Please don't be offended...

I put weight on over the last 20 yrs (as long as I've been married). I got married and had my first baby within 9 months. It was always easier to make the boxed foods or fast food. They were cheaper and I didn't know how to cook.
I seem to remember at one point a few years ago, that I realized that I was probably as fat as I'd ever been..and seriously had the thought...well it's too late now.
I was taking 12 different medications each day, had horrible joint pain and was wearing clothes that were so large it was terribly difficult to find any that fit me. (being that I'm not even 5 foot tall..the bigger the clothes, the longer they are)
I saw a picture of myself and thought..who is that? I realized it was me. I cried. Then I realized that I wasn't looking at myself in mirrors. I simply looked where I needed to see to get dressed. (i.e.: my face for make up or my hair to dry)
I have two teenage daughters that I've worried about having body issues their whole lives. I realized that I was not setting a good example for my girls if I couldn't look at myself in the mirror.
I decided then and there to make a change. January 2011 I began the journey to a happier, healthier me. I've shown my girls that with determination, dedication and good choices, you can make the changes you want.
Hope this helps...I'm not really sure I've answered your question.

The tl;dr version of my post is basically this, I grew up fat. I was fat since first grade. I think we should focus on preventing obesity, by changing how our schools feed and teach children to exercise.

Food is a self-treatment for the depression and anxiety that being overweight causes, therefore it's a vicious cycle that can be hard to stop.

While food is an addiction, it is very different from drugs, you need it to survive. There are also a LOT more enablers for food addiction than for drug addiction, how many times have any of you heard "having one piece of cake isn't going to kill you!" (Your grandma doesn't normally say, "One hit of the ole crack pipe wont kill you!" Does she?)

Denial plays a big role, most people aren't just 'letting' themselves become obese, they just are avoiding the issue and people who bring up their weight usually spike the anxiety that triggers the urge to overeat-- another reason I think that it is the person themselves that have to decide when enough is enough. Though there is nothing wrong with friendly encouragement when the person seeks it out. Hence, MFP!

Finally, the wording of your question, I think, could be better. Instead of asking why we 'let' ourselves get this way, ask what our story is, what caused us to be overweight. It's never just one factor, and honestly, very few want to be fat. No one wakes up and says, "I'm going to let myself gain 300 pounds!"

edited for grammar.. :P

. Ask people what it was that caused them to be overweight, not how could they let themselves be so morbidly obese...

"Morbidly obese" is a medical term for someone who is at least 100% over his or her normal weight. It's called "morbid obesity" because to weigh that much is associated with serious and life-threatening disorders.

I was always very thin. Then I got very sick with MS. Years upon years of steroids and I mean heavy duty steroid IV's for 5 days or more and followed up with 18 days of prednisone, the inability to walk or even sit up for years is what did it to me. Now after 7 years of remission and slowly getting my strength back. Going from only being able to walk 6 feet etc. Research MS and you'll see the treatments and health issues it causes. Then I developed hypothyroidism which made it worse plus going through "the change" etc. etc. you name it. Finally in remission from MS and thyroid levels are fine now so I'm finally able to lose weight. For a long time my weight just kept going up and up no matter what I did. Now with my health straightened out I"m able to lose weight. IT was coming off slowly on its own just with eating the way I always did but with the help of WW and MFP plus exercising every single day it's coming off faster.

So there are many reasons why people put on weight and get obese. I was at a 30 BMI when I finally broke down crying to my DR that I needed to get to the bottom of my weight problem because everything I was doing on my own wasn't working. We went over all of my meds and did full blood work up. Thats when we discovered my thryoid problem. I also went off all of my MS meds with the dr's help and supervision. Most of my MS meds caused weight gain. I lost 6 pounds the first week after going off those meds. Then the thyroid got straightened out and the weight loss was steady ever since.

Good luck in your nursing and teaching diets to people. Hopefully they will listen and learn and apply what you have to say.

For me I was overweight ever since childhood, and I was active as a child as well, played outside etc. My family made bad foods, and they allowed me to have free range of the kitchen. I did not have to ask to eat something, if its in there I ate it. Not only that I also got picked on as a kid, did not have many friends, so I also turned to food as my friend. So my family gave me money everyday for snacks. So i would go to the corner store in the morning for candy and chips, and then when i get off the bus heading home, then I would get more chips, candy and then added some little debbie cakes. I did this all away up unto my adult hood and still was doing this up until I started my journey. So no I am not unhealthy thank God, no diebetes, or anything else. But I realized that I became friends with food. So now I am trying to change my relationship with food, and eat for surviving vs eating for pleasure. I want to be able to eat out once in a blue moon vs I use to do it everyday, I want to eat my favorite snack one in a while not everyday.

I think you'll find that there is no single reason for people becoming obese. Every reason is individual, based on a number of personal and emotional circumstances.

