Why did you let yourself go?...

hippy2skippy

A new 9-5 office job + emotional eating + choosing "easy" foods instead of more healthy ones.

Humbugsftw

I have an incredibly high metabolism. I used to eat entire large pepperoni and cheese pizzas and buckets of KFC and not gain a single pound. I stayed even at between 100-110lbs.

Last summer I was on depo for three months. I went to America to stay with my (now ex) and his family. I was sedentary all the time (ended up sleeping when no-one was at home), and the depo HAD affected my metabolism majorly, not to mention shot my appetite up. And a lot of it was water weight.

I gained 30lbs in 3 months. I was at my highest weight ever - 140. My hips and boobs and thighs became bigger, but it had such a huge effect on my self-esteem. I felt disgusted at myself, and became depressed.

I came back to England, and once the depo wore off, I was back to my normal metabolism levels. However, I remained at 140. And I hated the way I look. Took the plunge to lose weight 6 weeks ago with the help and support of my boyfriend, have felt happier knowing that I will be back to my normal weight at some point.

TL;DR: I gained a huge amount of weight in three months, felt disgusted at myself, and had incredibly low self-esteem. Depo messed up my metabolism majorly.

Musicbabe42

To me I look in the mirror and still to this day see someone ugly......so why bother to control my weight it is not like I am looking for a guy. But I was sent to a unit at my job that made me get into shape in order to preform it as expected. I have to accept though i will never be good looking i can be healthy and slim.

tajmel

Taking care of my physical self was my last priority. It was on the list, but not high. Add depression and major lifestyle and diet changes brought on by early/abrupt marriage and a couple of kids and you get 126 lbs of fat, most of which I gained in about a year.

I don't think I "let myself go" for the record. I never stopped taking care of my appearance and I still loved and worked to improve myself. My fitness just wasn't my highest priority.

LolasEpicJourney

I was overweight as a child. When I was about 14 I started slowly starving myself. Once I went to university I was put on anti-depressants that caused me to double my body weight. I dont know if that's "letting myself go" as much as having the meds induce massive weight gain. Over the years I did get a much higher appetite that's for sure though.

gaylynn35

I didn't eat enough, I never understood how I could be gaining and gaining weight when I barely ate anything. Now I know, I must eat more and exercise.

AtlantaWriter

Way to go, Cupcake!

DaraEden

I know how it happened. I ate whatever I wanted. I also am camera shy so I never really saw myself. Never really wanted to see. I felt miserable, tired, and old. A friend snapped a photo when I wasn't looking and posted on facebook. When I saw that photo, I cried. I knew I had let myself go, but I didn't realize exactly how bad. My hubby has always been supportive and never said anything negative. I wanted to be a better Beth.

Good for you p.s. I LOVE your two pandas in the picture! cuteness

aliwitt82

My husband was in the army and was deployed to Iraq 3 times. Two of those times I was a "single" mom. When he was deployed it was easier to eat at a fast food restaurant rather then to cook. Then I used the excuse I "didn't" have time to do anything about it.

Cupcakehippiemommy

because I think I am ugly, might as well be fat too. Now I think, meh, I may be ugly, but I dont have to be fat too.

For the record I don't think you're ugly, doll ^u^

tomdVT

The whole story:

The gaining part:
quit smoking = gained weight
no energy over time = gained more weight
cause: defective heart valve
collapsed - almost died

The losing part
four months in cardiac rehab
joined a gym to keep good things happening
lost 35 pounds

Getting here part
found out about MFP (at gym BTW)
lost 16 more lbs and made goal.
reset goal down four more lbs and three to go.

Han987

I was always pretty active through school. One of the smaller kids. Finished school all my friends and I went off to different unis, a year goes by and everyone is home again and wanting to hang out. I really never noticed I was gaining weight until I went to hang out with them again. That's when I realized I was actually a size or 2 bigger than last year. I had officially become the fat friend.

Smiling_Sara

I can't really answer it. I'm not sure what made me gain weight to begin with. But regaining 30+ after losing almost 100, a big part was because I was very uncomfortable with the attention from men I was starting to get.

