If you weren't obese "all" of your life, what is it that caused you to become obese ?

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@emcbee I actually was at my thinnest when I was partying as a late teen / very early twenties. There is no way that I could do it today. Now my only vice is caffeine.

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@Bandista I had WLS 11-yrs ago and I still have to watch out for emotional eating once in a while. Good luck on your journey!

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@Miss Mac I never lost the amount of weight I had wanted/expected from my WLS. I finally had plastic surgery and that did it for me. My body contouring plastic surgeon removed about 12 pounds and I dieted and exercised to lose the rest of the 50 pounds. Now I finally have the body that I wanted and which WLS could not give me.

[My Bariatric Life 764]

This string has been very eye opening. I never realized so many of us WLS patients were of normal weight at one time. I was normal weight until second grade. I know that I had a lot of anxiety about going into the second grade, the kind that would cause me to wake up crying in huge middle of the night sobbing my eyes out to my mother. So I assume that I are in response to that. And I just kept ballooning from there.

In 9th grade I was 185 pounds and went to a diet pill doctor and joined a gym and swam and biked. I got down to 120 pounds but I probably was anorexic at some point, eating 100 calories a day. When my appetite came back I leveled off around 145 pounds and stayed at that weight years.

I got into a car accident when I was 19 and could not exercise. Then I became depressed. And I was newly married. I began to gain weight. Then I got pregnant at 21 yrs old and put on another 60 pounds - most of which did not come off.

I struggled with depression and obesity for years. Then when I landed in the hospital with a diagnosis of diabetes and hypertension I knew that I had to do something to save my life. Several months later I had gastric bypass. I was at 285 pounds by then.

I lost 100 pounds and mostly kept it off. But I was still overweight. Finally when I had plastic surgery I lost my excess weight, a combination of the skin removal and diet and exercise. Now I have a normal BMI.

It took a lot of work to straighten myself up. It was not as simple as having a couple of surgeries. I know that I am preaching to the chior here! I had to do the hard work to address the multi facets that contributed to my obesity; it took a long time to do that.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

I was always "chubby" and overweight enough to be teased. I remember my first diet. I was about age 12 and I decided to lose some weight. I did manage to lose 20 pounds. But it came right back on. I think I was 120 pounds when I started and 100 when I finished. But like I said, it came right back on.

I started high school at 150 pounds. That was heavier than my friends, and I was embarrassed. I joined Weight Watchers during high school, and lost, again, the same 30 pounds over and over again.

I started college at approximately 200 pounds and gained about 15 or 20 my first semester. I went on a high Protein no carb diet, and by my sophomore year had managed to get down to about 160 pounds.

During my early 20s, I went up to about 220. Then I became a caretaker for my grandmother. After she died, I began eating uncontrollably. I ended up at around 305.

Through OA, I got my weight down to 156 pounds. I met my husband, and got married. I gained 11 pounds on my honeymoon. Over the next several years I had two children and two more pregnancies that ended in miscarriage. My weight went up with each child and pregnancy. My weight was around 220-250 pounds for most of this time.

I tried Weight Watchers again, and again, the same 30 pounds were lost and regained. A couple of years ago, my marriage started to go downhill very quickly. My eating was my comfort and my weight climbed. I topped out at 302.

I made the decision to have WLS in September 2013. I was banded in March 2014. Life is getting better now, and I hope to achieve my goal weight by next summer. I am in the early stages of divorce after moving out of my home this summer.

Reading this to myself, I can see that grief and stress were definite triggers for me during my highest weight gains. When I look back at pictures of me as a child, I was chubby, but certainly not obese. It is so sad how we see ourselves. And the judgments that we place on ourselves. I remember reading in Reader's Digest magazine, when I was 8 years old, an article about weight. It said that statistically, if a child is overweight at age 10, she will be overweight her entire life. That scared me. I was already 8. Sure enough, at age 10, I was still overweight. It almost seemed like my destiny.

I feel sad for that child now. I lived in anxiety about my weight my whole life.

Edited November 29, 2014 by JustWatchMe

[Aribay1 198]

I was big my whole life but nothing where I was obese but after jumping 3 different colleges and being in a comfortable 5 year relationship I just let myself go I basically lied to myself and said eff it hell love me no matter what size and he does but I was suffering through depression for 6 months and I finally had it and said I need to save my life and love myself.

[Packerfan61964 293]

I was muscular and athletic until my mid 20s. Got married and didnt have time to work out or play ball......then I started driving a truck.

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@JustWatchMe you are doing great. It is hard to go through WLS and a divorce, so you must be a very strong person. Don't let the emotional eating win! You can do this. A whole new beautiful life awaits you.

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@Aribay1 good luck to you. I am learning a lot about loving myself.

[mrsbailey921 117]

@@mrsbailey921 an article on webmd says tonsil removwl can can leqd to weight gain http://www.webmd.com/children/news/20110201/tonsil-removal-may-lead-weight-gain

wow, i see research has come a long way! a few years ago, when i suggested to my doctor that removal of my tonsils and adenoids was the reason for me becoming obese, i was scoffed at! but i am 100% positive that removal of my tonsils led to me being obese, my current thyroid issues as well as my metabolic issues. i always tell people jokingly that i had to remove my stomach to fix the issues removing my tonsils caused.

[Cody's mom 247]

food, food, food, I love food, and I got lazy, lazy, lazy. Then I just gave up and said tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow I'll start to diet and exercise. I had every excuse in the book, and I wrote a few myself. I layed blame on everyone and everything but myself.. And when I finally looked at myself and was so ashamed and embarrassed that I just wanted to hide, I got the sleeve. My only regret is not doing it sooner, but then again, I had an excuse for that too! But now I'm on the slow road to a happy and fulfilling life, living not eating, and living is so much more important than eating. For some people eating is more important than living, and loosing their relationship with food is more important that loosing their relationship with life! Just my thoughts!

[nolongerhere 100]

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Edited December 18, 2014 by islandsneezer

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@mrsbailey921I am glad you broke the cycle of binging and purging. I know how difficult that is to do. Switching from Prozac to Wellbutrin for my S.A.D. was the linch pin for me. And, I just want to say that I am the one who researched and asked my doctor to make the switch. We must listen to our bodies and be our own health advocates.

[#MagicWithinme 173]

Embarrassment of the actual activity and how I would look, when I wasn't fat. then when I was fat, embarrassment and shame how I would look doing activity.

Now I don't give a sh@t what anyone thinks. Its my life and I will do what I need to , to stay healthy. You can only look back in regret of how much we allow the outside world to dictate our lives,

[My Bariatric Life 764]

@@Butterfly Effect (Again) it is your life and you only get to live it once! Enjoy!!!