How did you gain your weight?

I lost 17 lbs. last year, but sat around on my butt after a whole year of training, so even though I lost weight, I was losing muscle too, and I felt lousy doing nothing. Eventually I started up again, training for my marathon, but didn't track my eating, and ebbed and flowed with my exercise consistency, +2 vacations with unadultered (is that right?) eating and drinking and viola! I'm back up and then some!

I am officially a yo-yo dieter, I've been dieting since January 2005, that's just wrong! And even though I've run 5 marathons, and 2 triathlons in the past 3 years, I'm not in the greatest shape body-wise. I'm in great shape cardiovascularly, but am not consistent with the weight training, or haven't been in the past. My motivation is to finally be done "dieting", and to make exercise an everyday part of my life instead of months of 2 or more workouts a day followed by months of almost nothing.

Got a desk job. Ug!

My motivation for losing weight was that my mom had a second heart attack at Thanksgiving last year - she is only 58 years old. I NEED to get myself healthy.

I wrestled for 14 years and from 6th grade through the second to last year I was in college, I always had to diet to make weight. I got tired of it and so I stopped paying any attention and my eating habits weren't great to start with, so slowly but surely I gained, and gained, and gained. Every now and then I'd take a stab at fixing it, but was never wholehearted about it because I didn't want to have to diet and be hungry. Then about a month and a half or 2 months ago my scale hit 260, and I said, that's enough. Beginning of October I decided I was going to used the Power 90 DVD's I had bought and work on getting in shape. I had to wait a couple weeks because I had some commitments that would make me have to miss a day of the program. So, I just started altering my eating habits and waited on the exercise until my schedule was going to clear up and lost 5 lbs. Then, the day before I started, my sister showed me this site, and I joined and have been steamrolling since. :bigsmile:


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

Disclaimer: My counter only tracks my loss since I started on this site. :bigsmile:

Me Likie Food

but seriously, long explanation on my profile.

Hahaha this is great! I LOVE food too

For me, it was the freshman fifteen (or in my case,the junior 22). I put on approx. 12 lbs sophomore year and successfully took it off again, and then went back to my old ways. Junior year, this came back to bite me in the butt. As a child and a teenager, I was used to trying to get the scale to go UP rather than down, meaning that I was used to trying to eat more than I really felt like, never drank water, and ate all the sweets and candy I wanted. I was always thin and never thought I would wind up here, even though my sister did warn me (and I'm sick of the 'told-you-so's' from her already). However, I think that despite being heavier than I used to be, this is an opportunity for me to really practice being healthy, and since college is a good time to set up healthy habits for future life, I'm glad it happened now rather than later. And MFP is the best!

Started around puberty and just kinda snowballed. I have never been at a healthy weight (3 more lbs!! eeeeeeeeeeeeee!) I decided it had to go when I saw a former friend's honeymoon photos on Facebook. We were really close in high school and still keep in touch. She looked amazing in her bikini and I wondered how I would look at my wedding and on my honeymoon... then I really got into it and realized that if I want to be a mom I need to learn how to take care of myself and my body (after all, it will be home to some little people for several months!) So yes, that is why I'm here, and I'm SO happy I am!

I started gaining my weight 5 years ago. In my early 20's I was 130 and that was the right weight for me. Then I got pregnant with my first child and put on 60 pounds. After I had her, I lost about 30 and never lost the other 30. I took a desk job and the weight came back on. Last year I went back to working retail at a supplement store and began to lose the weight again. I got down to 155, then I found out I was pregnant. By the time I gave birth I weighed 190. I just had my 2nd child in September and I am down to 168. My goal is to get down to 135 but I am an emotional eater. Food makes me feel good and then I feel guilty afterwards. When I'm working out the gym I feel great. I just need to make a habit of it. I'm hoping this website will help me stick to this plan. I just joined this website last week. So I am ready to take the next step and fight the food urges.

