born fat, fat at 3, obese at young - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

heather88 · 02-07-2009, 10:30 PM

As soon as I came out i was a fattie, they had to put me on a skim milk diet because i absolutely would not drink water!

In my baby pictures I couldn't have been more than a year old and I had 3 chins and my arms looked like 3 huge marshmellows! I see videos for when I was only 3 and I looked like the red M&M on those commercials with fat arms neck face and legs! As I started growing I didn't look so squished together, but I was still so huge and over double the weight of all of my classmates. In MS i reached nearly 250lbs yet I was getting up at 5 in the morning and swimming laps (i was on the swim team) until 8 and from 8-9 we lifted weights and I was on the soccer team, did cardio, and all of that. By that time my eating habbits had gotten a lot worse so there was really no hope for me no matter what exercise I was doing everyday! In HS I stopped with all of my activities because my weight was effecting my position on my teams and I was pretty much too embarrassed to continue any way. I was 250lbs in HS and ate 2 candy bars+chips+soda for lunch EVERYDAY. After highschool I lost 40lbs the WRONG way, in fact I'm sure most of that was only muscle that I lost. I gained the 40 back, plus 60 and hear I am now.

It is really sickening . . . but I find myself asking the question How think can I really get? Will I always be overweight even though I am slowly but surely losing my obese weight . . . :[

Is there anyone out there that is like me and managed to get into a healthy weight range that is not overweight?????

nelie · 02-07-2009, 11:01 PM

I'm in a similar boat where I've been as fat as I can remember and reached 300 lbs by the age of 14. I was a fairly active child and my mom always tried to keep me in active activities but it didn't help. I'm still considered overweight but a large part of that is letting mental blocks get in the way. I think when you have only known being obese, mental blocks may be more prevalent.

heather88 · 02-07-2009, 11:09 PM

Exactly nelie, I feel like it weighs me down everyday. For some reason I feel like I will not be able to get down to a weight that I'm happy with. I'll always be fat. I also fear that if I were to get down to say 150 which is on the higher end of being at a healthy weight that it will be IMPOSSIBLE to sustain that because of the way I am !

BarbPA · 02-07-2009, 11:20 PM

Oh Heather...I understand all too well what you are saying. Every single memory of my life involves me being very overweight. Despite being atheletic and being very active I've always been heavy. For the first time in my entire life I know that I will reach my goals and I will not be the biggest girl around anymore. One of the main differences this time is that I'm really learning what it takes to be healthy. I'm not "dieting", I'm not doing something to temporarily lose weight. I'm learning how to change my lifestyle to become the happy and healthy person that I want to be. It's not always easy, but it's a journey and a journey to be enjoyed and savored. I am learning so much about myself and the things that I need to do. It's not going to happen overnight. It takes time. Although, having said that, I can't believe how fast it's gone so far. I love the changes that I'm making and one day I will be shouting from the rooftops that I am no longer obese.

Yep...there are other amazing people here who have accomplished what you and I (and many other here) are going to accomplish.

You can do it. I can do it! We are all here to encourage and support each other!

tkm256 · 02-07-2009, 11:25 PM

I was 160 in the fifth grade--and for a 5' 2"er that's pretty big. I was on the basketball team, the soccer team, took tennis lessons, you name it, but I counterbalanced it with super-sized quarter pounder meals after games and a whole box of mac&cheese for dinner every night (parents were busy w/ work, so I made the meals for myself and my brothers). I was the "ugly one" the girls in the locker room were always trying to make-over until high school, when I reeeeally overdid it to get down to 105 (we're talking <500 calories a day, running three miles every morning with aerobics class for PE). That was a bad, bad time, and completely useless because in senior year my body said "Argh! Enough!" and ballooned back up to 160 to make up for all the meals I'd skipped for the past few years anyway.

But now I'm at a normal weight (not my goal weight, but in the normal range according to the government), and I'm not starving. You can totally do it. The real problem is getting that horrible self-image out of your head. I still feel like everyone around me is whispering "Tammy has a big butt!" like they did in that game of telephone at recess in the fourth grade.

redreine · 02-07-2009, 11:35 PM

Oh boy do I know this story all too well. I was 100 pounds at the age of 5. Beyond my Junior year of high school, I can't recall a time when I wasn't involved in some sort of sport. I loved any sort of physical activity. I loved gym class. I barely ate at all...however what I did eat wasn't the best.

In high school I was in our theatre troupe, and we had long nights for rehearsals. I was always tired, so I stopped at Burger King before school and got french toast sticks, cheesy tots, and orange juice every day. For lunch I always ate 2 small chocolate chip cookies, and drank a blue Powerade. For dinner I would dash out of rehearsal if it wasn't a part I needed to be there for, and go to the cafeteria hallway and get a soda and a bag of chips from the vending machine.

Now I am experiencing all sorts of health issues at the ripe old age of 21 (lol), and learning to live a healthy life. It's incredibly hard for someone as carefree as I am, but I have officially taken on a life where I have no choice but to care. (I'm getting married in July, and he has a young daughter, plus we plan to have kids of our own)

This is MY time to shine.

heather88 · 02-08-2009, 12:01 AM

Thanks Barb. It IS so nice to know that others grew up with the same weight issues as myself. I really appreciate the support. Congratulations on your amazing weightloss so far!!

tkm256 - I think that I did a lot of counter-blocking myself. At that age I just had no idea what I was doing!

redreine - I am definitely a carefree soul, too. It is hard to put certain restrictions on my life! Even though the restrictions AREN'T that bad.

