Were You A Fat Child?

sarahisme18

My parents said that I looked like ET pretty much from when I was born till I was in grade school. But they said that even though I looked like I weighed less than the other kids, people would pick me up expecting a little cloud-like bundle of joy like other babies and be quite surprised. :laugh:

But when I hit middle school, I remember being fairly large. I don't know if this was just my perception as kids that age are really suddenly dealing with a lot of self-esteem issues—but I was a short kid and I wore a lot of the same size clothes as my mom at that age, and she wasn't skinny either. I evened out a lot by high school though, and didn't really have any issues with my weight until college, where the food court and bad choices really took a toll. Been working at it ever since.

My whole family has really struggled with their weight as teenagers, evened out a little, and then again in adulthood. *shrug* I honestly think some of it is just hereditary. I'm also finding out that even though we're all short, it doesn't matter if we weigh 140 or 120, we still kind of look the same. Hoping that building a significant amount of muscle will change that for me, though, as I was NEVER athletic, and I bet that's part of the problem!

Valm0n

I've been really skinny until I turned 15. Before that I could eat a lot without gaining any weight. When I turned 15 I kept those habits, but I started to fatten... I took about 40lbs in 18 months

fishgutzy

Fat is relative. Because I was the only non-jock is a family of jocks and the only one wearing husky size, I was constantly told I was fat. I was never good enough. Oldest of 4 boys with one older sister. I spent my childhood trying to avoid being noticed.
Nothing is more deflating when you finally hit a ball over the fence and dad says "it's about time. You should have done that years ago." (like my younger athletic brothers.)
My point? When I actually did get fat I didn't notice because I had been taught from a child that I was fat. My body was just catching up with my self image.
Later, when I developed bulimia and got down to 155 pounds, I still thought I was fat. It didn't matter that I was using a regular bandana for a belt because a leather belt dud into the points of my pelvic bones.
As a father of two teens I am very conscious of body image and helping my kids have honest body images.No false praise or harsh words either. My kids go to the gym with me when they don't have too much homework.
My biggest concern is that when I get to my goal weight is that I will get obsessed again and start thinking lower is better. But this time I have support that I did not have those decades ago. Between my wife and a doctor that actually cares, my goals are being set reasonably. The metric trackers here help provide an object reference point for balance as well.
Childhood scars are not as easy to get over as those who have never struggled think they are. I am approaching 52 and some times things still trigger old engrained responses that I know are irrational.
The best I can do i make sure I don't inflict those same scars on my own children. So far I have succeeded. :bigsmile:

LauraDotts

I was always the smallest kid in my class throughout grade school. If the class was lined up from shortest to tallest, I was first. I wasn't just small, I was petite. Then menstruation started. I swear I jumped 4 sizes practically overnight. That should have been the first clue that hormones and I do not get along. After 2 children it really ballooned. It's taken me decades and finally type 2 diabetes to figure out why most diets didn't work for me.

Cupcakehippiemommy

Thin as a stick until I was11 years old then I got fluffy

lgreen37

Yes!!! I remember my sister shopping in the jr section while my mom took me to the "chubby chick" section*
I was very heavy- I literally started cooking when I was in the kindergarten. I was a very independent "latch key" kid.
Needless to say - I would sneak and eat! By end of highschool I lost all those pounds and gained them back when I married. I was in a tumultuous marriage and turned to food. Not good! Any way, here I am on this awesome site - ready to get rid of these 38lbs once and for all

madamecj82

I was a phat kid! I gained weight around 1st or 2nd grade and haven't lost it, yet! lol! Interesting enough, I shaped out, so I was a big girl with nice curves. After a while I stopped getting teased. That probably ended in middle school. (At least it wasn't done to my face!) So yeah - right here! I'll be 30 in December and can literally say that I've been phat almost all of my life.

TriedEverything

Interesting topic!

Well, oddly enough, I always FELT big (rather than fat) as a child, compared to other kids - I was very conscious of that from a young age. But when I look back at photos now, I just think I looked pretty average really.

