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

[My1way 20]

Hard Hard question. I was thin as a child and young adult, Growing up next to the beach in Florida, my normal daily apparel was a bikini. I was not aware of my having an unusually large breasts. Duh? After I was married I noticed I would get a lot of male attention that made me uncomfortable. I had breast reduction but still felt like a flashing red light. After a divorce I went overboard and became a "bar fly" and band groupie. I finally remarried a wonderful man that appreciated me in everything I did. We have 2 children, then I stupidly had a brief affair and almost lost the best parts of my life. Then I decided that if I gained weight I wouldn't have to deal with the "admiring looks" and bad decisions. This became my life. Finally I went to see counselor and dealt with everything, my husband stayed, and I decided I wanted to be a pretty grandmother.

[Tssiemer1 549]

Mine was definitely my car accident 4 years ago and resulting back injury and surgeries. My activity level dropped to almost nothing. I was in grad school in a college town and you could walk everywhere!!! Then all of a sudden I couldn't walk.

Afterwards I would have a surgery feel ok for a bit and go back to the gym and ultimately do something to hurt myself again and have to stop.

[DangerMouse007 105]

This is a question I've asked myself several times over the years. When I see pictures of myself when I was younger (before 9 years of age), I was very skinny.

Before that time my parents would send me to after school daycare. There they would feed us a small snack and then send us outside into the playground until our parents came to pick us up. When I was 9, I started walking the mile home from school. Even with that exercise, being home alone for a couple of hours before the parents got home opened up the entire refrigerator for me, leftovers and all.

I still remember when I turned 13 years old, I had to take a physical to play football. On the paper I turned into the coach I was 5'10" tall and weighed 215 pounds. I never grew another inch. On the team though we had my best friend who was 6-foot tall and 240 pounds, and another guy who was 6'4" and 260 pounds. We made quite the defensive line at the time!

Strangely enough I was a pretty decent long distance runner. I loved it! I remember clocking in a 6.5 minute mile which seemed pretty impressive for my size and age at the time.

When I got to college, we had to take a couple of PE credits, and I elected to do weightlifting. Our pass/fail grade was based on how much weight we could bench press and leg press divided by our actual weight. There was quite an incentive to hit the weights hard and lose some weight. I started my first freshman semester at 265 pounds and got down to 238 pounds a year later. I would do the weightlifting class Monday and Wednesday afternoon then head home and run 3 miles.

Then my sophomore year it all fell apart. I became a delivery driver for Papa John's. Oh, yeah! Free food!! It was all over after that.

Unfortunately I don't have any weight statistics from when I was 19 until I was 31. I never went to the doctor or made any effort to weigh myself. My guess is that I got upwards of 350+ pounds before 2003 when I started exhibiting symptoms of diabetes. I didn't recognize those for what they were though, and I really loved the weight loss that came with being a hardcore diabetic. I felt like I looked good, but oh man, was I feeling crappy in other areas.

When I finally saw a doctor in 2006 I was 300 pounds. He immediately put me on insulin, and I gradually got up to 390 in a year. I've documented what happened next in other threads, but I stayed at around 390-400 until late 2010. I was put on Victoza and lost about 60 pounds over the course of a year. Then I put it all back on in 2012 and then some.

It was in October 2012 when I went to see my cardiologist at the time that I realized it was probably time to do something. His scale didn't go over 400, and when the nurse left me in the examination room, I lost it and broke down. That's when he recommended WLS.

I still resisted the idea of doing it but finally last year I got up to 440 pounds due to a new blood pressure medication that caused me to retain Water, and just bad eating habits. Went to a seminar right before Christmas last year, met with the surgeon in February, and had RNY surgery in August.

Looking back, I don't think I was really all that self conscious of my weight. To me it was just a fact of life. I didn't like to cook so I always took the easy way out with burgers, pizza, etc. It was pretty darn easy to do where I lived with over a dozen fast food joints within a few miles of my home. Even when I was losing weight between 2003-2006 with all the diabetes symptoms I had going on, I ate and drank whatever was within reach.

There was one time in 2007 I think it was that I had gone to Six Flags Magic Mountain in California that I had something happen that was really embarrassing for me. I tried to get on one of the roller coaster rides, and the seat restraint that went down into my lap wouldn't lock all the way. The ride wouldn't start until that was fixed. The ride attendant literally tried using his legs to push the restraint down, but my stomach kept it from locking down correctly. I ended up getting kicked off the ride because of that. That was quite a walk of shame off the ride and out the door after waiting an hour to get in the door.

