how did you get fat?

I was really glad to see this thread here because it is so different to a similar thread I started on a different forum. I did ask very directly, which was probably a bit naive of me, and also I had no experience of being really fat myself, so probably just sounded voyeuristic.

Some people got upset on that thread, so it is refreshing to see the responses here of all of you who are on mfp because you have decided it is time to make that change. I am recommending mfp to everyone and I hope everyone on this thread reaches their goals

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Well, the truth is, I am not sure how it all started, because I was way too little to remember. I do know, that by Kindergarten I was already overweight and was one of the chubby kids. I got made fun of all the time in elementry school and grew up with parents who fought all the time. I always hid food and I can't remember when it started or why it did, but my guess is that I hid it because I didn't want my dad to see me eating it. The weird thing is, is that my dad and I were really close, but he didn't know the right way to help me when it came to my weight. He always put me on a diet since I was a little kid, and I could always feel the way he would look at me if I was eating something bad. I know now that he was trying to help me in his own way, because he didn't want me to face what I am dealing with now, or have dealt with for years. Anyway, I have always been an emotional eater. I get upset or stressed out or someone hurts me and I've always turned to food as my comfort. The reality is, when I joined this site, it was the first time I had shared 'some' of my story, and it was another kind of 'weight' that had been lifted. I am finally at a point in my life where I have come to terms with the fact that it doesn't matter why it all started- it just needs to stop. I have been fascinated with Nutrition since I took it in college about 9 years ago, and I've read many books and learned a lot from my naturopathic doctor. I am now taking courses online to get my personal training certification and have been going to a personal trainer every once in a while, so when I get to where I need to be, I can help others like myself. I am taking charge of my life, rather than let my emotions rule me.

My story is short and not so sweet ... I nibbled my way to an extra 75 lbs and throughout sat on my butt to insure that weight came on. Overeating and laziness, whodathunkit !!

I've always been a bigger girl. I don't think I really started packing it on until probably middle school. I think a lot of it had to do with my parents divorce.. it was a very difficult time in my life and I had a ton of responsibility thrown at me at a young age. I coped by eating. Then, when I was 18 and in my freshman year of college, I had had enough and lost 100 lbs by eating healthy and working out. I ended up not finishing school, had a very bad break up, and that put me back into my old habits. I gained that 100lb back plus some over the next couple of years. When I was 22, I had gastric bypass and lost about 180 lbs. THEN... I got pregnant, gained about 60lbs and from then until now... I've gained another 50lbs or so. When I started my most recent weight loss journey, I was only 67lbs away from my heaviest weight and when I had gastric bypass. It was a big wake up call... I don't think I realized I was as big as I was until I started seeing myself in pictures around Christmas time. I know what it feels like to be skinny and I want to feel that way again. It's been a rough road for me.. but I am more determined than ever this time to make it happen and stick to it!!

Medication. In 2005 I had West Nile Encephalitis with seizures. The first anti-seizure med I was allergic to. So they had to put me on Depokote, which is notorious for making people gain weight by slowing your metabolism and making you constantly famished. I gained 70 pounds the first 3 months I was on it (well under hospital supervision even!). Total I gained about 120 on the med. I figured (hoped) that once I went off it my metabolism would come back and I'd gradually lose the weight. Never really happened. Six years later, I joined MFP and I've lost 24 of the pounds so far.

No idea how I got into it, always been overweight as long as I can remember.... but I do know how to get out of it.

Originally, it was a combination of taking Depo-Provera and a soda addiction (to the tune of 5-6 cans a day), both of which started when I was 19 and moved out to go to university. I weighed 125 lbs. then, which is really higher than I'm comfortable with anyway; I was very thin until I was about 12 and then I guess the problem was too much soda as well, because I was pretty active, but my mother kept me from drinking as much of it as I did when I moved out, so I was only 10 lbs. above my ideal weight at home. By the time I was 22 I weighed 160 lbs. I lost 46 of those lbs. between March-August of 2007 and kept them off until October of 2010 but I went through a rough time from October-February and was very, very sedentary during that period, and that's what caused it this time around.

I lied to myself about how much I ate and drank and total unactive life style