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MyFitnessPal Community

so how did we get fat?

elly1979

I've been musing about how those of us in the overweight, but just under obese (or at the low end of obese) category get fat. (And indeed this may apply to those with even more to lose).

There's some "well, duh" factor stuff here to get out of the way. I read a blog recently by a woman who's lost more than 150 pounds. And when she describes her prior ways of eating (both the calorie count + food types) it's fairly clear how she got to more than 300 pounds: lots of binges, fast food, junk food, etc. She was probably easily bringing in 4,000 calories a day from my calcs. (No judgement here, people, I'm just analyzing)

But with this EM2WL way of things, I'm looking at my prior habits. I wasn't calorie counting so I have no hard data. And for a good year or so, I'd been 'cleaning up' my diet significantly (cutting out fast/junk food, but not completely eliminating it, reducing processed carbs, etc). So I was pretty much maintaining, I guess. Maybe putting on 2-3 pounds a year and taking those off the next year.

How did I get fat? How did I get from a healthy weight of around 135 or so (on a 5'2.5" frame) to 190 pounds at my peak?

In college, I had a binging semester. There's probably 25 pounds right there that never came back off until now.

But after that, I wasn't hitting 4,000 calorie counts.

The reason I bring this up is it seems for people in my weight range (I'm at 160 or so now), there is not a HUGE difference in calories between how we were eating *before* and number of calories suggested to us *now*.

And that's where I start to get a little scared. If I were to guess, I'd say I was averaging between 2,100 and 2,600 calories a day, sometimes a bit less (before I started trying to lose weight) and working out the equivalent of 1.5-2 hours a week (no lifting, light calisthenics).

(FYI, here's my stats now based on lifting 3x a week with NROLFW and 1 hour of light cardio (e.g. walking or calisthenics) a week:

BMR: 1492
TDEE: 2051
Daily Calorie (TDEE - 15%): 1744
)

After my initial years of binging & gaining, was I simply maintaining? And if so, am I in danger here of coming too close to maintaining again? It seems like the numbers above have the secret to all this, but my head is fuzzy.

Thanks for any counter muses or thoughts. I hope this can help some other folks in a similar weight/size range, too

Replies

Symonep

I have had the same thoughts!!

I have honestly no idea what bought me to the size I am. I think it could have been the combination of having a child (well my fourth child), getting depo rovera shots, no activity and bad food choices. Though thinking back they don't seem that different to now on EMTWL.

Anyway I will try this out for a few months and see what it brings...I won't be gaining weight anyway as I am below my TDEE (fingers crossed). I think sometimes when it wasn't a conscious decision I ate mindlessly without thinking of how it would affect me. Now I am more mindful of what I put in my mouth and am trying to have at least 2-3 weight days and am completing C25K.

elly1979

Though thinking back they don't seem that different to now on EMTWL.

thanks for replying! I think my own weight gain reasons are similar to yours.

And it seems why EMTWL may seem so ... difficult to grasp is because it's pumped into us that we need to make MAJOR food & exercise adjustments to see weight loss.

But is it possible that for some people, the major isn't quite so major? If we aren't like the folks on biggest loser, and it's not like "OK, put down the 10 Twinkies NOW" it seems more like we need to eat a bit less (than we were before trying the 1200 calorie solutions) and move more while building muscle tone. And, as you say, eat more mindfully.

There were some days (say 2x a month) where I could easily pack down 2-3 cookies in a setting. It's possible there are many days in my months in the past like that (if not with cookies, something else) where it just started to sneak up, little by little, and I wasn't mindfully tracking them, while also not doing a thing to build my muscles.

Maybe this is part of why Kiki advises we slow slowly, too. It's not like we gained that extra 30-40 in a month

Tenar13

I am new here but suspect it is the "hidden" calories that did it for me (the drinks coke, alcohol) and as already suggested the naughtly snacking (cookies, crisps etc) without being mindful of the calories they brought with them.

I was never hugely overweight (only a couple of stone at my worst) but I was hugely unhealthy due to little or no real exercise. By upping my exercise and eating better I am hoping to shift the last 10 lbs (fat hopefully) and tone a little. I have just upped to just over 1700 cals and hopefully this will help me with maintenance eating later too :-)

HeidiHoMom

I was in a pattern of eating really well for several days and then having one or two days where I went nuts. Those calories add up. If you are eating around maintenance most of the time but then have a couple 5000 calorie days (those dinners out can really add up) then you will slowly gain. If you go over your maintenance by just 3500 calories (and over 7 days this is not hard to do), by then end of the year you will be 52 lbs heavier.

gemiwing

Pro-tip: Us obese, morbidly obese and super-morbidly obese folks got fat the same way you did. We don't mainline twinkies- we just eat a little too much for longer

I think there are a million tiny things that we do differently now than then. I know for me- I actually look at what a portion size is BEFORE I eat the food, measuring portions, not eating whatever is sat before me, exercising and being more active in general.

