Share the REAL reasons why you're fat (or too thin)

brittany17love

Laziness. Its not the food but the fact that i would never do anything all day except lounge around. Now im almost constantly on my feet!

alexsao

I grew up in a home where nutrition and exercise were not important. My mother had always struggled with her weight, so she didn't really have the best idea of how to eat right and she never pushed us to exercise. Being overweight was normal. It wasn't until I got older and branched out of my home that i realized that eating that way and not exercising was just a bad idea. I have since lost 60 pounds and I'm on my way to losing another 30 more. I eat clean, I workout.

rchupka87

I got fat because I ate my feelings. For two years, I was in an abusive relationship. I had no outlet, no family, no friends, (both of which he made sure I had NO contact with), and I was alone all the time. I ate when I was sad, when I was hurt, when I was angry, when I was scared... You name it. And I put on over 100 pounds in about a year - maybe 13-14 months.

I broke the cycle and got out. I've spent the last 4 years trying to undo the damage I did to myself during that time period. Breaking old habits, believing in myself, trusting new people... and it's been a long process.

I am now much healthier - both mentally and physically, I am engaged to a wonderful man, and I am 60 pounds lighter. I am still on my journey, and I am still overweight. I have another 60 pounds i'd like to lose - but I'm getting there.

rsharper97

I really didn't start to gain weight until I discovered the fun of going out with friends and drinking alcohol. Alcohol alone is enough to add calories (and fat) to your frame, but then you add the fried bar food you can't resist and its just way too much. Its hard to make healthy choices when you are drinking and all your friends are ordering the good (full of fat and calories) stuff.

Soloflyergirl2

I used to be dazzling, a jogger, trim, taught aerobics, and a first grade teacher, for 20 years......Then, I switched to teaching middle school for 20 years .. and ate from stress , depression,and anxiety. Snacking at my desk between class periods, eating a full lunch and dinner, not being able to walk after work due to grading papers and it's too dangerous in the neighborhood at night. And as you get older, other problems start.... like blood pressure, menopause, cholesterol issues............. I can find excuses. So now, I retired from 40 years of teaching, and I'm getting a second chance.... Thanks for asking. That is a very important question in this process.

Fatandfifty3

I'm fat because I eat too much. I eat to distract myself from all the things I fear. Those fears are all within me. I'm breaking that pattern.

blably

loss of a child + no support of anyone = depression -> brought the emotional eater out.
eating a lot = have no energy = watch tv /sleep/read --> me being 95 kg

now that i dealt with it, broke up, moved out, its time for me and take care of ME.

letsdothis2010

As far as I can remember, I've always been an emotional eater. I don't blame my family, and I think a lot of people are like this, but we always celebrated with food. As I got older, I dealt (or didn't deal) with my emotions by eating. Sad? Time for some pizza or chocolate. Overwhelmed? Time for some chips and as much food possible. In turn, eating makes me even more unhappy because I get fatter. I eat when I experience strong emotions of sadness, anger, or when I'm overwhelmed/stressed out ... I guess you could say that I have a hard time dealing with my emotions sometimes, and don't have any great established outlets for them. I have a very stressful job which doesn't help. Every time I get on the right track, I allow myself to derail for some reason, usually tied to stress. It's not a good excuse, and it's something that I work on each day ... I just haven't found a way to beat it yet.

It felt good to say this.

SurfyFriend

I've never told anyone the real reason I gained 10kg. But here goes...
I lost my best friend and was bullied in high school and had a distant relationship with my family. I changed schools and didn't make any friends. Got into the party scene, smoked a joint and developed schizophrenia. Then I was put on antipsychotic and antidepressant medications by a psychiatrist, which made me so drained and tired all the time I gave up sport and then couldn't sleep (ie 3 hours sleep a night). I ate high energy foods during the day to compensate for my lack of energy.
I believe my weight gain was a side effect of the medications.

JENNJA1985

I have always struggled with my weight, but I became morbidly obese after the death of someone really close to me. I began eating to fill in the gaps so to speak. A bad breakup followed that death and it just went downhill from there. I literally didn’t see the damage I was doing to my body until I woke up one day and noticed myself in the mirror. The girl standing in the mirror was a sad representation of the inner girl. I try to view food differently now. I love food, I’m not going to lie. That enjoyment though created the monster of a girl that was in that mirror. So, I am thankful that I went to a doctor who helped me see the light and showed me what I was missing out on by being overweight. Even though I am still on this weightloss journey I can say that I can see drastic changes in my personality and appearance. I’m not as fatigued as I once was either. But I’d say the blame of why I am as overweight as I am is because I didn’t face the grief that surrounded me, I chose to fill the empty lonely places with food…and lots of it.

