What was your “reason” for gaining the weight?

FitHolly8 · October 2018

I believe everyone has a reason as to why the weight eventually gets packed on whether it be from difficult childhoods, stress, trauma, loneliness etc. What’s your reason? Please don’t be afraid to be vulnerable!

Here’s mine:

I’m almost 25 years old and I’ve always been heavy around 180lbs at 5’1”. I’ve always been a ball of anxiety and self pity/depression. When I was 21 years old my now husband and I found out we were pregnant, we were so excited. Throughout that pregnancy I had gained 35 pounds (215) My son was born full term but was so incredibly sick and had passed at 10 days old. I still blame myself even though we still don’t have answers as to what happened. I gained another 20-25 pounds over the next year or so. Fast forward to when I was 23 and found out we were pregnant again, this pregnancy I didn’t gain a pound and I hovered around 235-240 and thankfully right after I turned 24 my son was born healthy and is now a thriving almost 10 month old. As of today I weigh 230 pounds and have a goal to be 115 pounds or with whatever feels good, I’m just beginning literally this past week and I can already tell this time will be different, I need to be healthy for my baby boy!

quiksylver296 · October 2018

Good luck!

I was just lazy and liked to eat.

hesn92 · October 2018

I got pregnant with my second child and used that as an excuse to eat ALLL the foods. I gained about 60 lbs.

CarvedTones · October 2018

Depression and problem drinking (each is often found in the company of the other)

ccrdragon · October 2018

quiksylver296 wrote: »

Good luck!

I was just lazy and liked to eat.

Seconded

shadow2soul · October 2018

I became lazy, but continued to eat like an active person.

RelCanonical · October 2018

Combination of over-restricting from a previous weight-loss attempt with untreated anxiety-like disorder = fun little binge eating sessions a few times a week for about six months. Well, "fun".

LiLee2018 · October 2018

Abuse and just not being taught proper health or habits was why I first started gaining weight. Ate the wrong things and too much of it. I as pretty active as a child, but that slowly stopped due to depression.
Was just not brought up in a healthy environment and wasn't encouraged to be active or eat right.
I did eventually lose weight when I was a teen, but I was also smoking like a chimney at the time too. Still saw myself as fat though at 150lbs.
Eventually stopped smoking, but was still pretty lazy and ate whatever and the weight just piled on. I was eventually diagnosed with PCOS, hypothyroidism, & insulin resistant.
My highest weight was 250lbs at 5'3" tall. That's what I weighed right after getting married. Being put on metformin, I lost about 60lbs with no effort over 3years. Finally got pregnant, actually weighed less after the birth, but the weight slowly piled on b/c I got even lazier and ate more junk.
2nd and 3rd child pregnancies and my weight slowly crept back up to 224lbs before I started on this weight loss journey 4 months ago.
Done having babies now so there are no more excuses and finally in the right state of mind to stick with this until I've reached my ultimate goal.

Unknown · October 2018

This content has been removed.

kds10 · October 2018

A huge part of my issue was the "all or nothing" attitude. A perfect day was exercise and eating on track if I deviated from one or both I would view that as a failure and think well maybe I will start again tomorrow. Then often the same thing would happen again, I would "fail" and use that as an excuse to blow it.

NovaSur · October 2018

Growing up always having to ask permission for every bite i took so i gained a severe binge eating disorder for when i was alone. High school i competitive weight lifted every day and didn't do any cardio so bulked up to 190. Add the joys of going out on my own when i was 18 ( was 185 at this time )and being able to eat anything and everything i wanted when i wanted. Add in a boyfriend who also is a binge eater so we go on binges together and feed off each other. Now i am 24 and got up to 230 at my heaviest. Combination of binge eating , fast food addiction, working night shift and just simply lazy. Ohh and severe PCOS. Which is my motivation to lose weight now. I cant get pregnant or have kids till i lose at least 50 lbs and my chances now of gestational diabetes if i were to get pregnant now are 100%... currently i go to the gym everyday and eat low carb and am now about 213...

amyteacake · October 2018

My reason was because throughout high school I was bullied for my weight and because of that I was depressed and food became a comfort to me. I comfort ate to make myself feel better and gained more weight, which caused more bullying and the cycle continued until I was 19.

Miss_Snow_White · October 2018

I was laready trying to lose weight when I got sick with heart rate issues. They put me on beta blockers to keep my heart rate down and I wasn't allowed to do anything that would make my heart rate go up( such as working out like I liked to) . So it naturally slowed my metabolism down at the same time I suffered a back injury so they put on steroids.. 40 lbs came out of knowehere and being on bed rest and limited in my movement due to back surgery I became depressed and gained some more. But I am mostly recovered from both scenarios and down 21 lbs as of today 😁

cwolfman13 · October 2018

Didn't have an underlying "reason." I was a competitive athlete from 3rd grade through my senior year in high school and then went off to the military. After that I went to college and remained a very active person. I didn't really "workout" much or anything, I was just active...I didn't own a car for much of that time and walked or biked most places...my friends and I were also really into Ultimate Frisbee and Disc Golf and hiking.

