If, like me, you have always struggled with your weight why do you think that is?

[Movinghouseatlast]

I can't help.but think there has always been something hormonal going on for me.

I was a big child, had puberty at age 10. I think my mum may have over fed me due to a controlling father who made my childhood, ( and her whole life) a bit shit.

I was always a bit overweight at school, not huge but a size 12. I'm only 5 foot 2.

Started dieting at probably age 16. Went up and down over the years.

On my 21st birthday my mum took me out to buy a new dress but said to the shop assistant " she'll never get anything to fit her she's so fat". I was maybe heading for size 14 at that point.

At age 25 I went to weight watchers. I was 11 stone 11 pounds. Got down to 9 stone 4 ( goal) but then couldn't stop losing weight and was 8 stone 2.

Stopped smoking when I was 30. Put it all on again, 11stone 11.

More weight watchers. Got to goal 9 stone 4.

Fell in love, put ot all on again. Weight watchers etc etc

Started going to the gym 5 times a week. This seemed like the Holy Grail!

Then stayed the same until I hit perimenopause at 46. Piled on the weight over 9 years, ended up 14 stone.

Despite the gym, pilates and Zumba and dieting I couldn't lose a single pound.

Until Ozempic sorted me out!

I love food. I cook from scratch every evening, I've never eaten much processed food. I love chocolate but have one or two squares a night. I love cheese and cake and ice cream but never eat it. My whole life is denial and I just feel food is my enemy. But I still don't really know why I 'run to fat'.

I was obese when I was 4 yrs old. Mum had had a bad pregnancy which ended in miscarriage and was using chocolate etc to keep me quiet; Dad had starved during the war, was on shift work and would give me some of his dinner while he was eating out of a misplaced sense of kindness.

A doctor who was seeing me for my knock knees tore a strip off Mum and a combination of diet and natural growth sorted me out...but once I started uni my adult weight problems kicked in.

I've no idea whether there's any truth to the story that once you've been fat, your body wants to re-set to that?

Another issue would be that in our house you ate to compensate for being unhappy, you ate as a reward, you ate to celebrate...Thus began the pattern of my life. I'm currently 65 and over 14 stone. I've lost 2 stones over the past couple of years, but it's been a struggle.

I think for me its a combination of things.

Unhappy childhood, parent with disordered eating, genetics, hormone imbalance, yoyo dieting, menopause, the food industry, marketing, a family of men...

MJ has been the answer for me. All my health markers are improved. Im very grateful that it has been available to me up until now.

Genuinely obsessed with food since I was very small. I remember thinking about it all the time, sneaking food etc at nighttime. I had a stable and happy home life so can’t make sense of it. I was a chubby child and an average teenager (although had lipoedema so constantly dieted - I now realise this wouldn’t have helped at all neither for my lipoedema or my metabolism) but it all went wrong when I started uni. My highest BMI was 38 after having my second baby. It’s now 26 and Mounjaro has freed me.

I truly believe there is a hormonal underlying cause for obesity. Since taking WLI my whole outlook to food has changed. I still enjoy food but it doesn’t dominate my every waking hour. I’m no longer craving sugar or waking up ravenous in the morning.
My appetite has reduced and I don’t seem to get hangry anymore. I can now control what I eat with minimal mental energy. The internal battle has gone. I truly believe that in years to come scientists will discover that being overweight is not just a lifestyle choice.

I'd actually love to know the answer to this. I was always the chubby kid (although I certainly wouldn't stand out if I was at school today), and as an adult have moved between size 14 and 18, mostly more 18.
Like you I enjoy cooking and have never eaten much junk or processed food, I like chocolate and cake etc but have never eaten it daily. I don't like fizzy drinks and don't drink a lot of alcohol.
I grew up on the same food as my sister who's always been slim, and there's no significant difference in the amount of exercise we both did as kids and teens.
I have by some way the best eating and drinking habits in my family yet in the biggest by far.
I'm not in denial, I know I'm prone to eating larger portions than necessary and have to keep that in check, and go through periods of struggling to find the time to exercise. My eating habits and lifestyle though are really not significantly different to any of my slim friends, and in some cases much better. There just has to be a genetic predisposition to gain weight.

I maintained a normalish weight (though on the bigger side of it if you like, always at the top of a healthy BMI) although I did put on some at university. Lost it when I started teaching. Then gained it then lost it … it was never dramatic, never looked enormous but also never felt slim. And when I was slim I never felt it! I’m kind of lucky because (cringing at myself here) my figure was never my selling point, even bang on a healthy BMI I had a weird B shaped stomach and short legs and long torso. But I do have really lovely hair though I say so myself and a nice face so as long as my weight didn’t go past a certain point I looked quite nice.

