Have you always been heavy?

[tiggerlover]

I am just curious how many WISHers have always been heavy and are trying to lose weight and how many were once thin and trying to get back to where they once were.

I have been heavy for most of my life, from the time I was about 7 or 8 until I was 36. The only exception was when I was in 11th and 12th grade I lost a lot of weight and looked pretty good. Now that I am a normal size person and enjoying the new me I just can't believe that I have spent so much of my life missing out on these joys. Life truly is different now.

 

[helenk]

I was a chubby kid, kinda heavy as a teen and then once I had children was FAT!!!!
I lost a lot of weight about 16 years ago, after I had my daughter, and I kept that off for 5 years, then a nasty divorce and a lot of pounds.
This time I am eating right, getting exercise and hope to keep this weight off for ever.
The one thing I always hated about being so heavy is getting my picture taken with the kids as they were growing up. When we go to Disney in June I am so looking forward to a family portrait in front of the castle.

 

[musicalSaranader]

I was a perfectly "normal" size until I very slowly started gaining weight in ninth grade, and now that I'm a sophomore in college, I can't really say I'm fat, but I definitely have many extra pounds. And I am finally starting to do something about it; I hope to look like my ninth-grade self again by the time I go on the cruise again this coming August!

 

[antmaril]

I didn't start gaining weight until I was in my mid-forties (I'm 52). I was never pencil thin or anything, but I was fine. I had a hysterectomy at 41 and it seems like after that I started to gain weight. I lost 25 pounds on WW a few years ago, but I gained it all back, plus some. I have now joined Curves and am watching my portions in hopes of taking it off little by little. My goal is to make these adjustments a lifestyle and not a diet. Diets don't work for me. I just want to be a normal weight and eat a normal diet.

 

[tksbaskets]

I was pudgy in Jr. High, slimmed down nicely for HS, & college. Gained 35 pounds working straight nights at the hospital. Lost it on WW when I was 23. Kept it off until 28 when I had the twins and was over 200# for the first time in my life. (Mom has always been really heavy). When the twins were 1, I was back down to 160 for about a year (on WW again). Now the twins will be 13 on January 31st, I'm 41 and determined to be under 200 by their birthday.

It is tought to remember what it was like to be thin....guess I'm a poster child for "you have to go to WW for the rest of your life just like AA".

It will be different for all of us in 2004!!!!

 

[MelanieC]

I was stick thin until about 16. Then I gained a little weight, and was still actually tiny. I gained the majority of my weight when I had my first child. It just went downhill from there.

Melanie

 

[LAinSEA]

I got married at age 24 and that is about the time my weight started going upward. My husband is a big guy, 6'0" large frame and eats fast! I think I ate to keep up with him at first. I was 115 lbs - 5'3" when we got married. I've struggled to lose weight, only to gain it back for the last 16 years.

As a child and teen - I don't think I was ever heavy...but I do recall that my mom always had me on some kind of diet even though I swam competitively from age 4-14 and was on drill team in high school (we had strict weight limits). I know I was never ever the size of some of the teens we've noticed lately at the malls - pencil size arms and legs - no thighs. I always had muscle and curves.

My mom is 5'2", 100 lbs - my dad is 5'8", 350 lbs...so I'm guessing I got my dad's genes.

 

[kayeandjim00]

For me it's always been up and down. I was a very slender child, but as I began to mature I got VERY curvy. By middle school I had gained weight and in high school I was a size 12-14. Gained even more after HS and got up to about an 18-20. Lost it all when I was about 20 and was down to a size 12 again which looked great to me after the 20! Got married and gained it ALL back and then a little. Now I'm back down to a size 14 but have a long way to go to be at my goal weight. They say you can carry weight differently when you gain and lose and I'm definitely proof of that. This time while loosing weight I'm also exercising for 30 minutes 5-6 days a week and though I'm not near the weight I was previously I'm already back to a size 14. I believe the exercise is a big factor in that. So to answer your question, looking this over I have been a definite but this is the LAST time I'm doing this. This isn't a diet it's a "weigh" or life that I plan to stick with forever. Don't want to see a size 20 in my closet ever again.

 

[ZerasPride]

The smallest I can remember being is when I was 16. I remember weighing about 155 pounds or so and wearing a 14-16. It was all down hill from there. Currently, I am more than 100 pounds overweight. My husband and I started the South Beach way of living this past Monday. I appreciate several other posters who have said that this is a way of life, not a diet. I can’t do diets anymore. I’ve been on every diet known to man – some more than once. I’ve been on Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Nutra System, I’ve gotten shots, drank protein shakes and even considered the stomach surgery. I was so desperate. My sil recently lost 70 pounds on Atkins and that got me interested. I did the research and a co-worker told me to try South Beach instead. He let me borrow his book and it made sense to me. I felt I finally found something I thought I could stick with and live with for the rest of my life. My first official weigh in is tomorrow but I snuck and weighed myself today. I’ll put my official weigh in on a post tomorrow but let me tell you guys, I am pleased as punch with the results from this first week and even if I did not see a change in the scale, I am happy eating this way and plan to for the rest of my life.

I can do this, and I know everyone else can too!!!!

 

[Disneyaholic]

YES! Weight has ALWAYS been a struggle for me.

I was born at almost 11 pounds! I was always chubby as a kid -- I think a combination of genetics and my Slovakian mother believing that thin meant unhealthy.

In my 20s, I had gotten down to where I looked and felt good, but marriage, kids, age, and a hysterectomy seem to be taking their toll.

I have recently lost over 25 pounds on WW and WISH; but I was hoping to lose another 5 or so. Instead, they're starting to creep back up on me.

I've got get back to this board more regularly! There IS a direct relationship between the support I get here (and WW) and losing weight/keeping it off!!

Dottie

 

[Laurajean1014]

I have always been overweight. Ever since I was a little kid, people would tell me, "oh, what a pretty face you have." I always took it as if the rest of me was repulsive.

I have alot of weight to lose, but am determined to "get my pretty face" back.

The only time in my life that I was thin, was when I was born. I weighed 5 lbs. 14.5 oz. - and I was too young to remember it!!!

 

[DoeWDW]

In my late teens I weighed 110 pounds - I'm 5'2". I THOUGHT my thighs were heavy!

At 21 when I got married, I was 118. Then came 2 kids and I slowly inched up over the years to 152. That was my heaviest. I had bad acid reflux and would eat ANYTHING to make my stomach feel better. Unfortunately, carbs were the biggest part of my diet. I thought I was eating healthy because I had a plain bagel for breakfast, a baked potato for lunch and then a little meat with rice or noodles for dinner.

Within 3 days of starting Atkins, my acid reflux went away. Coincidentally the weight came off too, but I just wanted my stomach to feel good again! I lost 25 pounds and then slowly gained 15 back as I moved away from low carb.

That's when I found WISH! Thanks to the encouragement here and to eating low-carb faithfully, I'm within 5 pounds of my goal weight of 127.

So the answer to your question is - I was not always heavy but I've spent a good portion of my adult life battling the pounds.