I graduated from college at the age of 30 and immediately started working for a CPA firm...I basically went from being a very active person to owning a car and commuting and working 10-12 hour days at a desk and traveling 25 weeks out of the year for business. Having been active my entire life, I never had to think about watching what I ate, so that wasn't something that came naturally to me when I became far less active.

TL/DR...I was always very active, and then I wasn't.

ata1anta · October 2018

I was fond of "playing" on the equipment at the gym in college. In fact, the coach of women's crew saw me on the rowing machine and invited me to join the team (I declined - sitting in the Schuylkill at 5am was not my idea of fun). I'd "play" on the weight machines, was captain of the Karate team, etc. etc. etc. I wasn't skinny, far from it. I was the poster child for "fat but fit".

Course, once I no longer had the free gym access, it turned to fatter and less fit. Oh, and cheese. My mom owned a couple gourmet shops and when I'd work there, I'd have a cheese feast! Oh, the melted cheese sandwiches you can make!

etherealanwar · October 2018

My new antipsychotic medication increased my appetite immensely and I did not take notice until I ballooned up to 200 lbs and finally decided to weigh myself only to end up in utter shock and disappointment. Long gone are the days I used to eat intuitively and maintain a slim 120 lbs figure. I feel as though now I will always have to count my calories to prevent my aggressive appetite from taking over. I always blamed my medication for the weight gain foolishly believing it directly caused it without understanding it was the increased appetite= eating way more then I should have.

I suppose preventing manic episodes in turn for some calorie counting is not too bad of a trade off. Just wish it didn't have to be this way.

RachelElser · October 2018

I got a desk job, moved out of home and went a bit wild with the "do what I want when I want" mentality, meaning I ate out a bunch and didn't exercise.

cerise_noir · October 2018

So sorry for your loss.

In the past it was lack of knowledge. So much woo until I joined mfp and lost 100+lbs. I was lifting and felt great.

Recently...
My parents passed away, and I felt so much guilt, depression, anger and anxiety that I stopped caring for myself. So, self hate and deep depression did it. I simply didn’t care about me while caring for my pets and others. It took a lot to get out of that dark hole, and I’m glad that I did— it wouldn’t have ended well. There were other things going on as well, which I won’t discuss here.. definitely stressful times.

I’m back at mfp and lifting. Feeling better.

Evamutt · October 2018

I'm SO sorry for your first baby passing. I was always thin untill my first pregnancy. I gained 75 lbs. It also effected my vision to where I had to start wearing glasses for distance I was never able to lose it all. I didn't eat any more than before. The next 3 I gained around 60 lbs each & was not able to lose it all again. In 1998 I weighed 150 lbs, (not too bad) I ate well, that is veggies, chicken & rice mainly & never was much of a snacker. I started pre menopause early at 42 & gained 50 lbs over the next 13 years. I have lost the 50lbs with mfp but would like to lose 10 more

Asher_Ethan · October 2018

3 kids.
Nursing makes my hunger cues unreal.
But I'm done with nursing forever so now I have no excuse.

tinak33 · October 2018

For me (in a nutshell) it was depression - mostly feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. I turned to food for comfort (my then husband was also severely depressed and we basically made each other worse), and in 2 years, gained about 40 lbs (went from 153 to about 190). Then I got pregnant. After pregnancy (and divorce) and losing the baby weight (I gained almost 50 lbs), I had intense cravings and didn't know how to handle single mom life. So I ate my feelings and my exhaustion, and put on about 25 lbs - ending at almost 220 lbs.
My daughter was about 10 months old when I decided to make some changes with my eating habits. I have since then dropped about 60 lbs and am still working on dropping another 20-25 lbs.

xmarye · October 2018

So sorry for your loss. You are very courageous to share with others. I command you for taking your health in your own hands to be the best mom you can be for your son.

My reason: Difficult pregnancies made it hard to remain active. I was really active before, running and lifting weights multiple times per week. Then I pretty much got bored and lonely being at home, so I ate more and indulged in my favourite foods.

Here's how it happened:
- I gained 45lbs with my first pregnancy and lost 25lbs counting calories after that. (135 to 180, to 155)
- I got pregnant with my second pregnancy and gained 40lbs. Lost 10lbs (the baby pretty much) before getting pregnant again at 6 months post-partum. (155 to 195, to 185)
- I was able to gain only 20lbs with my third pregnancy and get right back to where I was before without trying much. (185 to 205, to 185)

I started a week ago and now I am at 180lbs and trying to reach my pre-babies weight of 135-140lbs.

I took my body and my health for granted. I wish I could have exercised moderation the first two times like I did the third time. I knew how much I didn't want to get to an even higher weight and therefore didn't indulged as much, as well as tried to be active talking walks on my lunch break and things like that.

