Why/how did you become overweight?

dawnj87

I was actually a great weight until I had my first child right out of high school. It seemed that once I had a baby my hips spread and kept on spreading. I became to comfortable with my post baby weight and kept on eating. I realize now that I was an emotional eater and still think that I am today. I was involved in a mentally and verbally abusive relationship which I believe to be the cause of alot of my overeating habits. After that relationship ended I was at a comfortable weight up until about 15 yrs ago right before the birth of my second child. I once again entered into a relationship with a man who made me feel too comfortable and told me how he loved my weight, causing me to balloon to this extra 70+ lbs. that I am now trying to get rid of. I am still with this man but he has come to understand that I am not happy with my weight and he has agreed not to discourage me from losing weight. Hopefully I can lose all this weight and get back to the old me and be happy once again

MsPudding

I was a healthy weight until I left home at 18, moved to London and fell in with a 'word hard, play hard and play hard some more' bunch. It was a very unhealthy lifestyle; 60-70 odd hours work in the new media industry, then restaurant eating every night and pubs/clubs. So unhealthy food, too much work/stress, way too much booze and some illegal substances thrown in. Then I got CFS and couldn't walk across a room, let alone party....weight piled on even more. Queue tons of fad diets and a merry-go-round of losing mountains of weight and then gaining it all back again.

RachaelKaye4

bump

Maidofmer

I've always been over weight. hit 200 at 12. for childhood, I think my parents are partial to blame. they never told me no, but I never passed it up. and since they were divorced, it was oh he got you this? well we're going out for ice cream type of thing. I always liked gym class and being outside, but then I think I just got comfortable eating crap. never got bigger than 230 in my adult life, I got down to 204 by eating right and exercise, but then I ballooned to 260 when I was prego. got down to 215 with eating right and exercise, but then I got a job at a fast food place and damned myself. got back to 260. been sick the last few months so i'm yo yo ing now.

AhlaWahda

I was always at a healthy weight, quite skinny until I was 18. I met a 26 years old man when I was 15 and our relationship was chaotic and destructive. I started to feel psychically ill and got depressed. I stopped working out, dance, meet people and mostly stayed at home alone. Gradually I started to shut myself in completely and thought a lot about suicide. I would binge every day and I literally didn't think life was worth living if I didn't get to stuff myself with whatever. It was the only enjoyment I had. So I constantly gained weight from 19 to 21 when I finally found the strength to leave him. Those 7 years are my dark years that I would call a traumatic experience.

tweak222

I lived in Colorado a couple years ago and was 220lbs. I worked my butt off and got down to 165 in around 4 months. Went from 0 to 12 pullups. But then I suffered an overuse injury. ITBS. I got so discouraged about not being able to run that I pretty much gave up and gained it all back. I was 220lbs again but this time I'm playing for keeps

castadiva

Were you always overweight?

I was a 10.5lb baby (not unusual in my family - my sister and cousins were all heavier at birth than I, and both my parents had high birth weights), and always above 'normal' weight - to be fair, what's considered 'normal' probably isn't particularly 'normal' for any of us - we're tall, strongly-built, and generally carry a lot of muscle.

Or were you once a healthy weight?

Healthy, yes, 'normal' by chart standards, no. Pictures of me as a child mostly have a little puppy-fat, but nothing serious. I certainly wasn't ever a thin child, but I wasn't overweight for my build. Bigger than many classmates, but in all directions (youngest, by a year, and second-tallest in the class for most of primary school, with the biggest feet and hands).

Did you "let yourself go"? Not in the sense you mean, I think.

Or perhaps it was due to a traumatic event, injury or medication?