I guess I'm still having mentality issues because I'm reading all of this stuff that says the bigger you are the harder it is to keep the weight off and when you finally get there because your metabolism slows down. I'm afraid when I get to the weight I want that I will not be able to keep it!

Thanks guys <3

Ija · 02-08-2009, 12:25 AM

Heather, your story sounds a lot like mine. My pediatrician put me on my first diet at the age of 3. I have vague memories of eating lots of cottage cheese and fruit in those days... obviously the diet didn't work. As a child I used to sneak food a lot, which lead me to cross the 200 pound mark in junior high and hit 260 by my high school commencement. Sometime in college I made it to 290 pounds, where I stayed for several years after I graduated. Over the years I tried everything I could to lose weight, the crash diets that made me feel starved, diet pills that did little but dehydrate me, fads that made me cut out whole food groups, even a weight loss hypnosis tape... and after a while I started to believe that I could never do it. I could never lose weight, never be a "normal" size, never eat like a thin person without feeling deprived. I felt so helpless.

Obviously, that has changed, thanks in part to the wonderful folks here at 3fatchicks, who taught me the invaluable lessons that got me this far. I've learned how to make healthy (but tasty!) foods that don't leave me feeling deprived, how to restructure my coping response so that I don't turn to food when I feel anxious or sad (nowadays I run instead), how to not feel guilty about not being perfect, and most importantly, how to take things s-l-o-w-l-y so that I don't get frustrated. In the last two years I've lost 120 pounds and am 15 pounds away from my goal weight. Do I feel deprived at this weight? No, which is why I'm considering revising my goal to 140, which will put me squarely in the middle of my "healthy" weight range. Now that I'm this close, I realize that it's achievable.

I know it seems impossible right now because your goal is so far away. But please believe that although it might take a really long time to get there, you will eventually. Just stick around and let these guys help you... and one day you'll be posting your own pictures in the goal section.

KforKitty · 02-08-2009, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heather88

I guess I'm still having mentality issues because I'm reading all of this stuff that says the bigger you are the harder it is to keep the weight off and when you finally get there because your metabolism slows down. I'm afraid when I get to the weight I want that I will not be able to keep it!

Thanks guys <3

There's no written rule that you have to get down to X weight to be successful. In my opinion at 180lb I MUST be healthier than I was at 290lb.

I've set a goal which is not even in the 'healthy' BMI range, in fact my goal is just under obese. However, if my body is still losing on 1400-1500 calories a this point then I'll let it. However, if I can't get to that point on this calorie range then so be it (I'm only 10lb away). I know I can live happily on 1500 calories so whatever weight I am, when I no longer lose on this amount, will be my maintenance point.

Kitty

nelie · 02-08-2009, 08:25 AM

Heather,

I was just going to say what Kitty said. I can't tell you how happy I am to be where I'm at as opposed to be over 300 lbs. Life is a lot easier and I feel so much better. You can shoot for 150, feel free! But know that getting to 250, 220, 200, 180, etc will be better than where you are at now.

One of the mental blocks I have to fight is that I'm happy with my weight. I weigh what I did sometime in elementary school and I'm incredibly happy with that. I can wear misses clothes. I can be more active than I could've ever been 100 lbs ago. Try to tear down the mental blocks and know that ever 10 lbs is an achievement.

heather88 · 02-08-2009, 04:27 PM

Quote:

I've set a goal which is not even in the 'healthy' BMI range, in fact my goal is just under obese. However, if my body is still losing on 1400-1500 calories a this point then I'll let it. However, if I can't get to that point on this calorie range then so be it (I'm only 10lb away). I know I can live happily on 1500 calories so whatever weight I am, when I no longer lose on this amount, will be my maintenance point.

My goal in my sig is to get to 199
I didn't even have these feelings when I set that which is kind of weird.

But you guys are right. If I can get down to 190 or 180 and I feel uncomfrotable eating less calories it definitely isnt that bad maintaining at 190lbs rather than maintaining at 300lbs.

eviemc · 02-08-2009, 07:02 PM

My daughter has been the same way, I have changed the whole families lifestyle. We started on Nov 30 and she was 209, she is 15 and 5'1. She is now at 183 and is becoming much healthier.
When she was born she was small and had low blood sugar so they bulked her up. From then on out she was in the 95-100% on her weight charts. She slimmed down when she took tennis at age 9 but once she stopped she put the weight back on. I feel she will be fine, we are told not to ever tell your kids anything negative but after much concern for my family I told them this had to stop.

I have been overweight since I had her, I lost 98lbs in 11 months a few yrs back but put it all back on and then some. However since our change on Nov 30 I have taken off 20lbs so baby steps is what it takes.

plum · 02-08-2009, 09:16 PM

my first "fat" memory is doing a weight vs. mass thing in the fourth grade, and lying about my weight then. (because i didn't want to be the only one that weighed over 110.)

a part of me will always have that "fat" mentality, so i try to use it for good (judging others less, or using it as motivation to move) rather than evil (developing unhealthy eating habits, hating myself.)

baby steps. it'll be worth it in the end. :]