Contributing Factors to Weight Gain
 

Morning guys!

Hope you're all well and ready start another on track and wonderful day.:D

I've been thinking tons about what got me to my highest weight of 180lbs. Part of my journey also includes dealing with my disordered eating patterns and figuring out what I was doing wrong and why I was doing it.

For me, the biggest contributing factors included the following:

- Skipping breakfast. Until very recently I'd always skip breakfast and sometimes lunch too. I've killed my metabolism this way although at the time I thought I was doing my body a favor by doing this. Now, I make it a point to eat every single morning. Sometimes it's a small something that doesn't constitute a full breakfast but at least I'm giving my body some fuel.

- Justifying eating 2 or 3 times a portion of something simply because it's healthy. For years, I convinced myself that if something is healthy then it's okay to overindulge. Calories add up regardless of whether it's a low-cal dish or not.

- Soda. I've given up soda 100%. I was addicted to it and realized I would drink anywhere from 500-1000 calories of coke each day. Scary when you think of it!!!

- Exercise. I always had a love hate relationship with exercise and was almost ashamed to do it because of the feelings of hatred I had while I was doing. I convinced myself that everyone who exercises on a regular basis loves it and since I don't then I wasn't meant to do it. I realize now that although some people like to exercise not many truly love it...... I'm also really loving the high I get from exercising and the wonderful feeling and energy I get afterward!

I'd love to hear your experiences!!! Have a great day everyone! :)

JennR this was a great idea! I love it!

I can definitely second the breakfast. I didnt always skip breakfast, but when I did I almost always made poorer choices the rest of the day.

I think my biggest contributer to weight gain was the "eat now we diet tomorrow" syndrome (yes I'm calling it a syndrome). I would have intention of going on a "clean eating only" plan. So anytime I gave in and ate something that wasn't clean whole unprocessed foods I would throw the towel in for the day and promise myself that I would eat perefctly "tomorrow". Throwing in the towel often meant that I would over indulge the rest of the day. This was a continuous pattern for the five weeks encompassing the holidays. I gained 10lbs! I did notice that many of the junks foods I love were not so good after eating them so frequently.

I wish I could say I am never eating junk foods and ONLY eating clean whole foods. But I am very human and very falible. So even on my "good day" I have eaten some not good foods. This is why I am so excited about calorie counting. Now if I eat something off plan I log it, assess the damage, and immediately either eat lighter and stay where I should be, or if it was a really bad choice, and I cant stay under calories, I still have the information to know how bad the damage was and stop it from getting bigger. With calorie counting I have to log it all. So saying "oh well I already screwed up today" doesnt help. I still have to track and see whatever else I may want to put in my mouth since that days "ruined".

Originally Posted by ma26:
JennR this was a great idea! I love it!

I can definitely second the breakfast. I didnt always skip breakfast, but when I did I almost always made poorer choices the rest of the day.

I think my biggest contributer to weight gain was the "eat now we diet tomorrow" syndrome (yes I'm calling it a syndrome). I would have intention of going on a "clean eating only" plan. So anytime I gave in and ate something that wasn't clean whole unprocessed foods I would throw the towel in for the day and promise myself that I would eat perefctly "tomorrow". Throwing in the towel often meant that I would over indulge the rest of the day. This was a continuous pattern for the five weeks encompassing the holidays. I gained 10lbs! I did notice that many of the junks foods I love were not so good after eating them so frequently.

I wish I could say I am never eating junk foods and ONLY eating clean whole foods. But I am very human and very falible. So even on my "good day" I have eaten some not good foods. This is why I am so excited about calorie counting. Now if I eat something off plan I log it, assess the damage, and immediately either eat lighter and stay where I should be, or if it was a really bad choice, and I cant stay under calories, I still have the information to know how bad the damage was and stop it from getting bigger. With calorie counting I have to log it all. So saying "oh well I already screwed up today" doesnt help. I still have to track and see whatever else I may want to put in my mouth since that days "ruined".

I totally get the "eat now, diet tomorrow syndrome". What I find works best for me when I do want to eat off plan or indulge a little is make a commitment that my next meal or snack will be 100% back on plan. I also tend to plan my indulgences this way I feel more in control of them. If I know ahead of time that I'm going to eat something that isn't on plan I'll compensate for it by revving up my workout and planning my next healthy meal. I think that's the whole point of a balanced lifestyle is after eating so-so acknowledging that you need to move on and jump right back on the wagon...

My downfalls were/are:

1) "Picking" while preparing foods---It's almost a compulsion with me! I have to fight tooth and nail not to automatically taste everything I'm preparing. This is crazy but that habit was so ingrained that I almost found myself bringing a piece of dog food to my mouth as I was preparing my dog's food! That shows you how mindless it was. I am making a concerted effort not to do that now.

2) Eating fast---This is a lifelong struggle with me. Oddly enough, I do not enjoy my food as much when I eat it slowly (I know this goes against the conventional wisdom that says eat slowly and "savor" the food). I feel so un-ladylike when I eat. I wish I could find a way to enjoy my food while eating it slowly.

I also find that when I indulge---even within my calorie range---it makes me want that indulgent food more and more (this isn't true of all foods, just some of my red-light foods---e.g., pecan pie, cake, etc.).

My downfalls were almost all related to working in the food industry when I went to college.

1. When I gained my first 40 pounds, it was a combination of Dr. Pepper and deep fried fish and chicken. I used to drink 5 or 6 20 ounce cups of Dr. Pepper everyday that I worked (which was five days per week). I believe that's between 1250 and 1500 calories right there. I got promoted to a management position after a few months, and I got to eat anything I wanted for free. So I would eat a greasy Long John Silvers meal five day a week, plus random hush puppies and fries as the night went on.

2. The next 20 pounds came from working at Quiznos. Healthier than Long John Silvers, but I would pile sauces and cheese on my sandwiches and I'd always eat the biggest size, plus chips and soda (and probably the same amount of soda as I did at LJS).

3. The final 30 pounds I gained came from working at Pizza Hut. Another job with free food, and almost everything there is bad for you. A personal pan has between 600 and 900 calories, depending on what you put on it. Then there's a bigger size called the individual! Plus breadsticks, wings, poppers, etc.

4. The final component that contributed to my weight gain was lack of exercise! In high school, I swam a lot and I took karate classes three times per week, plus I was practicing at home, too. Once I went to college, I stopped my karate classes, and the combination of working 40 hours a week and taking 18 credits at college left me with little time for physical activity.

So the combination of really bad food choices and becoming less active took me from a range of 200 - 210 that I was in high school (and a size 14/16) to 302 pounds (size 24/26).