I will post my story in a minute. Going to type it on my email and then copy paste on the boards so I don't get online too much :bigsmile:

I just haven't been able to shed the last few pounds I put on while I was pregnant--15 months ago! My motivation to lose is to fit back into my old clothes.

Ok........a combination of things are a factor to me being overweight. All throughout high school I was stick thin. People used to say I was too skinny. (I always had a belly but nothing like what it got too after the events I'm about to list). I was about 115 lbs until about 1999. I started dating this guy I knew from high school. In the beginning he was very sweet (arent the all :ohwell: ) I eventually moved in with him after about 8 months of dating. He started to become controlling and mentally abusive. Calling me horrible horrible names. (every horrible name you could ever imagine) The first time he did it, I was so hurt! I started packing my stuff while he was passed out, drunk, on the bed. I got tired so I laid down on the floor and feel asleep. He woke up about an hour later and started going off...You stupid B...You fat wh###....and on and on....if you ever leave me you'll regret it...and so will your family. I didn't know what to do. I never saw it coming. I've never had anyone talk to me like this. Usually I wouldn't have put up with it. But the psychotic look in his eyes scared me. The next day, of course, he was soo sooo sorry and sweet. I still walked around for days, hurt, scarred, and in pain. My heart really actually hurt. (literally) It didnt happen again for a few weeks....eventually it started happening every week, then almost every day. In front of people, in front of his own son, and no one understood why I would get so upset all of a sudden. He would say things so that no one else could hear him but I could. He would give me evil, scary looks. If I looked in the direction of a guy (even if it was family or a close friend I have known for years) he would accuse me of horrible things. (have to keep this clean so you'll have to use your imagination...although is dimented thoughts are wayyyyy out there it might be tough to get the whole picture) If I got home from work 10 minutes later than usual, he would accuse me of things beyond imagination. As if I just walk up to anyone on the street and say "hey ya wanna......bleep" He was sick. He secluded me from friends and family. I was embarrassed, ashamed, and scared. I started to believe the horrible things he would say to me. I hid in my bedroom and cried and ate(food was a comfort to me). I remember one time he said some horrible things in front of his son (I basically took over taking care of his son...he was 3 years old and still wearing a diaper, hitting, kicking, cussing....that poor kid). I got him potty trained, stopped the hitting, kicking, and cussing. The first time I watched him, he smacked me and called me a B#$%^. But anyhow he crawled up on the bed with me that morning after his dad left and said " Cheryl, did my daddy make you cry?" I am not one to downtalk a parent to their child so I just said "Well you know how sometimes your sister makes you mad and you might say mean things but you really dont mean them? Because you still love her? Well sometimes me and your daddy get mad at each other and we say things we don't mean too. But it doesn't mean we don't love each other" He started talking about how his sister made him so mad one time when she put his Power Ranger in the toilet...LOL...and said he said mean things to her too. So I think it was the best way to explain. He gave me a big hug and snuggled with me til it was time to get up for work. Such a sweet kid. Part of the reason I stayed was because of him...and I was scared. He threatened to kill me and my family if I left him. Eventually it turned to physical abuse...pushes, slaps, restraining me physically, and so on. I ended up pregnant and he pushed me. I ended up miscarrying. I think it was due to stress, unhappiness, and abuse. I was finally planning my escape. One day he came home and I had been in the shower earlier that day. I heard a knock at the front door. I locked the bathroom door and got back in the shower. I wanted a long hot shower, non-interrupted. It was his cousin. He let himself in and sat in the living room. I got out of the shower got dressed and went to the living room to visit with his cousin for a bit then his cousin left. When jerkwad got home I told him his cousin had stopped by while I was in the shower and told him the story. He says "what did you let him in while you were naked?" I said yeah and then we had a great time. Cuz I was to the point where I was so sick of his stupid crap that I started getting cocky right back at him. He pulled out a shotgun and told me if I was there when he got back it was my own fault if he used that gun on me. He went to a football game that day. I got a Uhaul, packed my stuff, and got the heck outta there. It was my chance, and I wasn't about to pass it up. I hid in a motel for a couple weeks and eventually moved in with my sister until I found my own place.

