What caused your weight gain?

124

Replies

  • HonestOmnivore
    HonestOmnivore Posts: 1,356 Member
    bump!
  • afeinberg
    afeinberg Posts: 93 Member
    great post
    for me, it was getting pregnant and having kids - before that i was in the best shape of my life - in the gym 5 days a week and with a trainer twice a week = my husbadnd too - gained appropraitely with my son, breastfed nad took it off like a champ - was skinnier one year later than i was before i had him; but i was exhausted, finanically depleted with no money for the gym or the trainer, no time and no energy; 3 months later i was back working full time and just needed meals that were EASY - when i finally got back to working out on my own when my son was 2, i found out that i was pregnant again!! THere goes the workouts... so easy to make the excuses - i;m prengnat, tired, whatever (mind you, i worked out the enitre first pregnancy)

    With my daughter, i had severe post partum depression, and she didn't sleep through the night until she was 8 months old (she is almost 2.5 now) and my husband started a new job and was gone A LOT - again totally stressed, starting drinking more often, cooking meals that were EASY but not healthy, eating off the kids' plates so that the food wouldn't go to waste - DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY CALORIES ARE IN KRAFT MAC N CHEESE AND PERDUE CHICKEN NUGGETS??? WELL I DO NOW

    anyway, i knew i was gaiining becuase my clothes didn't fit and i had the dreaded muffin top. and it made me sick to look at pictures of myself

    and i made a decision to change.

    And now i work out 6 days a week - i am up to running 3.5 miles in 35 minutes 3 days per week, i do ALL the jillian michaels DVDs and still don't have the money for the gym -- but i am losing inches and gaining muscle and my jeans look better than ever.

    LOVE this site - loev being able to know how much i need to exercise to be able to eat for the day
  • get_fit2009
    get_fit2009 Posts: 827 Member
    too much hand to mouth disease.

    HA HA HA! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • size6Jessi
    size6Jessi Posts: 71
    KIDS! LOL, 3 kids in 5 years!
  • Positively_Me
    Positively_Me Posts: 1,499 Member
    bump
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
    I see many people on the forums that are trying to get "back" to where they were before they gained weight. Some of us have gained 50 lbs or more and some just a few lbs to get off. What do you think caused your weight gain?

    I know for me, it started with the depo shot, birthing 2 children and not breastfeeding, and those darn Rockstar Energy drinks daily just did me in!! Oh and not staying active. Went from 125 to 175 in NO TIME!


    I'm noticing some people on here have said about Depo. I was 8 lbs lighter before i started it and now i gained 5 of that back. ugh! i'm wondering if that's the culprit . . . .

    I gained 30 lbs in 60 days on the depo, but I was younger and really thin before hand, so the extra weight wasn't too big of a deal to me, but I slowly started to pack it on after that! I even asked the nurses before I got it "I heard this shot makes you gain weight, is that true?" and they said "No, most girls actually lose weight!" I have a hard time believing that!


    I did my research before i talked to the doctor. i heard there was weight gain and asked my doctor what her opinion was. she told me it's usual for 5 lbs a year possibly. i was under 138 when i weighed in one week before starting depo at my physical. a year later, i'm 5 lbs heavier and counting . . . i've been craving things i never did before and i feel fatigued a lot. i'm assuming that's part of it (like i'm PMSing all the time) . . .

    I gained 25-30 pounds on Depo- in 6 months! It seriously disfigured me, gave me stretch marks all over my thighs LONG before I had children. I actually found support groups online for Depo users who not only gained weight but also suffered other, terrible side effects. I HATE Depo.

    I had a friend who started taking Depo probably 6 years ago. She was always a pretty small-- maybe 115-120 at 5'2" (definitely unhealthy, though). She gained AT LEAST 100 pounds in just a couple years. And she also went completly maliciously crazy which I just couldn't deal with anymore after a couple of years (which is what I told her before I stopped answering my phone whenever she called :ohwell: ). I mean, she wasn't "normal" to begin with - but that's kind of what I liked about her! We were best friends & even roommates my senior year of high school after I moved out of my mom's house and before I moved away for college. We're not friends anymore at all. I'm not sure how much of her craziness was due to Depo, but I think most of it was directly related. If not from the hormonal issues Depo causes, it was from her increased anxiety/depression due to gaining so much weight so fast (and the fear of becoming as big as her mom who probalby weighs 500 pounds). I'm sure she would've gained weight anyway, but not nearly so fast. It was insane -- her stretch marks were blood red because she ballooned up so rapidly. Pretty awful story, really.
  • Eliaheart
    Eliaheart Posts: 73 Member
    Aside from birthing my 2 wonderful kids, my hypothyroidism - combined with anti-depressants - was a dreadful combo. My hypoT is better controlled now (still in the process of adjusting meds), and I'm almost completely off the anti-ds, so I hope it'll help! :)

