What are your excuses?

jprewitt1
jprewitt1 Posts: 264 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
We all have them. We all use them. What are/have been your excuses for your weight gain throughout your life?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and personal accountability goes out the window with me sometimes. It's easy to say, "Well I had a bad day at work and I'm stressed so it isn't a big deal if I eat another couple slices of pizza." I'm a huge stress eater, but that's the thing. That is an excuse. I am identifying my own excuses so I can realize when I'm doing it and move on from it.

So, hi everyone. I'm a stress eater, and I'm not going to use that as an excuse anymore.

Replies

  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    edited January 2016
    Stress is one I still struggle with for sure.

    I think one thing that kept me obese for so long (20+ years of my life) was not understanding calories and how they work. Like a lot of people, I accepted the habits of my family and friends as "normal eating" and didn't really know what I was consuming at all...I would get on a health kick occasionally and eat a lot less and exercise and naturally I was super super hungry and I didn't understand that those days when you work out, help someone move, and paint entire rooms of your house, those ARE the days you can eat half a pizza or a gravy smothered chicken fried steak...not the day that you sat around watching Netflix.

    So basically I had the mistaken idea that it didn't really matter what I ate, I was just the size I was "supposed to be". Wrong.
  • Rdsgoal16
    Rdsgoal16 Posts: 302 Member
    I ate too much, too fast, and not enough quality foods. It was all me......
  • Mini_Medic
    Mini_Medic Posts: 343 Member
    My excuses usually included not knowing how to cook well, the convenience of drive thru's, social events and taking advantage of free food. I have learned that portion size is key and I can always take half home for lunch the next day. I replace my food choices with lighter options when fast food is unavoidable. I also do intermittent fasting which helps me to remember that I don't need to eat something every few hours and going without food every once in awhile is ok. Also separating my emotional connection to food and not eating something just because it is offered for free at a party (I feel guilt for being wasteful) or just because it's a special dish my mom made.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I'm an emotional eater. I eat a lot of junk when stressed and use that an excuse even when I recognize I'm doing it. I also eat when tired or bored. I am learning to recognize these patterns and try to ask myself "am I actually hungry or am I just bored/tired/stressed".

    I also tried blaming my husband for the 20+ pounds I gained after we moved in together. He loves dessert as much as I do, is really good baker, and can't go more than 2 days without eating dessert. I have trouble avoiding sweets, especially when they are homemade and it was easy to blame him for keeping them in the house. But I have stopped doing that and recognized that he is not responsible for my lack of self-control.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Short answer: eating more and moving less
    Long answer: being the child of obese parents who taught me little about portion control and nutrition. Combined with stress and cycles of depression throughout my 20s and into my 30s, as well as a muscular problem in my legs when I was younger which led me to doing very little exercise, I had a lot to take control over.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I never really made excuses for gaining weight. I gained my weight after I graduated college at 30 and took a desk job at an accounting firm. Prior to that I was very active and then became pretty sedentary but my eating habits remained the same...I was well aware that that was the problem...but at the time, I didn't really care.
  • deluxmary2000
    deluxmary2000 Posts: 981 Member
    My go-to excuse whenever it gets tough is that I'm not THAT overweight, and my doctor says I'm healthy, and I look pretty darn good. Except then I see pictures of myself and realize I really don't look all that great. Cameras don't lie.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    I never really made any excuses, I knew I was just being lazy.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    My excuses weren't for gaining weight, they were for avoiding losing it.
  • WendyLaubach
    WendyLaubach Posts: 518 Member
    "I never really made any excuses, I knew I was just being lazy." Ditto.
  • Shanel0916
    Shanel0916 Posts: 586 Member
    Never really made excuses for gaining weight as I have been overweight all my life. My excuse for not losing weight was always lack of motivation and the willpower to not eat sweets (and junk). Back in August 2015 I decided I would no longer make any excuses for not losing weight and by September I had had enough! Feels awesome to be on track for something I have always wanted.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    It's all on me, I have always admitted it. My problems are social eating and boredom eating.
  • angelamy1977
    angelamy1977 Posts: 24 Member
    Well I've definitely been the "excuse maker" lol. My problem is... my weight creeps up and before I know it it's there. So when my pants start getting tighter I say ' oh well it's just right now - I've been eating bad but i'll get back to being better"...but I don't. Then I can't wear the pants anymore and have to go buy new ones :( I think that having a family/child has for sure been a crutch as to why I eat fast food more often and why I buy and then proceed to eat the "goodies" in the house. And not enough time is ALWAYS an excuse for me. I KNOW these are all excuses and I know that they are my fault- however they are still excuses ;-)
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I think I was more in denial and feeling like my weight just didn't matter. I wasn't eating whole pans of brownies or bags of chips so I was okay- never occured to me how many calories were in a whole sleeve of plain saltine crackers or that extra helping at dinner though. I wouldn't log food so I didn't have to know what calories I should be eating and how much I was. I didn't weigh myself for long periods. I wore stretchy clothes because they were comfortable. I didn't take or look at pictures of myself. I ignored pain and lack of fitness until I couldn't walk a couple of blocks.
  • jprewitt1
    jprewitt1 Posts: 264 Member
    angelamy1977 wrote: »
    And not enough time is ALWAYS an excuse for me.

    Another big one for me. Always justifying that there isn't enough time to make a homecooked (and healthy) meal. Or there isn't enough time to go for that evening walk/gym. Definitely right there with you.
  • jprewitt1
    jprewitt1 Posts: 264 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    I ignored pain and lack of fitness until I couldn't walk a couple of blocks.

