What made you gain the weight?
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What made you gain the weight?
| Mon, 09-04-2006 - 6:01am |
We're all trying hard to lose the weight.. but I've been asking myself lately why have I packed it on on the first place? I think it helps to know the reason(s) to help us now and to


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Mine has come in dribs and drabs over many years. First I truly have a larger frame and spent my teens and twenties between 140 and 160--I see now it was a healthy weight range for my body type, but I always felt enormous. When I got a desk job in my later twenties I gained a few more and by the time I married DH at 30 I was 182. He was in grad school and I worked long days. Our only time together was after 9 or 10 when we would eat a big dinner together and go straight to bed. (We were newlyweds afterall!) I was up around 200 in a year and we started trying to conceive with no luck. I got back down to my wedding weight by exercising like a fiend and eating next to nothing. I thought my weight was our problem, only to find that we were dealing with a male factor issue. We spent several years pumping fertility meds into my system which was like perpetual PMS. That coupled with disappointment after disappointment sent me on a steady gain. We adopted our kids four years ago when I went from a busy career to staying at home full-time with then pretty troubled kids and I've yo-yoed ever since between 225 and 255.
Now I'm seeing all the little bad habits that are contributing to my weight: A bite here and there while I'm cooking; a taste of the kids' mac and cheese when we eat out; a couple of chips or teddy grahams when I give them a snack. I started tracking my calories before I started seriously trying to lose and know that left on my own I average between 1800 and 2000 calories/day and unless I schedule exercise house work and slow walking are my only exercise. Too much food and not enough movement for my body! Now the question is whether this self-awareness is going to help me lose for good. Hmm. Annie
I was one of five kids.
I spent the first 17 years of my life seriously underweight. I ate like a fiend but never gained an ounce. When I got pg with DD12 at 17 I gained from 115 to 178 lost back to 140 where I was at a healthy weight for the FIRST time in my life. (mind you everyone at school called me fat at 5'6-5'8 and less than 115 lbs) BCP & steroids (as I had my first real bad asthma attack when dd was a few days old) led me to balloon back to 170 in just a couple months. I was working out everyday so it wasn't a big deal I was a healthy and fit 170-180 when I met DH in 1999. I had my hours cut more than in half and lost just about everything I had, fell into a depression and wouldn't get out of bed for days at a time, til I met Dh. Then I moved here away from everyone I knew, my family, and the only life I had known and went to being a stay at home mom and had dd6. I went from a fairly healthy, active and muscular 180 to 220 with DD6 and never lost an ounce after she was born. Back on BCP I stayed gained another 10-15 lbs til we TTC # 3 and when I had an ectopic and lost the baby, I spiraled into yet another depression only this time I became so obsessed with getting pg again I lost down to 230 and got DS. Here is the kicker, I lost back down the the 220's while pg with ds as I went back to school then found I was pg the next day I was very active during my whole pg. I maintained that at first, til I started having a lot of trouble with my breathing and they put me on steroids left and right and I went straight up to 258. That is when I said enough is enough. NO MORE STEROIDS. I can't breathe and if I keep gaining it will get worse not better.
Angela
I was never a skinny child.. but I was never really overweight either.. of course back then I thought I was really fat..
My first real weight gain was the last 2 years in high school.. I was so focused on getting a high score for a college internship and my activity levels went to sub zero.. I had the internship, and had about 40lbs of added weight.. I got rid of it during the summer vacation and was back to normal at college... and maintained that over 5 years.
Then after we got married I started letting go.. I ate like crazy.. everyday was a celebration.. then soon enough it was the normal way I ate.. dh has a fast metabolism and is taller than I am.. and suddenly we were both eating the same portions.. and the weight creeped in very slowly.. it wasn't much at first and I decided to lose the weight..
Then I discovered it was pregnant and I remember my first thought was: YAY I don't need to focus on losing weight now.. and it was down the hill from there. The pregnancy was a big excuse to just eat. It was a very healthy pregnancy (no preservatives, no processed foods).. but it was a LOT of food. And I gave myself the excuse not to move at all.. you know I was pregnant and I didn't want to lose the baby.. yeah right!
But I as an adult should have taken control along time ago.
My biggest issue now is controlling the emotional eating.
I am learning to do other things such as write in my journals
take a walk do some hard core exersicing intead of eating like
20 cookies or ordering a midnight pizza!Tammy
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