We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

What made you fat?

24567…10

Replies

  • samanthalynn84
    samanthalynn84 Posts: 14
    My biggest was medication. I gained 50 pounds in 3 months despite not upping my calories and remaining active. I slowly packed on the additional extra 25 pounds by getting a desk job (less active in general), eating lots of junk and drinking soda like a mad woman.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    ana3067 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Popcorn and jelly beans. I ate them all day and night.
    When I stopped, the weight fell off easily.
    I always see popcorn mentioned here as a healthy low calorie treat. I can't just nibble on a bit of popcorn, I eat a whole jumbo bag to myself.

    So do I. I still think it's low calorie for how much food it is.

    I ate 47g of air-popped popcorn tonight with lots of marge and shredded cheese on it. Only came up to a few hundred calories for being a HUGE bowl.

    Yeah, I think I'm going to go the way of air popped corn soon. It seems like it shaves off like 100 calories for a similar quantity as a bag of newmans or something? And I like it too.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    50 surplus calories a day, and time.

    Yep, this for me. I gained 6-7 pounds a year for over a decade. It was gradual enough that I fooled myself into thinking that it wasn't that much.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    What made me fat was eating more calories than my body needed. No particular food or drink, just too muh.
  • rosnigetsfit
    rosnigetsfit Posts: 569 Member
    bad habits
  • Grunkle_Stan
    Grunkle_Stan Posts: 5 Member
    snb11d5h5m5c.jpg
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    ana3067 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Popcorn and jelly beans. I ate them all day and night.
    When I stopped, the weight fell off easily.
    I always see popcorn mentioned here as a healthy low calorie treat. I can't just nibble on a bit of popcorn, I eat a whole jumbo bag to myself.

    So do I. I still think it's low calorie for how much food it is.

    I ate 47g of air-popped popcorn tonight with lots of marge and shredded cheese on it. Only came up to a few hundred calories for being a HUGE bowl.

    Not for me. I put at least 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter on it. If I eat a bowl of popcorn, that's my dinner. LOL
  • junestarrr
    junestarrr Posts: 52 Member
    Too much alcohol and mindless eating.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    Caitoriri wrote: »
    Not that I've ever been officially diagnosed, but I think I had Compulsive Over-Eating Disorder. I got fat at like, 6 or 7 years old, right after my baby sister died, and stayed that way until I was 22. I remember taking my mum's food one time and hiding in my room to eat it and getting in so much trouble. I was in such a trance when I did it. I guess I've just always dealt with stress through food, even at such a young age.

    I am sorry about your baby sister. :(

  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Eating to self-soothe in bad times and celebrate in good times...but mostly, I think it was using others' eating habits to gauge what I should be eating too. And too many restaurant meals. For example, a combo from a fast food place. I never really stopped to say to myself, "Am I still hungry when I eat just the sandwich? Do I need the fries and large soft drink too?" I just ate that because it seemed like a standard meal for "everyone".

    For many years I was married to a man who was also morbidly obese (as I was) and I simply ate a bit less than he did. Seven or eight slices of pizza for him...then 4-5 was okay for me, right? He got the big shake so I got a medium and felt like I was being moderate by comparison. Even with girlfriends, I'd just match their pace on the chips and salsa without thinking "hmm I don't even like chips". And I didn't realize a lot of the friends who polished off an enchilada plate at girls' night out dinner had only eaten like, an apple & some cereal all day long...I'd probably had cereal, juice, a latte, and a large lunch as well. A lot of this stuff just clicked for me after joining My Fitness Pal.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • fitinthe6
    fitinthe6 Posts: 43 Member
    cookies, popcorn, mcdonalds, chinese takeout, fried chicken, potatoes, rice...
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    albalegume wrote: »
    The terrible trio: Stress, Boredom and Peach Pie.


    OMG...

    NOT THE PEACH PIE.

    (Running. Toward the peach pie)
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    Starvation mode. I was eating 700 calories and balooned up to obese status.

    dat starvation mode
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Popcorn and jelly beans. I ate them all day and night.
    When I stopped, the weight fell off easily.
    I always see popcorn mentioned here as a healthy low calorie treat. I can't just nibble on a bit of popcorn, I eat a whole jumbo bag to myself.

    So do I. I still think it's low calorie for how much food it is.

    I ate 47g of air-popped popcorn tonight with lots of marge and shredded cheese on it. Only came up to a few hundred calories for being a HUGE bowl.

