I became obese in my twenties. I really don't know why. So I would love to hear form the crowd, form those patients who were not obese for virtually their entire lives. What is it that caused you to become obese? Thanks for sharing. I am trying to figure out why I became obese and your answers may help me to find the answer.

@@OnePhatWhoDat thanks! I am so looking forward to visiting Memphis. I went to Nashville twice this year and enjoyed it very much.

I had a traumatic childhood. I never learned how to be normal or knew what a normal life was. Then I married at 24 and moved 2k miles away from home and fell into a deep depression. It took me over a decade to gain over 100 pounds. It took me a very long time to realize that I was medicating with food. After I figured it and my life out, I didn't know how to stop medicating. This surgery forced me to and forced me to deal with my past and my feelings.

I had a traumatic childhood. I never learned how to be normal or knew what a normal life was. Then I married at 24 and moved 2k miles away from home and fell into a deep depression. It took me over a decade to gain over 100 pounds. It took me a very long time to realize that I was medicating with food. After I figured it and my life out, I didn't know how to stop medicating. This surgery forced me to and forced me to deal with my past and my feelings.

I just wrote and article about the link between marriage, depression, and obesity. I think it played a huge role in my weight gain.

I have four girls and gained a lot of weight but always lost it all. A few years ago I started having thyroid issues and gained a lot of weight quickly! Ended up being thyroid cancer and it was removed in 2012. Although I'm on hormone replacement I've continued to gain. Now that I'm in my 40s, it's only gotten worse. It's very traumatic to never have a weight problem and suddenly be fat! I'm ready to get my old life back!!

Hi I gained weight through stress through my old job, not exercising enough and constantly eating out because of convince I was working 16 hour shifts 3 days a week then 8 the remains two days .Before I know it I had diabetics and look at a family picture that my family member took and didn't even recognize myself. I could not believe the person in the picture was me, I decided then to have surgury and to loose weight, now my family is proud of me and I'm proud of me, I exercise 5 days a week because I release stress that way instead of food. I look at current pictures verse old pictures and can't believe what I see . It's like the old men is inside of a new body but I'm loving to. Love me and life again .

@@Cupcake good luck on your journey!

Work, I have had a high stress job for the past 8 years and each year I get heavier than the next. I was always very skinny as a teen, even after my 2 children my weight dropped to a satisfactory number. Im just worried that by having the surgery and resuming my job which is a must, that I will eventually undo any weight loss over time. Im still undecided about what surgery to get but tired of the pills, diets etc...I workout about 3 times a week but am becoming more frustrated and depressed so working out is happening less and less

I take full responsibility for my actions (or is it "eyes" take full responsibility for my actions.)

I had a very uneasy childhood sometimes we didn't have food so we went with out and there were months where we went without electrisity so we lived off of fast food. Also I was abused physically and sexually so there's alot of baggage. Now that im older and married I've just gotten comfy and lazy and I have balloned so I'm getting wls before it gets worse

Always yo-yoed. Former (in the last century) professional ballet dancer with serious food issues. Very successful business went completely broke with crushing debt after the crash and (unrelated) guy I was supposed to marry broke up with me and married some random chick 2 days later. Yeah, I'd call that a life blow. I just said to hell with it all and ballooned up about 70 lbs. (20 more than my all time high of 199). Boy, did I show him! Lol

Sooo happy to be on the mend and turning this ship around and kissing those yo yo dieting days goodbye forever.

Always yo-yoed. Former (in the last century) professional ballet dancer with serious food issues.

Yay! Someone else who was a ballet dancer! I was in a pre-professional company in high school and then majored in modern dance in college. Ended up in a different career field entirely and stopped dancing for several years.

I still have major body image issues from growing up in that culture. I was always the "fat" one who had too much muscle, not enough turnout, the "wrong" feet for pointe, blah blah blah... hence why I ended up focusing on modern dance.

When I was at my heaviest, I just stopped mentioning that I had once been a dancer, because I was so embarrassed and felt like people were looking at me and thinking, "Yeah, right... you were a dancer... what, one of the hippos from Fantasia?"

The ballet world is a freaky place especially at the top levels. Great background in some respects but body issues abound!

I should not blame anyone or anything for my weight gain besides myself for becoming lazy and not caring about anything. I ate out three times a day. Snacked mindlessly when bored. Living just minutes away from Napa and Sonoma wine countries I kinda considered myself a foodie and Sunday's was for a nice wine country drive with my buddy for some epicurean adventure. The weight crept on gradually. Luckily, I decided to take charge of my health and not let my taste buds dictate my life before I got any health issues. I want to travel to foreign lands. And sitting in a plane is not fun when you are big.

Chubby, yo-yo dieter here. Became overweight at age 7 and "heavy" through high school and college. Then discovered diet pills (legal speed) in grad school. Yes, in the 1960s it was legal speed.

Through my 20s and mid-30s, I swung between 120 and 185.

Then in my 40s I settled around 165 - 195.

In my 50s I ranged from 165 - 205.

In my 60s I ranged from 170 - 235.

(See the pattern?)

And this morning I weighed 139.2 pounds.

BAM!

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.