xampx

I ate too much of the wrong things and didn't do any exercise

wildchild06241

Never was really fat or too thin. I gained 20 pounds in the last couple of years due to quitting smoking (again) and an injury to my knee. I had been exercising 1 -2 hours 5 days a week and then my knee went bad. I pushed through it for a while and then backed off the exercise hoping it would go away. It didn't. Then there was the surgery and pain. When I'm in pain I eat chocolate and sweets to make me feel better. (I don't like pain killers). This went on for months. The healing took way longer than it should and by then I was in the habbit of eating unhealthy things. I needed motivation to stop. Hubby like me with the extra weight so he never complained. My gym started a biggest loser contest in January and I had my incentive. I'm back to a healthy lifestyle. Healthy eating and 1-2 hours of exercise 6-7 days a week. And I'm down 15 of the 20 pounds.

LauraDotts

I spent too many years blaming myself and lack of will power for being fat. When what I was really fighting was PCOS/insulin resistance. I was never a binge eater or an emotional eater.

I was a tiny child. In grade school I was always the smallest in the room. I was raised with good eating habits. When puberty hit at age 13 I literally jumped from about 90 lbs to 154 lbs in 1 summer. I stayed that weight throughout high school. After high school I got married, had my first baby and started to diet. Every time I attempted the standard low calorie diet I would lose 20 lbs, stop losing and then gain it back with 20 pounds more regardless of how well I stuck to the diet. I did that 3 or 4 times and then completely stopped dieting out of self-defense. Then over the years I slowly accumulated more weight.

10 years ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. My doctor put me on the South Beach diet. That was my first ever low carb diet. I lost 70 pounds easily. I did a lot of reading during that time and discovered that I had the symptoms of PCOS/insulin resistance since that first period at the age of 13. My so called "lack of will power" was due to the constant highs and sudden drops of blood glucose levels. I also learned that I could not lose any significant weight on a low calorie diet that included fruit and grains. Unfortunately, due to life circumstances and "diet fatigue" and wanting to believe that I could get away with more carbs I strayed away from the low carb lifestyle. I slowly gained back that 70 pounds.

Last May (2012) I, again, accepted that I had to get back to a low carb lifestyle in order to control diabetes. Since then I have continued to learn more about type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, PCOS and the relationship between food and hormones. I'm learning to not let eating differently than everybody else bother me. I'm becoming okay with not eating cake and desserts at birthday parties, holidays and social gatherings. I'm not just trying to lose weight to look better. I'm managing a disease/syndrome. Being fat is a symptom not a failing.

Tzippy7

I was always the chubby kid, despite the fact that my parents were and are health nuts and wouldnt let me use any electronics till I got my "daily exercise". In highschool I had disordered eating to combat my innate chubbiness, I ate dinner because thats the meal my family would notice if I skipped. Needless to say, that ****ed up my metabolism. When I got to college and entered a relationship with someone who was unhealthy everything sort of fell apart. It was my first time being around unhealthy food and at first I stayed away from it but being with someone who eats 4 slices of pizza and a sub for dinner and looks great can be a bad influence on a 5 foot girl with a ****ty metabolism. I gained 40 lbs in one semester. (also was on the pill) It took me forever to be myself again, this weight gain was a symptom of me losing myself in a relationship and forgetting that I had an identity. I snapped out of it november of last year, started losing weight and doing better in school, broke up with the boyfriend in feb. of last year. This past year has been the best year of my life. I remember who I am, I am confident and I am happy enough with myself to be able to do what I want to do.

katekross

I drank 4 nights a week in college and after we ate pizza, subs, and crap food. I ate a lot of campus food also

megleighd

Food is my bad habit. Like a drug, I don't think about anything when I am stuffing my face. The good news is I realize this and I can fix it but some times I relapse when my stress level is high. The bad news is with drugs and alchohol your body doesn't NEED it so it can be easier to quit, food on the other had is more difficult. You need food to live, but someone with a food addiction really has to be self aware and manage and thats my struggle.

PicNdazy

Wine, Wine and more Wine! Calories add up when your too tipsy to count!

FUELERDUDE

When I was a child, I was skinny! I ate like a horse but was so thin my grandparents thought my parents never fed me (They threatened my parents they'd call the gov't to have me removed if they didn't start feeding me, lol). I remained a healthy weight all the way through about 21-22. I never worried about what I ate and I was very active. Then I started getting older and disinterested, as well as BEER!

I started to drink heavily and stopped doing a lot of the things I used to do, like hiking, jet skiing, camping, working at a labor intensive job and I started to gain some weight and depression also started to set in. I got to the point where I'd drink myself silly a few times a week, eat nothing but hamburger helper, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, etc....... Then it got a DUI.

When I received a DUI, I realized I had to change my life or I was going to kill myself and others if I did not. I actually was able to get on a diversion program and took it seriously. Instead of enrolling in a $500.00 therapy course for DUI, I enrolled in what was considered one of the most in depth ones. During this process, I discovered I was not dealing with everyday and past issues in a positive and effective manner. This is when I started to work out. I found it gave time for me to be by myself and just think and challenge myself physically and mentally at the same time. I went from 224 to 172 in a matter of 3 months. Then I met my first wife.

I started slacking going to the gym after I met my first wife. I felt as if I were cheating her of me by going to the gym so much plus, to be honest, I enjoyed the new high I got from the new relationship. In this relationship, I really didn't put us at the top of the priority list. I, instead went down things like a checklist to a supposedly happy American life. We bought a new car, check. We bought a house we really couldn't comfortably afford, check. I started working, essentially, two full time jobs so we had lots o' money, check...... Then things started falling apart.

I had no time for myself anymore, let alone the relationship with her. I ate poorly, because I felt fast food was my only option. I was angry all of the time because all I ever did was work, fast food, next job, home to sleep, and back to work. I probably only averaged 4-5 hours of sleep every day. Needless to say I put belongings before my health (Physical and mental), my relationship, my family.....everything. Then my ex filed for divorce.

This caused me to panic as the boxes were being unchecked by her! How dare she, I worked so hard for everything we had for her to go and do that (Come to find she was doing other things as well.)! I do place blame on her for some of what happened, but I had complete control of a lot of things which went wrong. I forgot the lessons of balance in my life from the counseling I received from the DUI program. I went to counseling again, quite the second job, sold the expensive house, and moved back in with mom and dad. I also started going to the gym again. I did't go quite as often, or pushed myself as hard as I should have. I was going because it made me feel good as well as hoping to be able to find friends (I've never been able to easily make friends, even to this day.). Then I decided I was ready to start dating again.

I met my, now, wife. She's an amazing woman and I don't know how she suffers me on most days. We would dance, play games, go camping, and other activities for the first couple of years. her workload at school increased and she started to have to not do so many things so as to focus on academics. I could have kept going to the gym and other activities as she doesn't stop me, but I felt wrong if I left her alone so I could go and do such. (I forgot I bought a much more affordable house during this time frame as well.) I started cooking less and less as I hate washing dishes/cleaning up. With that being the case, fast food to the rescue once again! I stopped going to the gym, even though I kept the membership up. I started a new position at work which is more sedentary than what I was doing....... On came the pounds, and fast. I went from a 38 to a 42 waist in about a year. Then my size 42 jeans were fitting tight.

I realized I was not comfortable in my jeans and I should do something about it, but I didn't. I got to the point where I felt the need to unfasten the button on my jean while sitting, but still didn't do much more than stop drinking soda (In retrospect that was a huge deal as I love soda!). Then my mom called me saying my dad needed to go to the hospital.

My dad has had 2 stroke, diabetes for 18 years, has kidney issues, liver issue, and a host of other issues. He refuses to go to the hospital in an ambulance due to the costs. While I was rushing him to the hospital, he blacked out and went limp. I thought I had lost him, but he came to shortly after. While in the hospital he bluntly told me "This is what's going to happen to you if you don't stop. Please don't let that happen.". I spent a few weeks mulling over what my dad had said, the impact of what I was doing on myself, my relationship, work, and those I love. I decided, for the first time in my weight loss ventures, I needed to change for myself.

I started working out again and eating healthy. I am not doing this because I want to be that hot guy. I am not doing this because I like the feeling I get when I work out. I am not doing this because I think it'll make my relationship with my wife better. I am not doing this at the sole request of my father either. I am doing this, this time, because I don't want to have the issues my dad has. I want to be proud of myself. I want to look as good a man as I know I am. I want to survive and win in life, and this is part of doing just such!

jzebracki

What a great idea!

In 2006, both of my parents passed away within four months of each other. I am an only child, so I didn't have any siblings to help out during their last illnesses, although my husband was very supportive and helpful. After their deaths, I became very depressed and turned to emotional eating. My husband and I would eat dinner at buffet restaurants three or four times a week. (My husband is also overweight, but hasn't had his "aha!" moment yet - despite my recent encouragement to get healthy.) Each year, my weight went up, but I couldn't stop the attraction to food. The more I ate, the more I wanted. 87 pounds later, I looked in the mirror right after my 51st birthday and decided this has to stop. I am not a happy or healthy person. Since May of 2012, I have lost 47 pounds, and I still have 45 to go. I have been stalled out, and I know I am going to get the continued support and encouragement for me to reach my goal with MFP.

AwesomeTriathlon

Gained 40lbs in about 3 years from next to no exercise and lots of eating and alcohol :-/ Down almost 18lbs and still counting!