I was [overweight] because...

1. Grandpa had a philosophy that if it was on your plate, you could not waste it.
2. Mom and Dad didn't cook, and rarely were around. We were latch-key kids and we ate whatever looked good, which for most kids is crappy high fat oversugared garbage. when we did eat as a family, it was usually in front of the t.v. and it was fast food or hotdogs with mac n cheese
3. Grandma LOVED to cook carb heavy meals, and we were over there quite a bit.
4. My best friend and I grew up (and out) together. We both had parents that weren't really invested in us, so when we were at each others houses, we ate equally awful food. Most of the times we would hang out, it would be an unhealthy food fest. We weren't popular, and we both had a lot of issues going on at home. I think we started eating our feelings and finding comfort in it since we were doing it together.
5. Exercise? I tried when I was younger to be active. I rode bikes, roller skated, climbed trees, ran, jumped ramps... I was really in good shape until I was about 8. I had a really bad injury that year that required surgery. I used it as an excuse to be inactive for the most part. My grandpa also died that year and we had been close. I ate that pain, too. I did try once as a child to become active again by joining tae kwon do, but I broke my wrist doing that and my mom made me quit.
6. in junior high, my weight was high, but I was still able to shop in the juniors section and wear cute stuff, that changed when I went to high school. All my friends went to the school across town, and I was left alone to fend for myself at a new, bigger school. I freaked myself out and stressed so much about it that I gained about 50 lbs in the course of that 3 month summer break.
7. Inactivity piled on inactivity, piled on a newfound appreciation of alcohol at 15... so not only did I eat a whole lot and not work out, but I would also consume all sorts of liquid calories... oy vey!
8. Started smoking pot at 16, decided that even if I didn't really have the munchies, I could still use it as an excuse to eat more.

Then between sophomore and junior year I lost a LOT of weight in a completely unhealthy way... so:
9. When I tried to eat normal again, I gained weight crazy fast because I had been unkind to my metabolism.
10. Met my ex who had a drinking problem... which compounded my drinking/drug problem. I would wake up at 5pm on weekends, go out to eat a huge nasty meat lovers pizza from pizza hut with him, and then drink multiple handled bottles of liquor until the wee hours of the morning.
11. Fast food, Fast food, Fast food... every meal of every day.

And thats why I was fat.

1. Student living is ridiculous. My friends and I are all about 17p noodles/cheese on toast/pizza and the only exercise we ever got was tottering on our heels down to the pub.
2. I got super lazy in my last relationship. We were as bad as each other for not really ever doing much and eating super huge amounts of crap.
3. I stress eat. During uni for the last few months I've lived off snacky foods that I can pick at when revising. I never thought I ate much because I was never hungry but it turns out I was just permanently grazing.
4. I never exercised. Ever. Aside from walking to the bus stop. I was "too tired" after a long day of lectures and I almost always found something better to do (like going to that house party or movie night or girls night out).

So glad it's summer and I have time to reassess things.

I was hungry, I wasn't hungry, I was bored, it was a party, I was depressed, I was happy, because it was there!

I decided right after I gave birth to my daughter that I had an undying love for oreo cakesters. It caught up to me pretty quick

I was lazy

I was an adult when I got fat, no one else's fault for why and the reasons behind it other than my own laziness.

1. I'm an emotional eater. Sad, depressed, happy, didnt matter. I would eat the pain away.

2. I just didnt care about what I ate. Takeaway was the easiest option, and so were snacks like chips and lollies.

3. I didnt care enough to change my habits, even though I was unhappy about my appearance. It seemed like too much hard work when I knew I wouldn't be able to lose those pesky 15kg in a week, I would actually have to work at it. And why exercise when you can sit on the couch and watch movies and eat crappy food?

I've lost 13kg now and still struggle with the motivation to do anything about my weight. I still have another ten to go and sometimes it just seems too hard, even though I really really want to lose it.

Carbs where a staple of meals. Gulash, Hamburger helper, Speghetti, all served with fried potatoes and bread and butter. We were poor.

Cake mixes where cheap. Mom always had a cake for dessert.

Never exercised. EVER!

No one ever told me I was fat. "Big Boned" was often said.

This is harder to define for me, but I'll start at the most recent burst of weight gain that tipped me well over 200.

1. Bed rest through pregnancy.

2. A 3 month NICU stay for my youngest daughter. I was so concerned about Ileanna that I just put anything in my mouth. And during the really tough times I ate for comfort.

3. Depression. Depression. Depression. I had many many many triggers to my depression. One being finding out my S/O(at the time) was cheating on me. My weight in and of itself depressed me. My daughter being in the NICU and struggling to live... so many triggers.

4. Moved from Maryland to my home state of North Carolina and binged on foods I hadn't had since I was young.

5. Difficulty finding the time and inclination to exercise. I missed ballet from my youth but couldn't afford classes and didn't have a space conducive.

6. Living with an anorexic woman who tended to look down her nose at overweight people... only triggered me to eat more for comfort.

because i like food and beer.............it's all your own fault, not anyone or anything else! It's nice to put the blame on things, but ultimatley only you control what goes in you rmouth.