    How inspiring to read everyone's stories!
  • Falcon
    Falcon Posts: 853 Member
    being too lazy and too much fast food. Over the summer I had become more active and biked 10 miles one day. I broke my ankle and am thankful I didn't put all of it back on. I jumped on the scale and was happy that I didn't gain too much of it back, a small minor step back.
  • Jasper1028
    Jasper1028 Posts: 6
    Well, college happened...haha:) Too many late nights, mixed with drinking and late night snacking really did it for me. I was around 115 when I went to college, then my first semester is when it happened...I went up to 141, now Im at 136, and still losing, hoping to be 120 soon...then work my way to 115!!
  • vhuber
    vhuber Posts: 8,779 Member
    I believe it is "SUGAR ADDICTION" !!!!
  • HonestOmnivore
    HonestOmnivore Posts: 1,356 Member
    bump
  • mommy2ans
    mommy2ans Posts: 93 Member
    I stopped waiting tables, got a desk job, moved out on my own so i was eating ridiculous amounts of fast food and sodas. I would say i had a baby too, but i was one of the few that lost weight the whole time so that doesn't really count :)

    I'm also not active hardly AT ALL.
  • HonestOmnivore
    HonestOmnivore Posts: 1,356 Member
    bump
  • pbenison
    pbenison Posts: 102
    I agree. Portion sizes were my downfall too. It is amazing how I now check every label! I am committed I will do this THIS time around. I have brought a cheap scale to measure oz., have assembled measuring cups/spoons of different sizes, put them together and hung them within arms reach in my kitchen and finally use this website faithfully. I even preplan meals when I can to pick and choose the best foods based on portion sizes.

    Good luck!
  • OpalFruitJam
    OpalFruitJam Posts: 114 Member
    I think for me it was a combination of stress and ignorance. I had a stressful job at the time and would have to eat and sleep very late at night which caused havoc with my body clock. I would also kick back with my (now ex) boyfriend and share a bottle of wine or...even worse, vodka once a week.

    I would also blame my weight gain on my medication (steroids for asthma) and whereas some of it may indeed be caused by the medicine, I am mostly to blame for just being a bit of a greedy piggy!

    I do miss getting rather drunk mind you, but the results at the end should be worth it!
  • clcrawley
    clcrawley Posts: 15 Member
    Post-partum depression after 2 of my kiddos several years ago did most of the damage. . . I ate for pleasure, boredom, loneliness. I suffered a miscarriage last summer, and that sent the nighly noshing into full-scale bingeing. I knew I was out of control. Things are looking up though... I think I've found the right place to continue the journey into health.

    Great post... very interesting, and it's good to see we're not alone.
  • MaryKBallard
    MaryKBallard Posts: 21
    I started craving sweets and not exercising regularly!!!
  • laurengish
    laurengish Posts: 1
    Eating disorder in highschool, followed by Lupron Depot, IBS, Endometriosis, rounds of medication, and my parents divorce in the middle of it. :grumble:

    I was on an antidepressant/anti anxiety medication for 4 years, which assisted in slowing down my metabolism and helping me pack on about 25 pounds in 2.5 years. Traveling for at least a week a month didn't help either. Leaving my stressful job has really helped me see how much stress I was under, and how I was just eating whatever was around. I also was working with/living with people that were substantially overweight. Something that i had never really been around before.

    I started my Job at 135lbs
    I ended it at 162:brokenheart:



    My weight 160.5
    My Goal Weight 130 by June.

    I will do this. Having the amazing app, forcing me to write everything down is also kicking my *kitten*.
  • Christie422
    Christie422 Posts: 120 Member
    I was a little overweight as a kid but slimmed down in junior high through high school. I guess I started putting the weight on when I went from a job where I was on my feet to sitting behind a desk. Then the kids came, I gained 65 lbs with the first one and never did take it off! I gained only 30 with the second and took all that off, but I was still big since I had steadily been gaining weight after the first one. About 10 years ago I managed to lose 50 lbs and keep it off for a few years, but I was still over 200 lbs. Then I got divorced, remarried had a third child, gaining 70 lbs this time and taking all but 20 of that weight off. Since then I've been up and down...sick of the ups! I really want to take it off and keep it off for good this time!
  • cds2327
    cds2327 Posts: 439
    me putting bad food in my mouth...lol
  • edin
    edin Posts: 4
    Hi everyone!! Thanks for sharing. I have always had to watch my weight, but I gained due to a really traumatic divorce. Everything crashed in, and I gained from stress, depression, anxiety. I was numbing out trying to cope.

    I then gained and have kept the weight on as a protection, and it is a great way to push men away. I am really trying to work on it, and deal with it all.
  • Nicole718
    Nicole718 Posts: 12
    I have always been fairly thin as a teen and adult. When I was 19, I had my first son and went back to 110 in a few months. With the girls, it took a little longer. After my third and youngest, I was happy at a weight of 128, which was a bit larger than I liked, but I had no idea what was ahead of me.

