[phatgirl]

Do you know the reasons?

I had my BMR tested (amt of calories burned if doing absolutely nothing) and it was 1500. My BMR was about 8 percent below average but I really don't think that's the biggest factor.

I think my biggest factor for weight gain is change in diet since I went to college. I rarely drank pop and ate fast food in high school but then suddenly I was drinking 2 pops a day adn eating at fast food places a couple of nights a week. I'm still doing the same now and I think that's why I'm stuck at this current weight.

Realizing why you are overweight is a good step toward changing it! What do you think the reasons are for you?

[luey]

I know the reason I was overweight - I ate too much and didn't exercise enough!

Ok, seriously... I was always taught to eat all of my food, but never how to take just the right size portion for what I needed. I would pile my plate with food and then be compelled to eat it all, even if that meant feeling sick. I still do that sometimes, but most of the time I'm able to either not take a lot of food, or not eat everything I've taken. I use small plates, take only one spoonful of what I'm offered, and "ruin" the extra food I don't want by mushing it together or pouring water onto it, so I don't want it anymore. It's wasteful and it gets me some strange looks at restaurants, but it's better then being overweight!

I also think I don't need very many calories to power my body. Before I began dieting, I ate easily 2000 calories per day, probably more. When I began dieting, I ate 1600 a day. I found this was more than enough, and cut down even further. Eventually, I settled on 1200 calories per day. This is an extremely low figure, yet I wasn't starving (I would be hungry before each meal, but not terribly so). Even when I was exercising four or five days a week, 1200-1400 calories was the right amount of food. I lost between half a pound and a pound per week, a not unhealthy rate of loss. I was shocked at how little I actually needed to keep me happily moving.

I realize not everyone could or should subsist on such a low caloric intake, but it was right for me. Imagine how much extra, unneeded food I was eating before I cut back on calories!

[Stephanie Osborne]

I think I have an unhealthy relationship with food. I often link eating with going out with friends, having a night out with my husband...rewards for a job well done etc...I also cannot cook so I have gotten so used to eating out (which is almost never good for you). Although my weight does not necessarily point to me being 'overweight' per say I just do not feel comfortable in my body. I have a very tiny frame and put on quite a bit of weight quickly on college. As I lose it I am starting to feel more like myself again.

[NakedHousewife]

I carried the famous "clean your plate" syndrome from my mom. I moved in with my grandmother in high school and we ate pretty healthy food. Small portions, very few snacks, no pop. It became second-nature to me, so I don't think that's my issue. I eat very well. I occasionally indulge in crap, but I love vegetables and rarely have a meal without fruit or veggies in or with it. One cause is definitely genetic. The women in my family have a very curvy bone structure and a tendency to put on weight easily. My grandmother who is an aerobics instructor eats like a bird and is very health conscious, but still puts on weight quickly when she has an injury and isn't as active for a few days. I have always known this about my family, so it's been something I've always had to pay attention to in myself. Mostly, I'm just not very physically active. I'm a homebody, I like being in the house, in the air conditioning, not a fan of sports, a big wuss when it comes to exerting myself. (sweat? ew!!) That is the biggest factor. I'm lazy.

[lilybelle]

I used to drink 6 mountain dew's a day, over-eat to the point of being stuffed and didn't get any exercise. I was sick and my poor diet only added to my sickness. I take prednisone which does make a body hungrier, but I plain just got depressed and thought I might as well eat all I could possibly want. I also think the men troubles that I have had, contributed to the depression and the over-eating.

[AngelxxRose]

I am overweight because I eat too much. I love food and I have to always be aware of how much I am eating or I will go overboard. Luckily I enjoy working out. I will always have to eat less than I would like to be at a healthy weight.

[buckettgirl]

Food was the only companion I had.
Food comforted me when my parents wouldn't.
Food was there when all the skinny kids were cruel to me.
Food numbed me to all the emotional pain.
Food was a way to celebrate and reward all the things in life.
Food is how Grandma shows love.
Food filled a void in my soul.

This is why I eventually ended up at 352lbs.

[shrinkingchica]

How do you have your BMR tested???? I know about the websites, but I want to have MY individual number.

[WastedThermos]

I think from a very young age I've had a very unhealthy relationship with food. I was one of those people who would stuff themselves to the point of being uncomfortable at every meal.
-Binging nearly everyday.
-Never taking the time to realize that I was trying to cover up feeling lonely or inadequate with food.
-Developing disordered eating at a young age.
-Keeping food a secret.
-Having a pretty inactive childhood/teenage life.
-Drinking at a young age pretty consistently through the time I came to college and never really considering how that added to my obesity.
-Never eating any vegetables or whole grains.
-Having the all-or-nothing mind set where if I messed up one meal, I figured the rest of the day was shot too so I may as well just go ahead and eat whatever I wanted so I could start again the next day.
-Associating overeating with family/friend time.
-Chosing to be ignorant about the amounts of CRAPPY food I was putting into my body.

Um.. I could probably go on forever. I still struggle with these things, but I try not to let them define me. I'm learning to say that's who I USED to be, but that is not who I AM.

[junebug41]

It was comforting, it tasted good and it occupied me. I love food. I also never ever ever gave any thought to the effects of what and how much I was putting in my mouth. I ate without a care in the world.

[kateful]

Control.

I grew up in a rural community 30 miles from the nearest grocery store. My mom went grocery shopping every two weeks. She bought some snacks which were reserved primarily for my dad (and often my brother who helped my dad on the farm and was the only boy child). When it came down the last treat, it wasn't mine. Ever. I started sneaking food fairly early in life. I've been trying ever since to exert my authority and have whatever I want because I can.

Someday I'll get over that.

[sotypical]

All thru high school I was always over weight. Well ever since I was little but of course I don't remember back to being 6 and over weight and why I was but in more recent years there are a few reason:

what I eat and how much I ate
I was always told to eat everything on my plate
our whole family is over weight
eating because I was bored
too many snacks

I became over-weight when my boyfriend and I started dating and going out for dinner every-night.

I still eat everything on my plate (that's a hard one to break - I hate wasting food) but I do try and put LESS on my plate. I also try and eat much more veggies then I was. I have kicked the bordem eating. I allow myself 3 meals and usually two snacks, if I am hungry any other time (or my body thinks I am hungry) I usually ingore it - unless I am staying up later then normal and I really am hungry.

[spillthebeans]

just reading some of these posts got me thinking about my childhood, and how early on my mind was molded about food...

We were really poor, single parent, feeding three kids. We didnt' always have food, so now, I can afford food, and it makes me want to eat everything, just because it's there.

I notice on days that I go grocery shopping I eat tons.
I'll go from a bowl of cereal, to sandwiches, to whatever...I eat almost a little of everything that I bought, that same day! It's insane really.

I can't believe I just typed this for all to see, but I do feel like that has a lot to do with my food issue.

Food makes me happy.

[Infrogwetrust]

A Haiku for you:

I wish to be thin.
To the gym today I think.
MMMM....chocolate cake!

That was fun...I think I will start a thread.

[Flying Betty]

I have a major sweet tooth and eomotional eating issues which I have *almost* conquered. I also have a fairly hefty frame and put on weight easily. I also took a lot of dance classes my entire life and studio dance is an environment where being very thin is the ideal/norm. Between that and going to a very body image conscious college I sort of got the impression that I couldn't be attractive unless I was skinny and I'm not built to be skinny, so it was a case of "I can't be like that so I'm not even going to try" which is how I gained 50 pounds in college after having lost it once in high school.