But if you read any of the posts on the subject of "what was the defining moment that influenced you to change," you'll find that a number of people simply had not realized they'd let themselves get so big. We see ourselves in the mirror every day, and weight creeps on so slowly that it's difficult to notice a lot of weight has been put on. For me, I tried to wear my winter jeans and couldn't even get them up my thighs -- I knew I'd put on some weight, but didn't realize that I had gained 50 pounds. For others, it's looking at the scale after a long time and seeing a number they never thought they'd see. Or trying to find clothing at the store and realizing they don't carry a size that big. Or riding a roller coaster and struggling to get the safety bar down. They all have a common theme: we didn't know, until that moment, just how overweight we had gotten.

And that's why we're on MFP. So we can track our weight, our food, and our fitness, so we never reach that point again.

Well if you watch any tv there is food all over it...this is good, that is good, all for a low price..Looking back to 1940-50's people were alot smaller. No tv, no computers, no fast food. a one car family made the walks more frequent. you walked or rode a bike to go to the local store or a friends. Some people never really think of food that much, I, on the other hand ALWAYS have. I can taste and smell a food item before I bake or cook it. I think this makes great cooks.
Junk food was never around our house except chips or pretzels for a party or special occasion and the rare treat of a baked good was far and few in between. I would take lunch money and buy candy. I remember When I was little my mom made homemade doughnuts. they went to the store and I, kept thinking about those doughnuts. needless to say, i got into them savoring every bite. Got in lots of trouble when they got home but it was worth it to me
. My parents were always telling me how much to eat. In highschool I was, for my height still about 30 pounds over weight even though I walked almost every where. I was always in about a size 14 pants... The last time I weighed 120 pounds I was in the 6th grade. My dad was always telling me I needed to lose weight. he would say, "thats enough jelly, or no u can't have a second helping. Thank God for that, cause in the later years when I would ballon up to 270 pounds, lose it back to 180, go back up. lose it,thinking I looked good but someone would always remind me that I was still big. My mind always goes back to my dads comments.
I am saying this because if someone had not kept me under control at a younger age, I would have never thought about losing weight and probably be about 500 pounds right now had I not tried to lose it the times I did.
I was adopted at 5 months old and found some of my blood family. My sisters are all short and as round as they are tall. My uncles were all tall. My family all fought weight, some gave up. I am 5'8 which allows the weight to creep back on without much notice until its too late and out of control, then I diet and excersise again.

Had i not had the guidence in the younger years, I would most certainly be one of the morbid obese. I think thats important.

I can't wait until the scientists can come up useing stem cell means to be able to know, when a family's DNA history shows over weight, high blood pressure, or something that is bad in the genes, to be able to remove that cell before birth. I do believe alot of it is in the DNA of the family genes,plus add no education on keeping weight off on top of it plus the era of ride not walk, video games computers , tv food commercials,and easier access to food via fast food, makes for a whole new generation of obese people.
Oh and btw, when I went ot school, they actually COOKED wholesome lunches , learning dance was required, plus p.e., now, in alot of our schools today, all the physical stuff has been done away with for financial cuts, they have stopped "running on the play ground" in fear of someone getting hurt and a law suit. Sports are still available but now, you have to pay to play.. SAD

I've always been heavy so it was never about "letting myself go". Growing up we never had a lot of junk food but the meals were always fattening, even the vegetables came from cans and got cooked in butter/bacon grease. I knew that I was big, always being the biggest of my friends and classmates, but I could keep up with them for the most part so I didn't think it was a big deal. It wasn't until I reached nearly 300lbs that I woke up out of denial.
I agree with what other people have posted, by the time I really recognized that I had a problem I didn't think it was worth it to try and change.

OK, I'm also not obese or overweight, I'm here to just lost a little and get fitter. At my heaviest I weighed about 145 pounds which FOR ME is far too much, clothes don't fit etc, etc. Every time my weight has gone up has been when I have been happy, not depressed. When I am happy in a relationship I like going out, I like nice restaurants. I like snuggling up on the sofa watching a movie with a giant pizza and big bowl of popcorn. When on my own, there's no point in baking cakes and pies, and if I'm not hungry I don't eat. Yet I can't tell my husband "I'm not hungry so I'm not cooking". Hence eating when not hungry, which puts weight on. And cooking desserts and cakes etc which I'd never do when on my own.
I am lucky in that my husband also realised he was getting a little large, and we are on the MFP journey together, doing pretty well so far. If he weren't, I know I wouldn't resist the "hey hun, want to go out for dinner tonight" or "shall we make cakes"!
I know the key to me not getting overweight again is support from my husband, and also being surrounded by friends who are also not overweight, so I notice if *I* start gaining. If all my friends were big eaters and 200 pounds plus, the support and "benchmark / comparison" wouldn't be there, and I'd be a lot bigger, I'm sure.