I was kind of a "hefty" teenager though - I remember I was wearing a UK size 16 by the age of about 13.

What I do know for sure though is that food was always the highlight of my day, and my Mum tended to use sweet treats as rewards. :drinker:

I feel like I've been struggling with my weight for most of my life! My most sucessful dieting attempt was in my early 20's, and when I look back on photos from then, I can't believe how slim I looked. But it didn't last long, once I settled down and had children! Been yo-yo-ing for the past 20 years! :ohwell:

msmindylee

As a child, I wasn't particularly fat but I wasn't thin either. I wore regular sizes, just on the upper end. The struggle didn't really start until I started believing the people who thought I should weigh less than I did. That's when the "diet until I lose something, then eat again and gain back everything plus" cycle.

I ain't doing that again, honey.

Brenda_Pancakes

Yeah, I was. Not really until 13-ish age though. Before that I think I was pretty average. When I hit puberty, everything grew. I don't think I was truely abnormally large until my late teens, early 20's though. I graduated @ about 180 - 10 years ago. It's a nice weight for me; I'm workin on getting back there...

rachgarm

I have been over 200 lbs since I was 12 years old. When I hit ONEderland I won't know what to do with myself!

katescurios

I was a fat child from about 9 years old, spent my last few years of primary school and all of secondary school being bullied mercilessly by the people who now serve me on my rare trips to McDonalds 'Nah na nah nah nah na' :P

In all seriousness I was a ladies UK size 14 by the time I was 11 years old and in weight watchers weighing 13st (182lb) by the time I was 13. Clearly didn't work for me but MFP seems to be my saviour and I will eventually be slim

bcattoes

No, I was neither under or overweight as a child, teenager or younger adult. I didn't really start gaining weight till after my kids moved out, and was never overweight until my late 40's. Maybe I should have had more kids because they kept me pretty active. :laugh:

HypersonicFitNess

I'm not sure; but my uncles all called me chubby chigger and the 6th grade boys all said I was too fat to date.....I must not have been too thin, but I do recall wearing a size 5 when I was in 9th grade and apparently that was fat? I don't think I was skinny but looking back I don't think I was overweight...but that really did a number on me as a teenager.

Sarahbara76

skinny as a rail ..didn't gain weight until high school and I wanted to gain because I got teased so much for being so skinny and I ate what my chubby older sister did so she would feel better about herself.. She still hated me then so it really did no good.

shelbyfrootcake

I was a skinny child. Nothing but skin and bones. I didn't start to pork up until adulthood when a combination of fun excess and self loathing took hold.

buffcleb

I wasn't over weight... just a little husky



I was at the top of normal weight but not over until I got to college... first I lost weight because I was too cheap... then I made friends and started to eat lunch... alot of lunch... so my sophomore 15 turned into my 30's100...

would love to get back to my high school weight... 185...

KittieLea

I wouldn't say fat...but I did hold onto my baby fat a couple of years longer than my skinny friends. I grew out of that around age 12, then as a teenager I wasn't fat, but had to watch what I ate. I only became FAT because around 19, I moved in with my boyfriend and he and I ate at a neighborhhod Mexican restaurant about 4 times a week. I was also eating sh!tty throughout the day at work, and just not really paying attention to my body. I was careless!

lenniebus

Yes, I was fat. I remember vividly not wanting to get weighed every year in school, and I think I hit 100lbs in 3rd grade. Terribly traumatic.

NavyKnightAh13

I was always a chubby child, i would say probably from age 5 onwards. I was always told it was baby fat until i was about 10 years old and 125 (I was considered overweight at that age because i was short) and then gained 50lbs in a year after moving towns. Was 214 when I started at my first college and at that time was 18. My heaviest was 243 after my mom passed away in 2009 and was 20. I'm now 24, and still fighting it.

karenjoy

no, I was very thin, in fact I was tiny even after having three children in my early 20s. It was not until I was in my mid thirties that I started to get fat.

