What triggered your weight gain?

1246

Replies

  • MsQt
    MsQt Posts: 793 Member
    I ate when I was happy, sad, bored. I ate until I was out of breath. Once I hit 30 years old I blew up it seems over night.
  • AA1ex
    AA1ex Posts: 223 Member
    I met my husband! He spoiled me and treated me right. I was spending my free time working out then it became "working out" :wink: That just doesn't burn as much as running for 3hrs a day 4 days a week.
  • TheBitSlinger
    TheBitSlinger Posts: 621 Member
    I met my husband! He spoiled me and treated me right. I was spending my free time working out then it became "working out" :wink: That just doesn't burn as much as running for 3hrs a day 4 days a week.

    You're not doing it right. :laugh:
  • ambershanelle2
    ambershanelle2 Posts: 4 Member
    As I have aged, my metabolism has slowed, but I still the way that I did when I was younger and exercising all the time. In HS, I was a waitress, a cheerleader, and I was an athlete. I was always thin and fit.

    After my first child (at age 18), I was still fit and trim. I thought I had lucked out in the metabolism area. NOT SO. After the second child (at age 24), I gained 10-15 pounds. I started going to the gym a few times a week and trying to eat healthier. It wasn't working, and I was still gaining. Finally, a few years later, I had my wisdom teeth pulled. I was so scared of getting a dry socket that I lived off of Slim Fast and a half a cup to a full cup of mashed potatoes for dinner. I dropped 35 pounds and got a boob job. I was so happy! I kept that off for many months, but then I got pregnant with my 3rd child (at age 27). She was a C-section which did bad things to my abdomen. Now, at age 33, I am still struggling to get down to an ideal weight and to find healthy foods that I will enjoy. If I can get the whole family on a healthier lifestyle path, that's an even bigger bonus. (My 9 year old son has gained quite a bit of weight in the last year due to poor choices of a picky eater.)

    What really put me over the edge to finally do something (and if God has mercy on me - actually stick with it) was when someone I consider family said I had love handles on my face. Who says that??? I'm laughing and crushed at the same time. This is it. I'm doing this thing. I'm turning that humor and hurt into motivation.
  • recoveryjunky
    recoveryjunky Posts: 162 Member
    I grew up on a farm. I was never crazy active but there were things that HAD to be done (feeding the cows, harvesting the hay, chopping wood) and I would help with those things. I was a pretty chubby kid but I was a STRONG chubby kid. Then puberty hit and I was fine- big because of my muscles and genetics but not a whole lot of fat on me.

    My last month of high school, my boyfriend (who I'm still with five years later <3) asked me out. I slowly gained from being in a pretty good relationship.

    On our 5 month anniversary, he picked me up from community college to do dinner and we were t-boned by a car going about 35MPH on my side. It screwed up my back pretty bad and I'm still living with that pain. After that, I gained weight a little more quickly.

