What was your downfall?

playitagainsam

I grew up overweight. I don't ever remember being thin. My family was all overweight too. And, like you, we grew up poor. I remember lots and lots and lots of Hamburger Helper and Ramen noodles when I was a kid! In fact, "shrimp noonies" as I called them when I was but a wee tot (LOL!) were my favorite and I seem to remember my mom making me two packages at one time when I was a kid!

So, growing up with bad habits didn't help. Then, as I grew up, I always stressed myself out trying to be a perfectionist in everything I did...everything, except my health and taking care of my body. I was never a very active kid either...didn't participate in sports or anything like that. When I would stress myself out so much; either over tests at school or just anything, I would eat, and eat...and eat!

When I grew up, these bad habits continued. Then, I suffered from a bit of depression and panic attacks from time to time when I hit 20 or 21 years old. That only made me eat more. Trying to be a perfectionist, I was never happy with myself. That upset me. Thinking that I would never been what I truly wanted to be or ever look like I really wanted to look or really ever achieve what I wanted out of life, I would binge to console myself. I would go out to eat and then order the same dinner that I ate at the restaurant to take home and when I got home would eat again. I would eat until I nearly would pass out and just get sick to my stomach...sleep some...and then get up and eat more. I was an unhappy person, and food way my comfort, my friend...it tasted good...it made me feel good (for a while!), it was my drug that I relied on for comfort. Alcoholism ran in my family and though I was never a "drinker", food became my alcohol. It was nothing for me to eat entire pies, two large pizzas, drink cases of sodas like they were going out of style, eat dozons of donuts or other baked goods, 2 boxes of brownies, whole boxes of cereal, 2-3 frozen microwavalbe dinners, etc!

Looking back, I don't know how I was ever able to eat all of that food. I sure couldn't do it now!

I really don't know what gets you out of this rut...but for me, something finally "clicked". I think, in all reality, I knew I had to do it or just die.

Just like everything that I explained above was a lifestyle...eating healthy must be a lifestyle. Proper eating and exercise is not a diet...I hate that word..."diet". It's a lifestyle. Like in all aspects of our lives, you either make bad choices or good ones...the same applies here when it comes to how you take care of your body, mind and spirit in your life.

I can say that with all of the depression and ill feelings I once had for myself, now that I have a aquired a proper diet and exercise regularly, all of those stressful situations that I once felt that I could not handle are a thing of the past. I feel like I could conquer the world if I had to without a single thought. Well, that might be exaggerating just a bit, but truthfully, I can say that I can deal with just about anything now without stressing or getting depressed.

I'm just a healthier me...all the way around.

serena569

Quitting smoking. Gained 45.

Worked out daily. Lost 30. Seriously hurt in car accident. Gained 30 + 10.

Ta2dchic20

Booze. Beer, wine, cosmos...not to mention chips and dip go so well with cocktails.

PonyTailedLoser

Not knowing how to cook, food = love, portion control (I have a lumberjacks hunger built into my 5 feet tall frame)

dicoveringwhoIam

Mine started when we had our 1st son and he was so sick and nearly died a handful of times and his health issues lasted until he was 12. They were really intense for 8yrs. Then I was diagnosed with MS and became paralyzed in fear, fear of throwing my body into a flare up or getting injured.

Now I have been working out for 10month, 60lbs down, walked 5 5k's, did the Warrior Dash in August, suffered a full achilles tendon rupture and continued to wo while healing. I was in the gym 1 week post op working out from the waist up. THough I held myself back and let life hold me back, I have taken back my life and despite the injury I feel better than I have in yrs. I am still healing but as my trainer said today, "I don't want you to be fast right now. I want you to be the little engine that could and keep moving and going forward. You'll get there quit being so hard on yourself." SO that's what I'll be

abbylady

I'm totally a stress eater. Any time I started feeling overwhelmed, or even getting over large amounts of stress, I turned to food. MFP has actually helped my control that desire, which is nice.

Add traditional college kid activities like partying and late night pizzas to stress eating and hello 25 extra pounds!

rml_16

First time around was definitely overeating, but I had been one of those naturally thin people my whole life and then I got older and my metabolism slowed and I didn't know what to do about it because for 29 years, I never had to worry about it!

Then I lost quite a bit of weight, went on Mirena and despite eating healthy, small portions and exercising, 25 pounds came back on and wouldn't budge. So now I'm off all birth control (had a tubal) and am working to get back to where I was.

blakejohn

woman.... they an't nothing but trouble

Seaglass1123

Quitting smoking and replacing that hand to mouth with food, emotional eating, and getting older and couldn't eat like I used to. MFP has changed my waistline AND my lifestyle.

bikhi

margaritas!

kenazfehu

Grazing all day long every day, plus meals.

AyaKara

I actually wrote a blog post about this recently!

Food:
Eating only rice & beans or baked zitti for dinner every night for my life (what my mother & sister primarily cook ); pizza, Chinese food, ice cream, or fast foods during & after school daily; Nature's Valley & Gatorade religiously; not enough vegetables; no water at all, only juice or Gatorade; overeating my favorites: 6 hotdogs, 6 pieces of baked bread, 2-3 plates of shrimp alfredo, half of a pot pie, etc (not in the same meal!).

Exercise:
No strength training & never challenging myself when doing it; only 1 mile daily (8-10 minutes, then go home); not participating in dance or sports.

Now, I only drink water, eat very healthy & in moderate proportions, & I avoid anything with high cholesterol, sodium, sugar, & anything with saturated or trans fats. I do not eat processed foods for the most part, except yogurt (Greek no-fat plain) & crackers (moving to no-sat/trans-fat, low-sodium soon). I exercise daily & always challenge myself. I belly dance & I actively pursue how to become better. I'm becoming physically stronger & faster everyday, & a far cry from how I used to be!