I think saying how we got to this weight is so easy but understanding why we stopped caring about ourselves and life is tha hardest. The fact that you lost 100lbs once means you are stonger than you think doll and gaining 30lbs is nothing I wish you the best and keep looking forward. Embrace the attention but don't get intimidated by it doll you are awesome for losing that much weight ^u^

Thanks hun. It's so hard to not get intimidated by it. I have terrible social anxiety and a people pleasing personality. So, not only does it make me uncomfortable, but it hurts me if I end up turning people down and it hurts them. It's a vicious cycle.

You know how hard it is to to look at a guy across a room and think "wow, he is so good looking........God, I hope he DOESN'T talk to me!!!"

BeautyFromPain

I was anorexic in high school, therefore when I got a back injury and had to stop dancing - also starting to eat properly again, going from 200 cals a day to 1500 a day and going from dancing 4 hours a day to nothing I packed it on. ****ed up metabolism.
Antidepressants didn't exactly help.

newhabit

i cut down drastically on exercise when i started graduate school. because of that i went up roughly 10 lb... ok not that bad. then, after grad school, decided to get pregnant. weight obviously went up because of that but then i stopped exercising while i was pregnant too because i kept getting bad false labor contractions. then, started breastfeeding, kept eating a lot of calories when i stopped which led to more weight. i realized when my baby was 15 months old that i had to do something. i had to start exercising again and eating right or i would just continue to gain weight. so i started a plan. i lost 27 lbs. then, i gained 10 back. luckily, i continued to workout. so i think some of that gain was muscle . but i still need to lose that last few lbs. i've come a long way but will never let myself get like i was when i didn't care about working out or eating right. also i had no idea what to eat until now. i know that protein is important. i know empty carb calories really aren't the best idea. i used to eat so much junk but now i know better. never again!

PaleoRDH

I never let myself go, exactly. In my adulthood I've always busted my buns to have a nice figure. Last July I got a blood clot that ran from my ankle to my kidney (huge, huh?) caused by something called May-Thurner Syndrome, which I did not know I had, which got severe when I was pregnant with my son. SOOOO, needless to say I almost died. I was bedridden, had to have corrective surgery, and now have a left foot that doesn't always cooperate thanks to all the trauma to that leg. For those who've never heard of May-Thurner, like me before last year, it only affects the left side because it is a left common iliac vein collapse (it collapses under the right artery in the pelvis area). I survived, thank God since I have a baby to raise, but the medications I have to take now (anticoagulants) cause weight gain, not to mention despite an initial loss of weight when it first happened, I gained weight during the incident. Now I'm trying to reclaim my figure......... it ain't easy peeps, but I'm fighting hard. :ohwell:

ullgetthere

It's so wierd to say but I think I was testing the limits. I lost weight in my 20's and opened my part time cake business when I turned 30. I discovered a freedom of eating what I wanted when I wanted and saw no problem with that. I told myself that I am happy no matter the weight I am. However, it got to a point (about 1 month ago) that I got tired going up stairs, my back was hurting so much when I was taking walks, I was tired all of the time and my beautiful pumps were now impossible to wear cause I was (still am ) too heavy. So in the end, I was fooling myself into thinking that I had an amazing freedom when all I was doing was adding even more shackles to myself.

karylee44

wow.. excuses.. yup i got lots..

i had twins.. *oh my)
i was depressed
and well i had a really bad knee...
and heck all those donuts really didnt help.

crabbyab90

I have always been a bit bigger. But I followed the whole getting married and having a baby and I completely lost all track of it. Now as a 22 year old I am told I have high cholesterol and have set myself up for many more health problems.

Zyphun

Depression mostly. I've been overweight since I was a kid. I was bullied a lot growing up and eating was my escape. When I became an adult I was so much of a socially awkward I just kept to my habit of eating to make myself feel better.

doodles80

I had an accident which left me with severe PTSD and I used to eat to make myself feel better.

That was 9 years ago and I still have not got a lid on it yet. I am a yo yo dieter and find it hard to eat in moderation.

I lost 3 stones for my wedding earlier on in the year, but when I found out I had a heart condition and my exercise had to be cut down I started to eat and not exercise again and put the three stones plus some back on in the last 8 months.