It was at that point where I decided I needed time to heal and take care of myself. I was up to 204 lbs. Depression and abuse can do that to a person. I was so emotionally scarred. My friends and family knew things weren't right but they had no idea how bad it really was. Or they probably wouldda killed him. I was ashamed and embarrassed. After a week in the motel, I finally asked my sister if I could stay with her for a while. My neice saw me and said "mommy, aunt Cheryl needs to lay off of the doughnuts and sweets, huh" LOL...kids, they're so honest. Also, the first night I went over there I heard Mariah Carey's "Through The Rain". It touched me so much. It got me through. I knew I was strong enough to make it on my own. I could stand up once again, on my own, and I was strong enough to mend. BEAUTIFUL SONG! BEAUTIFUL LYRICS! I eventually got my own place, got a dog (they are wonderful for healing)...her name was Chica (lab/pit mix), she was my angel. Unfortuneately when she was 3 she chased a squirrel across the road and got struck by a car. But that's another story. I started losing weight just by being happy again, getting out of the house, and walking the dog. I cut out soda and got down to 164. I kind of went up and down with my weight.

Eventually after a couple years of being single, I meant my, now, fiance. The love of my life. He's been so good to me. We moved down to FL I got down to 148, then moved to Columbus, gained some weight back, I was up to 157. 4 months later, I got laid off and was offered a job with the same company here in SC. We stayed in a motel for 4 months (waiting for our house to be built) I gained a lot of weight living in a motel. Living off of carryout and fast food. I got back up to 169lbs and then found MFP. I fell on and off of this plan but still managed to get down to 158. In March he proposed and I got very serious about this. I want to look good and feel good on my wedding day, we want to have kids so I need to be healthy, I want to be around for them for a long time, and I want to feel confident and love myself. I'm now down to 138:drinker:

And that's my story....sorry it was so long. But thanks for letting me get that out:flowerforyou:

Oh...and I also like food and just didn't eat healthy. I didn't care about myself....Now I do :drinker:

Wow, Kellch, what a story. I'm so glad you're in a better place with someone who loves you and that allows you to love yourself!

Kellch - good for you for leaving.

My weight gain was caused by years of eating like it was a competition and not enjoying my food. In other words, I ate quickly and mindlessly.

My "ah-ha" moment was during yoga when I couldn't do a twist - because part of me was in the way.

I regained my weight when I met my husband and went off the Depo shot. I didn't gain weight while I was on it, but as soon as I went off of it, it started piling on. I've gained 40 lbs in 6 months, and I HATE it. Not to mention the fact that my hubby can cook, which doesn't help. I want to lose it because I hate the way I feel now, and I hate that my clothes don't fit me. It's such a blow to the ego to have to buy bigger clothes.

I actually can't remember ever being thin. I've always been one of the fatter girls throughout school and I just kept gaining weight. My mom's side of the family is obese so genetics is also against me but my eating habits weren't helping. I LOVE food. Because I was fat I never really felt comfortable joining a sport or anything so I just kinda sat around (I was in marching band. It was hard work, physically and mentally, but I never really got anything out of it. I just kept gaining weight.)

My mom got the gastric bypass in April and she has already lost nearly 90lbs. That, along with moving to go away to college in January is my motivation. I want to be thin and healthy in college. I also want to have more confidence than I had in high school.

I know that gastric bypass seems like the perfect solution but just a warning to everyone that it is STILL a DANGEROUS procedure. So if anyone out there is considering it please think about it very carefully and consult a doctor. In 2006 my father died one week after having gastric bypass surgery when his new stomach was unable to pass any of the food he ingested into his intestines.
I don't mean to scare anyone, just reminding everyone that what may seem like the easiest solution isn't always the best.