ChangingAmanda

-One of the downfalls to my success has been my aversion to fruits and vegetables. I have texture issues with them. Put the fruit in a smoothie and I'm fine. Hand it to me whole, and I won't eat it.
-I started to gain weight when I went off ritalin for ADD and hit puberty in the same year. Double whammy. When I was on ritalin, I was top of the charts for height and lower 1/3 for weight.
-Pretty much my whole family is overweight and while I've seen them have some success while dieting, I've also seen them all gain it back and then some.
-When I went to college and later moved into my own apartment I over portioned. I've started weighing all my food on a scale and can't believe how much I was over eating.
-I'm an emotional eater. Bad day - have a big pasta meal at a restaurant. Bored - open a bag of chips and eat half of them. Craving - eat 3 portions of it.
-I'm lazy and I'd rather grab a soda and a candy bar for breakfast and eat fast food for lunch than to take the extra 15 minutes in the morning to make those two meals.
-I get discouraged easy and if I didn't see results immediately and continually, I quit.
-I'm a home body/introvert. As I grew out of childhood I preferred staying home and read a book or watch TV rather than go out and do something.

caramel1920

Well growing up my mother cooked almost daily so junk food/fast food was not an option! I wasn't overweight, I was actually a very active kid but there was this taboo about junk and fast food and when I did get it at other people's houses or at parties it was like WOW!!!! A happy meal was earned by making striaght A's on my report card, I read many books because of the Book It program so I could get a free personal pan pizza. Anything academic that was tied to food, I was there!

Then I went to college and I wasn't so active (unless you count dropping it like it's hot in the club), I over indulged, didn't exercise, drank, got high, which lead to late night food runs to Taco Bell or to get pizza or whatever was open! By the time I earned my bachelor's degree I gained 100lbs!

A few years later, I lost 85lbs and kept it off for a couple of years, until I went back to school to get my master's degree and between working full-time and going to school and internship, I quit! I stopped working out and started stress eating, I don't know what it was about sitting in front of the computer or reading that made me have to have something to munch on, but that did it! All those all nighters, research papers, study sessions, and picking up something "quick" on the way, did me in and I gained every ounce of those 85lbs back in those 3 years!

So "here I go again on my own" Whitesnake! I think that was a Whitesnake song! LOL

caramel1920

Mine started when we had our 1st son and he was so sick and nearly died a handful of times and his health issues lasted until he was 12. They were really intense for 8yrs. Then I was diagnosed with MS and became paralyzed in fear, fear of throwing my body into a flare up or getting injured.

Now I have been working out for 10month, 60lbs down, walked 5 5k's, did the Warrior Dash in August, suffered a full achilles tendon rupture and continued to wo while healing. I was in the gym 1 week post op working out from the waist up. THough I held myself back and let life hold me back, I have taken back my life and despite the injury I feel better than I have in yrs. I am still healing but as my trainer said today, "I don't want you to be fast right now. I want you to be the little engine that could and keep moving and going forward. You'll get there quit being so hard on yourself." SO that's what I'll be

You are totally AWESOME!!!!!:flowerforyou:

xiofett

Sedentary lifestyle
Drinking way too much Mt. Dew (seriously, I use to go through at least 1 64 oz fountain cup a day)
No portion control (what I've heard referred to the Walmart effect. Huge portions of cheap food)
Not giving a damn.

I'm something of an emotional eater, although I eat when I'm happy. This last year has been really good, so I spent the first half of the year gaining 20 pounds. In the end, it was my girlfriend and her mom's weight loss success that spurred me on to actually start watching what I eat, reading labels, trying to make better decisions and actually stick with using MFP to hold myself accountable. 65 days and counting, it's the longest I've ever stuck with anything health related.

chilly1979

In school I was a little over weight. Then Athletics happened and I was strong as hell and went with it. I worked out all the time from 7th grade to senior year. I was a contender for state in power lifting senior year and had the bench press state record in the bag. Then in Football someone hit me in the knee while the dude with the ball was 40 yards down the field. Broke my knee. Tore some stuff and actually broke the top of my tibia. There was no chance even competing in power lifting the rehab was just too long. So having all that muscle I ate the same and blew up. So bad that I didn’t go take senior pictures. Went from 185 to 270 sometime before the end of my senior year.

I have been down to 190 since then but I was not as thin because I don’t have all that muscle anymore. This time I gained it just happened about 10 or 15 lbs a year until I hit about 315. Now I am on my way back down at 266.

Ta2dchic20

Mine started when we had our 1st son and he was so sick and nearly died a handful of times and his health issues lasted until he was 12. They were really intense for 8yrs. Then I was diagnosed with MS and became paralyzed in fear, fear of throwing my body into a flare up or getting injured.

Now I have been working out for 10month, 60lbs down, walked 5 5k's, did the Warrior Dash in August, suffered a full achilles tendon rupture and continued to wo while healing. I was in the gym 1 week post op working out from the waist up. THough I held myself back and let life hold me back, I have taken back my life and despite the injury I feel better than I have in yrs. I am still healing but as my trainer said today, "I don't want you to be fast right now. I want you to be the little engine that could and keep moving and going forward. You'll get there quit being so hard on yourself." SO that's what I'll be

You are totally AWESOME!!!!!:flowerforyou:

I couldn't agree with ^ more!!! :flowerforyou:

BCSMama

For me I think it was portion control. I went from having fairly active jobs to a completely sedentary job and didn't exercise at all. We also ate a lot of convenience foods and didn't plan meals very well. Finally, I would tell my self that I'm not THAT big, so I can have ice cream at night or cake or cookies or whatever and it'll be okay. Honestly, the weight just kinda crept on.