    Then came real college... Living in a dorm with a year old back injury that was exacerbated by living up a GIANT FREAKIN HILL that I had to walk any time I wanted to get home, made things horrible. I sat in bed whenever I wasn't in classes or eating. It was the only thing that I could do to make my back feel better. My PT started me on super basic exercises and I couldn't even do those so I kind of gave up... It was the first time in my life that I had to live off of processed food as well. I had gained about 30lbs in my first year there and about 10lbs per year after that.
  • kckBxer396
    kckBxer396 Posts: 460 Member
    According to my physician, 1) Diabetes and 2) my Thyroid. Honestly, I used to be very thin (110-120). All of my family members are fairly thin,but diabetes (type 1 and 2) are pretty prominent (two sisters,both of my grandmothers,and then some).
    I've always eaten sandwiches, ramen,and potato dishes because my medicine and exercise helped,and my parents didn't think watching my intake was "a big deal". After moving away from home, I continued to eat as I always have,and 2 years ago I lost my health insurance and my diabetes meds. I quickly gained 60 pounds in 2 years. I, more recently, saw a different physician, and she said that my thyroid is running very slowly due to my mild diabetes and carb intake being too high.
    SO, I drink more water and exercise more often than almost anyone I know,but looking at me you would think I just ate junk food and sat on my butt all day. I do eat candy, drink soda,but not even every week. However, according to my physician, until I learn to manage my diabetes, my thyroid will continue to be depressed,and I will continue to have an extremely difficult time managing my weight.I guess that is,ultimately, my fault for not taking better care of myself and not monitoring my glucose levels like I'm supposed to. Now, I'm paying for it with weight gain, headaches,and fatigue. That's why I'm on MFP though, trying to figure it out.
    >>> ***If you have similar issues, or just need supportive people, feel free to add me!***<<<
  • dodihere
    dodihere Posts: 490
    I stopped smoking and gained 70 pounds.
  • KtAnne388
    KtAnne388 Posts: 30
    Always heavy as a Kid even though I was active and played sports-I take more after my dad's side of the family who are all very tall broad and heavy set so I have to be meticulous with diet and exercise. When I was 21 my mom got really sick and I started taking care of her and completely stopped taking care of myself. Also watching her get worse made me depressed so I looked to food to comfort me.
  • onedayatatime12
    onedayatatime12 Posts: 577 Member
    Dissatisfaction with my academics and my overall social life I think (I'm usually always so active, but that didn't happen for a year or so). But that's changed- for the better! I really do believe that if you're positive, you'll get positive results. :)
  • PapaverSomniferum
    PapaverSomniferum Posts: 2,670 Member
    After my split with my X, I ended up with a great group of friends and then a great boyfriend. They all force feed me, though. It took me a while to learn to start denying the snacks, big meals, and second helpings. I'm still fighting the, "No, I don't need ice cream and cookies 10 times a day, thank you" battle.
  • hoffmanhomemaker
    hoffmanhomemaker Posts: 4 Member
    Insulin resistance after my fifth kid has made it nearly impossible to lose.
  • koshkasmum
    koshkasmum Posts: 276 Member
    Birth. Mine.
  • aliciagetshealthy
    aliciagetshealthy Posts: 946 Member
    Went from active job to desk job, combined with thyroid going out of whack, compounded by a (un)healthy dose of apathy.
  • quiltlovinlisa
    quiltlovinlisa Posts: 1,710 Member
    I've been overweight, obese, morbidly obese from being a teenager on. Undiagnosed exercise induced asthma with a whole bunch of emotional problems (not knowing how to deal with dad's alcoholism) led to a very unhealthy relationship with food.

    My highest was when my oldest daughter was about a year at 266 (I'm only 5' 3''). I worked on losing while still having kiddos and did okay until my last pregnancy with 3 months of bed rest, and twins only 19 months between them and their older brother. It was hell for about 3 years.

    My twins are now 7 and my weight crept back up to 241 and I NEVER want to go back to the 266 number from years ago, so 3 months ago, I made a choice. I'm still not below 200 but I'm getting there.

    I want to be healthy.
  • Kimdbro
    Kimdbro Posts: 922 Member
    knee surgery and marriage.
  • norahwynn
    norahwynn Posts: 862 Member
    For about 10 years I slowly gained weight, total to about 40 lbs overweight. But in 2012, I easily put on 20 of those pounds. My father was very ill and passed away in August. And my son who was born with a heart defect 25 years ago, had major issues with his pacemaker and experienced a cardiac arrest in the spring, and went into heart failure in September.

    It was a trying year, and I definitely turned to food more than I should.
  • Sparlingo
    Sparlingo Posts: 938 Member
    Eating disorder as a teen, followed by learning to love myself and letting go of the scale, followed by contentment and a slow creeping up of the pounds -- followed by a re-commitment to weight loss the healthy way, followed immediately by a surprise pregnancy. Haha. The dust settled and I was 35 lbs overweight (50ish lbs above my personal healthy weight). That's a lot on a 5'0" frame!

    Glad to have finally figured this out in a healthy and sustainable way. I finally feel like I could do this in some form for life, and model healthy activity, body image, and eating behaviours for my daughter and any future kidlets!
  • schakiiiii
    schakiiiii Posts: 39 Member
    Drinking and Midnight snacks! Sigh it creeps up on you! :drinker:
  • AfricaLatina
    AfricaLatina Posts: 111 Member
    Enjoying food WAY too much and I finally learned to drive as I moved out into the countryside.... after years of walking miles everyday, the weight just piled on - oh yeah then i fell pregnant! My own health took a backseat after that, until now! :0) x
  • JSkorna
    JSkorna Posts: 22
    Eating
  • mariabraceyrobinson
    mariabraceyrobinson Posts: 94 Member
    Here is mine:

    I was always the fat kid. At 14 I did the 30 day shred. I was obsessed. Too strict. And I was doing it WRONG. I kept dieting and dieting untill the age of 16 when I couldn't take it anymore and just started eating like crap and didn't budge. I would blame our situation but it was really all because I was emotionnaly screwed up and didn't know how to handle it, I didn't look after my health anymore.
    When I started gaining weight again, it made me even more depressed. I had no support from my family and I kept getting comments like "oh dear, you gained weight" whenever I visited my family in Lebanon (Lebanon, my dear friends, is all about IMAGE). So for some screwed up reason, I turned to bingeing. At the same time I wanted to starve myself. It was binge-starve rollercoaster that made me gain alot of fat. Later on I moved to Lebanon and my sister (who currently studies Physical education) kicked my brains into thinking right and making me beleive that I'm worth more than I think. So I went back to eating healthy and working out, treating my body how it is supposed to be treated. So all in all, I gained and lost the same 20 pounds twice.