So to undo the progress I've made wouldn't be something simple like 'eating carbs' again- because I've changed so many small things that are now woven together and have become 'how I do things' that to undo them would take active work. It's why EM2WL works where fad diets fail.

ellie78

I was one of those massive weekend eaters myself, but I think everyone here is right on. There are many things that could have led to the gain whether it was oversized servings, hidden calories, treating yourself for having a good day (man was I terrible about that!), etc.

My struggle now is portion size. I actually struggled with eating more at first because I was not being careful enough about my serving sizes and did start to gain because I was eating more than I was supposed to, I would guess by 300-500 a day. It was fine to be off when I wasn't eating enough, but when I started eating the right amounts I had to be more careful. Just another lesson learned along the way.

natalie412

I definitely just ate more. More snacking on empty snacks, like chips, cookies. Much larger portions - second helpings, etc. Also little exercise.

For me, the weight slowly crept on - 4 years ago I was somewhere in the 160's - then I got pregnant - only gained 15 pounds in my pregnancy, and lost it within a few months, but then was up to over 180 within less than a year. Staying at home more with a new baby I guess didn't help!

elly1979

Pro-tip: Us obese, morbidly obese and super-morbidly obese folks got fat the same way you did. We don't mainline twinkies- we just eat a little too much for longer

hi gemiwing,
I'm sorry I made some sweeping statements there. That was pretentious of me. I had been basing those assumptions off what I read recently about this woman who is pretty young (27) so for her, I don't think it was as much the issue of time as it was abundance. I can understand what you mean about time, though.

The weekend eating vs. maintenance on weekends eating is a really good point! That roughly describes me for sure, so I can see how it adds up.

Ellie78, I'm where you are at...I feel like I need to hit the right sweet spot here, meaning I wasn't eating a ton more than maintenance. So the challenge is finding that right spot of not too little, not too much, then sticking with that pretty much every day. (no more weekend binging!)

ANewLucia

Great topic...wow, I think I could really write a long one on this one, but I will spare you

The difference between "then" and "EM2WL" is back "then" we didn't restrict calories and 3500 calories equals one pound of fat. Be honest, how many times did you go to a restaurant and order an appetizer, meal and maybe the dessert too? I know I did it, and I surely didn't look for health concious choices. The quality of calories plays a role as well as the excessive numbers that we really didn't calculate back then. Empty calories in cookies, soft drinks, juices, chips, ice cream, candy bars, sports drinks, crackers, rice cakes, ....

BUT, I would say the biggest contributor to gaining weight is the yo-yo dieting part. Everytime you go through a low calorie phase, you reset your metabolic set point lower. Which means it now takes less calories for you to gain weight. So the moment you go through the "binge" cycle again, you are packing on the pounds. You then realize it must stop and then restrict calories all over again. Low caling is so restrictive you are not getting in the proper nutrients, the body craves and mini binges occurs and I know I could eat a pint of ice cream in a sitting without thinking about it...all of that adds up. The body holds ever bit of it and stores it because it thinks it may not get more anytime soon..."survival"...

With EM2WL, the science holds true for everyone...your body requires X number of calories to function...BMR. Your body also uses X number of calories during acitivity during the day...TDEE. Now, extreme cuts in calories causes an adverse reaction in the body...though initially there is weight loss, over time the body does everything it can to survive because many times people cut so drastically they aren't even providing enough for BMR. EM2WL's approach, take the body back to where it is most comfortable..receiving an adequate amount of food (small deficit 15%), macronutrient goals that are optimal for providing energy and feeding lean muscle mass, and stressing the muscles through lifting weights and cardio to run more efficiently, burn fat and tone beautifully in the process.