I really started gaining significant weight around 9 or 10 - just prior to puberty. Partly hormonal, I suspect, but also linked to a period where I was very unhappy and stressed. I was bullied mercilessly for being 'fat' from the time I was about 6 - which I wasn't really, at the time, but that was the overt reason - my parents' marriage was rocky and my self-esteem was plummeting. I also chose to go on my first 'diet' at age 8, in response to the bullying, which I think somewhat messed up my metabolism. Retrospectively, I probably should have been diagnosed as clinically depressed, but instead my 'therapy' was sugar. Mum didn't keep junk food in the house, but I would eat anything I could get my hands on that had a sugar content - baking chocolate and chocolate chips, cinnamon toast, made with masses of sugar and butter, old, forgotten, 'bloomed' chocolate from previous Christmases/Easters/Hallowe'ens, home-made muesli bars in vast quantities. Memorably, I once ate the entirety of a collection of fundraising sweets that I was supposed to sell for a production, and then had to find a way to pay for them, without alerting my parents. Things really got out of control a little later - 13 or so, when puberty was in full swing, and my emotional state was worse, but my dissembling skills were better, and I had a little more autonomy (and easy access to the school tuckshop). I still struggle with sugar and emotional eating now.

And did anyone become overweight while still being an active person and (over)eating homemade, whole foods, or was it only through eating essentially crap food, processed foods, restaurant/fast food?

The majority of my food intake throughout my childhood was homemade, very-high-quality food - what might now be called 'clean eating' for the most part. However, what I ate in secret, in addition, was mostly sugar. I was dancing up to six days a week, played hockey and netball, and generally was fairly active throughout my childood, which kept my weight gain to less than it might otherwise have been. However, when I stopped dancing at age 13 (because, horror of horrors, there was going to be a boy joining our ballet class!!), things really did get out of control for a while. Fortunately, I then grew a couple more inches, which evened things out a bit, and left me relatively proportional. I'm lucky in a way - because I'm tall and built on very strong and statuesque lines, I carry weight much better than most. However, that can also be a curse, because it makes the problem easier to ignore - "I look ok, not great, but OK, so it can't be too bad...".

transvenouspacer

For those of you who want to share, I am interested to hear your stories about why/how you became overweight.

Were you always overweight?

No not really. However, my little sister was always tiny and had trouble putting weight on. In my mind, I was
always the "fat sister" even though I really wasn't overweight at all.

Or were you once a healthy weight?

Yes, I've been between 120-130 at my healthiest. 5' 3" tall, 180 pounds at my highest, 136 currently.

Did you "let yourself go"?

I've gone up and down. I lost weight before being really strict about calories and fat intake, then gave up and
slowly gained it back.

Or perhaps it was due to a traumatic event, injury or medication?

No, just busy with college, work and life in general.

And did anyone become overweight while still being an active person and (over)eating homemade, whole foods, or was it only through eating essentially crap food, processed foods, restaurant/fast food?

I've always eaten out a lot but I'm a good cook too. Whether I'm eating fast food or homemade, I just tend to
overeat. I've never been very active outside of work. I've always worked physically demanding jobs though.

lauraturburville203

Hello..x.

I only started to gain the weight when I left college back in 2001 to work full time. I was a size 14 uk size back then and now in size 18 uk. I have dropped down a clothes size, which i am really happy about

I had my first baby at the age of 21 and then had 2 further full term pregnancies and since then the weight hasn't really dipped. I went from a lovely 160 lbs to 230. I am now down to 214 lbs so i must be doing something right.

The only thing I can say is the oral contraceptive pill (30 microgynon) did have an affect on my body, both mentally and physically and I must have gained 14 lbs due to it. and Thankfully after 9 years of taking the pill on and off during pregnancy, my lovely husband had the 'snip' last November and I no longer need to take any birth control. I have 3 healthy, happy children x.x.

I have been with my husband (christopher 203) for nearly 8 years, married for 3 this April and I think it is mainly because we are happy and content at home and we both let it slip quite alot from going out every Friday night, drinking too much to just eating out every weekend at fatty places and not really paying too much attention x.

