[Cheryl14]

Hi Everyone!

I just answered the recently-posted thread about what my highest all-time weight was and began thinking of some of the REASONS I got fat. I was a chubby baby but normal size until a couple years after I was married. Here's what I came up with for me... Thought maybe you guys might like to delve into YOUR reasons, too. Great therapy, right?

My reasons I got fat:

1) I stopped weighing myself regularly.
2) I thought it was OK to just buy new clothes IN A BIGGER SIZE.
3) My husband never made any negative comments, so I never really thought too much about my gradual increase in size.
4) I had lots of stress in my job, my life, and ate to medicate and calm myself.
5) I focused on everyone else BUT ME.
6) Somehow I just lost touch with who I was. I became a non-person somehow.
7) I THOUGHT I was being loving by eating right along with my husband one-for-one. Portions were INCREDIBLE!
8) Having two sons and a husband, I was the only girl in a male world. I was losing my femininity!
9) I began wearing MEN'S sweaters and MEN'S tennis shoes because they fit better on my ever-increasing body.
10) Since I wasn't weighing myself regularly anymore, it was much easier to be in denial that the weight was packing onto me.
11) ELASTIC was really my enemy, but I looked to it as my friend!
12) I ignored what was nutritious and went for what tasted good.
13) I lowered my expectations of myself.
14) I threw myself into helping people, doing for others and expecting nothing in return. I think this happened because I did not like myself and thought that nobody else should like me either!

Well, that's what I came up with so far! Fortunately I have been able to get a grip on this much and sorted out many of my mistakes and fumbles! I'm working on OTHER mistakes now. I never ever understood how much of a MENTAL GAME weight gain/weight loss was! I feel like I am having to be a stealth bomber with my body to surprise it into losing more weight!

I'm off to exercise! Everyone...have a GREAT day!

Cheryl

[Mrs Quadcrew]

Another great post this morning! I have to say a lot of the reasons you listed are some of mine also.

1. Taking care of everyone else and putting me last
2. Not paying attention to protions or the nutrition side of eating
3. Elastic.....oh yeah, who wants to wear tight fitting jeans?
4. Not being able to tell ANYONE NO.
5. Eating for emotional reasons, not for hunger.
6. Using the excuses I don't have the time or money to have healthy habits.

Pretty lame excuses when you look at them written down. Thanks for this post ~ I am gonna refer back to it when I need to!!

[GirlyGirlSebas]

How I got fat....

I started gaining weight when I entered puberty. I was able to keep the weight in check...about 15 lbs overweight...when I ran 5 miles a day. When I quit running, the weight gradually came on until it stopped at 182 for about 10-11 years. I've gained 74 lbs since December 2004 without changing any of my eating habits. I know I have hormone issues....prior to my hysterectomy, I was told that my body made too much estrogen...since my hysterectomy in October 2005, I'm now on hormone therapy.

Other than hormone issues, I am fat because I did not exercise daily and I became a sugar/carbohydrate addict.

[MaWhit]

I ate for emotional reasons more than anything, I think.

[alinnell]

After losing 70 pounds post pregnancy and keeping it off for 4+ years, I got fat because:

I heard and believed that women should have a little belly fat
I realized that gaining weight is easier than trying to lose it
I stopped exercising regularly
I stopped caring when my skinny clothes no longer fit
I grew complacent about my eating habits
I no longer counted calories or fat in my diet
I drank too much red wine
I had too much stress in my life

[Mami]

Girlygirl, without knowing anything at all about your hormonal issues, I do believe you can nonetheless gain weight VERY EASILY over the years without increasing your eating habits. For one thing, if every day you eat 100 calories more than your body needs, by year end you would gain around 10 pounds. If you are gaining 10 pounds each year, in 7 years you will have gained 70 lbs without doing anything differently. Also, as you age your metabolism will slow down as you naturally lose bone and muscle mass (which you can counteract with regular exercise and strength training), so if you lose 1 lb of muscle, you will need 50 less calories per day. To be honest, when I started this site I thought I MUST have something wrong w/ my metabolism because I was barely losing and I was doing way more exercise and eating less than before. I got a reality check when I started using fitday.com to track my calories.

[TraceyElaine]

Great thread!
I used to be 118lbs and I got fat because:
1. I got pregnant at 17 and lost all my friedns and spent all my time home doing nothing.
2. After going up to 180lbs when my daughter was born I went onthe Depo provera needle and started to gain even more.
3. i was not with my daughters father and had no friends and ate because i was lonely and felt unloved.
4. i got married and had 3 more children and gained with each one.
5. I was so busy taking care of everyone else I made no time to take care of me.
6. i made food my hobby.
7. I didnt like myselfe and thought noone else did either so why bother?
8. I always thought id lose weight eventually.

[KnitALisa]

I ate too much of the wrong things and too much of the right things. I just plain ate too much!

Never was a big exerciser.

Has some emotional issues that made me become an emotional eater.

[JennyWenny]

1. Used pregnancy as an excuse to eat more.
2. I was always the fat friend, why change.
3. I'm young, I have time.

[cinderly]

1) I didn't realize that going from retail to a desk job requires either an uptick in exercise or a downtick in eating.

2) I'm super-busy (FT work + 6-12 credits of college work) so, it's easy to make excuses not to exercise.

3) It's easier and cheaper in the short run to keep eating the same, pre-packaged stuff.

4) I gave up. Rather than "waste food" when I was full, I thought, "What does it matter? I'm already fat."