So there is a huge difference between "then" and "now"...:flowerforyou:

Mom2M_and_O

This same thing has crossed my mind and what I've concluded was that I had no idea just how high calorie my food choices were. It was the more than occasional fast food lunch with french fries and a soda, or sitting down with a bowl of chips every night in front of the TV and the handfuls of cookies I allowed myself on the weekends or pasta for dinner or getting the ribeye instead of the leaner filet AND eating the whole thing instead of bringing half of it home. Or the bags of gummy bears or handfuls of Godiva chocolate when I had PMS. My diet wasn't a constant stream of junk food -- but I indulged far more than I realized I did. And thinking back to portion sizes of food I made at home, they were rather small which meant I was undereating the decent foods!

When I think back to when I first started counting calories, I noticed just how much stuff I mindlessly reached for. It took several weeks of retraining myself to think before I ate. Now it feels like I eat a lot and while maybe the amount of food I eat is more, I'm certain the number of calories I consumed otherwise was way higher.

elly1979

Thank you, Lucia!
I had a hunch the yo-yo plays a role over years. As you & kiki say, consistency is key.
Thank you for weighing in

slammy1079

I was just talking to a friend last night, and not until then did I realize how much I'd changed my relationship with food.

I've always been a little on the chubby side, and I've never (until now) lost a significant amount of weight. Despite the fact that I was a swimmer and generally active kid, I'm pretty sure I zoomed by my current weight of 153 or so some time in high school, topping out a few times as an adult around 175ish.

I think I've figured out that I'm an all-or-nothing person and always have been. We didn't have treats in the house a lot as kids, and so when we got our hands on them, we went crazy. (I'm not blaming my parents for this at all, they were doing us a favor!). But I never learned the self-control I needed to not eat a half a bag of chips or three slices of pizza or package of cookies in one sitting. Luckily, my folks did raise us eating and appreciating healthy food, so for the most part - the rest of my diet has usually been pretty good.

The other issue was that when I fell of the wagon, I hit the ground HARD. One "bad" meal would throw me off for a day, a weekend, a month. I never stopped and thought about what I was eating - if there was a plate of cookies in the kitchen at work, I'd take one to have with my coffee, even if I'd already had breakfast.

In Vermont, we call soft serve "creemees," and I LOVE them. But a small creemee easily has about 600 calories (figure about 200 calories per 1/2 cup, plus the cone!). And I used to think NOTHING of eating several of those a week! I had one after a bike ride the other day: they didn't have a kiddie size, so I split a small with my boyfriend. Same thing with beer - a pint of my favorite beer is 200 calories, and I would think nothing of having at least two on any given evening if we were out to dinner or whatever. Now, I occasionally have two - but it's not very often. I sometimes have one, and most days have none at all.

It's totally a change in mindset for me. I got heavy and stayed heavy by not really thinking about what I was putting in my body, and how much damage those "little" splurges here and there can add up. I think becoming more fit has really aided this transition - I've always been active, but only recently did I realize how much what I eat affects my athletic performance. I used to have that classic "I worked out so I get a treat" mentality. A few weeks ago I was making cookies for an event and ended up pretty much eating cookie dough for dinner. I went to my 6 a.m. boot camp class the next morning and seriously thought I was going to pass out. Now that I've learned my lesson the hard way, it's much easier to make better choices about what I fuel my body with.

ladyace2078

I had no idea how many calories I was eating and I wasn't exercising at all. I had a small (or even medium) blizzard at least 3x a week, sometimes more. Each small was 500+ calories. The medium was nearly 1000 calories. The cookie that came with my meal at lunch seemed so small, but it's nearly 300 calories. A meal at Red Robin is 1100 calories. Fast food for a standard meal with a soda is 1000-1500 calories. For ONE meal!! I can hardly go out to eat anymore because the meals are completely unreasonable in terms of calories.

Really though it doesn't take much extra at all. If you eat at maintenance and have one extra snack of 250-300 calories a day that's 0.5 lb a week you could add. Do that over 52 weeks and that's 26 lbs a year. Add in any pregnancy, illness, major life events combined with an emotional attachment to food and it's super easy to see how I gained weight.

gemiwing

Pro-tip: Us obese, morbidly obese and super-morbidly obese folks got fat the same way you did. We don't mainline twinkies- we just eat a little too much for longer

hi gemiwing,
I'm sorry I made some sweeping statements there. That was pretentious of me. I had been basing those assumptions off what I read recently about this woman who is pretty young (27) so for her, I don't think it was as much the issue of time as it was abundance. I can understand what you mean about time, though.

Oh no offense taken- none whatsoever! Your tone wasn't derogatory- I was giving you an honest answer because I fully believe you to be the kind of person who would listen and hear it.