I don't know. I'm only 3 months out now post-op, and I look forward to seeing what the future brings as I lose more and more weight. Doc says I will probably stop at 220, but that leaves me still above what I was when I was 13 years old. I would love to be able to get much, much lower than that.

Edited November 7, 2015 by DangerMouse007

[Beachsprite 118]

it's complicated....... but here are the factors i've identified:

1) I have always been an overeatter since childhood - i just loved food and craved carbs, i'd sneak food etc. - but because i was very sporty i kept the weight off, i was borderline normal/overweight, but i imagine if i wasn't sporty i'd have been obese.

2) When moved countries gave up sports and met my husband and got a bit too comfortable so maybe a 20-25lb gain there Then.....

3) This is chicken and egg issue and TMO... but either having kids killed my hyper (borderline nympo) S drive and i replaced one addiction with eating even more food in the form of a carb addiction..... or gaining weight while pregnant etc killed my S drive as i didn't feel good about myself anymore - it's all a bit mixed up which caused what.

Anyway times that by 3 kids in 4 years while working full time all added to no time for hobbies or anything for myself and money as tight so i took pleasure and comfort and reward in food.

OF course there was dozens of dieting attempts and sometimes i'd lose 50lb then rebound very quickly. So no one reason but I do believe i was born with a stronger drive to eat than most since i remember being very young and sneaking food /day dreaming about my next sugar fix which none of my siblings did.

Edited November 9, 2015 by MsTwist

[Half of Bri 115]

I had my daughter when I was 17, gained 70 lbs with my pregnancy and lost nothing. When my daughter was three broke up with my verbally, physically and sexually abusive fiance of six years. Shortly after that he showed up in my work parking lot (which had banned him for harassing me) at the end of my 3-11pm shift, and I agreed to talk to him, hoping he would leave me alone. He held me against my will and sexually assaulted me until after 2 am. I never told a soul...just went home. After that I was very depressed, anxious, and later found out I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I had a sweet little girl at home to take care of so the only thing I knew to do to numb the pain was eat, so that's what I did. I also moved 1,000 miles away and he (thankfully) disappeared from both mine and my daughter's lives. I developed a binge-eating disorder, and for a few years I just worked, ate, or slept. I was pretty much a zombie, and the only time I felt "good" was during the high of a binge. Luckily I have a wonderful counselor who has really helped me the past five years or so, and through a lot of work she has helped pull me out of a very dark place in my life.

When my daughter was 5 I met my husband and he adopted her after we were married. I was 260 when we met, 275 when we got married, and over the past 5 years of marriage I peaked at 315. I got control of my binge eating and despite working out 5 days a week and eating clean, I was only able to lose about 20 lbs, so I looked further into things. Turns out I have PCOS, and my hormone levels are all sorts of out of whack. Losing weight is extremely difficult, and through working out and eating right for the past 2 years I have managed to MAINTAIN. But, it's also the first time in 14 years that I haven't been actively gaining, so it's a step in the right direction. I also have Fibromyalgia, and sleep Apnea, and Restless Leg Syndrome, and Insomnia, and Chronic Migraines but who's counting...lol

I'm so ready for this step in the right direction. I put a lot of work in over the past few years and now I'm ready for the results!

[Half of Bri 115]

@@DangerMouse007 I had the same roller coaster experience once a few years back, and I haven't dared to try once since..I was so mortified, especially because all of my family was there to witness it. I haven't tried to ride another coaster since, but let me tell you once I lose some of this weight it is ON! I can't wait to go back to Universal Studios and show that Harry Potter who's boss!

[faddapeta 12]

When I was in grammar school I was always the fattest kid, so it seemed, in all my school pictures. When I went to high school I was depressed and fat. I did loose weight junior year and senior year. College I became very fat my sophomore year. It seems like I lost and gained most of my life. Fat was a comfort for me. It was easy to eat my emotions away. Now the challenge is to find other things to keep me going besides the negatives.

[Rollergal 17]

I was very fit, competitive roller skating (figures, dance and freestyle), racing bmx and playing field hockey.

In my early twenties I was an ice skating coach and skated 7-10 hours a day 5 days a week. I could eat whatever I wanted for as long as I wanted because I was so active. After giving up coaching and moving to an office job after having a child I ate the same and the weight piled on.

I also have an underactive thyroid and have been on meds since I was 18 years old. That coupled with an ankle injury (8 surgeries and another on the way) lead to even more weight gain.

Like others here I was also sexually abused - by my grandfather, on my 13th birthday among other times. I dated several guys who have commented about my weight. The last one said to my face "You are too fat to ever be loved" - that was a catalyst for another 25kg weight gain. Ironically then I was only 20kg over weight. I haven't dated in the last 13 years as a way of protecting my already very fragile self esteem.

