1. Moved in with boyfriend and got very comfortable(also ate like him)
2. In denial about how many calories would be in something....for example I'd get a steak hoagie from sheetz and say oh it has to only have about 450 or so and then not look it up.....it was actually around 1000
3. Car wreck leaving me in a lot of pain in my back
4. Stress from being busy, I had college 18hrs of classes, marching band, and work....it was pretty much 7am-12am all day.
5. my own laziness.
Oh, Rhighlan86, I can totally relate to the moving in with your s/o bit and then eating like they do! I blame my girlfriend for some of my weight gain... then again, the only one I can REALLY blame is myself because she didn't FORCE me to eat like her...
And re #2: A LOT of food that yo ucan grab on the road has WAY more calories than you'd ever imagine. That's why I do Subway. Haha.
I've always yo-yo'd all my life but never got fat until I had my babies. I gained 60 lbs. with my first (I hit 209!), worked out like mad and got back down. Got pregnant again and gained 40 lbs. Worked out....again like mad.....and got down to 140 which is my ideal weight (135 is best tho). I stopped working out and ate what I wanted over the holidays this past winter. I slowly gained 15 pounds back. I'm working.....again....on getting back to 140.
I was skinny as a kid and a normal weight until my mid-twenties. These are contributing factors to my weight gain:
-history of abuse in childhood and early adulthood
-chemical imbalance/depression
-medications that cause weight gain
-very unhappy first marriage
-I'm a good cook
-lack of exercise
-was very poor for a while, a $9 extra-large pizza can feed 2 overeaters for two meals, etc.
-eating far too big of portions
-drinking
-sedentary job
-stress from school
-when I met hubby #2, we got "settled" in our relationship and ate more/stayed at home
-love affair with pasta and pizza and chips and dip
-laziness!
While these things contributed to my weight gain, I am ultimately responsible for it. I am going to lose this weight, it may take me a while to "get it" but when I do, I am going to lose it!
Genetics: Women on mom's side are big. It's near impossible to lose weight. Women on dad's side CAN be thin if they diet/exercise/focus and stay that way. Guess which side I inherited?
Birth: I'm one of those people who can say they have big bones and it's true. I'm 5'7.5" and I was born a 10 pound baby. I've been big all my life.
Childhood: Finish your dinner. Didn't matter if I was full or not; my plate had to be clean. To this day, I feel guilty leaving food behind. Now, I actually go so far as to put something in my food (pour some of my drink or mash it all together) when I'm done so I won't pick up the fork and finish despite being full.
High School: I didn't play sports. I studied German, sang in the choir, and took pictures for the yearbook...not exactly breaking a sweat! I worked at Arby's this whole time...and when the only thing around for dinner is...well...Arby's, you're kind of stuck. (Yes, looking back I realize I could have brought food with me, but I honestly didn't think of it at the time.)
Got Married: I love my husband dearly, but eating with him is hard for me. He's a Marine and he's still got the "My fork is a shovel" mindset from boot camp. I have a tendency to keep pace with him. When I finish eating, it feels like I've had nothing because I ate so fast, my brain didn't have time to recognize that I was eating a meal.
Work/School: My life is very sedentary. I go to school and I go to work. I work at the school I attend in the computer lab. I move very little throughout my day. I'm getting better about it (I walk to work some days), but it's hard to go from couch potato queen to...not couch potato queen.
PCOS: a.k.a. PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome. For those not in the know, it basically means my body holds on to pretty much everything i put in it. No matter how bad or how healthy, my body grabs it and turns it into mushy gushy fatness. I adore (insert sarcasm here) the paradox this presents. I developed PCOS because I was overweight...and now that I have it, it's extra hard for me to lose weight, due to having PCOS. (Not to mention I can't conceive a child.)
I'm definitely not blaming others. It's all been me. My sister got the same genes and she's not big like mom and I. Although I think she got a bit more willpower than me...
MarinePrincess, I have a friend who has PCOS... are you sure you got PCOS just because you're overweight? Usually, it just *causes* people to be overweight. blame PCOS!
1) Never being taught to eat proper portion sizes and my mom encouraged me to stay home and watch TV because we lived in an apartment off a very busy street. Fitness and sports were never encouraged.
2) I have no will power to say no and hubby loves to bring home fattening take out. He has a way of showing love with food so if he knows I need cheering up he brings home food. He knows it's bad and we've had many a talks over it.
3) Quitting smoking
4) My mom's over involvment and commetns about my weight. I sometimes think I stay fat just to rile her up lol.