Dunkelheit666

I weigh as much now as i did when i was in 5th grade. So yea, i was pretty chubby. I dont blame my mom, but man she was an enabler. "doritos honey? sure!!! anything for my baby"

AmberLee2012

Yes, I was overweight. I spent most of the time taking care of my two younger siblings and wasn't allowed to do things with friends. My mother and step-father used to call me two-ton, chubby and fat *kitten*. They told me they thought it would "help" me lose weight. It did the opposite really and just made me depressed.

I lost the weight when I turned 16 and got a job and started taking dance classes, gained it back when I was 18, lost it when I was 19 and then gained it back in my mid-twenties. I'm down 36 lbs and I'm hoping this is the last go-round!

steph0924

I was a normal size kid until I was around 9 or 10 and in 4th grade when puberty hit and it was all downhill from there and fast I remember weighing in at the doctor's in fifth grade and was 125 and then 139 in seventh grade. I already had stretch marks too. I've been watching what I eat ever since. I was fairly athletic and played soccer so that is how I kept from ever being very overweight or obese, but I was always the bigger girl in class and got called "fat girl" and stuff like that occasionally. Nowadays I'd be an average size, but 20 years ago I was the exception. It is a life long battle and I know people think I obsess over it, but I am just not comfortable at a large size and to keep from gaining I really have to work at it. I really feel for people now who struggle with weight, but it really has to be up there on the priority list to try to eat halfway health and workout at least some.

Dead_Darling

I was a chubby kid throughout childhood and also wore the thick pink glasses, was the smartest kid in class, needed speech therapy, was tall (surprisingly!) and puberty attacked me when I was 10...so I was bullied for all those reasons and a lot more

When I was 8, I'd started wearing ladies size 8 (UK), at 10 I was wearing a size 10, and that carried on until I was 18/19 when I was a UK size 16/18.

It was only when I started uni at 19 did I start to lose my bubba fat. I fell ill in my last year of uni so the weight dropped off rapidly, and then went onto working in two retail jobs and the weight fell off even more. Now I'm on here because I'm out of retail (and work ) and the weight.won't.budge. -_-

jolieleger

I wasn't always fat either but to me it seems that way. I started gaining weight probably when i was in 5th grade. and seems like i've got bigger over the years.

saschka7

Other kids called me "toothpick".

JanaCanada

My mother and step-father used to call me two-ton, chubby and fat *kitten*. They told me they thought it would "help" me lose weight. It did the opposite really and just made me depressed.

That's the cruellest thing I ever heard. I want to hug you.

KarinaaD

I Was And Still Am A Fat Child. I Used To Get Bullied At School. They Called Me Shamoo And Torta. Not A Good Expierience.

Julicat6

I was average in early childhood. I started gaining around age 7-8 when my parent's divorced and my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. I wasn't obese because we lived in the country and I was outdoors quite a bit, playing in the woods or riding my bike. I look at pictures from age 8-11 and I think I was just a bit bigger than the other kids, but I remember one girl in particular making fun of me all the time. Ages 11-13 I was very aware of being larger and while I could still outrun and outdo the other girls on the playground, my body image was crap. I was bullied for being fat, smart, wearing different clothes, pretty much everything. Luckily, my Mom was super supportive and despite viewing myself as fat, I also knew I wasn't willing to conform to the "norm' as far as my interests and intelligence. I really had no friends in 7th and 8th grade(small school, only 12-14 kids in my grade) I dropped 10-15 lbs the summer between 8th and 9th. I started High school wearing a US size 10, so not fat but also not thin. My high school low had me in a US size 8. I was probably carrying about 15-20 lbs more than I should have, but was working out and had a 23 inch waist when measured for choir and bells uniforms.:happy: (Yep, I was a nerd, but I didn't care) I wore a size 10/12 when I graduate, but while I had decent self-confidence, I still viewed my self as fat. Now, that size and weight is currently my goal. I gained a lot after moving out on my own and working retail for far too long, eating at the mall food court or fast food.