So I have been posting and reading on here the last month and I am really struck by where everyone is coming from... How different everyone's stories are, and how much those stories influence our weight loss efforts...

My story is that I am from a working class southern family, we ate a lot of fried food, fast food, and other junk. I starting out chubby around 3rd grade, and that continued all the way through my adolescence.

It was no fun being the fat kid in class on of already being the poor kid. I focused on my academics to supplement my self worth, and that worked for a while. Then in college I began to really realize how much my weight was holding me back and more importantly how unhealthy my lifestyle was. My father had a heart attack when I was in college and that really woke me up. I began my weight loss journey at the age of 22 because I wanted to be the healthiest me I could be, and I haven't regretted a single drop of sweat, morning of sore muscles, and unmet craving for chocolate...

~~~ So what's your story? What have your overcome on your personal journey?~~~

This is my first "real" post, so I'm a little nervous. Your story sounds similar to mine in some areas.

I'm originally from Texas, and grew up eating fried foods, fast food, and gravy on everything. I was a normal sized kid, and weighed 130 through most of high school. I had a bad allergic reaction to something, and was prescribed steroids. I gained 40 pounds, and never tried to lose it.

When I was 20 I was prescribed some anti-depressants that made me gain weight. Then another allergic reaction. More steroids. In 2007, I went from 230 down to 190 and maintained it. In 2009, another allergic reaction. I shot up to 240 this time. I also became unemployed and kind of gave up. I reached a high of 258 last fall.

My fiance and I joined a gym last year. He, like me, has over 100 pounds to lose. We went regularly until we moved last March and never got back in the habit. I stick sort of loosely to the South Beach Diet and it's working for me. My main motivation for weight loss is I don't want to feel so tired all the time.

Lol Im from the south too
I agree that its neat to see how different we all are even though we are here for the same purpose. It definetly gives me a boost to read peoples stories and see how far theyve come/ are coming.

I used to be a thin energetic kid but I started gaining alittle when I was 10 as I started to hit puberty and wasnt as active as I should have been. I never saw myself as fat (I was just alittle chubby) until I entered junior high. I went in seventh grade at a size 7 and came out at a size 12. 8th grade was a horrible year for me physically, emotionaly, and spiritually and I ended up gaining even more and got myself up to the 180s. I entered a depression and steadly kept the weight on/gained until two years ago when I hit 250 pounds (during that time when I did diet I'd lose some and gain it plus more back). I was a sophmore in college and while all these other girls my age were dating and gorgeous, I was stuck in my own little world I had created for myself. I feel like I basically wasted a decade of my life.

Slowly over the past two years ive lost almost 70 pounds and need to lose about 35 to 45 more before Im at a healthy weight. Its taken time but I feel like Im finally starting to meet the person I want to be.

I was chubby until high school, and then I leaned out and had a fairly lean build. I actually wasn't all that fit, though, until after I turned 21. Then I started focusing on hiking and other healthy activities, and saw my fitness improve until I was 27. I was running 7 minute miles for an hour at a time, rock climbing, bike riding, etc. After I turned 28, I began to see a weight gain of 10 lbs a year, despite not changing my exercise or eating habits. I was baffled, and my doctor was no help- he told me to join weight watchers. After going from 135 to 225 in 9 years, I finally was diagnosed with Hashimotos Thyroiditis and a dairy allergy. A dietary change and replacement thyroid hormone has helped a lot, and now I am trying to lose the weight. It's not easy, but at least now it's possible. Before I was diagnosed, weight loss was actually impossible for me.

I was stock skinny until I hit 20. I was always a thin, active child. From the 7th grade onwards, I was about the same height I am now - 5'7" and generally somewhere between 100-120lbs. When I entered my first year of university (now on my 6th and final year of my undergraduate degree.. I got lost on the road of life a couple times ) I was 122lbs. Sometime between 1st and the end of 2nd year, I was up to 150lbs - still respectable for my frame. I took a desk job internship and horrifyingly managed to gain 30lbs in 8 months

I was shopping with a friend - also 5'7" - a few days ago, when it hit me how large I was. The friend was a svete size 4, and I was having trouble with my normal size 8. Something was wrong. I went home, weighed myself, and was at an all-time high of 172lbs. I really didn't want to see 175, and wasn't happy with my body, so I started dieting.

I've never been the "fat kid" so I really can't relate. I know that, however, in December when I fly to England to meet my boyfriend's family (and some of my own) I don't want to be the "fat girlfriend."