I hate to "blame" anyone other than myself BUT--My after-school snacks consisted of the following:
1 whole bag of cheetos (generic) with a tub of french onion dip or
2 banquet pot pies or
2 fried eggs, several strips of bacon and two homemade biscuits or
2-3 BIG bowls of cereal (Cocoa Puffs come to mind)
Then, I'd go home and eat whatever everyone else was having for supper.
Oh, and did I mention that while I was eating those afternoon "snacks" I was usually laying on my stomach on the bed watching afternoon cartoons (Scooby Doo/Duck Tales, etc.) with the food in a chair in front of me?
I have been overweight my whole life with a single "normal weight" period.
In my childhood home my father cooked and although he would make veggies with dinner "the frozen, overcooked kind", he never ate them and so that was my way out as well. I wasn't a fan of fresh food which now amazes me because I love eating fruits/veggies, but I think a big part of it was lack of availability at home and the fact that the veggies that were served (with the execption of corn, which is actually a starch) were horribly cooked. Everything was fried at home and when I moved out I adopted those same cooking habits.
When I was 19 I was 175 and went to a doctor that prescribed Ionamin...believe it or not. I took it and ate a slice of toast and diet pepsi all day...I lost 45 lbs and then started losing my hair! I got pregnant with my daughter after that and never got close to that weight again. I did manage to drop about 30 lbs about 5/6 years ago using Slim-Fast and Spa Lady and kept it off for about a year and a half, but then bad choices brought back the weight and even more.
Basically for me it comes down to high calorie, high fat food and way too much of it in addition to a lifestyle that didn't include excersice. I have made a decision this time that it's not a diet, it's my new way of life and I love the food, I feel great after working out and I know that this will be the time that I will do it and keep it off.
I've never been a small person. I remember graduating 8th grade at 172...back then it was mainly because in a class of 17 people I was the requisite 'nerd', and all that entailed.
In high school I was in an abusive relationship and got down to 128. That freaked me out because I wasn't used to looking so bony. What started out as intent to gain a wee bit of weight turned out to be about 25 lbs... I held out at about 150 for a few years. I broke my leg in 2003 or so, and got up to 220. I know I weighed more than 150 when I broke the leg, but wasn't paying attention. I spent more time smashing myself in size 7 jeans, even though they were crying from the strain....
I quit smoking and started weight watchers, causing me to lose 80 lbs ( I never gained much strictly from quitting smoking.) I evened out at 142...divine!! When my husband and I moved out of our parents house, I started to gain, never able to catch it... when I got married, I weighed 153 ( about 1 year later). Then I started using food to self medicate...what I used to use smoking for...but it happened 3 or 4 years after I quit smoking....so there's a lot of gaining right there.... I am bipolar, but it's not the medications that cause me to gain weight, it's my mind and how I handle things..you know, the cycle where you eat to feel good and then you feel bad for eating, so you eat again because you figure 'what the ****..why does it matter?" I tried weight watchers again, but messed w/ the same 15 lbs for over a year....when I moved to Illinois ( about 2 months ago) I started bodyfor life... I am not as strict as I should be, but I don't allow myself to have free days...just maybe a small dessert or 'non plan' item a day, if I want it...I love to lift weights and I'm working up to running...
My big thing is that I don't have a scale and refuse to get one. I let that number determine too much of my life..this time I am going by the 'pants-o-meter' and how I feel, how much I can lift and if I can actually break into a jog with out thinking I took a wrong turn into ****..... it's such a long journey....
1. gained 45 lbs with the first pregnancy, and 85 lbs with the second, landing me at 250.
2. eating out of the fridge with a spoon.
3. lots of chocolate.
4. Entemens danishes are not fat free if you eat the entire box at one time.
5. inability to self-soothe without food.
I was always thin growing up and after high school, but as I've aged, (esp. in my 30's) I've found how the weight can come on fast due to:
*learning that the difference b/t a wife and a girlfriend is about 45 pounds (when you get comfortable and sedentary).
*that a whole bottle of wine every Fri, Sat, and Sun helps so much...
*a bit of functional depression from moving across country and away from family.
*thinking that when I experimented with cooking that there were no calories, especially in pasta dishes!
*went from playing sports/working out several days a week to NONE when I moved.
*got lazy/lazier....
But now I've got my heals dug in and I'm working hard to change all that! However, remembering reasons like these will hopefully keep the scale going in the right direction from now on! I think I need to tape this to my forehead!
re
blame PCOS! 
