It may seem like it, but we weren’t all born 50 or 100 lbs. overweight. At some point earlier or later, the weight started coming on and got out of control.

For a lot of people who are WLS patients or considering it, the causes of the weight gain are obvious looking back. You might have had parents who equated food with love, or whose idea of fruits and vegetables included banana splits and chili cheese fries. Or maybe you remember turning to food because it was there for you when you felt alone, or you were always hungry, or you simply didn’t know what to eat or how much was reasonable.

What caused your own weight gain? Was it one event that you can point to that led to emotional eating or giving up on yourself? Was it a constant hunger? Do you think it was genetic? Share your stories here!

I remember stepping on a scale when I was in 2nd grade. It said 105lbs. I thought to myself, "If I just don't gain any more weight, I'll be perfect as an older teenager."

No one else was heavy in my house. There was a lot of pasta and day old doughnuts, but why was I always the only one that needed seconds?

Looking back at photos, I appeared to be a normal weight until first or second grade, and other than moving from Florida to Georgia, I don't know of anything that changed. The move wasn't upsetting.

I sucked my thumb until I was 11 years old (5th grade). That was a comfort thing. Maybe food was too?

Lots of questions, not so many answers!

Love was food, treats were often, and processed was the way to go. I use food for comfort, and later on in adulthood I believe I use it to zone out and relieve stress. I remember being 80 lbs. at 8 years old, and I also sucked my thumb until almost 9. Hmm... You might be on to something.

Edited April 17, 20179 yr by Ldyvenus

I didn't become an emotional eater and really gain weight, which started when I was on bedrest during both pregnancies and BORED to death about 8 years ago. Before that, I couldn't fathom to eat just to eat. It was fuel. I was a gym junky. Studying nutrition in school. Didn't help that I married a man who wasn't as active as I was either (not saying I regret marrying him), I just became comfortable. Life changed for me. The way I dealt with my emotions changed. It's all in the head. I literally have to fight the urge to eat when my emotions are high.

Ex: I had to shell out $400 for glasses when I was trying to not spend money. It made me upset. So what did I do? Told myself some lemonade and chick fil a fries would be a good snack and I'll feel better, and even worse I went and got it!

I won't be like that anymore.

....no thumb/finger sucking for me....

Edited April 17, 20179 yr by Newme17

Portion sizes. Was a heavy baby and was fed accordingly. No matter what was on my plate, it had to be finished. Lost some weight in college because I fasted for long periods regularly, then started eating huge amounts again in my last years of college. Didn't gain anymore weight and stayed at 345 for 13 years till numerous sports related injuries made me yoyo between 345 and 355.. hit 357 after my hypertension medication was making me retain water.

I'm 30, and my significant weight gain started about 12 years ago. I was a freshman in college and severely depressed. Literally all I did all day was sit in my dorm room and eat from the great meal plan my school offered. It went up from there. Boredom, coping, hunger... Up and up and up. No more!

I turn to food for comfort. Any major negative or stressful life event that's beyond my control causes me to binge "comfort foods". Over the past 9 years I've slowly gained 120 pounds, lost 75, and gained back 50. I can seriously narrow down the weight gain to 4 events. Of course now the damage is done, and hindsight is 20-20. I'm hoping with better coping mechanisms and self awareness I won't fall back into old habits.

I was a healthy weight until about 19 or 20 years old. Then my (at the time undiagnosed) PCOS symptoms kicked in. I started gaining weight like crazy, and the bouts of depression I slipped into were terrible. I was also going through a huge change of moving away from all my friends and family and being very isolated. I was also very poor growing up, so all the junk food and fast food and eating out I couldn't afford started to become affordable. I definitely took comfort in food. After a couple years when I started trying to lose the weight and change my habits, because of the hormonal imbalance, nothing helped keep it off. And then I'd gain everything back, and then some. It's only been 7 years that I was that big, but now as I'm getting smaller and fitting into clothes again and doing things I never could, I actually find it hard to remember that I once could do those things and just... didn't. So it's definitely something that helps me remember that I lost my health once before, and I'm trying to stay on track to never do that again.

