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Have you every thought

cflec1
cflec1 Posts: 60 Member
edited February 24 in Motivation and Support
about what got you in the position you are in now where you have to lose weight. I have been doing a lot of thinking about it for myself. When I got married I was 125 pounds, I gained weight with pregnancies but lost most. I think I got comfortable in my marriage and did not try to maintain a smaller weight, but I think the turning point where I really gained the most weight was when I was allowed to go home to work (I love working from home), but I got used to putting on shorts and T-shirts and sweat pants and when the weight started creeping up it was like I can lose it, I won't let it get up any higher, but it kept creeping up until I hit 200 pounds and I had to take a long hard look at myself. No one put me here, I did it myself, and no one was going to get me out of there but myself; so I am now down to 188, and I know that I am still obese, but the weight loss is do-able and with friend on this board I can get down to a weight that I am comfortable and healthy with. So thanks to all of my MFP.

Replies

  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
    all the time.

    i was a glutton, pure and simple. if it tasted good, i ate it no matter if i was hungry or not

    took a few major life changing things to happen before i realize i needed some changes myself. but the most we can do is learn from the past, work on the present and prepare for the future.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    It is one of the ways I know that I cannot let myself get back to the old way of thinking. For me is was all stress leading to overeating and excessive drinking. I was and always will be a gym addict.
  • turpenoid
    turpenoid Posts: 73
    Laziness, binge eating, depression, and self-pity. Pretty much sums up my weight gains over the years. :drinker:
  • RiseAboveCW
    RiseAboveCW Posts: 11
    After having my two children I switched to working from home also. I never lost ALL the weight from my pregnancies, though I did get within 15 pounds of that. I became overweight because of stress and a deep depression. Every bit of food and alcohol was my friend…I couldn't get enough.
  • Dogwalkingirl
    Dogwalkingirl Posts: 320 Member
    I used to be the 'fit' girl who ate like a 400 lb man! Since I was a child everyone said 'you must have a hollow leg' or 'where does all her food go?'. When I was 5 I ate as much as my dad at meals. As a teen eating was sometimes even competitive. I would out eat male friends at buffets, all you can eat nights...I ate it all.

    I didn't think about lowering my calories when I was 25 even though I was not swimming anymore (previously I swam about 20-25 hours a week and cross trained with running and biking). I became lazy at that point and then spent a good 5 years around 170-180 (had been about 130 before that). I hit 198 in 2013 and finally thought I better change something before I ever see 200 on the scale. I am still very much a work in progress but for me it is all about being active active active because I am not going to give up my food!
  • agrafina
    agrafina Posts: 128 Member
    Laziness, binge eating, depression, and self-pity. Pretty much sums up my weight gains over the years. :drinker:

    My soul sister. This was my weight history in a nutshell.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Anxiety and stress-eating to comfort myself is one thing that led me to my high weights. Also, ignorance about correct portion size and a lifelong habit of eating desserts and restaurant food WAY too often (like twice a day for years).

    Honestly though I think #1 for me was COMPLACENCY!!! I grew up the biggest kid and later one of the biggest girls my age, and that just felt normal and fine to me. I didn't have trouble getting jobs, friends, or dates. I didn't really see a big problem. Even though for about 20 years I weighed in the neighborhood of 260 lb as a 5'8" female I did not have any big health problems (amazingly), great blood work and tests, etc...and I was energetic and quite happy. It wasn't until my weight went up further for a year or two (I hit 307) that I began to have any real concern for my health related to weight.

    But getting back down to 260, where I was previously comfortable for so long, showed me I could make positive changes in my weight and body...and that's what led me to trying MFP. Now I'm at 180 lb (which still sounds like a lot, but is the lightest I've been since 7th grade).
  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
    More stress and less free time due to work and school coupled with the fact that I love food and can put away a lot.
  • RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle
    RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle Posts: 1,349 Member
    Just lifestyle habits and priorities. Today I don't have young children and I'm not going to school. In the past these things were just more of a priority. I've never been very overweight though. I have always done something that involves moving and I limited my over-eating habits to only one or two days a week.
  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
    Something about the depo shot caused me to put on weight, whether it was hormonal or just gave me a bigger appetite I don't know. That discussion tends to go downhill around here, lol. So regardless of how it got there, it stayed there because I had other priorities than getting it off. Once my kids were older and I finally had the true desire to make some time for myself, I discovered I could lose the weight. It was one thing in my life that I could control.
  • MomTo3Lovez
    MomTo3Lovez Posts: 800 Member
    Well after 3 pregnancies and being a stay at home mom in an abusive marriage food was my friend back then. Now that I am a single mom my 3 amazing kids I needed to take control of my life and get healthy so I can be around a long time for them...and for myself.
  • jlgemma
    jlgemma Posts: 23 Member
    Laziness, binge eating, depression, and self-pity. Pretty much sums up my weight gains over the years. :drinker:

    Oh man...that totally describes the cycle I was in!

    As to how it started for me, I work in a creative field and really struggled after art school with the transition into the corporate world. I left college thinking that I would land a job with a good salary in a creative and flexible environment where my ideas would be valued and work would feel more like play. I was naive. My first job was a soul sucking experience that was totally void of free thought and creativity. Salary so low I could barely manage to cover my living expenses and the ridiculous student loan payments that come with a private school education.

    On particularly dull assignments I started using junky food to lift my spirits while I did work I loathed. This habit of rewarding myself with food in order to get through doing things I didn't want to do started to become a habit it for me even after I left that job. As I started to gain weight, I knew my habits were bad and I would promise myself I would not do it the next day but it kept continuing.

    I still have a full-time job, but on the side I am developing my own business plan. Designing the products and business elements for my new start-up has brought an energy and excitement to my life that I have greatly missed. Now that I am actively pursuing my passion I notice that I don't crave all the junk that I used to rely on. I know now that it was my soul that needed feeding. I have a long way to go but at least now I know I will get there eventually.
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