Laura.X

doneatfour

I was a scrawny kid. Quite thin (but not all skin and bones) until I was 19. Started to fill out (i.e., I started growing hips) and gained about 6 lbs and grew another inch taller. I had my first baby at 21. Only gained 30 lbs, but didn't lose all of the weight after. Kept about half of it. It didn't worry much even though distant relatives started mentioning I was putting on weight. Still wasn't paying too much attention. I never had to watch what I ate, and I still had that skinny girl mentality that I could eat whatever I wanted without exercise. Another two years and I was up to my highest pregnancy weight. Then got pregnant again. This time I did lose all of my pregnancy weight, but still kept the original 15-20 lbs I had gained before. Then got pregnant again when my second was 9 months old. Didn't lose all of the weight then. That put me in the "overweight" category according to BMI. Then got pregnant again when she was about 9 months old. Definitely didn't lose all that weight. I was put on Zoloft and I think that's why I didn't lose any weight after I gave birth. That put me in the obese range, but I still wasn't paying attention. I remember it crossing my mind that I should lose weight, but I didn't think I was FAT. Just chubby or what my husband called fluffy. I could lose weight any time. Skinny girl thinking I suppose. Two years later I thought that it was time to take my weight seriously. By this time I was 60 lbs more than I was when I got pregnant with my first. I looked up my BMI and was shocked I was obese. I was also a little annoyed that my doctors never mentioned it.

I think a lot of my weight gain was due to my thinking. I never took a good look at myself. I had four kids. I'm supposed to be overweight. It was vain to worry about weight and how I looked. I had more important things to worry about. Those pictures of me were just bad pictures. I can lose weight whenever I want. Then there was the fact that I never liked to stand out, and I thought subconsciously that weight helped me hide better. The people I was around weren't skinny. Some were "morbidly obese". Even now I get so embarrassed when people comment about how much weight I've lost.

When my thinking changed and I felt more confident, that's when I started to work at losing weight. I allowed myself to think about looking better. I started wearing make up again and wearing clothes that weren't baggy. I still feel scrutinized even though I know that isn't the case, but I'm working on that. I'm really working on being proud of what i have accomplished and not worrying if people are criticizing me for wanting to lose "vanity"pounds now.

RachaelKaye4

Were you always overweight?

No not at all- I was very skinny as a child and as a teenager.

Did you "let yourself go"?

Freshers 15 and then some! I put some weight on during my gap year but when I got to uni it got out of control!!

Or perhaps it was due to a traumatic event, injury or medication?

nope just eating crap and drinking alot!! and no exercise!

And did anyone become overweight while still being an active person and (over)eating homemade, whole foods, or was it only through eating essentially crap food, processed foods, restaurant/fast food?

Being a student! I put on a stone in my gap year and then a stone and a half in ym first year of uni!

Lost if all now and then some! -37lbs down! WOOP

R xxxxx

MandyinVB

I have gained 70 pounds since being on meds for anxiety/panic disorder. Almost 4 years ago my doctor recommended Adderall to assist in weight loss...I lost 60 pounds in about 5 months. As soon as I came off the medicine the weight came back on.

So that's why I am here...get healthy, the right way:happy:

Serena_Kitty

I was in the ideal weight range for my height (5'6") until my last year of high school, but have struggled with binge eating disorder since childhood. Throughout my teen years I weighed 120-140, but in my senior year I gained 15 pounds. The summer after graduation, I was unemployed and decided to skip college for a year. I gained another 40 pounds over the next few months.

I have always had terrible social anxiety and never developed proper emotion-regulating skills. I lost all of the weight, then gained most of it back. I'm in therapy now, and really working at my issues one at a time

Aitm20

For those of you who want to share, I am interested to hear your stories about why/how you became overweight.

Were you always overweight?--->Always skinny & underweight. Used to drink crap to bulk up a little. Ate whatever the heck I wanted (junkfood galore). Then I reached a certain age and metabolism slowed down and I started gaining

sho3girl

For those of you who want to share, I am interested to hear your stories about why/how you became overweight.

Were you always overweight? Yes
Or were you once a healthy weight? NO
Did you "let yourself go"? No
Or perhaps it was due to a traumatic event, injury or medication? NO just ate all the wrong things and could not find the motivation or the NEED to exercise/move. As a child sweet things were used as a reward for good behavour ... note to all parents or future parents use another way ....

And did anyone become overweight while still being an active person and (over)eating homemade, whole foods, or was it only through eating essentially crap food, processed foods, restaurant/fast food? ONLY would be considered myself ACTIVE in the last four years where I have constantly stuck with my new ACTIVE/ logging food lifestyle.

