Earliest Memory of having weight problems...

Sparksfly

What's your earliest memory of having a weight problem or being told you have a weight problem?

I must have been 8-9 years old and I was sitting in my doctors office with my Mom and Dr. My Mom was saying things about my weight (how I had a problem) and asking the Dr. how I could lose weight. The Dr. suggested a Barbie workout tape available, and she tried to get me to do the tape everyday. I hated it.

It's crazy that I can't remember my birthday party from that year, but I can surely remember that!

Mamakatspokane

From Kindergarten on....my BFF was beyond thin and I always remember being HUGE next to her and feeling horribleabout it. My whole family was fat so I just assumed I'd always be the big girl when I was young. I never remember a time in my life that I haven't been aware of weight.

Sparksfly

I honestly think if it starts early enough (the pressure of being overweight) it just dwells on you forever!

tntrav44

OMG...I had that Barbie workout tape!! I must have repressed that memory because I hadn't given it a thought for like 18 years, but I remember now that I read it on your post. What a TERRIBLE tape it was haha!

DoneWithTheFatGirl

From Kindergarten on....my BFF was beyond thin and I always remember being HUGE next to her and feeling horribleabout it. My whole family was fat so I just assumed I'd always be the big girl when I was young. I never remember a time in my life that I haven't been aware of weight.

thats pretty much me to a t as well...

Also a huge sign was when my grandmother took me to sign up for Jenny Craig when I was 12.

Mamakatspokane

From Kindergarten on....my BFF was beyond thin and I always remember being HUGE next to her and feeling horribleabout it. My whole family was fat so I just assumed I'd always be the big girl when I was young. I never remember a time in my life that I haven't been aware of weight.

thats pretty much me to a t as well...

Also a huge sign was when my grandmother took me to sign up for Jenny Craig when I was 12.

I remember going to Weight Watcher meetings with my Dad & Sister, I was too young to join, she must have been about 14

Sparksfly

I love my gmom, but oh man she was always sooooooo hard on me because of my weight. She was always telling my mom that I was fat!

Sparksfly

I think being so restricted in what I ate made me crazy about food when I was little!

ashley_alm

i'm the same with the kindergarten and on. i was always bigger than my friends (they were all twigs and still are). when i was in either the 5th or 6th grade i remember a doctor telling my mom that if i stayed that same weight till i was a senior in highschool i would be average. and it does stick with you. i do remember going to weight watchers meetings with my grandma and doing the whole richard simmons videos but i was just a little kid

simona1972

I was always overweight, so my childhood memories are always about people telling me to lose weight or family members making fun of me for being fat.

The memory I have that to this day still makes me cry was when I was 12. At that point I accepted who I was and my size and I was pretty happy. Then one day my mom tells me I have to go to the doctor with my sister. She said my sister had to go see him. We get to his office and he turns to me and says "So, your mom tells me you want to lose weight". I was floored! My heart and stomach sank to the floor. I didnt want to lose weight. I didnt think I HAD to lose weight.

Every day after that, no matter what I ate all I heard was "Is that on your diet?" Ive dieted myself all the way up to 350lbs. I often wonder if I was left alone at that time if my weight wouldve been different....if I wouldve been different.

That appointment killed who I was and who I couldve been.

pennyk78

I remember when I was about 9 or 10 my Mum sitting me down and saying that I shouldn't 'go around' with a friend down the street, because we looked silly together. She was a year younger and tiny! My Mum is wonderful, always has been and always will be, so I don't know where the advice came from. It came from love no doubt, but put a seed in my head that will never leave me

snorker88

Going to ballet class at about 7 and wishing I was thin like all the other girls in my class!

cherie2304

I remember being thinner my Freshman year of HS then after that my weight skyrocketed. I even remember going to Weight Watchers meetings with my Aunt. So in my early teens is when the weight started to pile on. My whole family is pretty big so I never had the pressure on me to lose. Even to this day my family has gotten bigger and I always remember my Mom telling my brother that he needs to lose weight...I think that is mainly because he has high cholesterol and high blood pressure. I don't ever remember my Mom telling me or my sister that we need to lose weight.

gummibaehr

I was teased relentlessly about my weight from first grade all the way through early high school. Hard to forget that. But I'm trying. :-)

Leigh14

I remember every day of Kindergarten, when I would lay down for a nap, a couple boys (one, in particular) would lay next to me and pick on me about my weight until I finally cried myself to sleep. I would sleep longer than most of the other kids and they would be already involved in an activity when I woke up.

