Getting personal, why were you fat?

ha!!

So much this!

I love when life gives me a chance to pull that one out :D

I had an unhealthy love affair with food. I just love the taste of food, especially carbs. I've changed my life now, I control food, it does not control me.

Partly because I like food.  Okay, I love food.

But, I've discovered, partly because of my metabolism. As a child, I ate, played, worked, etc the same as my sisters.  I was overweight, and they were skinny.  Why?  Likewise, now I am the same height, age, and gender as my wife.  She eats at least twice as many calories as me.  Yet we're both pretty much at 'maintenance'. I think it's why the surgery was my only hope -- without it, living on ~1000 calories a day would've meant misery and constant hunger.  With a much smaller stomach and capacity, it's do-able for the long term.

Food never failed me. Food helped calm down the anxiety that started at 3-4 years old. Food never told me my emotions weren't valid. Food never judged me.

I was abused emotionally and sexually, I was bullied at school, I was told by some adults I wasn't wanted at the church. So many people thought my emotional problems in high school were the result of my dad dying when I was 14. My dad never abused me, but the last few years he was alive he was rarely home and when he was it was super tense. He spent a lot of time and money at the casino 10 minutes from our house. The rare good times I had with him involved going out to eat. Starting in 7th-8th grade the depression got worse. I went to a tiny church school and my emotional problems were seen as a weakness, my relationship with God wasn't right. During my high school years symptoms of bipolar disorder also started to appear. When I got a job a lot of my money went to fast food and other forms of junk food. Eventually it became an addiction (there is an addiction history on my dad's side of the family and could be some on my mom's side). I have worked hard to process through and learn from my earlier experiences. I have been stable on medication and still participate in therapy so things don't get out of hand again. I don't know if the addiction to food serves it's original purpose anymore. I suppose I won't find out until the food restrictions start. I'm sure things will come up and for a time I'll probably have to increase the frequency of visits with my therapist (I go every 4 weeks now).

When I filled out the health and weight history packet for my surgeon's program a few of the questions had to do with abuse history and how weight/food issues corresponded with the history. My program requires multiple visits with their psychologist who specializes in weight issues. I have seen her during a previous attempt to lose weight so I wonder if the required number of visits will be decreased for me.

Because I've always been fat, since the day I was born.  I have literally never been at a "normal" weight in my entire life.  Both my parents are also obese, as were my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings.  When I've lost weight before, it's taken careful attention to what I ate and large amounts of exercise, and I still never got below overweight.  I'm sure some of it is genetic, and some is environmental.  We eat a lot in my family.  It's normal.  And it's not junk, either.  My Grandma, Mom, and older brother have all cooked professionally.  Like KevinBacon and GwenMo, I really enjoy food.  I'm hoping to redirect that to small meals, more like what Frisco does. 

Some of it was emotional but some of it was just because I loved to eat. Add to that COPD, hypothyroidism and some not so good medication and you get disaster waiting to happen. I discontinued said medication and it jump started my weight loss journey by knocking off over 80 pounds in 6 months. I'm proud of my decision and am having my surgery on Thursday! woohoo!!

13 years ago I had a full hysterictaomy that put me in full menopause, My metabolism slowed down. I kept gaining weight the older I got, it made it harder to lose weight. Did weigh****chers twice lost 25lbs gain 30. Tried eating different even got on two different wright lost plans one with ISO teas and the other was shakes from shakeolgy with excercise lost 15 lbs. bunch of money invested. My highest weight was 206lbs, at surgery 190lbs current 145lbs. Height 4/11" age 49.

Ah very good question. So hard to unwrap this though. I was a very skinny kid. My grandmother always chased me around with a spoon in her hand. When I would eat as a kid, I would vomit it up 9 times out of 10. As I grew up I was always a very normal 100 lb 5 ft 0 girl. In college I put on about 20 lbs. nothing dramatic. I filled out nicely. I could and did eat anything and everything I wanted. Then I put on another 10 lbs or so and it got tight. I went to Africa on my first assignment with the UN and lost back down to 115 ish. Still eating whatever and whenever. At 29 when I got married I think I was about 125 lbs. I got pregnant pretty much right away and didn't gain an ounce during the pregnancy. Had gestational diabetes, left the clinic with an 8 lb baby, myself being exactly 8 lbs lighter. That really should have been my first red light. But I was young and didn't see it. During the maternity leave I nursed my baby and ate. That was pretty much all I did. In four months I gained about 30 lbs. I repeated this three times. At age 34 I had three kids and was 90 lbs heavier than at the start of the motherhood journey. Each time it was exactly the same. No weight gain during pregnancy, slight GD and lovely healthy babies and 30 lbs gained after. These 90 lbs never left and grew. I still ate like before, it was the only way I knew how to eat. I never saw myself as a fat girl and it never hindered me in life and career. 

I don't think I am an emotional eater although food is definitely love in my family. All forms of celebrations are around food. Food is the center. I love to cook and I love good. The VSG didn't change that for me. I still love all food and still love to cook. Just less of it now.

I don't think I used food to fill a void. My life is pretty void free so I don't see what I would be filling. I really think I ate because I just could and never gained any weight, until I did! And I never exercised as a kid or a youth or as an adult for that matter. 

I think my metabolism changed with pregnancies and age and I did not adjust to the signals my body was sending me. Could be as simple as that.

I never yo yo dieted. I never dieted. Period. Not seriously! So once the gain started, it just kept going up and up and up. The only time I ever lost my excess weight was post VSG.