What did you eat to get heavy?

My God OP, you are stunning!!!!!!

And it was a crap ton of fast food and closet eating for me. I still eat fast food but I just eat it differently now.

I ate large quantities of some of the food I eat now but I also ate a lot of junk and fast food. I ate general tso's chicken with white rice, an entire order dinner size, egg rolls, and egg drop soup. I would go to McDonalds and get large orders of big mac and fries with diet soda of course...because that mattered and I would eat taco bell, Wendy's, Popeyes. A lot of fried chicken and fried food and cheesy food like cheetos and cheez-its. I wasn't ever big on sweets though, sugar wasn't my downfall. All of my junky go tos would put weight on me like no one's business because i ate as much as I wanted in front of the TV, which distorted my hunger signals. I ate for emotional reasons that I've sorted out for the most part.

To lose weight, I eat primarily healthy and clean foods but I eat junk food in smaller quantities too. I tend to avoid trigger foods often like fried chicken or cheesey things though. I eat mostly vegetables, a lot of fruit, whole grains, and meat but I eat candy, french fries, burgers, cake, donuts, bread, etc but all in WAY smaller quantities. I was so shocked to learn how much less food I can subsist on after counting points. I ate so much unnecessary food and my body told me so by putting it on my hips. After years of trying fad diets, like Paleo, Plant based, etc I will say anyone with emotional eating issues should not cut out food groups completely it does not lead to long term success. I've had the best success counting calories/points, weighing and portioning food, and eating primarily clean versions of my favorite foods but having what I want when its important too.

A lot of weight loss forums/success stories focus on what to eat to lose weight. But I'd like to switch it up and talk about what people ate to get to their heaviest? And how did they change that and what is different now? I've noticed on weightloss shows they often show overweight people, pre-diet, gorging on junk. I know that for me, it wasnt so simple.

How I gained:
For me, I got into a bad habit of eating exclusively restaurant foods with hidden fats and calories. Id always skip breakfast then order a salad, but it'd be loaded with cheese, fried chicken, buttered croutons, etc. I would fluctuate between starving and stuffed. I noticed high fat foods put weight on me moreso than say, starches like bread and pasta. I ate a lot of desserts too. I was never a binger or a snacker, I just ate the wrong foods and was def guilty of waiting too long between meals- then Id make the wrong choices.


How I lose:
Well, I just started but Ive completely changed everything. FIrst of all I try to eat "clean"- meaning mostly whole organic food fresh food. Nothing in a bag..For example, I eat fresh cucumber salads w lemon & sumac with bit of hummus. But I dont buy pre packaged hummus. That stuff has so many preservatives in it. Real hummus has a shelf life of only 1-2days in the fridge. I try to do as much plant based eating as possible- green salads with lemon and olive oil, brown rice in squash, with 2-3 oz of fresh animal protein at each meal. I eat grains like rice or a slice of homemade bread. I really steer clear of pre packaged food. I avoid restaurant food I think its all bad.

I always eat breakfast. Ive learned I can not do a grain or fruit based breakfast. Some people do smoothies in the morning. I actually do smoothies for dessert sometimes, only a few ounces 1/day but it cures any sugar craving and is full of fiber. I add spinach and some chia seeds too.

For breakfast I have the same thing everyday bc its easy: whole wheat organic lavash + raw spinach+ egg whites+ 1slice cheddar (my only dairy), and fresh avacado. I get so much energy and I find that I never get too hungry so when lunchtime arrives I dont overeat or choose the wrong thing. Breakfast is sooo important to me.

I eat 3 meals/day one snack (smoothie). I used to skip meals all the time which lead to crazy appetite swings and inadvertant overeating and poor food choices and sugar cravings. I always drank a lot of water, but now I exclusively drink water and nothing else. Before, I drank a ton of diet coke.

I gained in two stages.

Seven year ago I changed jobs and it involved travelling; hotel food Monday - Friday with little chance for any exercise. Yes the hotel might have had a gym but by the hours were long in the office and when you got back to the hotel room so it was pretty much whatever room service did. Full fat, creamed soups all with buttered veg.

That took me from a size 32 waist to a size 36-38. I have four suits and a tux in my cupboard that I out grew in this period. My tux I once. 12 months later when I needed it again I couldn't even squeeze into it and rather than face up to anything I pretended to be sick to get out of the evening.

Then a couple of years ago I changed positions and started to work from home. No more hotel food! But what actually happened was that my commute, the last minute the dash through an airport or the walk around an office complex now only took 10 steps between rooms. I started to spend upwards of ten hours on my PC each day; six days a week with few real breaks. Since I knew a lunch break wasn't on the cards I'd make a maybe a cheese and biscuit platter for that 1 hour conference call. Maybe a round of mini sandwiches and some crisps for the next call. Breakfast at 8am then a brunch around 11. Sandwiches at 1pm and then something when the kids got home around 4pm. Dinner with the wife was around 6pm and supper before bed.
When I did leave the the house for work it would include restaurants, full latte choco coffees and a muffin.

18 months of doing this and I went from a 36-38 inch waist to 40.

The last six months, I stopped cycling. I had spent some of the time at home cycling with a friend to do 140 mile ride. I did 40 miles per week although being the fitter and skinny one of the group I'd sometimes not break sweat on these rides as we trundled along at 5-7mph. Over the last six months, from about Nov 2013, my bike didn't move and that pushed me over the 100kg mark and into a pair of 42 inch jeans, which I only just squeezed into.

The kicker, the thing which made me make a change, was a night out with my wife about a month ago. She looked amazing and I stood in the bedroom, squeezed into a pair of jeans knowing only my comfy, elasticated, around the house shorts now fit. I could only look at her knowing I'd ruined her night before we'd left the house.
We went out and I couldn't sit the whole evening; my wife stood next to me but I could see the embarrassment in her face when people mentioned in passing "you've gained a little weight". My trousers straining under the pressure of the fat they force above the belt line and my shirt buttons pulled to the extremes, the threads holding them in place just managing to withstand the stretching Half way through the night food was served and I stood holding a paper plate with a pork pie and a slice of cake on. My wife look at it, looked at me and then poured her drink over the top of it so I couldn't eat it.

That was the moment I know I needed to do something.


Edit: I've just read that back and it's the first time I've actually addressed the reason I've ended up the size I am.

Everything

I pretty much ate food.

I didn't. I ate "faux" food: fast food and processed food: frozen pot pies, jarred spaghetti sauce over white pasta, etc. There were times I ate every single meal out for weeks.

I wouldn't eat more than once a day and then I'd order a pizza or something. And eat the whole thing.

Didn't cook at home ever, ate either delivery or out at a restaurant every day and almost always cleaned my plate.

That's about it really.

tefleon - awareness and ownership of past errors is power- you'll get there

9 pregnancies, 6 deliveries, PCOS, un diagnosed depression.....and not knowing anything about nutrition.