I remember sitting at the bar in my grandma's kitchen, eating something (probably bad for me) while there were several family members there. I heard some of them laughing behind me and I turned around on the bar stool. My grandma had been measuring how wide my back was with her hands and was laughing about it with some other family members.

I remember when I was really little my mom would try to get me to go running up and down the road in front of our house with her. I hated it and didn't participate much.

I remember Mom and I going to a nutritionist (or something) when I was little (I have no idea how old I was ... maybe even before Kindergarten). The lady gave us a recipe for this cabbage soup stuff that was supposed to make you lose weight. I remember it was disgusting and we didn't eat it.

I remember trying to starve myself. Trying to workout when I didn't even understand what working out was.

I remember getting this rash in one of my armpits when I was younger. The skin was coming off and it had a yeast-y smell (sorry for the TMI). It itched like crazy, but I couldn't scratch it because it was raw. Mom took me to the doctor and all he said was, "You're too fat and that's what caused this." I never believed it, but who knows. He gave me an antibiotic ointment and it cleared up.

I remember all the names, all the harassment and all the rejection from elementary, middle, high and even college. It all hurt and left scars.

But ... I am here. And I am doing something about it. That's what matters now.

Yurippe

In high school one of my friend’s mom took us all to the beach. I was sitting with her mom at a table chatting and she said to me, "You know, if you just lost 20 lbs you would be the hottest girl here..." I remember being devastated.

The funny thing is for my height a healthy BMI is 128-169lbs. At the time I weighed about 170. I was in decent shape but have had a really negative body image ever since. In the 12 + years since I've put on an additional 90 lbs and I laugh at myself now for feeling fat at 5'10" and 170lbs.

I joined this site a long time ago and have fallen off the wagon quite a few times. My healthy eating plan usually lasts about 2 months and I drop double digit lbs before something else sets me back (travel for work, an illness, my boyfriend giving up on his fitness goals, etc). I started again this past Saturday, am eating right, joined Curves and have been back every day to work out.

I think this time is going to be different. This time I'm not worried about what anyone else thinks. I'm not depending on anyone to hold my hand through it. I'm here for me! I want to be healthy. I want to live longer. Having a sexy butt will be nice too!

I wanted to thank everyone on this site for taking the time to support each other. I've very rarely posted, but I get a lot of motivation from reading about everyone else's journey.

MTGirl

My weight problems started after my brother died I was in 1st grade. Apparently, I started eating my emotions way back then!

A really cool thing though - last year for my birthday I got a leather purse that my brother had tooled (he would have been 13 or 14 when he did it) and my step-dad and daughter stitched the pieces together. I has brought a lot of healing having that little piece of him and his talent!

BrendaLee

The girl from the Barbie workout video was also in the orginal Sweatin' to the Oldies. A little useless trivia.
__

My earliest memory of being overweight...if I look back, I think I was always treated differently by some adults because I was a chubby kid...I know I was certainly shy and insecure from as early as I can remember. My first real memory that comes to mind right now is grade 5 or 6, and a boy in my class calling me fatty "jokingly", and me chasing him around the classroom. I guess I played along with the joke. Now, I'd smack him upside the head.

MirandaJayne

somewhere between 5 and 6 yaers old. It wasn't so much a weight thing but a body image problem. Having a ballerina friend in Brownies with me she was petite and skinny. I am taller and built bigger than she. I didn't think i was overweight but I felt that I was fat.
Then another stand out memory for me was between grades 5-7, when a classmate tried to show me something (i had no idea at the time what it was - but do now) she asked me to cross my legs, I did. She then said no cross them more so your leg hangs down beside your other leg. I couldn't because my calves were too big. She was nice and said Oh I guess you just can't do it, sorry. I now know she was trying to show me that you could cross your legs twice, thigh over thigh and shin to calf.
In high school I remember thinking I was fat because genetically I have thicker thighs than other girls I was friends with (my mom has thich thighs too and she isn't over weight). Because when I looked down and saw these big round shaped thighs (not ever looking or basing this on any other body part) I thought I was fat (looking at pictures now God, thats my ideal weight and look for now)