    Yeah, I think I'm going to go the way of air popped corn soon. It seems like it shaves off like 100 calories for a similar quantity as a bag of newmans or something? And I like it too.
    I've eaten air-popped for years, not for weight loss. I think it tastes good... the bagged stuff in the microwave is good but only sometimes, it's just super greasy and salty!

  • 5BeautifulDays
    5BeautifulDays Posts: 683 Member
    I started dating my husband! Actually--I would say the initial weight gain *was* caused by way too much restaurant/take-out at a time in my life (age 17-18) when I had a) just stopped growing and b) hadn't really learned the self-control/mindfulness habits required to have all that freedom with food.

    Beyond that, just too many calories, bearing 5 children, and eventually the forced inactivity of obesity-related joint problems.
  • vividii
    vividii Posts: 29 Member
    Getting a car. Prior to getting a car, I underestimated how much exercise I got just getting places, even with taking public transportation. Driving everywhere and not adjusting how I ate had a big impact on my weight.
  • Noelv1976
    Noelv1976 Posts: 18,948 Member
    Laziness.....Xbox, animal crackers, and the dairy queen two blocks away. Oh and beer
  • AmigaMaria001
    AmigaMaria001 Posts: 489 Member
    I got fat from snacking every single night from 8pm until midnight! EVERY NIGHT~!
    Never, ever, ever going to do that again.
  • berlynnwall
    berlynnwall Posts: 669 Member
    My weight really started to get out of control when I was pregnant with my daughter. I had hypertension, bad. I couldn't even wear shoes because my feet were so swollen. I had to go on bed rest because of another issue, and things just went down hill from there. When she was born she was very high needs and I had the worst post partum depression/anxiety in the world. The last thing I cared about was eating right. Then my thyroid decided it was done working properly. One thing after another, really. I had finally started losing weight and feeling alright again when I found out I was pregnant with my 3rd child. FML. Oh well. Back on track now.
  • Losingthedamnweight
    Losingthedamnweight Posts: 537 Member
    vividii wrote: »
    Getting a car. Prior to getting a car, I underestimated how much exercise I got just getting places, even with taking public transportation. Driving everywhere and not adjusting how I ate had a big impact on my weight.

    Getting a car all those years ago definitely contributed to my fatness. Before, i would think "Mcdonalds' sounds good. But i don't wanna take a bus and then transfer and then come back. Thats a long trip. And i'm not gonna walk 3 miles! I'll just get it later".

    After i got a car "hey. It'll be a 20 minute round trip and i don't even have to use my legs!" Fatness came easy
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,940 Member
    edited March 2015
    Too many large European-style ice creams while touring Europe a couple years ago.

    You know the kind ... they come in a large glass, several scoops of ice cream, topped with a generous coating of chocolate and irish cream or rum or something, plus heaps of whipped cream.

    They were lunch on many of the days over the 2-ish months we were there, and the cycling we were doing was just not burning them off.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I've more or less maintained my weight since then in a ... down a few kg ... up a few kg ... down a few kg ... up a few kg ... pattern. I'm not far into the "overweight" BMI category, but just enough that I'd like to go down a few kg, and stay down.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    The real reason: Eating and drinking too much and not exercising until I was over

    My excuses: Quitting smoking sucked. I put on 50lbs like instantly. I always dealt with emotions with nicotine. Once I quit I used food and food tasted better when I quit smoking. 2 back to back pregnancies didn't help, but that's what happens when you decide to have kids and you're old as *kitten*. Gotta bang those suckers out while the clock is still ticking.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • laurenjill25
    laurenjill25 Posts: 37
    Quitting my job and working from home did it. I went from running around serving all day to sitting. All day. When that happens you need to make the time for exercise. Or it's fat city :)
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    I just said no. Then found food.
  • brookekato
    brookekato Posts: 6 Member
    I definitely overeat. Whether it's binge-eating or just eating too much when going out to dinner, I do it, and I do it often. Which is also a leading cause as to why I'm not losing any weight and gained back all the pounds I lost. (I'm very sad about that, actually). But how did you guys lose it and stay motivated and focused even when you wanted to go eat? How did you change your mindset?
  • dougpconnell219
    dougpconnell219 Posts: 566 Member
    A combination of sloth and gluttony.
  • tffcx
    tffcx Posts: 20 Member
    edited March 2015
    Crash dieting to lose that extra few pounds led to binging and putting on WAY more than the initial extra few pounds. :(
  • bainsworth1a
    bainsworth1a Posts: 313 Member
    I sure understand emotional eating. I eat when I am happy sad and anything in between. I am getting better but i still have days when I just eat to eat. Now I try to at least make it something healthy like carrots or celery instead of chips etc.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories