How many of us grew up being overweight, and how many of us gained weight as adults??

[SeaSpray]

I'm just curious... How many of us have always had a weight problem, and how many of us have only had a weight problem as adults??

Personally, I never had a weight problem until my late 20's. I wasn't "skinny" as a child or teen, but had absolutely NO fat on me anywhere! LOL

In my late 20's I gained about 20 pounds, but then joined a gym, watched what I ate, and lost it again.

Then I got pregnant with DS#1, only gained 23 pounds, and lost it within 2 weeks postpartum.

Then I again gained weight, about 25 pounds, I believe from having a different life style, staying home with DS#1. Then I got pregnant with DS#2 a few years later, gained about 25 pounds during the pregnancy, but lost those 25 pounds postpartum.

So....after having DS#2, I stayed at a weight of about 25-30 over my ideal weight.

UNTIL 5-6 years ago when I moved from NJ to MA, where I became extremely homesick, and just ate and ate while DSs were in school and DH was at work. I've ballooned to being 70 pounds overweight now.

But I've just joined Weight Watchers and want to get down to a decent weight again


What's your story???

 

[dizneenut]

I was skinny as a stick. Even after having my first DS, I stayed skinny. Had second DS 18 months later, then it got harder to stay thin. Now, after having 2 more kids, I am 20-25 pounds heavier than I would like to be.

 

[believe]

There are pictures of me when I was younger and not overweight, never a time that I can remember though. Mostly I was overweight until I went to college. I had just lost a fair amount of weight (40lbs) when I met DH. The only other times I have been heavy was when pregnant and the first year after having each child.
I love to walk and exercise, my problem is I need to stop eating so much.

 

[Liz]

I have never been skinny or even thin. I was looking at pictures of me when I was a teenager and I always felt fat but looking back I think I looked pretty good. But still not thin, more like healthy. Its been tough because I have a mom that is stick thin and a dad that is just average weight.

I think part of my problem has always been eating due to emotions. My parents marriage was awful for a lot of years. I'd spend weekends with my grandparents and I loved to be there away from the stress at home. My grandmother fed me and I ate. It was such a comfort and since then I think I associate eating with comfort and eating to combat stress. My life continues to have a lot of stress so its something I've always battled.

I have failed many, many times and hope maybe this time it will work.

 

[Jenzebelle]

I really don't know the answer

I have a large bone structure and developed very young, so I wore a larger size and weighed a lot more than I looked.
I was always told how fat I was by my Mother and I always believed it.

Recently, I looked back at some pictures when I was 11 or 12 and I was skinny. So I guess my image of how I was then and now is pretty clouded so that I can't actually answer this question.

I did gain 100 on prednisone (sp?) so my biggest weight challenge has been since I've been an adult.

 

[FergieTCat]

I was a round kid, and consistently about 30 pounds overweight until I went to college. Of course, I thought I was elephant-sized, and my parents thought I was too. In college, I gained 75 pounds in one year and just went up from there. I hit my peak weight last December (298 lbs.), and have lost about 30 pounds since then. Right now I'm on WW, and I hope to consistently lose 1-2 pounds a week.

Upon rereading Liz's post, that sounds like my past. My parents had a rocky marriage, and my grandmother lived with us. She'd make sure I had snacks to eat. Also, ironically, I had stomach problems as a kid and was very skinny until I was about 10.

 

[nativetxn]

I was a normal weight child. Interestingly enough, I've always believed that I was fat, since I was about 12 years old. I'm not going to "blame" my mother but I have to admit that when I hit that age she started talking to me about dieting. She admits today that she could "see that I was going to have a weight problem" and the result? Even when I weighed 108 pounds I thought I was "fat". I will probably always believe that

I'm working on that issue but the truth is that today I <b>am</b> fat. Not large, not plump...<b>fat</b>. The truth is that I became truly overweight at about age 35, when I took Danazol for treatment of endometriosis. I gained 30 pounds in one month and it was all uphill after that. Fertility drugs brought more weight. Being depressed over not being able to carry a pregnancy to term brought more weight. It's all my own fault and I accept that..I'm working on it.

I'm dealing with that and trying to correct it. I will overcome and correct this weight issue of mine, I truly believe that.

 

[neo's white rabbit]

Seaspray: What I see in what you say is that you feel isolotated/homesick where you live and it's easy to maybe overeat/eat too much of the foods that will 'up the weight' in that scenario.

If you feel happier about your life it's easier to feel happier about your appearance and do something about it.