Thank you for sharing, I think your stories will shed some light and help us to understand our weight loss journeys, since the mental component is so important, and we have to know where we come from to move forward.

laceymcmath

I've always hovered around the upper "normal weight" and lower 'overweight" categories...
Went to college where the caf food sucked, and started eating mainly pasta to survive... a lot of Chinese food, too.
I also started walking/running more in college, too, which helped a bit, but my eating habits were setting me up for problems later, when I quit exercising as much but continued to eat crap.
I got engaged a little before graduating and started taking birth control... and the weight started packing on then.
I started having blood sugar issues and was diagnosed with hypoglycemia, which I believe was caused by a combination of birth control and all the carbs I ate in college screwing with my system.
I have pretty much given up white flour & sugar, cut out rice (quinoa instead) and minimized potatoes... that, along with counting carbs, has helped me to lose weight and pretty much get rid of my hypoglycemia... I haven't "crashed" from it in several weeks! I'm ALMOST halfway to my weight loss goal, too. =D

Bulldogmomma3

Were you always overweight? No.

Or were you once a healthy weight? I was a skinny kid and around "average" weight up until I had my first child at 18. I gained 80 pounds with the pregnancy and didnt lose it until I left my verbally abusive ex husband. I lost 100 pounds when I left him, it was like a weight was lifted. I kept it off for 10 years until I moved in with my boyfriend ( now husband).

Did you "let yourself go"? Yep. Or perhaps it was due to a traumatic event, injury or medication? Long story but I'm finally realizing that part of the problem is my husband. I gained when we moved in together, but more than that I lost myself. I had control of my own world until I moved in with him and I'm also realizing that I have put alot of my dreams on hold waiting for him to make up his mind if he wanted to marry me or have kids (jury is still out on this one) Do I blame him? no I know this was my own doing but I am having an "aha" moment and realizing I need to just move forward with what I want in life and not let ANYONE hold me back. I also have come to a hard realization that I tend to be a better person when I am independent.

And did anyone become overweight while still being an active person and (over)eating homemade, whole foods, or was it only through eating essentially crap food, processed foods, restaurant/fast food? I rarely eat fast food, but I just eat too much.

jessica51202

Were you always overweight?
-No

Or were you once a healthy weight?
-I've been a healthy weight a few times. lol

Did you "let yourself go"?
-yes & no. Mostly it's pregnancy weight that wont leave. but it's also my love for Ben & Jerrys. grr!!

And did anyone become overweight while still being an active person and (over)eating homemade, whole foods, or was it only through eating essentially crap food, processed foods, restaurant/fast food?
-i never ate right. ate out a lot.

leighdiane91

Were you always overweight?
Nope. I was a scrawny kid that couldn't keep on weight, even eating everything in sight.

Or were you once a healthy weight?
When I hit 13, I started gaining weight. At 15 I was 160 and stayed at that weight until I was 19. Then in under 2 years I gained 47 lbs.

Did you "let yourself go"?
No. I don't hate my body. To me, it's fine. But I am tired of just being "fine" or "ok". I wanna try hot lol. And I also had high blood pressure, which is no good since I am 21. So I decided to lose weight and get healthy.

Or perhaps it was due to a traumatic event, injury or medication?
Nope, but I did end a 3 year relationship (we were engaged, broke up 6 months before the wedding). I am still undecided if that has anything to do with my weight gain though....

And did anyone become overweight while still being an active person and (over)eating homemade, whole foods, or was it only through eating essentially crap food, processed foods, restaurant/fast food?
-I ate crappy food. and stopped exercising.

BamBam125

Were you always overweight?

No.

Or were you once a healthy weight?

Well, I was born at 7lbs and 7 oz and 22? inches long. I certainly wasn't born fat. :laugh:

I was all limbs and skinny as a young child too. I was as active as the doctors would permit (I had a bone condition) which was pretty darn active (no jumping, limiting running).

I gained like most girls do in the pre-puberty years (chubby then). Then through puberty I got skinny again. So much so, in fact, that my mom was convinced I had an eating disorder. (I did not have an eating disorder. I did have to have my size 4 skirts taken in though because they were falling down.) My height had pretty much maxed out when I was about 14 years old. (5' tall then, 5'1" now)

In high school, I was mostly a healthy weight or just above (120-135lbs).

