anyone found the root cause of why you gain weight?

Funny I just wrote a blog post about this exact topic. My answer is going to be a bit different and not focus on why I gained weight personally but moreover what the root cause is of weight gain.
Inflammation is at the core of weight gain. Hidden allergens, infections, environmental toxins, an inflammatory diet, and stress are the real causes of inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and more. Autoimmune diseases, specifically, now affect 24 million people and cost $120 billion a year to treat representing nearly twice the economic health care burden of cancer (about $ 70 billion a year).
All of these autoimmune conditions, at their root, are connected by one central biochemical process: An out of control immune response that results in your body attacking its own tissues. While fighting an infection, a toxin, an allergen, a food or the stress response, it redirects the attack on your joints, brain, thyroid, gut, skin or your whole body.
By asking yourself and your doctor the questions about what is causing the problem you can uncover a more clear solution. Look for toxins, allergens, and infections to find the real causes of inflammation. You can heal your immune system by supporting it with nutrients like fish oil, zinc, vitamin D, herbs and probiotics and being put on a clean diet which is allergen-free and anti-inflammatory.

[/quote]

100% agree there is no magic answer one size fits all.
but id put my money that for *most* emotionally eating are the core issues.
[/quote]

AGREED.....

My weight gain started my senior year of high school and was due to a combination of many things:
1) I could buy whatever I wanted for lunch including pizza, cookies, chips, etc. Mom was kind of restrictive with what we could eat so when it was up to me, I went with the junky indulgence stuff
2) my brother was home from Desert Storm and like many of us, turned to food for comfort, and I was his eating buddy
3) I was also the eating buddy for a few of my school friends
4) I was emotional eating for my own reasons - stressed out about all the life changes coming after graduation and a major falling out with some friends

And honestly, I think once I gained the weight, I kind of liked having that barrier between me and the rest of the world. I could be tough and funny and not have to worry about guys giving me tons of attention like I had all thrugh high school (I still had boyfriends but they were fewer and farther between in my early 20's before meeting Hubster).

Even once I met Hubster, I guess I just didn't love myself enough to make the changes I needed to. I said I wanted to lose weight and tried several diets, etc but never found one that stuck. And Hubby didn't care that I was "fluffy", that just meant there was more of me to love.

Thankfully I finally figured out that I could lose weight without starving myself or taking pills or any of that extreme stuff. I did use WW for the first 6 months but I've been on my own since and have been making slow and steady progress over the last 4 years. I'm thrilled to have gotten this far and not regained or given up (no more than a slight gain anyway before I get back on track).

OP, I'm glad you're working on figuring out your root causes and how you can fight them! It's not easy but it's well worth it in the long run!!

Depression.

I've struggled with it all my life.

I've used both binge eating and binge drinking as crutches at different times in my life. I've completely managed to stop the binge drinking, but still working on the binge eating.

Thankfully, as I've learned to manage my depression better, managing my weight has gotten a lot easier.

Two things. Emotional eating..eating when I'm bored or angry or sad. Second cause, portions out of whack. I would eat the same portions as my taller normal weight husband. I have a better handle on both things now.

3 reasons:

1. You eat too much food and dont exercise
2. You have some sort of health issue
3. You're getting old and thats just kinda what happens...

chocolate and cheetos.

And working a stressful nonprofit job with crazy hours.

Addicted to the taste of high calorie food. That combined with periods of not eating enough then eating way too much. This site gives me a cut off point and tells me when I haven't eaten enough.

I ate too much