LittleSpy

I was a chubby small child progressively getting fatter up until I was about 12. I mean I was constantly teased about being the chubby kid (I was hardly chubby at all compared to kids today -- listen to me sound so ridiculously old, haha -- "kids today") in school from 1st grade on. I pretty much starved myself that summer and lost enough weight that I remember buying size 9 skirts and pants that year (I'm in a 14 now and that's the smallest I've ever been as an adult). Anyway, like the 2nd or 3rd day of school I was planning to wear a pair of shorts and I was looking in the mirror and my older brother made some stupid comment about fat hanging over my knees (which was complete bs, of course). Well, I didn't wear those shorts to school that day... and I haven't worn a pair of shorts EVER SINCE. Not even around the house in front of my bf (we've lived together for over 3 years). The only time I've worn shorts since is when I've been swimming. And the only time I go swimming is when it's dark & no one can see me or in a lake that has water too murky to see. Anyway, after starving myself for so many months at such a young age, his stupid little comment was honestly just the thing that made me hold up my white flag in defeat & I just ballooned up from there.

Stupid brother (not that my problems are his fault -- I do take accountability).

FabiolaEnvy♥

i had weight problems since i was in 2nd grade.
before that i was pretty skinny..
been 12 years that i had weight problems O.O
but it never really thought about it until 4th grade... and i was a size 16 going to size 18... thats when i started to freak out.. but i didnt do anything about it... then next thing i knew i went from 18 to size 20.. and i stayed that size my whole way during school...
after school was out... i gained 50 lbs more... which brought me to size 22... and i look backed. and im like... i really let myself go...

its tough. especially when kids calls you fat and then cry and eat your miserable away...
then skipped meal for 5 days. got real sick when eating again...
then just over ate. a lot of things.

wow i cant believe it... o.o
but i cant say if only i could or did this and that.
but what i can say is that, its time to make a change, its time to move forward in life and its time to put it in action people will bite their words for ever making my life bad. cause once i get skinny... half the time the people who were skinny in school will be the fat one and the people who were fat will be the skinny one if they decide to be

Sparksfly

Jib! Soooo crazy how siblings dumb comments can kill us inside.

I bought a prom dress for Soph. year in high school and I asked my brother if I looked big in it (my fault-asking for it) but he was like "yeah you look a little fat". I was sooo upset inside that I immidiately took the dress back to the store.

I was like 5'3- 135-140lbs.

DoneWithTheFatGirl

OMG...I had that Barbie workout tape!! I must have repressed that memory because I hadn't given it a thought for like 18 years, but I remember now that I read it on your post. What a TERRIBLE tape it was haha!

dang! I so had that too. "come on Barbie!"

Jay_83

Earliest Memory of having weight problems . . . I must have suppressed all of them. I KNOW there were times of being teased by boys that I wasnt anorexic like the rest of the girls in my class, but I was the athletic one so I just thought to myself "Well I cant be a twig to play sports now can I". I think it was a self image thing for sure; I was bigger than the other girls but I was still healthy and fit. My mom helped me through it all, the whole stage of "it's cool to be anorexic" which was all of K-11. I didnt have a problem and I thought I did. I dont think it was until I went away to college that I started packing on the real pounds. I didnt know how to cook, let alone cook healthy. And I thought my weight was still fine. I dont think I actually realized it until I tried to put on a pair of jeans I owned and they didnt fit anymore, way too small. And yet I thought I was still a good weight for my age. I was happy with who I was and the weight wasnt going to bother me. (funny how when I didnt have a problem, I thought I did, and when I did have a problem I didnt want to see it. hmm.) I had gained more weight, and then I got married. My husband has a metabolism like a friggin jack rabbit(pretty high) and can eat anything he wants. It was then that I had to realize that I cant eat like him. He loved me the way I was, but if I wanted to make a change it was up to me. And he weighed less than me, so that kinda triggered something too in my head. So a year ago, I joined this forum, lost 30 pounds and am happier than I have ever been. I even set a goal to do a half marathon at the end of May, something that I have always wanted to do.

