I was [overweight] because...

1 - I was always very thin as a kid/teen. I had a single mom, and we were poor and all that but my mom was (almost obsessively) committed to eating healthy and never kept any junk in the house. We always ate balanced meals comprised of whole foods, very little processed stuff. It was never about weight or dieting, always about nutrition. This was good but the meals were often BORING and repetitive. There's not a lot of room for experimenting with different cuisines when you can't afford all the special ingredients.

2 - As a teen I had somehow managed to build up a pretty gnarly guilt complex around food for which self denial was the answer (mind over matter, if others have to starve I should know what it feels like to wait a few hours and manage to tough it out.) This was a way to have power and feel morally superior. I became a vegetarian out of guilt and this fed right into the denial habit. If restaurants or cafeterias didn't have options for me, I'd have nothing or something very inadequate. (Note: I was never anorexic. It was never about body image. I was never trying to lose weight. I always ATE but often very little throughout the day until dinner time.)

3 - When I moved out on my own I had the freedom to get away from the boring meals I was used to at home and treat myself to anything I wanted. Large slices of pizza were $1 each in the city I lived, so 2 of those was an obvious lunch or dinner option. This was the beginning of a pattern but it would be a couple years until it really caught up to me.

4 - I was struggling to eat *enough* to actually pay attention to my body and eat when I needed food instead of resenting my appetite and willing it away. Allowing myself more pricey, richer foods was a way to take pleasure in eating instead of hating and resenting it. I just went a little overboard with larger and fattier cuts of meat, butter, cheese, nachos, etc. Unfortunately this blended in with old habits so instead of having a more varied diet I found myself still struggling to make myself cook during the day, then gorging on rich meals in the evening, when I felt completey starving, to make up it.

5 - On top of that, in an effort to be more social I ended up drinking more beer. I also moved to a city with much poorer restaurant options, and stopped riding my bike because the roads and drivers there were scary.

6 - My strategy for making sure I'd eat lunch and not have that crash was to allow myself to eat whatever was at hand or appealed to me. Lunch was most easily found at restaurants. When I lived out west that was usually sushi or banh mi sandwiches, but when I moved out east the options were worse and it was often burgers or poutine.

7 - Slow and steady this contributed to the spare 30-40 lbs I'm trying to work on now... The back and forth between indulgence and denial is the problem I'm trying to face. I'm still working on this lunch thing - how to keep my blood sugar steady and feel full after meals without having to reach for the high fat, high carb foods that are so immediately satisfying. How to not just revert back to the denial thing because that was extremely unhealthy, both physically and mentally... plus, it is the source of cravings.

Why does it feel so hard to find a healthy balance with food? It's nuts. It's so easy in theory, I understand completely what I need to do, I like and even PREFER healthy food (even when I'm eating a giant dinner to make up for that crash, that's usually a more or less reasonably balanced meal.) This timing thing is my real challenge.

1. I relied on sports to keep me fit and didn't change my eating habits after I quit swimming. I swam 5 days a week for 3-5 hours straight. I ate what I wanted when I wanted and didn't gain weight. I mean big breakfast, big lunch, cheese fries right after breakfast and still had dinner.

2. I suffered from depression in high school: My first love broke my heart yadah yadah blah blah hooplah...It was hard. 40 pounds of ice cream, pizza, pasta and soda hard.

3. COLLEGE: No explanation needed.

4. No "real" knowledge of nutrition.

1) I was overweight until the age of 13, when I had enough of that crap and started working out, eating less, joined two sports teams, etc. Within a year I was down almost 100 pounds and felt great. Then, I turned 16 and started working my first job (fast food). So...

2) Eating fast food daily, sometimes for all of my meals. Yeah. Subway, Taco Bell, McDonald's, no matter how you slice or adjust it, is not good for you and is high in calories.

3) Had to quit sports due to the job, and eventually made excuses to stop exercising entirely. Overtime or no, I just "didn't have time"...

4) But I had enough time to master all of my video games over and over, and troll the Internet (which is a series of tubes, haha).

5) Oh, and heartbreak from family deaths, depression, breakups, stress at work, etc. etc. brought out my love for Little Debbie and Ben and Jerry's. can't tell you how many nights I bought a whole pint of [insert ice cream flavor here] and ate the whole damn thing.

But all of these things I'm changing now

1. I like food
2. I don't like exercise.
That about sums it up.

I ate too much and sat on my *kitten*.

I ate too much and sat on my *kitten*.

^^^ This
And...I got paid for it...sooo...theres that.

1). My sweet tooth is bigger than my head. If there are cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, ANYTHING with large amounts of sugar lying around, there IS no resisting, so I am now having to learn how to limit myself.

2). Growing up, I was never told no. If I wanted Mcdonald's, I got it. If i wanted soda, fries, etc, I got it. I was never denied what I wanted, so I never learned how to eat the right things.

3). I have always had difficulties acknowledging that I'm full. Even though I know it, and feel that sickness and over-full feeling, I still continue to eat if it tastes good.

4). Healthy food doesn't taste good. Or at least that's what I used to think. I never liked vegetables growing up, so now I am incorporating them into my diet. I discovered that I really love broccoli and spinach, and I am learning how to incorporate veggies into my diet.

5). Family get-togethers at restaurants almost every week, meaning unhealthy food for everyone! Finding healthy options at unhealthy restaurants is something that I have had to learn. Learning what to eat has been the hardest thing for me, and I am still learning!

1. Unhealthy eating habits from the family (they started eating healthier after I left for college).
2. My high school and competitive sport teams ended. I was no longer working out for 1-3 hours everyday.
3. College life didn't help. I had to work 20 hours a week, take a full course load, and find time for homework.
4. Stress eating
5. Eating when I am bored
6. No portion control

I am hoping to overcome a lot of these as my weight loss progresses.

Laziness, boredom, emotional eater (all emotions- stress, happy, sad, mad, etc.), took health for granted when I was younger and thinner (did not know how to eat right).

I got a little chubby in high school, about 15 lbs overweight, and my mom just said to eat more salad. Huh? That had to be easier said than done.

I then got married young and ate when my husband did (late-night runs to get fast food) and quickly piled on the pounds. The coming years were all about wanting the fitness dvds I saw on t.v., cleanses, starvation, bingeing and purging, etc. I simply did not know the right way to do it. Of course I never sustained the few lbs. I ever lost.

Even though I have known the last few years how to do it right, I still struggle with emotional eating. That is why I am still here. I think my mindset is changing though. I now am in control- the food and my emotions will not control my life anymore.

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.

Agreed. Food and beer. Personal choices. Right on!

loved food too much and try to eat everything in sight until I couldn't breathe.
tv shows are my addiction, so while watching I have some snack/food in hand...which made it worst as i did not exercise nor whatsoever.

I stopped lifting intensely, didn't substitute it with an acceptable level of activity, but continued eating like I had been while lifting. (which is to say eating everything & anything in mass quantities)

After the loss of my father I became depressed, and was in denial of just how much weight I was gaining.

Saving for later.

i got lazy. Plain and simple. In my 20's I worked out and ate healthy, same as in my 30's. After my son I got lazy. He's 6. This is not baby weight. It's lazy weight.