Did anyone NOT have a weight problem as a child?

personally, i have never been severely overweight. all growing up i was really active, played sports my entire life and i graduated high school at 148lbs. (i am 5'9") it wasnt until i got to college and suddenly wasnt active anymore that i started gaining weight and ended up getting up to 175. I was still on the very high end of "healthy" on the BMI chart, but for me it just wasnt right. thats when i started on here because i recognized in myself that i wasnt happy and something had to change.

I was thin as a child, as were my siblings, except one, who was slightly plump, not overweight. My parents were normal weight as well. Now everyone but me is overweight or obese and they have health problems related to their weight. I'm 5' 2" and my weight has climbed to a level I'm not happy with, but objectively, I'm not overweight. My lowest weight was 88. I was in the 90s for much of my adult life. Now I'm older, my metabolism is slower, and I can't work out as vigorously in the past (and I hate exercise). I'm also having a very slow recovery from an injury.

As for why I'm normal weight and my family isn't, I suspect that I tolerate being overweight less well. Some years ago, I went up to 112 pounds because of a medication I was taking. I couldn't stand not being able to fit into my clothes, feeling I had to disguise my body, and that I was waddling. I felt gross.


One often comes across discussions of the need for self-acceptance, self-love. Those are lovely things in the abstract, but the application is harder. If I'd accepted myself when my weight began to go up I'd probably be overweight or obese today. I was motivated to do something because I couldn't stand the way I looked and felt.

Many thin people I know who put on weight as adults failed to change their eating and exercise habits as they got older. Of course stress and lack of time probably played a role as well.

I was pretty active throughout my childhood and into high school. I stopped working out in college and that's when I gained weight.

I'm 5'3" and I was 120lbs to 125lbs when I graduated high school. By senior year of college I was about 160lbs.

Now I'm trying to get down to 130lbs or so - back to how fit I was in high school.

No weight problem while I was younger. I was so active with sport throughout high school amd college it wasn't ever an issue until I had kids! I've always been active so I thought that meant I could eat whatever I wanted... Wrong! Chicken fingers and Mac and cheese do NOT make for a healthy mommy! I exercise 5 days a week , but my biggest challenge is eating. It is a struggle I am always working on.

My nickname growing up was Skinny Minnie. I didn't really gain weight until 2004. I had 3 babies (2006, 2007, 2009) and lost all of my pregnancy weight with each, but the 15 pounds I gained during 2004 wouldn't go anywhere. The loss of muscle mass because I wasn't exercising was horrific to me. I just didn't care, I had so many other things I was trying to cope with at that time and I was doing it alone. Exercise and eating right wasn't even on my list of priorities. I saw a picture of myself at a friends wedding and I didn't recognize myself. I had no idea I looked that bad. Nobody said anything to me. That picture was my turning point. I started exercising and eating a little better again and exercise and diet really took on a new life when my 3 kids (5 and under) started "exercising" with me and asking for fruits, PB sandwiches, etc instead of cookies and candy. I finally understood how I viewed exercise and healthy eating was shaping my childrens view of the same. It isn't easy, some days I am so done with the effort it takes to exercise and fix fresh foods, but I remember that picture and it keeps me motivated from sliding back.

I didnt have a problem as a child, could eat what I wanted, but after I turned 17 over the course of 5/6 years I put on what I estimate at 90 lbs :embarassed: sounds like a lot but if you divide it down its less than 2 lbs a month.

Used to say it was because of me going on the contraceptive pill but in hindsight it was probably all the pizzas and alcopops!

I think because it happened so gradually I didnt get too many comments as people didnt treat me differently. I did get a few nasty comments from an ex partner who I hadnt seen in a while but if it hadn't been my weight I'm sure it would have been something else nasty!

no weight problem - I thought I was fat when I was a teenager, but I wasn't. I didn't get fat till I graduated from college and entered the "real" world where I had to make my own food and had no reason to walk anywhere.

I never had any weight issues until I was 22 and pregnant with my first child. I gained over 75lbs, I went from 121lbs to 196lbs on delivery day. I struggled for 3 years to shed some of that weight, got down to 150lbs and was pregnant with my second child. The second pregnany I was more careful of what I ate ( didn't binge on the ice cream and laid off of the chocolate milk) I only gained around 25lbs. After a few stressful months I gained another 20lbs, I am ready to shed this weight and get down to a healthy BMI and size.

I didn't have a weight problem until I hit my early 20's. As a child I was usually skinny and then after my mom re-married and we moved in with my step dad and his family I gained 20lbs over about a 5 year period. When I hit high school, I maintained between 200 and 210lbs through me playing football and power lifting. Once I hit about 21 I just stopped caring and went from 210 to 240 within a month and since I have slowly put on weight until I got to about 320lbs. It wasn't until we had our first child that I really wanted to start getting into shape. I am down to 305 now, and hopefully the downward trend will continue.

Yep was small my whole life, could eat what I wanted etc....till I had kids, then I kind of got lazy and eating what I wanted no longer worked so well... : D