Why did we all get so fat?

Stumbled across an interesting article regarding addictive personalities and got me thinking about (again) why I got so fat over the years. The article is posted in today's Fitness Fun Facts thread if you're interested in reading it. 

I've always thought I had an addictive personality so once I got on the "gotta eat" bandwagon, there was no stopping me. Same thing with biking these days. Just switched addictions simple as that. The article points out that "blaming" a problem on having an addictive personality is a cop out and allows me to assume I can never fix the problem. 

I know I've always been a stress eater as evidenced by the couple hundred pounds I packed on after my Mom passed away. I've been told (and you have been as well I presume), to fix the eating problem, identify the "trigger" causing it and deal with it by doing something else other than eating. In my case, exercise has been the something else. 

Why did you guys get so fat if you don't mind me asking? 

Boner  

Easy question to answer. FOOD was my friend. It was always there when I was happy,excited,nervous,sad,depressed,lonely. I have a new friend now and its called CONTROL.
Also, like you, when my mom passed in 2001 my weight really blossomed. I was used to coming home to a nice well balanced meal she had prepared and when she passed, sometimes supper would be a bag of cookies or chips or fast food I would pick up on the way home. I guess I gave up after she died, I just did'nt care anymore.

1 impulsive and compulsive eating
2 junk food junkie and carb addiction
3 decreased exercise after I got married--I was skinny  as a kid
4 ate a lot when depressed
5 like GM used to advertise "body by Fisher" I eventually became body by ice cream where I was eating 1/2 gal of ice cream every 1-2 days.
6 if you looked up "couch potato" in the dictionary, you saw my picture

Emotional eating, boredome those all contribute to it.  But damn it I like food, I like the taste, texture and flavors.  Basically I just ate too much all the time, there was no limit, and I ate until I was beyond full, then I'd eat some more.  There was always room to try one more thing, or to have some desert after a meal.  Food tastes good, it was almost like a drug.

Here is an example, when I worked as a paramedic we would see heroin users pretty frequently, and talking to them they would indicate that they would get high almost as soon as they put the needle in their arm, they would get that euphoric feeling just knowing that it was on the way.  I got the same feeling from food.  Especially Pepsi or Coke.  I knew it was so ice cold, and I could feel it hit my mouth, I would almost get that wave of calm overtake me when I drank it.
I would get the same thing from good foods, steaks, seafood, pastas, breads, anything fried.
I was a food addict, not just an addictive personality, because i don't have that with other things, but food actually made me feel different it gave me that euphoric feeling.

Scott

Lets see where should I start.

1) stress eater
2) eat when I was bored
3) Love the taste of food and just plain love to eat.
4) hated to exercise

Currently I no longer like to eat, now when I am bored I find something else to do. Stress now makes me not want to eat, So while most days I manage to get close to my caloric intake I have found on stressfull days I donot get close to calories or water intake. On the exercise front I am trying to get back into it doing more then I did but still not enough. WLS has changed my life for the better so I may now live long enough to not be able to retire since my 401k is losing faster then any WLS patiant out there.

It's so easy to lay on the couch watching a football game with a bag of Dorito's, and suddenly it's empty and you need to get your fat azz up to grab the cheetos.

In America food is cheap, I couldn't afford much in the way of luxury so that is how I would treat myself... Eat like a king.  I loved to cook and I loved to eat.   Now I still love to cook, but eating is just something I have to do.

 Oh my god where to begin right? Growing up in the south teaches you many, many things about eating. Number one, the essential rule everyone learns, is to always CLEAN YOUR PLATE! If you didn't have a clean plate you were chastised and likely not to get any dessert. So with that mentality I grew up "cleaning my plate" and then having the dessert and then shortly after that having more snacky -type foods. So enter my teens. I became diabetic at age 13 and lost a good deal of weight but it found its way back to me over about 8 years. Finally after gaining around 120lbs w/in that 8 year time I decided on surgery. Best decision of my life. But the essential reason I would eat SO much food is that I NEVER, EVER felt satisfied after I ate. I might feel FULL but full and satisfied aren't even close to being the same thing. I would feel full sure, but it's almost like my mind was still craving for that one last bit of food. I remember feeling literally sad when I would come to the last bite of food on the plate or wherever. And I'm one of those people who can never just have one of anything. I would go to fast food restaurants and order two triple patty burgers, and two orders of french fries with chicken tenders, etc. It was never enough to just have one order of something. I always had to have more than what was just on the menu. Food was always there for me, also. When I was stressed or angry or sad or happy even I would eat something. I was a huge cereal junkie, I would eat huge bowls of cereal that any normal person would vomit after eating that much food but I would just feel sad that I had eaten it all. And then feel sad BECAUSE I was eating so much. So the effects of obesity go far beyond just how you look or what it's doing to your body physically. It has so much to do with your mental health as well that it's almost impossible to change it once it has been ingrained in your mind for so long. Anyway, that's my story haha.

I am pretty sure that I got fat just because I had bad metabolism.  i don't think it could have possibly had anything to do with MY behavior.   Either that or for all the same reasons you guys have named above.

Signed
never in denial

I thought it was baby fat and it would burn off. Of coursr that would be like a forest fire. My eating habits were determined by a Mom who wanted to fatten me up n then couldn't say no when I developed an ability to pack it away

I would drink a gallon of milk at a time. 3-4 hamburgers fries slaw desserts. I was a shoveler. I am also an emotional trigger eater ARBY Q incident

What a great question Bone...I've decided the following all on my on, no therapist (so far) anyway.

Fat guys are expected to be failures.  For me, that's my bottom line.  If I attempted something and failed as a fat guy...it was expected.  If I attempted something as anywhere close to "normal" sized well then that meant that I WAS RESPONSIBLE if it didn't work out.

I think that's at my root anyway...I've NEVER worked hard enough to succed at anything, at least in my mind.  Most folks that know me personally may find that statement ridiculous with all the "things" I've accomplished or taken on.  But when one looks deeper, whenever the going got tough...I was the one moving on. 

Now that "me" has to stop...I'm freshly back from the hospital paying AGAIN to have my LapBand port replaced.  I have NO more excuses standing in my way...I HAVE to succeed with this tool, and I will.  I'm all about changing my LIFE now, not merely my weight! Thanks Tbone!