    In 2001, I was hit by a drunk driver. Following many surgeries, procedures, medications and greatly reduced activity, I ballooned to my current weight of 298. I actually fluctuate between the 270's and 290's. Never in a million years could I have pictured weighing so much. I think I have been in denial for awhile. People who have not seen me for awhile do not even recognize me.

    It is such a vicious cycle. Some days, I feel like a dog chasing my own tail. I want to move more, but I have chronic pain. If I reduced the weight, my pain would be reduced. It can be so frustrating!

    I used to make fun of severely overweight people, thinking that they should have better control over their weight. Well now I have been greatly humbled and I now realize that there are many reasons for weight gain, including abuse, depression, pain, etc. It is my hope and prayer to successfully take this weight off and to be an encouragement to others who are facing similar problems that I am facing.
  • jenners22
    jenners22 Posts: 91
    I was pregnant at 15. Just when I was at the point in my teens about feeling good about my body, I have a baby. That's not what caused my weight gain, but it was the first time one of my good friends told me I had a huge *kitten*. Come on, how huge an *kitten* can a person have at 130 pounds!? I had my kid and got back into 'shape' within a year (thanks to high school gym classes). The thing that did me in was always hearing my mother say how fat she was (she was, at her heaviest, 150 pounds so she was never fat). Then my younger sister started gaining weight and by her 8th grade year, she was heavier than me (who is seven years older). My thing was getting out of high school and getting a job that involved a lot of sitting. My eating habits didn't change, but I wasn't active, so I gained. By the time I realized how big I'd gotten, it was hard to do a lot of the exercises I use to do to stay in shape. I'm a learning, slower but surely. I have decided that I am not going to re-commit myself to losing weight on January 1st. Nope, I am going to start now.

    Now I am up to 260 pounds and I do "have a huge *kitten*". I see that girl who said that from time to time and she had always been overweight. We are now about the same size and it kills me. I also had started "dating" a guy I worked with and when he didn't want to talk to him at work or attend the holiday party with me, I was like "what's up?" and he told me "you're just too fat to be seen in public with".

    And that is why I haven't committed myself to a relationship in seven years. Everytime I go out with someone, I hear that phrase repeated when the guy doesn't call, or when a date is cancelled or when we go out to 'eat'. I hate eating in public because of that. It's amazing how ten words out of one person's mouth can alter YOUR whole world...when it was just ten little words from their world.
  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
    """you're just too fat to be seen in public with". "" is the official mating call of the North American Moron. (Moronis-Americanus). You're a beautiful person who doesn't have to take that crap off of anybody. What an idiot.

    Good job coming here and getting started doing something about it, you can do it, and you will.



    I was pretty chunky for most of my adult life. I was trim enough that I could kind'a deny it. I have a heavy build and a pretty big upper body, which helps. A 40" waist doesn't really look that bad if you have a 48" chest to go with it. I've never been really "Louie Anderson" heavy. I stayed right about 240 pounds for over 10 years.

    A couple years ago my wife decided she really wanted to quit smoking, so she got a scrip for Chantix. We wound up sharing meds (I know, big no-no, sue me). So I quit smoking too. That did it,,, next thing I knew that waist wasn't 40",,, it was 46". I was still wearing the 38" waist and 40" waist jeans, but they were riding low under the belly, more denial.

    About a year ago I stepped on the scale bare *kitten* naked and saw 270. Wow,,, that's it, it's officially ridiculous. 5'8" tall, 270 pounds. I found this site and did something about it.

    Anyway, that's my story. Eat too much, not enough exercise, and quit smoking. That'll do it. So glad I made a change.
  • jenners22
    jenners22 Posts: 91
    we will all be healthier for it, in the long run....no matter how hard it is sometimes. We gotta stick with it.
  • HonestOmnivore
    HonestOmnivore Posts: 1,356 Member
    bump
  • HonestOmnivore
    HonestOmnivore Posts: 1,356 Member
    bump
  • Slim34
    Slim34 Posts: 46
    pure LAZINESS !!
  • Jennwith2ns
    Jennwith2ns Posts: 296 Member
    I got married a year after graduating high school.. that's when it started. When I was in school I was always active with dance and i went out a lot. I ate exactly the same as I do now, but my metabolism plummeted.. I gained 50 lbs the first 2 years, and 10 lbs a year since then - which equals about 110 lbs in a 10-yr span.
  • suerichards
    suerichards Posts: 22
    I have been over weight since a teenager. i always managed to keep my weight between 175 and 190 lbs. Howver, after gettign married and having my Son, I put on 55lbs. I did manage to lose that over 2 years, but I fell pregnant again and this time I put on 70lbs!!!!!!!!!! To make matters worse after a small lose I started gaining and by April this year I was 239lbs.

    After a wake up call from the doctor I decided that not only was I going to lose the baby weight but I was going to finally do what I had wanted to do for years. That was get to a healthy wieght and be able to do 101 things I could never do.

    8 months later and I am finally at a healthy weight with a few pounds to go until goal.
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