How did you get fat?

[LapNYC 3]

For me it was a combination of things. I always had that 15 pounds to lose, but was also an athlete which kept things in check. I always (and forever!) loved to eat so there's that. We did IVF to have our kids and that was really the beginning of the end. Then a pregnancy followed by a twin pregnancy and voila! 286 pounds.

What's your story??

[mom2girls 1]

I have always been chunky as long as I can remember, in highschool 5'3 and 160lbs. I just didnt have a great family enviroment to teach good habits and then I get married and have two kids and then like you 223lbs and wishing I was 160 again.

Edited May 6, 2010 by mom2girls
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[leroyspuds 0]

I'm 5'1" and was 105-110# through most of my 20's. I entered college at 27 and that's when it started. Before that I did jobs requiring a lot of physical labor, then I sat on my butt for four years in school eating poorly.

Then I started my career as an accountant and sat on my butt some more. It was stressful and I ate for comfort and entertainment. Big portions, eating out, fast food, candy, ice cream. I dieted off on and on for 30 years only to gain back any weight I lost. I hated to exercize. I finally said the heck with it and just ate whatever I wanted.

Then came the sleep apnea, GERD, asthma, bad knees, high cholesterol, borderline high blood sugar, borderline high blood pressure. I finally said "that's enough!" I realized I was a food addict, just like any other kind of addict and it was killing me. My self-esteem was in the dumper. Took me three years and hitting nearly 200# (double my weight) to decide to give it up and get banded.

That's how it happened! :thumbup: I'm a recovering food addict and the band is helping stay on the wagon! :thumbup:

[jmw0424 0]

For me as a child was was very thin then as a teen I quickly grew a large bust, but everything remained in check about a size 3 then in high school I was about a sie 10-12 but I played softball vollyball and hockey so I was just just muscular. then after highschool i didnt play sports and didnt work out much and still ate big portions Over the past 10 years I just kept gaining until topping off at 237. while the loss is going slow so far, I do feel good that I am on my way back down and for good this time

[Carosel2002 0]

3 words>>>>>> I hit puberty:glare: I was heavy from age 9 to present...and like you all the up and down yo-yo diet thing. I don't think there was ever a time in my teen/adult life that I was less than 125lbs (I'm only 4'10"). Even the last few yrs I've been on a calorie restricted diet and still managed to gain 30lbs. It's a bummer that I never did banding sooner:crying:. I'm thrilled with my results so far and looking forward to a great summer!!:thumbup:

Edited May 7, 2010 by Carosel2002
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[JJLaw08 4]

Cool thread.

I loved to eat, but I always played sports. I was active and could eat like that, but then I went through a bad breakup with my ex-fiance. I didn't start really gaining weight until I was a Sophmore in college. I thought I don't want any other guy to treat me that way so I will eat. Well I stopped blaming him for my weight gain, but I didn't stop eating. I dieted on and off for a few years with diet pills. I lost 40 pounds with those, but when I went off them the weight came back on. I then decided I wanted to look good in my cousin's upcoming wedding, and I knew I would have health problems later down the line so I decided to have the surgery. I'm glad I did so far.

[Sooz 0]

I was chubby in grade school, as well as the tallest kid in the class. I obsessed on food even then.. my head was always in the fridge or I would be begging my Mom for subs, pizza, ice cream, whatever. Any time I had pocket change I would dash to the store and buy candy bars, 4 or 5 at a time, and eat them on the way home. At meals I took lots and always cleaned my plate!

[chickadee81 0]

A combo of things for me. I was always the skinny person that could eat whatever they wanted :thumbup:. I hit about 18 and my metabolism slowed. I met my husband around then too and his mom loved to cook for me...that didn't help. 5 years ago I quit smoking...also didn't help. A few years back DH & I decided we would try to start a family. I had 4 miscarriages and was diagnosed with PCOS...which some of you may know, makes it sooooo super hard to lose weight! I also went into depression after the miscarriages. One day last year, after being at my endocrinologist and finding out that I am pre-diabetic also, I decided I wanted my life back. Got on a great depression med., found my surgeon who I love, and never looked back. I know it is only a "tool", but I find my band very empowering.

[JoJo1 0]

Now that I look back, I think I did it with my mind. A boy rode past me on a bike when I was in the sixth grade and called me "fatty"!! It went into the depths of my soul. I went home and took a long hard look in the mirror and decided he was right!! I was not fat then, but all it took was thinking it. I became more and more "into" food. I remember saving my milk money and stopping at the store after school to buy an Eskimo Pie!! I loved sweets back then, so it didn't help. I still was not fat but I was a bigger girl than many of my classmates and I matured early. Inside my head it meant "fat"!!! I started dieting all the time, and that made me Oh so hungry!! I think the dieting in the early years created the problem I have now. The reason the band helps me is because of that hunger. I am very glad I did this becaue I feel like I am getting my life back!!! Hugs!!!

[Zaviticus 0]

First off - a very cool (and valid) thread. :thumbup: I'm going to get banded later this year, but wanted to share my story as well.

I'm 33, and have been chubby most of my life. I was actually skinny until about age 11. That is when my thyroid decided it was done with this life and crapped out. I also discovered things like Taco Bell late at night when I was in my college years, and various other things that weren't so productive to my health.

I'm currently 393 pounds, and I don't blame anyone but myself. I just wish I was smarter about nutrition so many years ago, but I feel incredibly blessed that I have the chance for "redemption" as it were later this year :thumbup:

[Gone4Good 0]

I was always skinny growing up. When my sister got married, I started staying with her and her husband a lot. He got a good paying job, and their splurge was food. We ate out 8 and 9 times a weekend, at least. Midnight runs to Taco Hell was the norm. And so started my love of fast,fatty foods. I started out about 115, and ended up here at 240.