Guess I told my journey, not an early memory. But its the journey that counts, right?:bigsmile: How to overcome it.

Mamakatspokane

OKAY - Not sure how many of you are Mom's but here's my question...... "How do I raise my kids without weight issue's?" They see me and ask and I always say I'm doing it to make my heart healthy & happy..... I know no-one's parents set out to give them issue's..... My parents never told me I was fat, never tried to get me to lose weight (they did my sister but she was larger than I)"
Ideas? Advice? I have two unbelievable skinny kids & I try not to make comments about how tiny they are but somehow it seems better than if I were commenting how big they are....obviously my own issue!

FrankyOsage

I don't remember ever having people be mean to me because of my weight but then again I was too involved in all my activities to even take notice! I was always much taller than my friends so it wasn't too easy to compare myself (I stalled at 5'7" at 13). I look back at pictures and I was always the quirky (quite chubby) kid laughing and carrying on starting at about age 9. I thank my mom for never telling me I was chubby and doing nothing but encouraging me to be the crazy nerdy kid I was (she was mercilessly mocked even though she was healthy and atheletic all through school).

High School I figured it out finally and started to try and lose weight. Always unsuccessfully because my course load, work, and life changes drove me to food for comfort. I chose to change schools and put it out of my mind and concentrated on having fun and school. I was a 190lb Prom Queen if you can believe it!!

Well this queen enjoyed college far too much and put on a little weight since then!! It took me 22 years to fully realize I wasnt happy being the big girl and I certainly know its not "normal" for a 22yo to get winded up a flight of stairs!

FrankyOsage

OKAY - Not sure how many of you are Mom's but here's my question...... "How do I raise my kids without weight issue's?" They see me and ask and I always say I'm doing it to make my heart healthy & happy..... I know no-one's parents set out to give them issue's..... My parents never told me I was fat, never tried to get me to lose weight (they did my sister but she was larger than I)"
Ideas? Advice? I have two unbelievable skinny kids & I try not to make comments about how tiny they are but somehow it seems better than if I were commenting how big they are....obviously my own issue!

Just always be there for them!! And you have done an amazing job setting an example about how to get (and stay) healthy!! Try so hard not to criticize a weight problem as they are as a person. Not* every kid snowballs with their weight, its all about learning how to balance it naturally. I think the best thing you can do is to get them involved in sports and just generally being and staying active if they aren't already (naturally skinny has a good chance of changing at puberty!!). Also a huge one: teach them how to cook!!! Sooo many kids start that Freshman 15 (or 30) because they didn't know what went into or how to cook a healthy meal.

Mande_G

My earliest memory of have weight problems was right around puberty -- somewhere between age 12 and 14. I never really paid attention to my weight until then. My pediatrician told my mom to have me walk a mile every day to get the weight down -- she never encouraged me to do it, so I didn't.

I wasn't a chubby kid -- I was average -- until puberty. Not super fit -- couldn't do a pull-up to save my life, hated running for P.E. (I'm short -- 5'1" -- and my lung capacity was NEVER very strong) but I loved playing on the jungle gym equipment, biking, swimming. I was picked on at school for other reasons than weight (everything was fine up until 4th grade when someone randomly decided I was a "nerd" and it was all downhill from there) and my mom finally pulled me out of public school at the end of 6th grade. I went through some pretty bad depression, started snacking too much, didn't get outside a lot -- got up to 165 by the time I was 14.

Sparksfly

MAMAKAT-

Please just let your kids figure out where they want to be on their own (unless there is some kind of nutritional issue). I wish that was what my Mom did with me. She always commented on my weight. She could always tell when I gained or lost 5lbs :huh: and it always drove me crazy.

It's up to you, but I think unless they are lacking nutrition in some way, like not eating their food, I would let it be.

kendrafallon

i know this is supposed to be the motivation and support board, but reading through all the posts, made me cry. Why? Because I don't ever remember a time that I wasn't overweight or teased for being overweight.

aippolito1

I was about 8 and my oldest brother told me I was fat. He would have been 17 at the time (and definitely knew better!!). I cried and told my mom and I remember being so bitter that she didn't punish him...or tell me I wasn't. I always knew from then on that I was.