To anyone who is or ever has been overweight

amother

Sun, Jan 01 2012, 4:04 am

How did you get to be overweight? Was it bc of some medical reason? Or bc you stopped exercizing and ate too much?

What tipped you over the edge and did you do anything about it?

Trying to identify what it is that makes staying within the right weight so difficult.

amother

Sun, Jan 01 2012, 6:09 am

Every body has a set point, and some peoples is just higher than others. I was able to lose weight easily as a teen, but as soon as I got pregnant with my first child the hormones just did a number on me. If you don't lose weight quickly enough (like me- I couldn't because I had multiple pregnancies very close together) your body adjusts and you have a new set point which makes it even harder to lose weight. There is a lot of science written on this, most recently there was this article in the NYT which explains the difficulties that some people have:

(warning, long)

The Fat Trap

yo'ma

Sun, Jan 01 2012, 6:40 am

Eating is what made me overweight. Eating the wrong foods and too much of it. I used to be able to just diet and lose weight, but now that I'm nearing 40, I have to exercise as well. Next week.... Being pregnant did make me gain weight, but since I ate too much while pregnant, I had more to lose. I never learned my lesson Rolling Eyes

.

I'm not obese, but am overweight.

amother

Sun, Jan 01 2012, 6:44 am

I am currently 50 lbs heavier than when I got married.
I am overweight b/c I stopped exercising and I over eat.
My dh is feeling really bad about the state of our relationship b/c he feels undervalued by me.
I love him but I have not always shown him consistently how much I love him.
I owe it to our marriage to care more about my physical body.

mizle10

Sun, Jan 01 2012, 7:35 am

First amother, that is one of the most depressing articles I've ever read (but I only read the first page). I WILL NOT be showing DH that!

amother

Sun, Jan 01 2012, 7:52 am

I always used to be able to eat anything and not gain weight. Now everything sticks to me. I think my metabolism got messed up by chemotherapy. I first started gaining weight during chemo and haven't stopped since. Four pregnancies since then have not been helpful either, although nursing did generally help get rid of most of the baby weight. Right now I am dieting seriously for the first time in my life and losing weight too. I expect that it will come back in the course of time, since my metabolism is still messed up.

Ruchel

Mon, Jan 02 2012, 8:33 pm

I once gained 15 kilos due to hypothyroid (medical).
Lost them.
Gained them back because I pigged out when we moved to a kehila with tons of delicious restaurants and eateries...
Lost them also, but not fully because well, the eateries are still around Wink

My metabolism is much lower than before I had dd. I am young bh but since I have low metabolism AND am not physically active, I need very low cal diet to lose quick enough to stay motivated...

octopus

Mon, Jan 02 2012, 8:46 pm

I can't read through more than the first page, either, but duhhhh those ppl are going to gain back weight as soon as they start to maintain. They lost weight with shakes- not through a normal, gradual meal plan. If you do anything drastic like that- weight loss is most likely NOT going to stick. And when you start eating normally again (even a meal plan that is supposed to maintain that kind of weight) you will gain it back. So that little bit of anecdotal evidence is misleading.

amother

Mon, Jan 02 2012, 9:15 pm

Thyroid condition, emotional eating, past zxual abuse which made me want to change my body.

Sugar plum

Mon, Jan 02 2012, 9:18 pm

I was always a little heavyset as a child but slimmed down in high school fairly quickly. After I got married I gained about 20-30 pounds and lost some of that as well. When I was pregnant with my first I did not pay any attention to what I ate or how much, did not excersise and gained almost 60 lbs. shock

It took me a year to get motivated to lose it and another year and a half to actually lose all of the weight. With my second I was much more careful, excersised regularly and was aware of everything I put in my mouth. As a result I felt better and gained a lot less.