My stomach is full of stretch mark and doesn't sit well at the moment. I am hoping that with dedication, a balanced diet and exercise I can get to a place I am comfortable once again.

aurolena · October 2018

When I was very small, they couldn't really feed me anything. I couldn't tolerate "real" food until I was nearly 3 and they couldn't risk giving me anything before it because they feared I'd refuse the supplement they had to feed me. As soon as I could eat real food, I never stopped!

Being depressed, ADHD, and pushed to the breaking point during my teenage years put on pounds but I was always just a bit "fluffy" instead of "fat", and I really didn't care then. I could drive and if I wanted a cheeseburger I didn't need my mothers permission to eat it! So I did!

Then going off my medicine started the slow slide into depression and I really did eat whatever sounded good. When I was able to work, I could hover at 212 and I felt okay with it. Not healthy really but exercise was keeping any problems away.

After getting sick I just slid into the pit of despair and I couldn't claw my way out. I could not stop myself from eating when my brain wanted something. I'd track all day then sit and sob at 7pm because I was starving at a healthy reduction! (1,800 is NOT starving for my height!)

I gave up and slunk a bit lower until my dad died. While I was his guardian in his last days I snapped. I couldn't take any more of the depression dragging me down. I had someone else that needed my constant care, and I had to balance my own illness care too while fighting off my family. I went back to therapy and on my medicine and it's melting away.

Depression is a monster.

Blythmag · October 2018

I stopped moving around as much, never been a massive eater but im 15 lbs above what i really should be and have been like this all my adult life.

Im now gonna hit that target ive wanted for 30 years

JeromeBarry1 · October 2018

Childhood was great. Food was plentiful. Plate was clean. Refilled. Clean again. Rinsed. Repeated.

her4g63 · October 2018

Eating a heck ton and excessively drinking was how I coped with extreme physical and emotional abuse from a previous relationship. Gained 140 pounds or so over the course of those several [miserable] years.

I've lost 134 of those pounds, slowly. But I've found myself along the way so I haven't entirely hated the journey. Not sure I would've learned all that I did without the process of getting my life back.

ruqayyahsmum · October 2018

Being raped as a teen.
It sounded like a great idea to gain weight so I would be ugly to men....... Didn't work, was sexually assaulted as a fat bird too

Bad marriage, abusive husband, gave birth at 25 weeks and stress ate the whole year we were in hospital

Lost near 200lb, got pregnant, was very ill, gave birth at 25 weeks again. Gained back 50lb and working on getting rid of the last of the gain

Seffell · October 2018

I'm sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine the horror!

I moved to another country, started a fulltime degree in theoretical physics at the age of 34 and quit 20 years of heavy smoking all almost at the same time.

Gained 30lbs in the span of a year which got me to the overweight borderline. I think at least 5 of them were from homemade chocolate mousse! I used to eat a whole salad bowl of it in one go! Did that several times but it never occured to me at the time that I might gain because I've always been slim!

Lost them almost entirely but took me 3 years of logging as I'm doing it very slowly.

When I had my son 18 years ago I didn't gain anything (other than the baby's weight and waters). I was 20 at the time. Literally no gain or loss and at the time I had no idea how much I was eating. Never had to watch my food before.

HoneyBadger302 · October 2018

No tragedy in my life for the vast majority of my "poundage." In fact, I recently went back through my weight journal to see if there were things I was missing (just in case) - but nope, there wasn't.

Basically, weight was never an issue for me most of my life. I made it into my 30's with "weight loss" meaning I'd trim back on the fast food and sodas. I still tracked my weight, and knew HOW to count calories, but it had never been a big deal.

Then, I moved to a more professional job, that had me behind a computer more often. Weight started to tick up. Couple years later, more professional job, on my butt nearly all the time. Weight went up even more. Went through a divorce in that time, but honestly, the sitting on my butt was more in line with the weight gains than the divorce was. Next move in my career meant I was in a better financial position, and I started to lose weight again (could afford better food, a gym, didn't need all the side jobs, etc).

Then, (badly) broke my leg, and over the next year or so put back on most of what I had lost. Back to losing that weight again now that I've recovered as much fitness as I could.

All that being said, I've never been extremely overweight. I've always loved being (somewhat) active, and my hobbies have always been very physical. I walk fast when I do walk, and tend to park at the back of parking lots and little things like that.

At my heaviest, I was about 35-40 pounds overweight. I wasn't at that weight for long (couldn't fit into ANY of my pants!!). Lots of ups and downs in the 22-30 pounds over my "ideal" weight range though. Currently still have about 25 pounds to go, maybe slightly less due to muscle mass from purposeful lifting, but that I will have to assess as I get closer. Still a good 18-20 pounds to lose no matter what, and on my frame combined with how my body carries weight, that's actually quite a bit and drastically changes my body shape.

sgt1372 · October 2018

Eating too much & not exercising enough.

zyxst · October 2018

My GP doesn't think I'm in peri-menopause and no one will help me with my depression. I overeat because it's the only thing I can do to alleviate my depression.

What was your “reason” for gaining the weight?

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