Were you slim/skinny as a child/teen but overweight now?

[shaggedthruahedgebackwards]

Asking purely out of nosiness so no obligation to share!

If you were slim during teen years, at what age did things change and was there any obvious lifestyle change that weight gain could be linked to?

Have others in your close family (parents, siblings, DC) had a similar experience of being slim as a child/teen and then struggled with weight later on?

Do you feel there was a significant change to your metabolism at some point in early adulthood? If so at what age?

Yes!!! I was always tiny - from teens up until I was 23 I weighed between 6 and 7 stone.... then it went wrong! Haha! I’m 38 and 10.5 stone now.

I used to eat very plainly - chicken with jacket potato and veg most evenings, a sandwich for lunch type thing. Now I eat more take always, coffees, alcohol, lunch would be sandwich in a baguette with crisps and fruit and chocolate. My quantity has increased while the quality has gone down hill!

Same as pp.

Parents too skint to buy any chocolates/sweets/takeaways. I could lose weight so easily as well. One or two days of rushing and grabbing a slice of toast and I’d drop the pounds instantly.

Everything got wider when I had my baby at 23 and the fat has just sort of layered on top of that. Eat far too much convenience food, and so much of it! Was a size 12 pre baby, and have shot up to a size 18.

Yes. Mid-30s I really piled it on and didn't start to shift it again until late forties. My reasons: depression, married and ate out too often/too much, inheriting in-laws and eating when they were hungry so as to fit in, going from walking everywhere to my DH driving me everywhere.

Yep was a size 6-8 until 18, was living alone and didn’t have much money for food. Lived off super noodles and eggs lol. Then I met my current partner and now weigh 12.8 (at 20) due to having actual access to food. Currently trying to lose 3 stone

Yeah, slim until I hit my 30's. I was always very active until then. From childhood I always attended at least two or three classes per week (netball, dance, aerobics, etc). Plus as PPs said, we didn't have a lot of treats or big portions growing up.
I'm finding it very difficult to lose weight now because I have back and hip injury so my mobility is limited.

Yes, I was. Childhood home was very health-focused, and treats and junk was vilified. I had an eating disorder from c. 14, but had started eating in secret from primary school onwards.

I gained weight in my 20s, ironically because I got "better" with my ED and wasn't as careful to purge or exercise. Living on my own, and then with DH, I could finally eat whatever I wanted, and I ate too much of it. Dieting and making any grand efforts to "be healthy" still easily lead to a relapse of bulimia, but on the whole I got to a more stable place in my 30s both mentally and with my weight.

I was like a pixie until I was 8 and came home from my nana's after the 6 weeks holidays having gained a lot! I've battled with my weight ever since and am obese now.

I was skinny as a child, my weight has been up and down as an adult, from underweight to obese. I'm a normal healthy weight now and intend to stay that way. I had a serious weight problem from about age 40-50 (I'm 59 now).
For me it's life circumstances, not metabolism, that control my weight. Being poor and busy = weight loss. Having money to buy food I enjoy and having loads of free time means I just can't really stop myself from pigging out.
I've got my weight under control by eating the way I did when I was extremely poor - things like lentils, porridge, beans, wholemeal bread, carrots and broccoli, just plain simple food that fills you up and is healthy as possible on a small budget, not eating for fun (with the ocassional cheat day, lol).
I also struggle with alcohol though I've got it under control at the moment but really I should go teetotal again.
I walk loads, probably 8-10 miles every day. I've always walked a lot. I swim a lot as well.

I was always slim until 45 and then it feels like almost overnight, I was 2 stone heavier I barely eat as it is, no breakfast or lunch and a small dinner (rarely junk), no snacks. So I really don't see where I can cut calories further.

My DS was so skinny I used to sometimes worry about it, and he ballooned at about 20! Although this did coincide with him starting to prepare all his own meals which I suspect is the culprit!

I was a very skinny child/teen, I ate loads but played a lot of sport. My weight went up when I stopped taking the pill. I started taking it at 17 and weighed 8.5 stone, I stopped at 21 and my weight shot up to 11 stone over the course of 4months it was awful. Got things under control though and now I'm just under 10 stone and generally eat what I want and do some exercise.

