Hello, I've been overweight since I was nine or ten and have recently gotten down to a healthy body weight at 18.

I've heard that people who got through their developing years as overweight have a harder time keeping it off.

Any anyone who was a fat child/teen tell me their story

I was a bit overweight when I was a kid, thinned out some during puberty, then started gaining in my teen years. So not quite the same as you . . . I thought I was really fat in high school but when I graduated I was probably just barely overweight according to BMI (although I'm sure my body fat % was very high, I was extremely out of shape). So in my mind I was a fat teenager, but in reality I wasn't particularly heavy. I got really heavy during college, lost it after I graduated, and have pretty much kept it off since then (I'm turning 29 this year, for timeline reference).

I think Megan1982 was heavy as a child, perhaps she will chime in. I will tell you though that the way I eat now is very different from the way I ate when I lived with my parents. When I go to visit my parents and stay there for a week on vacation, I always gain weight. I think once you're out of the environment which led you to gain, it's easier to keep it off.

I was a thin kid who suddenly got "fat" at puberty - gained 26 lbs. in the year I turned 11 years old. I realized I was now a "fat kid" when I went off to summer camp that year and could no longer trade clothes with anyone.

My mother was a diet pills/cigarettes/black coffee kinda woman and she helped me with my first diet when I got back from camp that summer. I remember it involved a lot of grapefruit (which I really, really still dislike). I got thin but was really out of shape until my early 20's.

I've basically been gaining/losing about 15 lbs. ever since then up to menopause - which happened 7 years ago at age 47. I dropped 17 lbs. and have kept 12 of those off.

I now lose/gain 5 lbs. over and over again. My rather twisted form of maintenance I suppose.

So I've never been obese but I've struggled with my weight since I was a child. Am still struggling. And will be 'til the day I die. totally woth it though - especially when the skinny jeans fit well!

Dagmar

Jessica is right, I was a fat child, a fat teenager, and finally got some control over my weight as an older teenager. I was always rather fat (so was my sis, my mom and dad were overweight), but around age 12 my weight really took off. I remember my mom, sis, and I all wore size 14 pants and bought the same jeans (another story ) so we had to write our names on the tags to tell them apart. I hit my highest weight at age 15 at somewhere between 205-210 lbs. I really liked to eat. My mom was working a lot, as was my dad, and dinner was often frozen pizza or spaghetti with frozen meatballs and jarred sauce, things my sis & I could prep ourselves. My dad in particular ate huge portions so we didn't have great examples. I knew I was fat but didn't really know what to do about it. That summer I went on weight watchers using my mom's plan books and photocopying her books. She was really supportive of me, and since she was doing the plan too, we would always have healthy options, and she would always ask me what I wanted before she went to the grocery store. I played sports in school but started walking a lot that summer. I went back to school 176 lbs. I stayed in a 5-lb range for the next several years. I had a few ups and downs in college related to studying abroad, and getting out my weight watchers plan things when I came back, but 185 was the highest I got again. After college I decided I would "finish" this and got down to 136. I'm currently 158 and have had a "creep" the last few years, but I don't think it's any more difficult than most people here, don't think it's particularly related to being an overweight kid.

That's my story, and feel free to ask any more questions. Like I said, I don't think my maintenance story or struggles is any different because I was a fat kid than if I'd gained the weight later, judging from what I've learned from my friends here in the forum.

I'm not "thin" now but I am a healthy weight and in decent shape. I have always had a tendency to overeat and was overweight but never obese growing up. I lost the baby fat from a depressive episode of undereating when I was 16 and regained it slowly through college. Moved to Japan right after graduation (at 21) and maintained an overweight weight for 2 years, then decided to make a lifestyle change and eat healthy and exercise more. Keeping my weight down is not going to be easy because my "set point" and appetite seem to be set about 30 pounds higher than I want to be.

I was skinny for the first years, but when I started 4th or 5th grade I started putting on weight. I was active though: loved walking or riding my bike to my gram's house which was close, roller skating, playing alot ect.
I was around 260 when I graduated high school...and my highest weight (in college) was 312. But, since last spring/summer I've been maintaining 170-172. I don't know about the future, but this year was fine. I don't even think about it, or count calories anymore. I try to keep eating healthy foods, and occasional sweets. I continue to exercise whenever I can...but if I miss a week due to illness or busy schedule I don't worry about it, I just get back on track/buy a new dvd if I am bored with older ones

Not me, but my neighbor growing up was a fat child. Somewhere around 6th grade (age 12) she went on Atkins and lost quite a bit of weight. We are both 48 now and she has never gained again. She's quite athletic and slim.

I think it will be hard to maintain weight while having children and experiencing menopause. All those hormonal changes will be a challenge.

Souvenirdarling, I lost 100 lbs. while going through menopause and have maintained the loss for 4.5 years. Maybe I was a bit slower losing the weight, but maintaining it is just the same for me as everyone in the maintainer's forum, I believe. A little up, a little down. For me, the key is weight training--having that muscle mass that keeps my metabolism going.

I was a pudgy kid who got truly obese at puberty (probably due to PCOS). I crossed the 200 lb mark in 8th grade. It's definitely possible to maintain, even if you were heavy when developing.

I was an overweight toddler, an obese child, and a morbidly obese teenager and young adult.

Its been a fight for me, but I lost most of the weight in my mid twenties and have been progressively getting smaller and smaller over time. You CAN do this!

Like many on this thread, I was also overweight growing up. In my case, I was a normal-weight child but gained about 20 pounds over ~18 months between age 11 and 13, and remained overweight from that point on. I bounced up and down between a low of 140 and a high of 165 for the next few decades. I could never keep the weight off for more than a year or so. Pregnancies (3) were not a big problem, but I always regained a lot of weight after I slowed down the breast feeding (I really liked how much more I could eat while nursing and not get fat).

It is virtually impossible to be a heavy child/teenager and maintain a normal weight in adulthood without paying a lot of attention. You will never be "effortlessly" thin like some folks, but that doesn't mean you can't keep the weight off. It's a lifetime commitment, one day at a time. I wish I'd managed to make that decision at your age, rather than in my mid-40s.

I was a normal weight child and basically developed an eating disorder (i.e. emotional eating) in high school and by the time i graduated i was 170 lbs. I was somewhat athletic so i looked bulky/"big" rather than fat really. I lost around 10 lbs in college (naturally), struggled to stay around 150-165 for the next few years, then had a period of being under 150, and now am still struggling to get under 150. With my horrible binging habits (which are now of greater proportions than when i was in high school), i feel lucky that i have not approached 170 during adulthood (well, i have been within 5 pounds which is close enough i guess).

I was a fat child too, and hit 200 pounds somewhere around the age of 10 or 11. Although it has certainly gotten easier for me the more settled I am into my current lifestyle, I agree with neurodoc that I will never be effortlessly thin. Although I no longer count calories or measure food, I always have to make sure I'm eating reasonable portions and stop at the appropriate time. For "natually" thin types, this is an unconscious process --they don't have to think much about it. But for me, I need to closely monitor how I feel to make sure I'm not eating too much. Otherwise I would keep eating until everything is gone.

Not discourage you, because as I've said, it gets easier... but it will always be a deliberate effort.