How did you gain the weight?

I was always a fat kid... but things got WAYYYY out of hand when i went to college and got free reign on everything. Freshman 15 turned into college 60. I discovered I tend to stress eat like crazy or i dont eat at all, which screwed up my metabolism. and of course all the late nights didnt help.

I was also never properly educated about nutrition either. I didnt know the first thing to being healthy and fit. This whole MFP process was one giant learning process and trial and error. I wish kids are taught health better in our school system - or even by our parents. sigh.

I was bigger as a kid and most of my teenage life. I typically weighed around 190 until I hit about 16 then it was 180 then at 17 I dropped to 170 and by the time I hit 19 I weighed 150 which I was okay with, it was the first time I had ever been that small I still had some serious body image issues. Well last year in March I got pregnant with my son and went up to 215 by the end of the pregnancy. When my son turned a month old i weighed 180 at my 6 week check up which I was happy about but I got this birth control in my arm and it went downhill from there. After I got the birth control I started gaining the weight back like crazy. I'm at 200 and can't seem to lose it at all. I haven't been able to lose weight at all in the last almost 11 months. I plan on getting this rod taken out in January and hopefully once my hormones straighten out I can start getting back to the skinnier me and get down to maybe 130 this time.

Honestly? Facebook!!!! I used to laugh at people that would say they were addicted to Facebook, but about a year after I created an account, I realized that I was spending numerous hours every day just sitting on the computer talking to complete strangers about nothing!!!! Then I moved up north last year, and I'm all alone with my kids and the winters suck, so I just slept all winter last year and put on tons of weight. I have already joined the gym and started working out, so this year I will be more active during the winter, I am definitely eating healthier, and as far as Facebook... Well... Baby steps... I'm getting there!!! 8)

When I had my first child at age 21 I gained 60 lbs he was 11.5 lbs..but I managed to lose everything that I had gained. When he was 8 months old I got pregnant with my daughter..I gained about 40 lbs in that pregnancy and did not lose the 'baby weight". I weighed about 180 at that time and when she was 6 months old I decided to try the Depo Vera contraceptive..BIG MISTAKE.. I gained about 50 lbs in one year. I kept telling my doc what was happening and she would always dismiss it stating that it was not the contraceptive, so after a yr I decided to go back on the pill which I had to wait until that time of the month which never arrived. Finally I changed doctors and my new doc ran some tests..Turns out Depo Vera messed my hormones up in a very bad way. I had to take a few different meds until that time of the month finally came after one whole yr which also made me gain about another 50 lbs. Needless to say my bad eating habits did not help and here I am. Half of my life I was pretty healthy other half pretty unhealthy.

Me and my bestfriend laugh about how we can tell if she was happy or sad by looking at pictures. When she is depressed she gets really skinny, but when she is in a new relationship and very happy, she gets plump. So I guess it's the same for everyone when we are in love!

I was a fat kid since I was 9, at least. It didn't work out much and had a bad diet.

I lost a good amount of weight in my last year of high school. The summer before college I went as low as 192 lbs.

But in my 4 years of college I gained 91 lbs. I drank a lot and ate a lot of junk food. Plus, I didn't work out as much.

Thankfully, I am doing much better now.

I have always been fat. All my life! I was always taught (as many black kids are) to eat everything on your plate. So I have no problem with snacking, thats not my issue. My issue is just plain good ole food! I have come to realize that everything I do revolve around food. I'm not having a BLAST unless I am eating and drinking! Normal people go hiking, swimming, biking or dancing for fun. I ate for fun. I'm slowly beginning to turn my life around because I can now admit that I have never been addicted to anything...but FOOD! Yes it is an addiction!

I totally agree. The problem for me is that I really LIKE food, especially sweet stuff. It seems like everything is better and more pleasant if food is involved. Plus, it seems like food is such a big part of socializing that it's very hard to be around people and eat healthily. BUT, it's not impossible! I'm convinced that it's just a matter of self discipline and I can learn to do it!

About the addiction thing: this is the reason why I want to try to avoid eating certain foods (like chocolate and cookies, for example), at least at the beginning of my diet. I feel like I am addicted to them, and I think that if i started having just 1 oreo I would end up scarfing the whole box. So my plan is to get rid of the addiction (cold turkey) and the reintroduce triggering foods gradually as an occasional treat...