To ask was anyone else slim as a child and teenager but overweight as an adult?

[thenamechange2020]

I was always slim and a healthy weight as a child and teenager. I was a size 10/12 at 16 years old, a size 12 at 18 years old and then at age 23 (my current age) I am a size 16-18 and my BMI is now 31.

It is quite a rapid change and to be honest it has really affected my self-esteem. I get quite anxious when I am in my hometown as I am worried I will bump into old school friends. It hurts because I know teenage me would be so shocked and disappointed if she could see how I look now.

Did anyone else gain a lot of weight in their early 20s? When I look around at friends they have mostly stayed the same - those who were very slim have remained so, those who were a normal healthy weight have remained so, those who were overweight have remained so. Both of my parents are overweight but they have been overweight their whole lives, including childhood. It kind of feels like my genetics have caught up to me as I am now the same clothing size as my DM and other female relatives. On the other hand I am hopeful that maybe it is just the result of comfort eating during a very stressful 4 years of university and once I settle into "proper" adulthood the weight will come off? I don't know.

I was slim as a child, teen and until I was 27 and then I gained weight like you wouldn't believe and have spent the last 10 years trying, unsuccessfully, to lose it.

Not everyone who is fat has always been fat, thought lots of people on MN find that difficult to believe.

Op I mean this gently but weight doesn’t really just come off, you need to change your eating habits for that to happen. If you wish to loose weight then start to think about what you consume, how much of it, how often, and start to make small changes, that way it will come off,

I was like this, developed binge eating habits in my early teens, but despite that didn’t become overweight until left home for university - bad food habits and lots of alcohol. Lost weight while there, through calorie counting, yo yo’d up and down by a stone or so throughout my 20s.

I was always (too) thin as a child/teenager to the point I was bullied for looking anorexic. I could eat whatever I wanted and never even bloated.
When I was 20 I went through a couple of horrible experiences and started to binge eat. I also went on the contraceptive pill then which seemed to increase my appetite.I lived on my own at the time so I would spend my evenings eating huge amounts of food. I went from a size 6 to a size 18 in the space of two years. People from school didn’t recognise me anymore.
I’ve since lost a couple of stone and I’m now a size 14 but I still have issues with binge eating when I’m upset/stressed/bored

Yes, was so lovely and slim hit then hit my late thirties and it all piled on.
I hate my belly in my fifties but too old to care too much now! Has been a battle for years and I'm a yo yo dieter too. The menopause doesn't help either!
It is what it is.

I was so skinny as a child but my weight started to creep up in my 20s. I think it's too easy to blame "the baby weight" or genetics or metabolism slowing down with age. For me the issue was the modern food environment and healthy eating advice that caused me to gain weight. I was diligently eating a so-called healthy diet, getting plenty of exercise, and my weight was slowly increasing year after year. It was only when I cut carbs that my weight went back to a normal BMI. I must have already been well on the way to type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance meant my insulin levels were out of control and the weight piled on. Luckily I discovered the (still running) Mumsnet Low Carb Bootcamp back in 2013 and that enabled me to regain insulin sensitivity, lose weight and keep it off.

Could it be an under active thyroid issue OP?

YES!
I was always really slim, size 6/8 through high school, college and uni. Ate what I wanted, never thought about food. Started putting on weight in my mid twenties, crept up to a size 10 and then a 12. I’m in early 30s now and a size 12, definitely overweight with fat sitting around my stomach and hips, big boobs so I often look bigger than I am. I hate it. I think about it every day. I almost wish I was bigger at high school and learned to control what I ate more. I’ve never learnt the self-control and continue to eat what I want but it’s caught up with me.

I could eat anything I wanted as a teenager without putting weight on, so it got me into bad habits unfortunately.

I was very slim as an active teen, put on a little weight in my 20s maintained a faiely healthy weight through my 30s and 40s without trying too hard. The last year has seen me put on almost 2 stone without having changed everything. Entirely down to middle age and peri-menopause. I've started to do more exercise and cut out snacks but the weight just keeps going on. I know I need to drop the calories significantly to lose weight properly now and it's depressing as anything.

I gained weight during uni and shortly after - less activity, more independence, alcohol, stress, responsibility for my own shopping. I think many people do. Then diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. It won’t sort itself out OP - in my case 5:2 helped, but I promise it’s much easier to lose 2/3/5kg than 20 or 30 so be honest with yourself about your eating and don’t delay.

I was slim as a child and teenager. I wasn't sporty but I was always out and about. I found that as I settled into work the weight started to creep on, even more so once I was in a relationship with my DH. I think the weight really started to pile on last year after the wedding when I reached about 25. Now 26 and at my pudgiest and I'm hating it ☹️

Yes. I was 8 stone in my late teens, early twenties, maybe went to around 12 stone in mid twenties. Then it creeped on and I'm late thirties and weigh 20 stone. I've been through so many problems with food starting when i was 5 and the nurse telling me mum I was too thin. So everyone fed me up. I was put on a diet at 10. Anorexic from 13. Bulimic at 17. Then I started binging without purging. And the weight has gone up since.