I now have 50kg to lose. My surgery date is Dec 1st 2015. Currently on the pre op diet and gagging at the Protein shakes - too sweet, too powdery tasting but know it's for my benefit so sucking it up!

[Tssiemer1 549]

Hmmm. After reading the post above this I too need to add I was sexually abused by my sisters boyfriend when I was 8 on Christmas Day. (She was 18 and he was 20 something) I told her about it and she accused my of lying and told me not to tell anyone else because he could go to jail. I think years later she figured out it was the truth and she admitted he had abuse her as well.

I'm not sure that had any thing to do with my weight. Maybe it did. But I definitely blame the car accident lol.

[Christinamo7 4,041]

getting older, entering the workforce at a desk job in my 30's, and a severely disabled child (I had to manage his explosive outbursts - he has ended up being 6 foot tall and I am 5'1 or 2" - I think there is a part of me that felt like the weight would help me manage him and protect me during his outbursts.

my first husband divorced me and I was left homeless for a year with 5 small children, and having to rely on more grab and go foods as even though I had friends to stay with I did not have my own kitchen, and then finally my (good new) husband was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which I think we both had to do a lot of emotional work to grapple with. a lot of these things together kind of knocked me for a loop for about 5 years, during which I packed on about 70 pounds of weight.

in my teens I grew up on a farm (very active), in marching band and a cheerleader. certainly not overweight then - my junior year I had a 21 inch waist. Goodness, I miss that figure. in my 20's I was 20-30 pounds overweight but I was also going from baby to nursing to baby x 7 and it didn't *keep* going up - so I don't really think of that as much of a weight problem. I stayed right around 150 when not in the latter parts of pregnancy. I was a lot more active as a stay at home mom - I was very involved in taking care of the home and in playing with the kidlets.

[babbit 24]

I was always a little chunky, and I gained some with pregnancies. But when I was 25 I started having severe asthma attacks. Resuscitated and on a ventilator twice. So I spent 10 years on steroids, going up and down on the doses trying to keep it under control. Gained 60 more lbs. and more. New med in 2000, have not taken steroids regularly since.

I've been up and down the scale several times. But never kept it off.

Now I'm on this journey, so I can live longer, and more actively with my kids and grandkids.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[jea(n__n)ette 98]

For me it was working overtime in my mid twenties. Ridiculous amounts of overtime. Three hundred hours a month overtime. It wasn't a situation that I wanted to be in. I was pressured into doing the workload of 3 people, working 12 hours a day and 6 days a week at a desk job. Ontop of it being a desk job, I would eat and snack a lot as a way of getting energy and staying awake. My clothing size went from 10 to 12 and then 14. I hated my ex boss with a passion, but it was my fault for not quitting earlier.

[j16 166]

I was about 15 pounds overweight by the time I graduated from high school and 50 by the time I graduated from college. I then lost all my excess weight in my twenties and could eat whatever I wanted. This ended when I got pregnant and quit smoking. I had put on 90 extra pounds after the birth of my first child. I added an additional 25 pounds with my 2nd child, 5 with my 3rd and an additional 30 with menopause.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

[Julie norton 2,850]

These stories ring a bell for me.

Amazing how life, jobs, kids, yucky marriages, end up with poundage on our bodies. I'm just so glad to be done with the part of that cycle of useless dieting and gaining

And now feel (fairly ) successful with living at a decent weight.

27 bmi. Perfect? It is for me, not by some outdated charts. I'm thrilled to live fairly easily at this size and weight and my clothes in my closet fit for once ( instead of range of sizes before)

I get after all these years I won't be a size 8 ever and I'm ok with 10-12.

I am just making peace with what I have and going on.

I don't want to ever feel that struggle of not feeling "good enough"

Someone quoted living your "best "life ... One you are happy with and can maintain. Apparently this is where my body will be

Thank you WLS

[cat.jackson89 206]

I had 3 back-to-back pregnancies.. One in 2012, one in 2013, and one in 2014. The cravings were terrible!! Pregnancy cravings suck, but the post- pregnancy cravings are so much more intense!!! Add to the mix that my thyroid took 5 years to get my thyroid on track- it finally stabilized this year.. So my metabolism was shot. I exercised.. Walked 14 miles a day at work, pushing patients throughout one of the largest hospitals in PA. And still couldn't control my weight. In 2011, before I had my younger three children, I was a size 6. Went all the way up to a 22 when I had my surgery.