Covid and my first pregnancy though … I ate constantly to try to manage nausea and I was enormous when I gave birth. I did lose it but gained a lot back in my second pregnancy.

For me it’s just a constant battle and it’s that I’ve loved not having on the injections. No kore inner conflict or deprivation or shame. It’s just gone.

I think its mainly genetics, my mother was adopted and we have both always had the same shape (wide hips and thighs, narrowish waist) and battled with our weight. When she tracked down her birth mother, we met her family and all of the women had the same shape, in varying sizes.

No matter what I do or how much weight I lose my body always works its way back to a certain size, to be honest I’m exhausted with fighting it at this point

Simple. Food made me feel good when everything else in my life was shit.
I've lost all the weight on mounjaro and have a cosmetic surgery trip to Nords clinic in Lithuania booked for March.
I have half a stone left to lose and Im busy finding other things to make me feel good that isn't food, gym, hobby groups, fashion, outings with friends etc but it's going to be a tough ride because I was fat for years.

I believe a lot of this is genetic. I’m lucky with my genetics around weight (though def unlucky in other ways …). I’ve always been right in the middle of a healthy BMI without much effort. These days I work out a lot and eat fairly healthy, low UPF, etc., but I drink more than I should (alcohol, hate fizzy drinks), allow ‘occasional’ treats fairly often and go through phases where I eat quite indulgently, and although this leads to weight gain it’s pretty small, not really visible, and easily lost. I think I far too much emphasis is put on personal responsibility for your weight and there’s not nearly enough recognition of the extent to which it’s out of your control - or at least heavily biased for or against you.

I have adhd so food is a big dopamine hit for me and makes it hard to stay on track and stick to any sort of diet or plan. It’s not an excuse but explains why I can’t just do eat less and move more because my brain doesn’t respond to that. Also have experienced some traumas in childhood/teens, and probably some genetic influence there as my dad’s side of the family are all on the larger side. I’m off and on ssris which probably doesn’t help. My problem isn’t my fatness it’s my brain unfortunately!

I was a slightly chubby child - nothing abnormal really, just puppy fat. But my family teased me, calling me fatty.

As a teen I ate sweets to cheer myself up while being bullied, and then I had got into bad habits- probably addicted to sugar.

When i moved in with my boyfriend I ate similar sized portions which i now think of as asserting that I was equal to him.

And finally my biggest weight gain occurred when I was home with small children. I had no help and really struggled. I was probably suffering from post natal depression too. I got into a habit of grazing all day.

Feels good to write it down though.

Neglectful childhood (that bit has caused a lot of issues) and PCOS.

Honestly, it’s still a mystery to me.

Genuinely, I eat really well. I cook from scratch, I follow “at least 30 different plants a week”, minimise UPF, don’t eat bread or lots of other carbs. Don’t eat junk food apart from the occasional slice of cake if I meet friends for coffee.

I walk at least 3-4 miles daily, most days more. I go to gym classes on top of that 3-4 times a week.

I’m still about 2 stone over my perfect weight for my height 🤷🏼‍♀️ I can only assume there’s some genetic tendency.

My Dm was chubby, her sister was huge and all my female cousins are very overweight, but none of them eat well or exercise. I just assume that this is as good as it gets for me and if I was to “let go” and eat what I fancy all the time I’d balloon very quickly.

For me I'm pretty sure it's a combination of bad habits / boredom, and sometimes stress upping cortisol in some circumstances (eg during covid when I put on 2 stone due to health anxiety). Weirdly in other stressful circumstances (eg divorce) I lost the urge to eat and lost weight with no effort.

It really seems to make sense that hormone imbalance is implicated. Just as diabetes makes you thirsty, some kind of insulin / cortisol / other imbalance must cause the urge to really 'binge' carbs, such as a whole pack of biscuits or loaf of bread.

It also makes sense that balances can be affected by psychological factors, over which we often don't have a lot of control, but which can make people susceptible to judgement by others and themselves.

I'm convinced it's hormonal. I've yoyo'd over the years. I'm particularly prone to sugar cravings and stress eating. I likely have undiagnosed PCOS (tick almost all the symptom boxes) and also ADHD. I've had the most success until perimenopause with intermittent fasting (16:8) but that doesnt work so well now I'm mid 40's. I've learned so much recently about insulin spikes and cortisol (stress hormone) and how they affect my eating. Mounjaro has helped with my symptoms enormously but unfortunately I cannot sustain at the new prices. I'm looking into supplements to help manage insulin spikes (berberine, Myo-Inositol) and cortisol levels (ashwagandha, rhodiola rosea) amongst other general wellbeing supplements. It's going to be hard to come off mounjaro but I'm hoping these will help take the edge off the symptoms I struggle most with alongside intermittent fasting, walking and strength training 🤞

I think being overweight may have a genetic predisposition/hormonal etc. However, continuing on to obesity is a choice.
Most people have someone who can persuade them to get help before obesity is reached due to mental health issues. If medical issues, the treating team should take action. Obesity is preventable. Overweight- I am not sure

I do think genetics plays a part. Mine and DH’s extended families are all mostly tall and slim. But there are outliers. My cousin was a big baby, a big child and is now a big adult. I wouldn’t say she’s overweight - more that her frame and height is just larger overall and sturdy. My daughter is the same. She was a huge baby and since birth she has always been tall and stocky. Yet her two siblings are built like beanpoles. Genetics can be strange.

