how did you get fat?

I have to agree with Ashley 0616...my weight problem is also part of a life-long struggle with self image, self worth, and abandonment issues. I use food as a comfort. And it was comforting because it was good (tasting) and nobody could take it away from me.

I would try different diet plans, but would get tired and quit, especially if I didn't see immediate results. That would make me even more depressed because I couldn't do it and be successful. Made me feel like even more of a failure. Failed at love, failed at life, failed at everything. It is only by God's grace that I have not totally given up hope that I can be healthy and fit once again. Truly, it is by His grace that I even found out about MFP. And I firmly believe that just like God delivered me from a 30 year addiction to cigarettes, He will surely delivery me from my food issues and guide me back to healthiness.

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I am still trying to find someone else to blame.

I have always been a big and tall girl. At my first baby check-up the nurse held me up and yelled to the other nurse, "Look at the hips on this baby!". (Actually--it's true!) I'm 5'10" and built like a football player, but I have learned to embrace my build. I was always the fat kid at school. My family had lots of depression and food issues. I learned alot of bad habits. I am also an emotional eater. It got really bad after I lost my mom.

Almost 3 yrs ago, I quit smoking after almost 30 yrs. I really didn't gain any weight from it. The next year I changed what I ate. Making switches to brown rice, whole wheat bread and giving up white stuff. I started taking martial arts classes. Now I'm trying to get control of my portions as well as my emotional eating.

I know I'll never be a 5 foot tall and 120 lbs, I don't want to be. I am tall and strong and striving to just be the best me I can be! I'm trying to make this my best year ever!

i stopped excercising...plus i have PCOS>.

Pregnancy led to a job at Waffle House because no one else will hire a pregnant chick. That led to free waffles. Free waffles = fat. Free food in general really, that's my biggest problem. I'm a foodie and that what I do for a living, and I really wouldn't have it any other way. My problem is, I enjoy getting fat, just not being fat.

I was skinny after both my kids (see my profile pics for a picture of me when both my kids were toddlers and I was remodling a kitchen - I was all bones!) Then the doc put me on some medicine and I remember gaining 8 pounds in two weeks - and eventually 15 or 20, but when I went off the meds, I continued to gain and gain and gain. So I thought it was the meds - and it may have been the start of it, but it certainly wasn't the only culprit. I think over the years I just really stopped caring. I was settled in my marriage, had kids and a career and a really big gut all before I knew it. I dropped a bit of weight after my divorce - enough to score my amazing new husband, but then the comfort and the "I don't care's" began again and I realized that I had gained over 15 pounds since marrying him (like, 2 years ago - we're still newlyweds for Heaven's sake!) I tried working out (so many health issues it's not even funny - heart failure being one and a muscle disorder being the other) - I tried dieting but I was on and off again and couldn't resist temptation - this is the first time I've stuck with anything - and it's only been 2.5 weeks but I feel like I'm really gonna stick with it this time - for lifetime - good healthy changes!

Oh boy...what a profound question...let's start with the family. I was always the "skinniest" in my family-at 5'10 and 220 lbs, as a teenager. We were taught to finish everything on our plate, and my older brother has always had a major issue with food. He eats whatever he wants, whenever (and it shows). If mom brought snacks into the house, it was a race between my bro, father, and myself. If you didn't go for it afterschool you wouldn't get any. I remember begging my father when I was 13 to stop bringing home Dunkin' Donuts every saturday morning, because "shouldn't we be eating healthier?" I LOVED playing sports, and discovered in myself that I can be extremely driven and focused, and I loved pushing myself. But I didn't really pay attention to my diet (how much control does a teenager with no money have over their's and their family's diet?).
It was shortly after I graduated, not sure where life was going, and I was depressed about leaving high school (weird because I couldn't wait to get out while I was there). I got a job at Dunkin Donuts (go figure, check out my FAT pics in my uniform), and I packed on the pounds for 2 years. Towards the end of working there, I hit a wall, and realized what I had done to myself (265lbs!), after watching the biggest loser and seeing most of the girls that were lighter than I was. I started going to the gym-and rekindled my love affair of excercise. I got a new job, bookkeeping for a garage, and about 4 days a week, I worked my butt off for at least 2 hours each session. It paid off! I lost 55 pounds, eating pretty much what I wanted, although I had started to really learn about nutrition and stopped drinking soda, and limited greasy foods.
A year later, I had moved far away from my big beloved gym, to a super small town, with a super tiny gym within walking distance. My intentions were good, but after a few months of not going (it was a comfort thing, I was used to being a random person in a sea of people working out, to "It's nice to see you today, Angela, how's work going? You still have that apartment down the street? How's your roommate?" And it's mostly big guys lifting weights at the times I would be going). I had hit another wall. I hated feeling out of shape, I felt FAT-even though I had lost so much already. Then I read a book that changed my life, and I went Vegan/vegetarian/succumbed to meat when I SUPER craved it for a year. I lost 15 more lbs without even trying-no excercise. So...within the last month we hit a wall again. AHA!!! What if we combine my love for excercise with my new found healthy nutritional lifestyle?! And here I am!!! Diet AND excercise going hand-in-hand! Vegan, and exercisaholic. Funny thing is, the guy who owned my gym just sold it, and I just met the woman who's running it now a couple days ago, and she's friendly, but not outgoing (YAY!!!! I come and go as a random person!!!). That's how I got fat, and how I'm going about to change it for good

I got married.

No, seriously. We are a cuddly couple. Nesting and eating yummy food became soooo much better than exercising! It was blissful. But, it definitely made a difference. I gained 20 lbs in the first year or so of being married. I've lost all of that now, though! Woohoo! I've hit that first milestone...now just need to attack the rest of the weight I want to lose.

Eat crap and played alot of video games growing up, if i could start over i would do it all differently. Children need to be taunt about being healthly so much sooner! BAN CANDY!

Refurbished our kitchen with granite counter tops and under-the-counter wine cellar. Filled the wine cellar. Drank the wine. Ate and snacked non-stop. Drank more wine. Gained weight. Funny thing is is that I never stopped working out during that time.