So, if you are where to are and are not moving anytime soon you have to decide to feel good for yourself and get back to a healthy diet.

 

[bunnyfoo]

I gained more than 20 lbs when I finished university and started working full-time I didn't have the same energy (or time) to go to the gym or workout once I started working. My weight gain also had a lot to do with the fact that I was working late shifts and eating late at night. Ah well ... The important thing is that I'm working to lose the weight now

 

[neo's white rabbit]

Ah...one of life's littel mystieries, how the weight seems to go on so quickly but how slowly it comes off!

Although, obviously, slow steady weight loss due to a sensible diet and excercise is the best way to go

 

[SeaSpray]

Originally posted by neo's white rabbit
Seaspray: What I see in what you say is that you feel isolotated/homesick where you live and it's easy to maybe overeat/eat too much of the foods that will 'up the weight' in that scenario.

If you feel happier about your life it's easier to feel happier about your appearance and do something about it.

So, if you are where to are and are not moving anytime soon you have to decide to feel good for yourself and get back to a healthy diet.

Oh I am very happy where I am, I gained most of the weight the first couple of years. I've been staying the same weight for the last few years, but I haven't done anything to try and get the extra weight off, until now.

 

[neo's white rabbit]

Hi Seaspray: Sorry if I misunderstood your post, I was referring to the part where you said you were extrememly homesick when you moved from MA to NJ. I can see that was some time ago.

A lot of people have success with Weight Watchers I believe - I like what they do as it seems to be about eating 'proper' food - none of that meal replacement nonsense and having to buy some 'systems' particular range of food (usually over-priced too!).

Good luck!

 

[pixiedust218]

Was always thin as a child, teen and early 20's. It seemed after I got married I put on about 10 lbs. (which I could afford and needed, as my family says). After 7 years and two pregnancies, boy, the weight just seemed to creep up. Isn't it amazing how easy the weight seems to go on, and how it takes forever (at least for me) to come off? So I voted that I put weight on as an adult.

 

[TigH]

I wasn't very fat when I was growing up, but I was in the heavy category. In high school I was a size 13/14 and I hated it. Everyone else seemed so skinny.

After graduation I got a job with the government and I started to slowly put on weight. I got up to about 170 or 175 and then decided to lose weight. I made up my own program and almost stopped eating completely. I got down to 130 and was super skinny but once I realized I was not eating right, I gained weight and got up to about 145. I maintained that for almost a year, met a guy and started a bad three-year relationship. I ate myself happy (we fought all the time) and I got up to 196!!! When the relationship ended, I went on WW and got back to 155 without exercising. After that weight loss, I decided to start running and I trained to run the Chesapeake Bay Bridge race. Don't remember what I placed, but I was far from the first over the finish line! I ran most of the rest of that year and got down to 145.

Met my husband in 1995 and since then have gone up and down, never above 160 and never below 140. This year I want to get to about 145 and STAY there!

 

[Liz]

Do you realize how much money we're all saving in therapy bills by talking things out here?! I think its great! Way to go everyone for overcoming lots of life's hurdles and ending up here WISHing together!

And Jenn, I LOVE your clippie with the basset! I'm going to have to show my kids when they get up. We have two bassets and love them so much!

 

[Figment1964]

My story is that as a child I was skinny, couldn't keep pants up because I had no waist. (Oh, for those days again! LOL!) But once I hit puberty the weight started to creep on. Mostly around my stomach but all around too. I wasn't all that heavy, just heavier than I should have been proportionate to the way I ate and was as a child.

I always was uncomfortable with what I weighed, although now looking at pictures from high school I didn't look bad.

I lost some weight (30lbs) just before I met my dh and was a good size when we got married. Then the pounds started creeping again. We struggled through a few years of infertility and the drugs made me gain unwanted weight that no matter what I tried I couldn't take off. I steadily gained weight from that point on.

It wasn't until I was 35 that I found out why I struggle so badly with the weight issue. I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) which comes with the "benefit" of making me insulin resistant! So my body takes whatever carbs I eat and makes me gain weight, usually right around the stomach! Even going to the gym 3x a week didn't make a difference for me, which was terribly frustrating! It was those nasty carbs and I didn't even know it.

I can look back over my life and see when this kicked in and how it has affected my life...infertility, weight gain, mood swings, etc. But now I'm on medication to help with the symptoms and eating healthier for me by following the Carbohydrate Addicts Diet. In 3 weeks I've lost 5 pounds and don't feel like I'm missing anything!