I was slim as a teenager, slim in my 20s, even when I had children. I've gained about half a stone a decade but am still the same size now as I was ten years ago (clothes still fit!) but carry way more muscle.

I move less now than I did then - daily gym for 90 minutes but I don't walk dogs anymore or run with them. I don't play or coach rugby any more. Nor do I go out for a short 3 mile jog whilst kiddiwinks are doing after school clubs! But I still eat as if I was being that active which is why my waist is expanding

Despite eating a diet high in processed food and sweets I was a skinny child, my family nickname was Boney M (cos my name starts with M and I was boney ) I stayed skinny because I was a free range child and always running around or riding my bike outdoors.

I stayed slim until my mid twenties, when my diet and adult lack of exercise caught up with me (although my teeth bore the brunt of my childhood and I had a mouthful of fillings by fifteen).

By thirty I was a size 16 and not at all happy so I changed my diet and started going to the gym. I slimmed down to size 8, levelled out at size 12 and stayed there until thirty six when I had DD. From there it’s been a gradual increase back to size 16, but I’m back on a diet now and determined to get to a healthy weight at the age of forty seven.

I know middle age and menopause are against me ever being skinny again, but as long as I’m I get to and stay in the healthy weight range I’ll be happy.

Serious decrease in exercise is what I blame. As a child I was into sports and as a student I walked everywhere because I had to. Now I live in the country and have to drive to get anywhere, and I don't do any sports.

I was incredibly skinny until my mid-late 20s. I made no effort, ate crap, drank too much. Basically my diet was haribo, pasta and Heineken! Then I went through a nasty bout of depression, which coincided with a year in USA (home of mega portions) and I put weight on. In retrospect, the depression was actually the start of some catastrophic hormonal /gynae issues and I ballooned due to the drug regime.

Now my health is sorted and my weight is better but I chase 2 stone up and down the scales. I developed bad habits when I was effortlessly skinny and I break them for a time then slip back. It’s made me realise how important it is to ensure that DS has good eating habits from the start.

I was skinny until I was about 15 because there was never any snack type food in my parents' house (eg chocolate, biscuits etc).

Both my brother and I started buying food and eating it in secret when we had access to money and could go out alone.

Then I gained weight in my 20s when I stopped doing as much sport but didn't reduce my food intake accordingly.

I'm now an overweight adult and my brother is obese (both in our 40s).

I do blame my parents for restricting treat / sweet foods so much when I was little... but I also recognise that as an adult it's my choice and I have to take responsibility for what I eat. It's so hard to move past the patterns developed in childhood!

I was very slim when I was younger, I'm about 2 stones overweight now. The weight piled on as soon as I learned to drive and stopped walking everywhere.

Opposite here, I was a chunky child, not big but definitely solid, I seem to have got steadily smaller and I'm now tiny for someone who is 47 with 2 kids!

Yes. In my 20s I was a 10/12 am now a 16/18. Reasons? I eat crap and do no exercise.

Yes skinny as a child, underweight at times. Ate loads of junk but was very active. Still a size 8 to 10 at uni but then I got pregnant and my weight shot up and I've struggled with my weight ever since. Now at my slimmest for years size 10 to 12 but it's a struggle

I was very skinny until about 35. Over the last ten years I've put on a few stones. I started putting weight on a few years after giving birth.

I have always had a good appetite and eaten healthily - I've lost weight when too stressed or eating badly or drinking too much. I eat a lot and people are amazed at how slim I am in comparison to my weight - I carry it well. I've had comments about having tape worms, being a pig etc.

I'm very active. The last few years I've become less active and started putting the weight on.

I had a few tests done years ago and other thin family members have also had their metabolism tested and found to be fine. The thin men in my family tend to stay thin as they age. The thin women tend to start getting overweight in their late thirties.

Yes, very skinny as a child. Normalish weight from 16 to 32. Went on antidepressants and piled on 5 stone in a couple of years. Still obese nearly 20 years later.

Really skinny till I went to uni and discovered the joys of unregulated food and booze. I put on a stone in one term but really started putting on the weight after children.

Same as Mememe - went to university, started drinking and cooking for myself, put on the "Freshman 15" and have basically been that one stone overweight ever since!! Even after having kids I have returned to that exact "one stone overweight" weight pretty much. It's frustrating because it's both not much at all, but seemingly unshiftable...