Hope that clears it up!

Zylayna

Great topic...wow, I think I could really write a long one on this one, but I will spare you

The difference between "then" and "EM2WL" is back "then" we didn't restrict calories and 3500 calories equals one pound of fat. Be honest, how many times did you go to a restaurant and order an appetizer, meal and maybe the dessert too? I know I did it, and I surely didn't look for health concious choices. The quality of calories plays a role as well as the excessive numbers that we really didn't calculate back then. Empty calories in cookies, soft drinks, juices, chips, ice cream, candy bars, sports drinks, crackers, rice cakes, ....

BUT, I would say the biggest contributor to gaining weight is the yo-yo dieting part. Everytime you go through a low calorie phase, you reset your metabolic set point lower. Which means it now takes less calories for you to gain weight. So the moment you go through the "binge" cycle again, you are packing on the pounds. You then realize it must stop and then restrict calories all over again. Low caling is so restrictive you are not getting in the proper nutrients, the body craves and mini binges occurs and I know I could eat a pint of ice cream in a sitting without thinking about it...all of that adds up. The body holds ever bit of it and stores it because it thinks it may not get more anytime soon..."survival"...

With EM2WL, the science holds true for everyone...your body requires X number of calories to function...BMR. Your body also uses X number of calories during acitivity during the day...TDEE. Now, extreme cuts in calories causes an adverse reaction in the body...though initially there is weight loss, over time the body does everything it can to survive because many times people cut so drastically they aren't even providing enough for BMR. EM2WL's approach, take the body back to where it is most comfortable..receiving an adequate amount of food (small deficit 15%), macronutrient goals that are optimal for providing energy and feeding lean muscle mass, and stressing the muscles through lifting weights and cardio to run more efficiently, burn fat and tone beautifully in the process.

So there is a huge difference between "then" and "now"...:flowerforyou:

EXACTLY! For me it was the yo-yo dieting and the endless spiral into a lower and lower Calorie deficit and more and more exercise. My metabolism was/is shot. It just got to a point that I simply couldn't exercise enough or eat little enough any more to lose weight...and when I did finally eat something or not exercise for a few days I simply gained...and never lost the gain once it was there. And I didn't even have to eat much for the gain to happen.

zukkiz

Ever since I was a child I have had a huge appetite! Weight was never an issue, until my Senior year of HS, when I started working for Burger King. I wasn't huge, but did gain. Then went into the military and got really fit. I got out had six children and ate like crazy. My highest weight ever was when I gave birth to our fourth child 231. My lightest in the past 12 years was 151. I'd get pregnant and boom big again. No self control just ate whatever.

I got so lazy, and just ate and ate. My sweet hubby loves me no matter what, he just wants me to be healthy. It wasn't until I wanted the same thing did this stick. Healthy not just thin.

This time however I weighed my heaviest after having a baby 205. That was it, I wasn't having it anymore! I was done with the mentality that I could eat whatever I wanted. My appetite is still big, but I fuel it with healthy nutrient rich foods. I do have an occasional treat, and don't feel guilty.

I'm on maintenance right now, but will cut in a couple of weeks, maybe. I have a baby to nurse and that is most important.

txsgirlK

Am I the only on here that just LOVES Lucia??!!

Not possible!

When I first started upping my calories (just last week) I had been reading on other boards about how this is not going to work, cause eating like this is how we got fat, blah, blah, blah! For me personally, I got fat because I did not care what I ate, how much I ate, or how lazy I was. I can remember coming home after work and just sitting on the couch like a blob. Going out to restaurants and eating appetizer, meal, dessert, alcoholic sugary drinks and being sooo stuffed I was miserable! Ugh, it just disgusts me now! I was most likely consuming upwards of 3000 calories some days! Until you start logging you just don't realize (or maybe turn a blind eye to) the amount of calories you are consuming! So, now that I have starting weighing my food for proper portions, eating to FUEL and not just to fill, counting my calories, EXERCISING, and making smarter choices....I not only FEEL better, but it's starting to show! We only occasionally go out to eat anymore and not only am I saving calories, but MONEY too. So more power to US for finally being on the right track! :drinker:

txsgirlK

And BTW, I have said this before....I LOVE THIS GROUP! People are so supportive and not negative or mean!

Zylayna

And BTW, I have said this before....I LOVE THIS GROUP! People are so supportive and not negative or mean!

Yup, because we're not hungry!! LOL!