I was always the bigger one. By the time I was 3 people though I was older then my older sister because I was taller and bigger. I thought I was overweight when i was younger because she was so much skinnier then me and always called me fat...I was a little overweight by the time I was 5, but I wasn't obese like she always made me feel. I figured I was already big, so I didn't care. I didn't like physical activity like the rest of the kids. I seemed to get worn out so much easier. I know NOW that I've had asthma this whole time and an inhaler would have fixed that, but mom always assumed it was because I was overweight and that there was nothing that could be done about it. My parents are both obese so it's not like they exactly set the best example. I was already 5 foot 6 and 140 pounds in 3rd grade. I started my period when i was 9, and I was a D cup before I was even in high school. People made fun of me for it all...and I hated it. I always felt like a giant.

I started just ignoring it because that was the only way for it to not upset me..and before I knew it I was 5 foot 9 and 200 pounds my senior year of high school. I got a job when I was 16, and ever since then I couldn't stop eating out. I guess because we didn't have much money growing up I figured that this way, I could make sure I always had PLENTY to eat...and I ate WAY more then my body needed.

Then I moved to college, was way less active with all of the studying, and I'm a picky eater and don't like salad or anything (which is the only "healthy" option in the college's cafeteria) so I ended up eating a lot of pizza, chicken, and fried stuff. I gained 51 pounds in less then a year at school. I was miserable.

I left the university because we couldn't afford it and moved back home with mom and dad, where I'm at now. My boyfriend was still back at the university, so I was in a long distance relationship which didn't take up as much of my time, and I began to focus on me. I dieted without exercise and lost 70 pounds. Then he and I broke up (i caught him cheating) and a bit later I ended up with my current boyfriend (who I have been friends with for over 8 years) and we have been dating for over a year and a half now. In that year and a half I have put on exactly 69 pounds as of yesterday, and I'm finding it extremely hard to get back on track because I'm so much happier then I've ever been. I'm comfortable, I'm confident, and I'm in love. I know I should do this for my health...but when I'm already so happy it makes it difficult.

I was really thin until I wasn't. Sometime in middle school, when I towered over my tiny friends at 5'6" (while many of them were still under 4'), I started to feel big. At that point I was still small in the waist with thin legs but I felt huge and looked huge in pictures.

Between feeling too big and learning to hide my eating (a habit I got from my overweight sister, most likely), I actually started to get big. Slowly, through high school, and a little faster in college until I weighed 215lbs after graduation.

I feel like I've just been coasting this whole time; I never made serious, concerted efforts to lose but I also never had a significant problem with food addiction (though I did have a brush with anorexia for about half a year in tenth grade). For the first time in my life I'm focusing on my weight as a life priority rather than letting it be something that annoys or shames me when I suddenly remember it.

I wasn't really overweight until college, but most of my life I was the bigger girl in the group. I've always been the tallest, and I'm curvy, whereas most of my friends were into cross country and whatnot and were stick thin, so in comparison I always felt huge. Wish I'd appreciated what I had when I had it.

I was actually underweight until about first grade or so. I don't really know what happened then, but I started gaining weight. I was always "the fat girl" in middle school, but looking at pictures of me now, I really wasn't as huge as everyone made me out to be. Middle school was still **** though and I often try to forget it.

In high school I gained quite a bit of weight, but I count high school as some of the best years of my life because I made amazing friends that I still talk to and see all the time. I never weighed myself until I finished high school (and I left HS at 200lbs) but I gather I was about 220 at one point and probably dropped 20 pounds or so when I started to exercise in junior year.

In college and graduate school (also some of the Best Years Ever), I maintained my weight. I started lifting weights and lost inches to get down one dress size (16/18 to 14/16) but stayed at 200 pounds until my last semester of graduate school. December of 2010 I cut my portions and lost 8 pounds. I then went right back to eating the way I did but I kept off those 8 pounds until I started back up again in May and...here I am

I never really had serious issues with food—I was just never taught what a proper portion looked like. We usually eat fresh and natural things at my house (just too much) and I get sick if I have a day where I can only eat processed junk. I also don't have much of a sweet tooth and candy, cakes and such are a rare treat.

Sontaikle, I know the portion problem all too well. I, like many of you, was also the fat kid; however, I was always extremely active. So it was weird. I was bigger and heavier than everyone else but I was on all of the athletic teams and did well so it wasn't as stereotypical of an experience as it could have been. Let's just say I was never picked last for kickball.
I suppose I have been overweight since third grade exactly. I recall those painful school physicals where my doctor would show me the height and weight chart, hand my mom a food pyramid, and insist that I didn't have to lose weight per se but that under no circumstances was I to gain.
Well, that didn't happen. By that time I had developed a cute pattern of closet eating. I would sneak food from the kitchen and just eat it all. Whole bags of chipsahoy cookies, family sized m&ms, chips, anything. The whole quantity and then it would be hidden in my dresser drawers. I don't know why no one ever said anything. At age 9 its hard to realize this is a big problem.