We eat very healthily in our house. There is no weirdness or emotional negativity around food, but I imagine if that was an added factor then DD’s weight could run away with itself.

I think a lot is genetics. I have never eaten processed food, don’t like junk or sweets or crisps. I have struggled with my weight my whole life. My sister has always had a different metabolism. She has never been overweight but loves food and eats a lot. She is one of those people who never sits down so that’s part of it. We both walk a lot . My daughter has never been overweight either. She honestly can eat anything and not put on weight. Shes not very physically active and doesn’t always make the best food choices but she’s slim and always has been. I think it’s the luck of the draw to some extent.

In my case, it's a combination of having ADHD, an addictive type personality and just loving food.

Something else, I have noticed that people who don’t struggle with their weight often leave things on their plate and don’t feel they must not waste food. I can’t do that.

I really enjoy eating, being brought up by a wonderful cook, and also enjoy doing nothing, though was appropriately forced into fresh air and exercise by parents etc. I also have PCOS so my body enthusiastically holds on to every calorie (but also builds muscle fast). I’m convinced my mother also had PCOS as she has struggled with her weight all her life even when smoking 40 a day, and we have the same apple shape.

MJ has helped immensely and I feel a lot better for it, but even on quite a high dose for almost a year I am still 8kg above a healthy BMI. I’ve only ever been a healthy BMI when in serious sports training (2-4 hours a day).

Genetics - a predisposition to being overweight and growing up with diet culture.

My Mum was constantly on a diet and would announce that everyone in the house was fat and needed to lose weight too. I remember being told to diet at 8, but it was never about healthy, wholesome food and moderation just slimming world dinners and no chocolate.

Then it would be the weekend/holidays/evening and my Mum would send my dad to the shop to buy her favourite goodies - if you said hang on, she’d say “it’s the [insert reason for binge]” so I grew up with the binge purge cycle encouraged!

My Mum always has something to say about my weight. When I was 9st 5lb she asked how much I weighed - I was a size 8/10. When I told her she said “isnt that heavy” LOOK at my body, I am slim, active healthy.

Even earlier this week, after asking my Mum to NEVER comment on my weight she asked my son how much I weigh and then started to poke fun (I’m heavier than I was but a healthy weight thanks to mounjaro).

I’ve been bulimic and suffered with BED all my life, weight has been a constant obsession. It’s tiring isn’t it.

Also I recommend reading The Obesity Code by Dr Jason Fung. He challenges the conventional calories in v calories out model and focuses on hormonal regulation as the key driver of weight gain and fat storage. Eye opening stuff.

I've recently discovered Stacy Sims, who is a Dr specialising in women's physiology, diet and exercise. Her basic principle is that women are not 'small men' and most advice comes from studies with predominantly male subjects. She suggests:
women don't benefit (in terms of weight loss) from prolonged exercise; we need HITT and strength training instead.
Women need to eat before exercise - and we don't respond well to fasting. Men are better at pulling energy stores from their liver and fat; our go to store is our muscle mass.
Have a listen to / read up on her work.

As a child my dad often worked double shifts, my mum didn’t cook for him and he lived on Vesta meals. My mum was a school teacher and at the time (I’m 62 now) her school had a fantastic cook and she ate her main meal of the day there. She did not cook for me. I ate what I could find in the house and became overweight as a younger child. As an adolescent and teenager I went the other way and basically gave up eating much at all and became very thin, I’m 5’ 1.5” and I was 6.5 stone.
Essentially I think I was pretty malnourished and that completely ruined my metabolism.
When I met my husband (I was still 6.5 stone) he encouraged me to eat more and I put on weight which he didn’t like so I spent my teens, twenties, thirties, forties and fifties yo-yo dieting. Constantly hungry and always hating my ugly body. It was absolutely miserable.
Nearly a year ago at 190Lb I started using Mounjaro, I believe it has normalised my broken metabolism, I’m now 3.5 Lbs from my goal weight of 125Lb. 😃
Im coming back down the doses soon (presently on 15mg) and hope I can maintain on a much lower dose, I’m absolutely terrified of stopping it altogether because I’m sure the weight will all go back on.
P.S. menopause and hypothyroidism have not helped either.