To think that if I was slim as a child and teenager, I should be slim as an adult?

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Most people I know from childhood have kept the same kind of BMI/body shape they had as a child/teenager. For example, those who were really skinny as teenagers are still skinny as adults. Those who were overweight as children are now overweight adults, etc. Obviously excluding any specific causes for changes in weight such as health conditions, pregnancies, etc.

I was slim my entire life until my early 20s, and during my 20s I've put on a lot of weight and weight from a size 10/12 at 20 to now a size 18 at 28. I've not had any pregnancies or have any known health conditions that impact my weight.

I'm trying to figure out where it went wrong... I don't know anyone else who has gained a lot of weight in their 20s. I'm wanting to lose weight now and I'm thinking of trying to go back to what I used to eat when I was 20. It wasn't particularly healthy, but it was 'normal' food and small portion sizes.

There are quite a few studies on this and if you are overweight at a young age, you wi more likely be overweight as an adult.

This is due to your body’s make up being changed and it’s much harder to be slim as an adult due to your body being predisposed to being overweight.

Obviously many slim adults can put on weight as they get older because they do less exercise than when they were young and running around the playground and they’re in control of their own portion sizes and what they eat and so it’s easy for the weight to creep on.

I was slim all through childhood and then in my 20s I piled on weight. I’m in my 40s now and morbidly obese.

for me it’s not about diet, I eat healthily. But I was an active child and am a sedentary adult.

As others have said, I think 20s are a common age to gain weight. People discover alcohol, junk food, eating out, probably busy working so less time to exercise, getting a car etc. I also think that sometimes it’s the people who used to be slim who end up gaining more weight. I battled with my weight as a teen, had to watch what I ate, weight always going up and down, so I continued that into my 20s and nothing really changed. But some of my super-slim teen friends, who’d eaten what they wanted all their lives, suddenly gained lots of weight.

Nope. I was very thin as a child and into my early 20's. Started putting on weight when I learned to drive. Downhill ever since.

I'm the opposite to most I was a fat child. My dad cooked from scratch but it was big portions and always followed by a 'proper pudding and custard' I slimmed as an adult. And have always been a size 10 despite 3 pregnancys. I keep active walk alot and am aware of my portion sizes. Not saying I never put on a few pounds on holiday or over Christmas though!

You get control over what you eat, you get less time, and you eat the wrong things.

are you eating the same meals you did as a child / teen or are you living in convenience chemicals masquerading as food?

I was skinny as a kid/teen because I had my DM to cook me good nutritious meals, very little stress and a lot of free time to spend swimming/cycling. Maintained that shape in my 20s as I did an extremely manual job.

Now approaching 40, I'm overweight approaching obese. Me and my DH do the cooking which means much more often being lazy and resorting to processed food than my mum ever did. We buy a lot more treats because we do the shopping too. And eat them a lot more because we're both much more stressed now! Add onto that considerably less time for exercise and it's hardly a shock that I'm not skinny anymore!

I think the above is pretty common, albeit not healthy or particularly useful. I think if you're overweight as a child it would be much harder to get skinny later on, and I guess some "good habits" of a skinny youth might carry through to a degree... but life just gets harder for most people as they grow up and gain more responsibility, leaving less time to exercise and more inclination to seek comfort and pleasure through unhealthy foods.

OP you are right, most do, so only you can pin point why you didn’t. What happened when you started getting larger, did you acquire a car and stop walking to bus/train stations? Did you move out of home and be in charge of your own cooking and portion size, so over eating/eating less healthily? Did it coincide with you settling down with a partner so going out less, or your friends socialising going from clubbing (dancing is quite good exercise!) to drinking in bars/going for dinner? Did you start having a bit more cash so buying lunches rather than home made packed lunches or going out for dinner more?

if there’s nothing you can point to, and normal dieting /increased exercise isn’t shifting weight, then it might be worth a drs visit.

Have you tried calorie counting and actually weighing out your portions? I thought I was ok although do want to lose a stone.

I’ve just started counting calories and it’s quite eye opening what a ‘normal’ portion is. 25g of cheese looks a lot smaller than what I was having!

I was very skinny as a child and adult. Until I began anti psych meds and then a few other meds for mental illness and the weight went on even if I barely ate!

Your metabolism changes as you get older. As a student I used to cook good, balanced evening meals for myself but then I would also go on nights out multiple times per week. We'd start at home with wine (with crisps, chocolate, snacks etc) and then switch to vodka and full fat coke once out, and always have a takeaway on the way home. Maybe a bacon butty in the morning to deal with the hangover, and then repeat. I stayed slim despite doing this probably three times a week. I dread to think what my size would be like if I did that now, not to mention my overall health, fitness, skin, tiredness, headaches...!