    TRUTH: What motivates me, every time I want to give up, is my past self. I NEVER ever want to be that person ever again. Every time I think of the bad comments, the judgemental looks, and the way I used to feel, that's one more rep. Show them who you are, and most importantly, show YOURSELF who you are. My body is not, has never been and will never be perfect. But I love it and that is why I want to treat it as good as I possible can from now on.

    I would love to hear your side :) Also, feel free to add me up. I love helping out.

    I'm an emotional eater too. I didn't used to be. What has cause me to gain weight is stress in my marriage. I didn't realize until recently that he was making me fat. I used to write out my feelings in a journal to get out whatever I was felling. That stopped when he started reading my entries and judging me based on what I wrote. Needless to say, after 13 years I'm getting myself out of this stressful & emotionally abusive relationship. I cut out 200 lbs of him & nearly 20 lbs of my own fat.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    for me it was the perfect storm of becoming a vegetarian (not knowing how to cook so I turned to breads and cheeses for my staples) getting a car (no longer using my bike as my main form of transportation) and buying a tv. Ah, first world problems...
  • WhateverYouDoDontBlink
    WhateverYouDoDontBlink Posts: 14
    Growing up with not enough to eat, I put on weight when I got my first job and could start getting my own food. I can credit keeping it all on to PCOS, being a crazy picky eater, and spending way too much time sitting in front of the television/in front of the computer/with a book.
  • RaineMarie
    RaineMarie Posts: 158 Member
    My boyfriend and I gained about 15lbs during our first year together. We went out to eat A LOT and just didnt watch ourselves. We both workout pretty regularly, but if you arent watching what you eat, it can creep up no matter what type of exercise you are doing.
  • zjpq
    zjpq Posts: 198 Member
    moving from New Zealand to the US made it difficult to maintain a healthy weight, my thyroid unknowingly crapped out, I gained 15lbs in a couple months and then I got pregnant and am struggling to lose the first, and same, 10 pounds I have been trying to lose for the last 6 months. My thyroid is still not right despite meds and doctor won't help me :(
  • ravegee
    ravegee Posts: 999 Member
    A mixture of sugar and junk food and not caring.
  • cortezpj
    cortezpj Posts: 129 Member
    ate too much

    Yep this

    Ditto for me...plus a crazier schedule than I'd had before I was 35.
  • HonestOmnivore
    HonestOmnivore Posts: 1,356 Member
    135lbs to 145bls -My teens and twenties when I THOUGHT I was fat (grrrr)

    165- In my early thirties I got a well paying desk job that involved travel. Travel involves eating out with co-workers and wanting to try the local specialties! I gained a good 20% of my starting weight the first year.

    185- Next I was working in a high stress plus high travel job so I wasn't getting regular exercise, I'd cut out a lot of my recreational activities and I didn't have time to cook my own meals.

    200 -NEXT I became a wine and beer snob! OMG this is the worst! Do you have any idea how many calories are in wine and beer?

    220 -Very high stress desk job with going "out for lunch" with the girls as our primary tool for stress relief

    Also, in 2009 I had my ovaries removed as a precaution due to having that nasty cancer mutation (BRCA2) and this seemed to shift my metabolism way way down. After 2009 I had to cut way back on intake to prevent additional weight gain.
  • JerZRob
    JerZRob Posts: 68
    I didn't get fat until I bought a house, got married and had a kid. Seems like everyone of those events added 10lbs on to me. Only started eating better again because I have another kid on the way and I was nervous I would add another 10!
  • lilmissbamaqueen
    lilmissbamaqueen Posts: 184
    I was never above about 125 lbs until I met my now-ex husband. When we were dating and engaged, we are always eating out and doing a lot of hanging around the house watching TV. I was a size 6 when we started dating, and my wedding dress was a size 12. The marriage turned bad almost immediately, and I got severely depressed and started comfort-eating. That pushed him away even more. In the 4-year span of my marriage, I went from about 125 to 193 at my peak. He and I joined the gym together, but he dropped weight like it was his job, and berated me for not being able to do the same. So, that's kinda what started it, coupled with REALLY low self-esteem and some emotional issues.

Categories