I feel awful and at the moment, until I have my heart operation I cannot exercise the way I want to so I just use that as an excuse not to do anything, and now I hate myself again.

I think you are wonderful for even being on here and taking the best step which is to take back your life ^u^ Obstacles are just victories over the horzion doll and I know you can do this atleast by eating healthy right? Good lucj and you are more than welcome to add me doll ^u^

Aww.. thanks I still feel like a fat knacker though lol xx

Tina2Cats

Using food as a comforter and snacking. Not caring about myself and using food to cope with my problems has caused my downfall.

bushidowoman

Motherhood can be exhausting and overwhelming. For years, I put everyone else first and myself last. It just crept up on me.

kimosabe1

An auto accident made it to where I didn't walk for an entire year..... Now that I can walk, the surgery made it to where I can no longer run. Now I do elliptical and low impact aerobics....

LadyLisa

Wow, what a perfect question, the only answer I have is boredom and losing myself. I became so consumed with everyone else life and well-being I stopped caring for me. I was focused on the wishes and wills of others I lost my true interested and when I went to the store to finally shop for me( not the teenage children or love of my life) I hated what looked back at me in the mirror, sweatpants and oversize t-shirts. I didn't even know the girl in the mirror and had no desire to get to know her. So I vowed I would NOT buy anymore double sized anything this is not the body I desire my temple is worth more to me than this.

kittykat1994

I just got lazy. I started eating out more, or just cooking microwave meals instead of cooking anything. I'd also just eat as I was bored and the food was there. I stopped all form of exercise slowly, and the weight crept up on me. I piled on 10kg in 6 months. I felt bigger, but kidded myself, until my work trousers we not fitting and my family commented I was getting fat. A week ago I came back here, and in just over a week I have lost 4lbs

n_rockey

I hate to blame it on my parents, but I don't think I was really taught how to eat properly. From probably the 5th grade until high school my mother was a weight Watchers lecturer, and had purged our house of EVERYTHING remotely unhealthy. My father rebelled at this, and would volunteer to go on all the quick shopping trips to pick up a gallon of milk or loaf of bread and take us kids with him. While at the store we would always get a big bag of potato chips, box of ice cream bars, or some other fattening treat under the condition that we eat it ALL on the way home so that Mom wouldn't know we had it. Then of course we had to eat a good dinner because we were forced to be members of the clean plate club. Looking back now I remember going to bed and feeling sick to my stomach so many times, but it never really clicked that eating like that wasn't a good idea since I saw one parent depriving herself and the other pigging out.

10 years ago I went through Weight Watchers myself, and lost almost 100 lbs. Then I hurt my back, and could barely get out of bed for almost 3 months. And the weight piled back on. Then I got pregnant, and used that as an excuse not to work out hard, and to eat whatever I wanted- afterall all pregnant women are suppose to be fat, right?

So now I'm on the journey again. This time with the support of my husband who is also 100+lbs higher than he should be, and we're doing it for ourselves, each other, and for our daughter. However I don't want my daughter to fall into the same trap I did, so junk food is not completely banned from our house- it's just eaten in moderation. Junk food will always be around and be tempting, so I firmly believe she needs to learn how to deal with it now so that she doesn't follow in my path.

valeriebpdx

I grew up and didn't adapt my eating habits. I am 23 now, but up until I was about 20 or 21 I could eat anything I wanted and never work out...and not gain a pound. I hit that normal curve in life where teenage girls turn into women and haven't been taught how to eat/act in a healthy manner. Now I have to lose some weight and relearn how to live.

Yup. My metabolism changed and my lifestyle did not.

This is me, too. I used to eat a rack of ribs and a whole cake and ask others, "Were you gonna finish that?" I weighed less than 100 lbs. at 18. I put on about 10 lbs. a year in college and the first 30 looked great. The next 30-40 after that, not so much. But I am still having a hard time reversing the runaway train.

shewdog

Getting married, after the honeymoon we both let ourselves go. Then it was a case of denial and been "too busy" to exercise.

Lorichr

I ate whatever I wanted despite the fact that I was forty and no longer had the metabolism or the physical activity level of my younger self.
I have now lost the weight and I am working on maintaining; which isn't easy either!