I think most people were slim DC and teens especially if you are over 30.
Teens are constantly on the move the unfortunate thing for teens today is lots of their social event's are around food.
As an adult we slow down physically and unless you have a healthy diet the calories will make you fatter.

I was simply a normal size when I was young, never thought about weight gain etc.
For me things changed once I started doing my own shopping and food prep, and probably most importantly drinking booze.
I drink and eat too much, and have little impulse control.
Luckily I love exercise and sports, and that has helped me keep down to just the wrong side of a healthy BMI.
Gets harder as you get older though.

I was a very bony underweight child and teenager (not on purpose) as soon as I was old enough to buy my own food I overdone it just because I could finally eat properly. Along with pcos and other health issues I found any weight I gain very hard to lose since having my children particularly. When I do lose it all it slowly creeps back on anyway. It’s also an age thing and related to your diet etc it’s not quite as simple when you’re adult compared to when you’re a child you often have to work extra hard at it. It’ll come off, just take your time and ignore the fad diets, concentrate on portion size and exercise as the main route.

Yes this was me. I got terrible mixed messages in childhood - people trying to feed me up and force me to eat everything on my plate, then criticising me when I began gaining weight in my early twenties.

I was an overweight teen, lost it all when I was 16, slowly crept back up and lost it again when I was 22. At 26 I was diagnosed with Hashimotos and PCOS so my metabolism is horrendous. I now have to work exceedingly hard to stay a size 10- 12. If It regularly eat over 1200 calories a day I gain weight.

Yep. Grew up with a mum who is a)obsessed with her own weight, b)obsessed with the weight and size of every woman and girl she knows and c)Queen of the PA comments about what you are consuming. Leaving home I had no real internal judge of what was too much food- I knew I didn't want to be like her and I loved the freedom of not being ruled by what she thought I should eat, but I went massively the other way. I sometimes think I got and stayed fat as a fuck you to her, god knows it bothers her far more than it does me when I am overweight! I lost a fair bit last year and she made more fuss of that than she did about anything I have ever achieved in my life (and the childish part of me that used to get a thrill from eating Bad Food because I knew how much she would disapprove has a slight urge to get fat again just to piss her off).

No but I have had to work much harder at staying slim as I got older. My metabolism was fast as a child and teen and in my 20s, I could eat anything, do no exercise and stay slim, but in my late 20s and early 30s it really slowed down. I was diagnosed with hypothyroid and PCOS at 31. I put on weight during my early 30s (also the baby years) then lost most of it once I was out of those no sleep years.

I can now only eat about half what I used to in my 20s if I want to stay slim. Seems crazy (and very annoying) but that’s what I’ve found.

I definitely over-eat and am not active enough though. I don't think it is hypothyroidism or anything medical.

Thank you for the replies as they have really made me think. When I was at secondary school I would eat a small breakfast (two slices of toast), a small lunch (a sandwich) and then a normal dinner in the evenings. I was doing PE twice a week and walking to and from school. At university because my schedule was all over the place so were my meals. Somedays I would be at university 8am-8pm and too busy to even think about eating anything and other times I would be at home studying all day and overeating just to give myself an excuse to take a break . My appetite has also gone up by quite a lot. For example at 16 if I ordered a pizza I would have eaten 2-3 slices whereas now I tend to eat 5-6 slices .

I think the reason why I made this post is I wanted to know if it was just inevitable for me to become overweight like my parents. Is this weight gain just a temporary flux from poor eating habits during university that I can overcome with changing habits or is it the start of my adulthood being just like my DM's (overweight and constantly yo-yo dieting). I took a nutrition class at university and I remember the lecturer saying that our bodies tend to like to keep us at the same weight we are which is why diets tend to fail. Ever since then I have felt so hopeless about it all. I have grown up with my DM's constant dieting and calling herself fat and I don't want that for myself. I have tried diets already (5:2 and calorie counting) and it is just miserable and obsessive and they never work. I think deep down I feel resentful of having to go on a diet. I have seen my DM (and all other older female relatives) spend literally decades dieting, regaining the weight, dieting, regaining, etc. I have also seen the other side where my best friend starting a diet intending to just lose a bit of weight for graduation then then ended up nearly dying from anorexia.

I think I may try and recreate the eating and exercise habits I had at 16-18 years old. Walking lots, exercising at least twice a week and eating three meals a day at regular times irrespective of my schedule. Knowing that that is what I used to do makes it seem easier and less like a "diet" and more just shedding the unhealthy habits I picked up during university.

Also I forgot to add - no I haven't had any children (will I be kicked off of mumsnet now? ) . The only people I know from secondary school who have gained weight are those that have had babies. Everyone else looks the same. I know some may have gained a stone or so at the start of university but they then lost it whereas my weight has just gone up and up and up.

Hahahahaah yes I'm a fat fuck these days

I blame my parents for depriving me of delicious junk food

I definitely over-eat and am not active enough though. I don't think it is hypothyroidism or anything medical
There is your answer. You're very young your body needs to last a long time if you continue on this road your weight will increase year on year.
Make a decision to give your body the best chance of going the distance.
Work on your posture and your core with daily walks "Look after the Penny's and the pounds mind themself"
Same concept small changes will do it but keep going.