My addiction to greasy burgers and fries is going to be hard to break. Of course, any addiction is! I'm ready!!

ONE WEEK TILL I GET BANDED!!

[Jachut 487]

I think it was always meant to be, same as for people who get much heavier than I was.

I was tall as a child and I was a bit solid, for want of a better word. Definitely not fat. But not being a tiny petite little femine girl was soul destroying. I was called fat, tortured for my size despite being perfectly within normal range. As I hit puberty, I grew right up to my 5ft 10, by the age of 14 and hit probably 145lb. Huuuuuuuge for a 14 year old girl whose friends are still 5ft tall and under 100lb. Not fat, not at all but I thought I was.

I had a massive appetite though, oh golly, what I used to get through is amazing, lol. Not for particularly bad food, I was just growing. Got right up to about 185 lb by mid teens at at that WAS fat for my 5ft 10 height. I had rolls and couldnt wear anything fashionable - nothign went over a size 14 in those days (which is about a US 10). I managed to gain and lose about 20lb through my teens to early 20's, I was about 160 when I got married, not quite thin but OK enough. Had my first baby, managed to not gain a lot and ended up stabilising at around 170 afterwards, had my second, piled on the weight and then gradually climbed throughout my early 30's, right up to about 220. Had my third baby, gained no weight for the pregnancy, got home about 20lb lighter than when I'd conceived and then proceeded to edge up to about 245. I swear I gained weight at the speed of light during breastfeeding, it just came from nowhere, I certainly didnt eat noticeably more. I was very athletic during my teens and had given all that up and just age I guess, and it began to pile on.

Sadly, my youngest sister has followed the same pattern - she's spent her life chunky, slightly less so than me, and is now getting quite alarmingly heavy - she's about 5ft 8 and I'd hazard a guess she's hit 200lb by now. Its amazing how it goes in families.

My middle sister is petite and has a perfect figure though.

So although I wasnt really ever obese until my 30's, I wasnt thin and i beat myself up over it and dieted and then binged and that cycle led to the kind of eating habits that allowed me to gain serious weight later on in my 30's. I really echo JoJo1's sentiments, being tall and bigger, and maturing early is every bit as damaging as being obese in childhood. It feels the same to the child and it causes the same behaviours. I'm a teacher now and I still look at those young girls who are just perfect - tiny, coordinated and pretty and think they are sooooooo lucky. I can see the future ahead for a couple of my grade six girls particularly and it just makes me feel sad. I know how hard it will be for them.

Edited May 7, 2010 by Jachut

[Katy517 1]

I was always thin/normal sized growing up. I then went away to college at 18 and promptly gained about 40 pounds the first year. I've always had a big appetite and growing up very active, working on a farm and all, that worked out ok for me. Once my days became pretty much sedentary in school that all changed.

I took that weight off, started smoking and breezed through my 20s between 125-130 pounds for the most part. I was active and if I gained I could get it off pretty easily.

I quit smoking at 31 and within 4 years put on 50 pounds shooting up to 180 without me really noticing. I finally noticed it on a vacation and resolved to get it off. The Jenny Craig program helped me considerably with that and within about 9 months I was back to normal. I only kept at that weight for about a year though as I returned to normal eating/drinking habits and put the weight back on - all of it and more within about 2 1/2 years time shooting upward of 200 pounds for the first time in my life.

I returned to Jenny Craig with no luck this time around. I then learned that I had to have a hysterectomy in order to address some scary cervical cancer symptoms and the result within one year of that surgery was an additional 50 pounds. My behaviors hadn't changed, my body had. I was mortified.

I tried a diet pill doctor to no avail. I had four different stints on Weight Watchers also to no avail. Did the Carbohydrate Addict diet and several others along the way. No luck keeping any weight lost off for long. My PCP recommended that I consider lap band a few years ago and I blew it off thinking that was just a cop-out and I could do it on my own. I could not and last summer began to seriously work toward getting approved and hope to finally get back to normal, whatever that might be at this point.

I'm not a binge eater, junk food eater or sweets lover. I like big portions and starches and fatty cheeses and meats like steaks and sausages, etc. (think pizza or spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread) are some of my favorites things. They say that I'm a good candidate for the surgery and should have good results. I sure hope so.

Edited May 7, 2010 by Katy517

[Marine mom 3]

I was about 15 lbs overweight when I met my husband. During my first pregnancy I gained 120 lbs., and no doctor thought to do a thyroid scan. They assumed that i was eating everything in sight. We lived on a farm with nothing but health food in sight. Follow this by 2 more pregnancies, nursing and PPD and there it was. It was another 7 years before my thyroid was diagnosed. I stopped gaining, but to lose weight I had to go down to 700ish calories. I can do that, but I need a backup for when I get tired of it all.

[BetsyB 9]

Oh, there were lots of reasons, going way back to preschool years and my weight-obsessed mother. But really, it boils down to eating too much. I do have a metabolism that sucks--I require only 800-1000 calories to lose and, when at a normal weight, to maintain. (This is with daily, vigorous exercise.)

My gain came mostly as a result of fighting THAT cold reality tooth and nail. I had a great deal of help from programs like Weight Watchers that insisted I must eat more---information I happily accepted, even as I watched myself expand, because I didn't want to believe I had to pare down to 800 calories---and would do anything to disprove it.

But my journals don't lie: years of gain-loss-maintain patterns showed me what I could no longer ignore: that, like it or not, I had to drop down to the level where MY body loses weight.

This physical fact, coupled with a couple of emotional wallops, fed me quite nicely, all the way up to 246.8 pounds.

Thank GOD for the band. It makes doing what I should have been doing all along possible long-term.