Ditto for college. I actually lost weight my freshman year (so anti-freshman 15 for me). So I was a healthy weight or very nearly so until I moved off campus and started to gain (plus I had a heavy course load, part time job, and extra stuff like that). Then BF (now hubby) and I started going to the gym on campus 3 times a week because I had a 2hr block of free time in my day that I didn't want to leave campus for. I trimmed down, firmed up and was in really good shape (size 6 petite and 130-140lbs but a lot of muscle). We tended to spend 40-60 minutes there at a time. I'd spend 10-20 on cardio and the rest was all weight machines (and I lifted pretty heavy for girl... heavier than many of the guys on those machines even). I felt really good about my body then and BF/Hubby was in the best shape I've ever seen him as well then.

Did you "let yourself go"?

I wouldn't personally say that, but you might think of it that way. To me, "letting yourself go" sounds like you don't care or didn't notice. I noticed. I cared and I hated it. I tried to stop and reverse the gain; I just wasn't successful at the time.

You see, I didn't graduate on the traditional timeline. I had changed majors and picked up a mine late in the college "game." Plus, I added a certification on top of my degree at the end of my senior year. I graduated on an aggressive schedule if you consider that stuff (4.5 years), but I still had to wait for the state to process some of my certification information and they were very slow about it. I had a hard time getting interviews even though I was highly qualified, because of the delay in my paperwork. Few places would talk to me without a certificate already in hand, even though it was a given that my paperwork was going to make it in "soon." I did land a job in my certification field, but it wasn't the best venue and the commute was long.

Long story short, my first year on the job was pretty much hell because I was a last minute fill-in for a position more experienced people had passed over. Between the stress, long hours and long commute (1 hour each way) that's when I really started to gain. I resigned from that after a year and landed a job in the same field, but a work from home position. In some ways it was better, but the hours were still long, I was lonely working from home, and the stress was still high even though it was a different sort of stress than the 1st place. After 2 years of that, I changed careers to a new field.

Or perhaps it was due to a traumatic event, injury or medication?

No for me, unless you want to count extreme stress, depression and insomnia (nightmares) from my first 3 years out of college. I knew I needed to get my weight under control as I was gaining so much. I tried diet. I joined a gym. Heck, I even tried a pill from my doc combined with a low carb diet and exercise. But the pill (Phentermine) made me feel like crap, and my life was so unbalanced that diet and exercise were too hard to maintain successfully.

And did anyone become overweight while still being an active person and (over)eating homemade, whole foods, or was it only through eating essentially crap food, processed foods, restaurant/fast food?

I overate some during those 3 years, but it was more a matter of quality rather than quantity. I skipped meals and often ate small meals but what I did eat was high in calories and fat and low in healthy nutrients. It was fast, cheap and easy, rather than good for me. So, while didn't usually eat a lot, I was still probably over in calories regularly. (Heck even a small sonic blast once a week adds up! Add to that getting nuggets or hash browns and an OJ from Chick-fil-a or some other fast once a week and eating out at local joints instead of cooking... It wasn't a lot of food volume wise all the time but it was a lot of calories.

Add to that the fact that I was sitting on my butt on my commute, then working in front of a computer nights and weekends (1st year) long after "work hours." And then sitting on my rear all day and all night when I changed to a work from home position with even longer hours (next 2 years) and, well, I gained. I gained a lot. About 60-70 lbs in about 3 years as a matter of fact.

Poor diet was a factor for me, but I'm convinced that stress and activity level were my biggest problems.

After that career change, I got my stress levels and work/life balance in a much better place with a career that's better for me physically and emotionally, I managed to stop gaining for a few months. I bought a treadmill and started working my way up in miles and speed. I started tracking my food on MFP (different username then). Then I managed to lose (about 15 lbs lost in about 6 months). Then I put that on hold for my honeymoon, house hunting, and the winter holidays/vacation (no gain, no loss).

Now I'm back on again and looking to drop the rest to get back to where I was in college--the strong, fit me that had nice abs, good health, and sexy muscles (not bulky, but definitely visible). Because the next phase after that is becoming a mother and I want to be in a good position to start that adventure off right.

I hate how slow my progress is, but I didn't gain it overnight and it's not going to come off overnight either.