. Fast food is limited to once a week...usually. Trying hard to model good eating habits for my kids.

jenaissance

cupcake baker + couch potato + chronic pain + 3 kids in 4 years = oops! I gained almost 60 pounds over the course of my pregnancies. Now my youngest is almost 4, I'm much more active (thanks kids!), I'm working on pain management, and I no longer eat everything I bake. My "fat pants" are finally getting to be too big

huracan_mery

After my first couple of years of college, I stopped being busy all the time. I got a sit-down job. I took all kinds of antidepressant and other psych drugs I didn't need that had weight gain as a common side effect that were pushed on me when a decent psychologist was all I really needed during a difficult time in my life. Been drug-free for nearly a decade but the pounds are hard to take off. Became less and less active, to the point where I actually got to be the couch potato I used to never understand why people could be that way. But it was me. Hit 200 pounds for the first time in 2004 and been hovering on the +/- side of 205 pretty much ever since, going as low as 160 and as high as 226 (not pregnant) and 236 (highest pregnancy weight). I would eat because I was bored, not hungry. Because I was mad, not hungry. Because I was anxious, not hungry. So I am trying to curb the emotional eating and get back to being active, or at least busy.

Bridget0927

1.) Child
then
2.) Excuses (of having child)
then
3.)Alcohol

finally realization that I need to watch it and care about my health for the rest of my life UGGGGHHHHHHH :-)
I am an MFP'er for life just to keep myself in check!

k8blujay2

1) Being lazy
2) Eating too many high calorie foods
3) Being on the Depo Shot (which wasn't the only cause of weight gain, but it sure didn't help as I tend to gain weight on progesterone only birth control)
4) Not actually changing any habits for the long term the LAST time I lost a ton of weight
5) Not having an active job where I spent most of my time outside instead of sitting behind a desk.

Mommareed4

Pregnant and/or nursing for 5 years straight basically LOL and after my second child I was diagnosed with Lupus..during my 1st pregnancy I gained 60 pounds alone from drinking waaaay to much milk, I am talking 2-3 cartons a week (2%). I gained over 4 pregnancys about 100 pounds--YIKES!-- and I have lost 65 pounds, and wanting to loose 20-25 more pounds (which is proving to be particularly difficult)

BIGJIMMYU

Too much fatty foods and nil exercise.

tuffytuffy1

Beer is part of it, and the other part was when I quit smoking last January (of 2011). I gained 20 pounds in 6 months.

bellevie23

Divorce-led to 20 lbs because I ended up drinking toooo much, I then had a child in 2009, 2010, and 2011. So, my pregnancy weight helped. I got my tubes tied Dec 19th, 2011 when I had our 3rd and final child. I came out of delivery weighing 228, I am 191 as of today, so taking a while, but Im getting there. I just needed to have a break in pregnancies, but 3 kids was enough for us, so I decided to stop there, now its focusing on me

bellevie23

and considering the army expects me to be in shape, I have 4 more months to ensure I am *sigh* I never understood their logic of 10 months to gain it but 6 months to lose it lol..oh well. :P

jedibunny

I was a chubby bunny as a kid. Pinchable cheeks, all that. I got into intellectual stuff early and steered clear of physical activities (I hated gym and never played sports). I wasn't fat as a teenager, but I wasn't "skinny" either... then I moved out of state and got depressed, got a full-time job, etc. I found that I loved great, heavy, calorie-laden beers and Irish whiskey... but it didn't matter because I was on my feet most of the day. Then I decided "screw this full-time customer service crap, I'm going back to school" - which I did - which caused me to start sitting all day, and I've really been sitting all day since. I was/am a nerd and my undergrad consisted of history (hours upon hours in books) and anthropology (more books and a little dirt). I finished that and went on to grad school: first law (more books), then more history (more books) and finally information science (computers! and books). I also build computers and have always played video games, and spend plenty of time reading. I am sedentary.

I noticed about 5 years ago that I was becoming more or less rotund and the "chubby bunny" was reappearing because of all of this. I ignored it because I was in school, working, or both. I finished my Master's and started Real Life Work, and noticed that I'm extremely tired much of the time, very lazy, and have a much larger posterior than 90% of my coworkers. (Not too big a tummy, but I have as my sister calls them "baby-makin' hips" which naturally bear more weight, and so, therefore, do my thighs.) I still work in front of a computer, I read a lot, and I build computers/play video games.

I also realized when I started MFP that I ate a LOT of sugar just to keep myself going during the day. That's changing (slowly)... but I can't tell you how tired I was at first. I'm now a lot better (but still feeling it). I also just started really exercising, and that's a major improvement in my energy levels.

Anyway, short answer: alcohol, school, and nature of hobbies, and nature of employment. Maybe I need to look for work doing something away from a desk.