In highschool, I played alot of sports but continued to gain. I wasn't closet eating as much but portion patterns are tough to break. I will admit while I was always outgoing, the weight did make some aspects of highschool tough. I never had dated prior to losing weight. Ever. Sometimes I think its because of the weight; however, it may have had more to do with my response to it than the weight itself. I was 226 at this point and a tight 16.
I did develop bulimia for a spurt prior to college. The summer before college I was highly restrictive with food and got to 190ish, and was in 10's/12's. I took up division 1 Rowing after that and found great success. Weight just gradually fell off to where I am now at 177, 3 lbs away from not being overweight. I've already gotten my body fat in the lower end (or did. last may i was at 19%. Now....probs not as low but I'm no longer a college athlete. I'm a law student trying to fit in workouts. ^_^) but I'm very excited because "overweight" has been a part of my description for far too long.

I hear ya sister! I was the biggest of my friends growing up. Funny thing was, I never knew it until now! Isn't that funny? I always thought I was the same size as them! I'm pretty sure I was one of those kids who was rewarded with food. Food is a demon to me. It will probably be for the rest of my life.

I wasn't really the fat kid, I was the skinny fat kid. I was never really in shape growing up, but I did like to ride my bike loads which meant that I burned off the junk I ate thankfully.

My weight gain started after I moved overseas when I got married. It was the typical, be happy, not worry about your weight, eat nice (but bad for you) food and I had never really learned about calories or reasonable portion sizes. I'm working on addressing that now, but it's still hard to look at something I used to eat all of and realise I only need half or 2/3rds as a portion.

I wasn't ever really "the fat kid" exactly. I've always been short (i'm not quite 5 feet tall), and I have an extremely short waist. I think my rib cage and my hip bones overlap- haha. It makes me look wide because there isn't enough space to get a tiny waist--does that make sense?

When I hit 5th grade, I was a little bit chubby. I still wasn't "fat" (although I always thought I was). Most people probably still wouldn't call me "fat," but that's all I see when I look in the mirror. I'm not obese, I'm on the lower end of "overweight".

I went to college and was still a "good" size (all the while thinking I was a whale).

I didn't really start to put on weight until I got into a car accident and had to drop out of college. I busted up my left knee pretty badly (makes working out VERY difficutl sometimes). I dropped out in March and by August, I'd gained about 10lbs. I got married that next January, and at the time at my highest weight at 130. A year and a half later, I was up to 135 and got pregnant. I got hyperemesis gravidarum in my pregnancy (out of control "morning" sickness) and lost close to 20lbs in less than a month. When I walked in to give birth to my daughter, I weighed 135 again! haha
After I had her, I went down to 120 very quickly, and have slowly been gaining again...I got on the scale last month and saw 133. I also thought about giving my daughter what I eat for her nutrition everyday, and the thought of her eating what I ate horrified me. So I decided to be more healthy to set a better example for my daughter (who is now 19 months old).

That's how I feel a lot of the time too. :/ I'm graduating from college this semester and I just feel like I could have had such a different experience if I hadn't hidden myself away because of my weight. One of the reasons I'm working at it now is I realized that, and because I'm 22! Us 20-somethings still have so much to do, and I don't want to waste it.

Interesting thread!!! Well here it goes... I have been overweight my whole life! I was 9 lbs 10 oz at birth, and as far as I know I was never considered a "healthy" weight. In middle school I was big... Much bigger than most of my friends about the same size as one of them. In high school is when it started to get worse. I have never been confident with myself, but my freshman year of high school I was with an abusive older guy and I started to feel worse about myself. I got with an amazing guy who is now my hubby my sophomore year and he made me realize I deserved better than my ex and I felt wanted and appreciated. He proposed the summer of my junior year and we got married at the end of my senior year. I started pitting on even more weight. I got pregnant with my first daughter very soon after graduating and getting married. I continued to gain weight to the point that I am totally disgusted by what I see in the mirror. That is sad for a girl my age... Or any age really... To say, but its true. My husband and I were trying for another baby and it just wasn't happening I went to three different Drs, and two of them just kept blaming my weight. Finally after almost a year of trying for baby #2 I decided to focus on me and get healthy. I started counting calories and limiting them to 1200 a day and I was also working out. I lost 25 lbs in a month and a half. That's when I found out I was pregnant finally! Now my second daughter is almost 3 weeks old and I am ready to do this for the long haul. I want to loose about 120 lbs and I know this is going to be hard, but I know I can do this! I want to feel comfortable in my own skin... At least with my husband. I want to set a good example for my girls! Thanks for taking the time to read my story!