Mommareed4

For me I had 4 babies in 5 years LOL..my craving with my first was milk..I would drink a jug a day, and the pounds packed on quickly until my doc told me i need to go to skim or cool it on the milk lol. I gained 60 pounds bc of that, I gained 25 with my second, lost a few pounds with my third and my fourth i stayed about the same. I have last 60 pounds now just have to loose the last 30 pounds

txsgirlK

And BTW, I have said this before....I LOVE THIS GROUP! People are so supportive and not negative or mean!

Yup, because we're not hungry!! LOL!

HAHA! Exactly!

daniii6

I gained weight mostly due to the changes in my diet when I went away to college but even more so when I quit college track and stopped regularly working out. Working out became a thing a completely dreaded after being a serious runner for 6+ years.

Then after college I moved to Europe for one year and despite thinking that I would be healthier and maybe get in better shape while gone, I ended up gaining even more weight and was the most out of shape I've ever been. The family I lived with ate portion sizes twice the size that I was used to and over time I adjusted to their way of eating. They ate bigger portions and had seconds! Also, they ate dessert every night which I almost always turned down. Even riding my bike everywhere for a year didn't counteract it all. Potatoes every night for dinner too played a role.

When I moved home I lost probably ~15 pounds without much effort just because I was eating the foods and the way that I ate before I left. I've since lost maybe another 5 pounds and I'm much happier.

MariaMariaM

I wonder about this from time to time, especially now that I am eating around 1900 - 2000 calories a day.
I gained the weight over a 3 year period or so and kept it that way so I guess I was eating at maintenance for that weight then!.

My weight gain came with joining the working force. Lots of social events, happy hours, dinners, you name it. I don't think I had an idea of how many calories there were in meals, drinks, etc. I only starting looking at labels and content about 2 years ago. So I think I had lots of empty calories and meals I thought looked small but were loaded.

I am glad I now watch what I put in my boddy. I am still a bit concern about eating these many calories (I just upped about a week and half ago) as I don't want to gain weight back but I needed to stop loosing weight. So many of you are successful with this that I have to follow the advice of those that lead by example.

Aleara2012

I know exactly how I got here... 9 months of pregnancy - 1 chocolate and a tub of icecream a day... EVERY day. :embarassed: You know how people say - you didn't get all this weight in a month, you shouldn't expect to lose it in a month either... Well for me, I gained it in 6 months (started reallz gaining in beginning of second trimester). There was month in there I gained 18lb... Yes, 18lb in 30 days. And no it was not the baby, it was all me an dthe chocolate, and the muffins, and the cheesecake and the icecream... When I started MFP this year I stopped eating all the sugary stuff (I never garvitated to fast food, but sugar is my downfall!) I struggled to even reach my calorie goal of 1400 calories. Yeah, that from just cutting the sugar out :ohwell:

Peachterrigrace9

And BTW, I have said this before....I LOVE THIS GROUP! People are so supportive and not negative or mean!

Yup, because we're not hungry!! LOL!

I love this! LOL

Audddua

And BTW, I have said this before....I LOVE THIS GROUP! People are so supportive and not negative or mean!

Yup, because we're not hungry!! LOL!

:laugh: BAHAHA! So true!

I can't even imagine going back to the crap I used to eat. The little bit I allow myself to enjoy tends to make my stomach uneasy now so it's just not as enjoyable.

elly1979

I love all these responses. They feel important because one could come here, and perhaps make the assumption that EM2WL means returning to a prior unhealthy way of overeating.

And it doesn't!

All the stories here had me nodding my head and remembering anew the poor choices I made in the past.

You inspired me to write this blog entry about decision making, and wanting the 'fast losses' and how we deal with all that:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/elly1979/view/little-victories-263552

fmbomzo

I was eating a 1,600-calorie dessert at Longhorn after eating an appetizer and full entree. That's one way I gained the weight. I was already 20 lbs overweight when I got pregnant and then gained 40 more lbs. And I honestly gave up. I was able to lose about 40 lbs and then stressful jobs helped me gain that back.

michellekicks

Yep. So an extra 500 calories/day over TDEE is enough to put on 52 lbs per year. That's a latte and a chocolate bar... or a muffin and a small soda. Easy.

fiveohmike

1 - 2 bottles of wine a night for a couple of years + eating pizza once a week and jack in the box after binge drinking at the bar....I know exactly how I got here.

No I only drink once a week in moderation, eat 3200 healthy calories a day and exercise for at least 30 minutes a day.