Curious - what made you overweight in the first place?

I really, really love food and eating. :drinker: oh and I was never encouraged to participate in sports or anything growing up, so I wasn't that active.

I've always love to eat and always dislike exercise.
As a child, my mom signed me up in every class possible : swimming, gymnastics, tennis, soccer, baseball, etc. I sucked at everything, felt very lame and decided I just wasn't cut for it.

So ever since I was a kid, I always have been 10-20lbs overweight.

But I've discovered that I'm very good at dancing, so now I feel like getting at an healthy weight is not out of reach anymore.

Love food. Growing up I ate what I want, when I wanted, how I wanted...my grandmother was like my personal chef, lol. I'm very active :bigsmile: , but if I don't keep at working out my whole body regularly, I gain quickly.:grumble:


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college

drinks lots beer/ booze > eat lots of food > hangover > cure with lots of greasy food and pot > get munchies & eat more food > repeat

My ability to eat an entire extra large extra cheese pizza in one sitting whilst playing video games and wondering when ill be able to eat the bag of beef jerky i have waiting for me.

Eating more than I burned.

I've always been overweight. From when I began to walk it was apparent that I had problems with my legs so I couldn't run around with the other kids to get a bit of exercise.

I also find food comforting and have a very sweet tooth!

Eating too many carbohydrates, not enough fruits and vegetables, and not exercising enough.

My ability to eat an entire extra large extra cheese pizza in one sitting whilst playing video games and wondering when ill be able to eat the bag of beef jerky i have waiting for me.

Soulmates!

I don't think one specific thing made me over weight. Sure it was un-healthy eating habits and going un-diagnosed with insulin resistance until my 30's. Once I was treated for it I lost 75 pounds.. yay me.... and kept it off until I underwent treatment for breast cancer. During the second round of chemo there were steroids added to my medication and I ate everything that didn't move! Unfortunately it got me back into bad eating habits and here I am again doing what I need to do and get this weight off.

I thought about that the other day. I never had a weight problem until I got pregnant with my son at the age of 29. Before that, food was not how I got pleasure. My mind was full of the weekend plans, trips, guys, going out, work, travel, etc.

Food just was not on my radar. Sure I liked it, but once I had my son, my life as I knew it changed. I no longer had all that excitement going on. Was time to settle down. And then bacon started smelling realllllll good. I became a French fryaholic.

Just what happened for me. Once I settled down, I started deriving quite a bit of pleasure from food. Became my reward, thing to look forward to, carb high, etc. And the problem with dieting is that I sometimes feel like there's nothing in its place. Takes work to get interested in something else when you're almost 50. Who wants to go clubbing anymore?

Been married 20 years. I love my husband. But I'm afraid I got sidetracked!

Sat on my *kitten* and did nothing but eat for ~a year...gained nearly 100#

I think for me it was mostly eating food with no real nutritional value and in excess...not appreciating veggies/fruits and how wonderful they truly are. Also, I was never really encouraged to be active as a child, I guess. No extracurricular activities whatsoever. I think that a lot of it was ignorance by my parents part and my own as well. As an adult I take responsibility for allowing myself to get this way.

As a kid, I had an unhealthy eating lifestyle but got a good bit of exercise. So, healthy eating was never really something that I was taught but my activity level and enjoyable activities cancelled that out. As an adult, I went through phases of extreme poverty (eating only ramen noodles and bologna for months - which made me physically ill in addition to gaining weight), and had a time in my life where restaurants were prominent as well as extravagant eating. I don't think that I have ever known what appropriate portion sizes were, and I still struggle to adhere to them now even though I know better. I have had sedentary jobs since my late teens, and have been in college my entire twenties to now. It left little time and energy for me to focus on myself and I actually stopped really seeing myself, if that makes any sense. I was in a horrible relationship that broke my self-esteem and I just stopped caring for myself. Fast forward to now, I have a son and am in nursing school. My fall back options are unhealthy ones, and I struggle to limit my portions and eat healthily. What I have come to realize is that no matter when I decide to care for myself, there will always be set backs, hurdles, and hard decisions. I have promised to myself that no matter how many times I fall behind, don't lose, or over eat that I will never give up on myself again. I will continue to strive for progress even when none is being made. The key to maintaining a healthier life (sustainably) for me so far has been to eat healthier things that I ENJOY and exercise that doesn't cause me pain (i.e. riding my stationary bike or even doing some heavy cleaning). My goal is to eat less and move more, and even if you "fall off the wagon" for a day, a week, or more to get right back on and try harder this time.
So, in a nutshell "Never give up!" as Dora the Explorer would say lol.