    That was one of the primary motivators for me as well. I realized I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs at work without getting out of breath and having to go slowly because my knees hurt too much if I went fast. I suddenly realized how out of my mind I had to be to live that way and made a conscious choice to change. Good for you for finding it out as well.

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i didnt have excuses. i was just too lazy to do anything about it (and knew it)
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    Hahaha when I was working my desk job my excuse was "I have no time for exercise so I can't lose weight," then when I stayed at home my excuse was, "ugh I'm around food all the time so I can't lose weight," hahaha I'm so annoying.
  • jmgj27
    jmgj27 Posts: 531 Member
    Portion sizes and alcohol were the killers for me. I always eat well and don't eat any junk food so justify my eating habits that way. But...if you eat twice what you should, even if healthy, homemade food, and then wash it down with a bottle of wine, what do you expect really? I wouldn't say stress or emotion have a big effect on me but I do get a strong sense of how 'unfair' it is that I can't eat what I want and be slim and that I have to do a ton more exercise than most people to stay slim when I get there but c'est la vie and I just need to suck it up and move away from the wine!
  • Gerbsxyng412
    Gerbsxyng412 Posts: 86 Member
    I had excuses for everything... I am too tired... I am too fat.. I am too busy... I am too out of shape to start... I don't care...healthy food is too $$$$ the list goes on and on
  • CLWISE
    CLWISE Posts: 2 Member
    My excuse is not having enough time. With six kids and a fulltime job.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    Night eater, my fam was always evening snackers. Also I just like the taste of food and I can pack away a lot. I always wondered how people would say they forgot to eat, that has never happened to me lol.
  • jprewitt1
    jprewitt1 Posts: 264 Member
    CLWISE wrote: »
    My excuse is not having enough time. With six kids and a fulltime job.

    I don't know how you even have time to breath with 6 kids, let alone a full time job. I have two kids and work full time and sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode because there is so much to do. Good on you if you're able to stick to your diet!

  • quiarga
    quiarga Posts: 408 Member
    I like food! I like to cook and I like to bake, and then I like to eat! And boredom. Or just opportunity. It was there, and I walked by it. Might as well grab it! I used my first pregnancy as an excuse to eat everything, afterall I was eating for 2! I was much much smarter with the second one though, and gained very little. Time has been an excuse since I had kids. How is a busy SAHM supposed to find uninterrupted time for all that? Turns out, all you have to do is want it!
  • scyian
    scyian Posts: 243 Member
    My excuse is I ate and drank more when I was stressed or bored. Once I understood that, Im dealing with it by giving myself a pep talk when the stress comes on and I have to deal with the issue rather than masking it with food and a big glass of red wine.
  • jessicaloves7
    jessicaloves7 Posts: 30 Member
    For me, I let an all or nothing outlook talk me out of even starting. When I look at all of the pounds and all of the work it would take all at once - it's often easier not to even start at all. I also like recalling all the times things "didn't" work... And I get the satisfaction of being right when something else fails. "See, this didn't work either." Even though every time it was wholly my fault.

    Both are a way to avoid responsibility for how everything in my life, and especially my health, is turning out.

    This time I'm making small changes. I'm being open and transparent. I'm playing the long game with achievable goals. And I'm holding myself accountable.

    We all get a secret benefit out of our excuses. If you can make the distinction about how your complaints benefit you - whether you get to be right about something, make someone else wrong, win in some way - it can change everything!
  • motterotter
    motterotter Posts: 701 Member
    Many excuses most of all getting older and having hypothyroidism undiagnosed for a while
    Outside of autoimmune issues
    1. Sedentary lifestyle dont want to get up and move after work come home make dinner wash up clean house i get exhausted easily and veg out in front of tv
    2. Working late and not having time to go to gym
    3. Eating out or at cafeteria instead of home cooked meal bigger portions on eating out too
    4. Making no time for myself
    5. Craving salty fatty foods
    6. Staying thirsty to avoid having to get up and pee too often - mistaking hunger for thirst
    7. No set plan for eating during the day
    8. Available junk food
    9. Don't really buy into beauty ideal of stick thin means beautiful or size 2 is ideal size
    10. Don't really buy into thinking that skinny is healthy and that is that

  • jprewitt1
    jprewitt1 Posts: 264 Member
    motterotter wrote: »
    4. Making no time for myself

    10. Don't really buy into thinking that skinny is healthy and that is that

    I definitely still struggle with number 4. It's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of "self care." I was always of the mindset that as a husband and father my family has to come first. At the end of the day they still do, but if I'm not making myself happy/healthy then I'm not being the best I can be for my family anyway. Finding time to do things I enjoy and things that will make me healthy is a delicate balancing act. A balancing act that I am still having trouble with.

    Number 10 is something I also have a hard time with. I know what the media says is "healthy" and I know what my doctor says is healthy. Right now I'm sitting at 360 lbs. At my heaviest I was 470 and I was miserable. Looking back on those pictures it's a wonder my wife even stayed with me. However, I now have a goal in mind and I know that even when I reach my goal weight (250) I still won't be "skinny." I'm 6'7" and I'm not going to look like Channing Tatum or any of those other celebrities and that's okay. I know I'll be healthier and I'll be happier with my life. And that's all that matters.
  • cndkendrick
    cndkendrick Posts: 138 Member
    Depression, "the struggle is real". Moved away from the family (for work and school), once the 3 years were up, 100bs were on.

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