Good question. I was a chubby child, but not fat. I was quite slim when I did martial arts competitively in my later teenage years. However, when I gave that up at the age of 19, all hell broke loose.

Edited April 17, 20179 yr by summerset

Pcos. Then it got to the point where I would eat because there was nothing else to do.

Yo-yo dieting. When I was 10 I told my mom I thought I was fat so she put me on Weight Watchers (really, she was doing the best she could and she felt sorry for me and she thought it would work but it set me on a very horrible path). I was a little chubby but not fat by any stretch of the imagination. I was conditioned to think my baby fat was ACTUAL fat, though, because I read those magazines with beautiful, perfect teenage girls and I wanted to be just like them.

What I wish would've happened is my mom tell me I'm perfect as I am (though I'm sure I wouldn't have believed her) and then have her scale back on the sweets, add more veggies to our meals, and not mention it. Have her say "Hey, let's go for a bike ride together!" a few times a week. Maybe then I wouldn't have associated food as a coveted reward earned only by skinny people who can keep off weight and exercise as punishment to atone for my sins as an overeater.

This was the beginning of my disordered eating habits. I'd starve myself, be unable to bear it any longer, binge, and repeat. Eventually I found diet pills and those worked great for a couple years until I started to have heart palpitations. I got to college and gained a few pounds but nothing terrible. The weight really piled on, though, when I went to graduate school part-time and worked full-time. Lots of stress, very little time to relax, and food and beer were great comforts for me that I could enjoy while reading and writing when I got home at night.

Then instead of losing weight I started to buy into that "health at every size" nonsense. I used it as permission to stay fat, get fatter, even, and eat what I wanted. After I had my son I realized I need to do better for myself. I never want to be That Mom who can't keep up with her kids. Worse, I don't want to have debilitating health problems that make him worry about my mortality.

So here I am. I am very grateful for my lap band. It's really helped me control my eating.

My lifelong weight problems were due to several factors such as heredity, bad lifestyle choices, and an introduction to crappy processed food very early in life. From the time I was a toddler I ate canned Franco American macaroni & cheese, hot dogs, Rice-a-Roni, ramen noodles, and other cheap processed "foodlike" substances. Unfortunately, most of these foods are starchy and promote weight gain.

My grandmother weighed more than 400 pounds when she died. She was obese many decades before the obesity epidemic took off. My mother was also morbidly obese at the time of her death. Although I think there's some genetics involved in my tendency toward fatness, some of my poor lifestyle choices were to blame.

I am also hypothyroid and insulin-resistant. These two conditions are not good for weight control.

37 minutes ago, needtorecover said:

What I wish would've happened is my mom tell me I'm perfect as I am

Unfortunately many parents don't realize the damage they do to their children in regards to weight. Especially around 8-10 years when children are a little more self conscious of their bodies and don't know any better that they're still growing! i was a skinny minny growing up. I do recall my mom calling me fat out of sheer jealousy when I was 16 or so. That lie led me to start believing I was. So I delved into exercise/nutrition. Kept it off till about 8 years ago. My grandmother did the same stuff to my mother, as yours did. So young in age, she put my mom on diets. My mom is still morbidly obese with stage 4 cancer, diabetes, and neuropathy issues. I can honestly believe that if the parents were to not have made weight the issue, or suggest bikeriding (as you said), you and my mother would have turned out quite different.

I don't do this with my kids. They're young, 3,7, & 12. I heard my stepdaughter mention something about calories in a yogurt. I told her she had no business worrying about that because her body is still growing. I make it a point to not share my struggles out loud or with my kids as well. They don't even know about my surgery.

I'm sorry you had to go through that. It hits hard for me because of where my mom is in her life that started in childhood.

My weight issues did not start until I was 39-40. I was always the skinny girl who could eat anything and never had any problems maintaining a normal weight.

My weight issues started when my thyroid went nuts. I have Hashimottos and my metabolism took a nose dive and I started gaining weight. It was several years before my GP finally tested my thyroid function and even now I am still under treated and had to switch doctors hoping for better treatment. When I gained weight I also became Insulin resistant and now have type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.

I have been depressed over my weight gain and ensuing health issues. I have always been a very active person and the fatigue I feel now drives me insane. I can't wait to have my surgery!!!