There was loads of reasturants in the 80s/90s and convenience people just used to eat out on special occasions now people eat out just because and convenience food was expensive and people had parents brought up 60/70s so the majority would still cook from scratch with the occasional convenience dinner.

People are eating more .as standard I know kids will eat sweets and crisps every day adults are eating the same. Food is tasty so we can just grab and eat .

Most of the overweight and obese elderly you see around will have been slim in childhood. Overweight children were rare in the 50s and earlier.

OK, I do not mean to offend and keep in mind I am saying this as a size 14 who's pretty happy with her body, but being size 10/12 as a teenager isn't particularly skinny. Our view is skewed because as a population we are getting fatter. A skinny teen would be a 6/8. And no, 10/12 is not fat, but probably the healthy maximum for a young girl (with exceptions, and it's also different for different races).

Anyway then with lifestyle changes and your metabolism slowing, it's pretty common to start putting on weight in your 20s and having to size up. Even those skinny teens usually do not make it to 40 without having to start watching their diet.

I was very slim as a teenager and early 20's, I remember being about 7 stone in weight when I was 18 or 19 years old. Used to wear a size 6 in clothes, I'm 5ft6 in height. 20 years later and I'm a size 8/10 depending on where I shop, and I'm about 10 stone.

I think if I was 7 stone nowadays I would look emaciated and weird, even though I'm the same height I was back then. I suppose I just gained hips and boobs and filled out a bit, even though I don't think I look all that different.

But in the last few years - late 30's - I realise I now have had to work to maintain this size, so I workout regularly and try and eat better (and I have never had kids so haven't dealt with the effects of pregnancy or breastfeeding). I also have muscle and strength I never had, so my body is different I suppose.

It's not a given that you will gain weight as you age, but I think it gets harder to maintain whereas most of us never had to really think of it if we were slim growing up. Annoyingly I could eat all sorts of shite, and drink ridiculous amounts at a younger age and never worry about it. It's just slower metabolism I guess.

There may be a link between undernutrition in childhood and being overweight in adulthood.

https://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/china/publications/1219

I know what my issue is, though - I want to eat the same amount of food as when I was growing and running all over the place as a kid.

But I don't need that amount now; if I eat that amount I do put on weight.

No, I was slim as a child and teenager but started comfort eating when I split from the man I was in love with, he didn't feel the same way.

Then after having children I ate through depression and had a social life that centred around alcohol.

I'm now losing weight very slowly but have weight associated diseases.

There Is a lot of emotional attachments to overeating isn't there ?

I was 8stone 7 until I was 34. Then it just piled on, now 14.5 stone, can’t shift it.

I know a few people who were expected and bullied into having clear plates as kids so will finish everything as adults it's as if the full switch doesn't work.

I was a stockier child - not fat, but I weighed 8 stone when I was 11 and some of the kids in my class weighed 5 stone. I stayed around the 8 stone mark until I was about 18, then went up to 9.7 stones and stayed there til I was 40. I was a trim size 10/12

Fast forward to my 50's and I'm very overweight, 12 stone. Size 16.

Honestly I think 9.7 stone is my correct adult weight (i'm only 5'4) but I would be delighted to get back down to 11 stone.

DH was obese as a child weighed 16stone when he was 12. He now weighs 14 stone as an adult and is slim for his height. You can tell he had a much naturally skinnier build than me though because even when fat he had twiggy arms and legs!

I've never ever had skinny limbs even when you could see my ribs sticking out.

Not at all. With my DH yes, me not so much, skinny child then hypothyroid at 40. Now slim bordering of slightly overweight.
My SIL was a waif as a child and teen, mid 20's overweight, now late 30's very overweight. I would say not many people keep their childhood weigh/BMI as they get older.

I'm also 28 and half the girls I knew at school who were slim are now overweight or obese. As a teen your parents control your food and you have a speedy metabolism.

In your 20s both of these drop off and if you don't watch what you eat and do exercise you can gain weight (I've gained some it's v annoying).

But it's not at all strange to gain weight in your 20s

I gained weight from 18 after going on the Pill and my daughter who was a very slim child developed PCOS and rapidly gained weight. It can be hormonal for some women.

I was very thin growing up but put on weight easily after 20/21. Coincidentally just around the time I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis - autoimmune disease.