If you used to be thin but aren’t any more...

[MoonBabysMagicalKalimba]

There’s usually threads on here along the vein of “if you are slim, tell me all your secrets/what you eat in a day/how you think about food” etc and they are always really interesting. Usually started by an OP who has spent years, perhaps their entire life, struggling with their weight.

It got me to thinking about others like me, who were always effortlessly thin as young adults but then that changed. Why did it change? How did it change?

I was a size 8 up until my mid 20s, when I slowly started putting on weight. Up until the age of 25, when I got weighed at the doctors I was always told “you don’t want to lose any weight”. I’m now 35, 2-3 stone overweight and a size 14-16.

I’ve spent years writing it off by saying “well I’m older now, my metabolism has slowed down, I’ve had a baby” etc but I have been lying to myself. When I honesty look back at my thin days, a few things stick out:

• if I ate a massive dinner, I wouldn’t eat much the next day. Not deliberately, I just wasn’t hungry and I’d listen to my body. I’ve stopped listening to my body and will eat just because “it’s breakfast time” even if I’m not hungry.
  

• I would eat loads of takeaways, but I’d either buy small portions (my Chinese order at uni was just a portion of egg fried rice and some sweet and sour sauce) or I’d only eat a small amount and then have the rest as leftovers. A medium dominoes pizza would only have half eaten and the rest in the fridge. Same with curries. Now, I’ll eat the lot.
  

• I never really thought about what I ate. If I wasn’t hungry, I wouldn’t eat and I’d stop when I was full. I now just eat for the sake of it and clear my plate even if I’m not hungry.
  

On an emotional level, I went through a huge life upheaval in my mid 20s which I think led to me turning to food for comfort in a way I never had before. As a teen and in my early 20s, when I had a breakup or other upsetting experience, I’d lose half a stone as I couldn’t eat. A switch flipped at this age, and I started turning to food for comfort in a way I never had before.

I’m interested to know if anyone else was thin in their younger years but are now overweight, what happened? Can you pinpoint how, when and why it changed?

Let this also be a warning to those of you who are thin now, to not make the mistakes I did!

[Frankbutchersfangs]

@BastilleBastille

I was a size 6 from when I was 18 right through I was 27. I suffered for years from an eating disorder and staying thin was an obsession.

I’m 28 now and I’ve just had a baby and it’s literally all change from there. When I was pregnant I had gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and a very difficult and traumatic birth. Consequently I’m suffering really badly from birth trauma and PND. My obsession in food has now shifted and I am consumed by anxiety in a different way due to the difficult birth. I’m finding it practically impossible to lose the baby weight which makes me feel even worse.

I’m now a size 12 which I know isn’t huge but it’s a massive change from what I was. I feel unrecognisable from who I was before.

smalls steps Bastille. Just slowly cut down your portion sizes or cut out your biscuit with cup of tea - whatever. Just find one thing you can cut down on and at the same time increase your movement. It's much slower this way but also much, much easier to maintain, and also better for your mental health. Take care of yourself

[StColumbofNavron]

I was a short, still curvy size 8 but like many I ate out a lot but normally didn’t have breakfast - which I cannot function without now. I did though go clubbing about 3 times a week and dance ALL NIGHT.

[StColumbofNavron]

Posted too soon. I am 15 stone, short and a size 20 and it’s miserable. But today I’ve started fresh so …

[Chicchicchicchiclana]

I've never been "thin" but all through my 20s I weighed between 8 and 9 stone.

I also smoked 20 cigarettes a day, rarely ate a meal, was always at work or out, and partook in a bit of speed, LSD and ecstasy. I cycled to work and back (60 minutes x 5 days a week) and generally was never at home cooking or sitting down.

[Thatsplentyjack]

I was a slim young child, then I started being bullied at around 9 and started piling on the weight ( also my mum gave us massive portions) I was chubby until I was about 13 and then I lost lots of weight due to bulimia. My weight has fluctuated ever since and now I really struggle to lose weight. I am very unhappy with my weight at the moment. I'm not overweight, but not far off and without actually being really fucking hungry all the time, I can't lose weight.

[Thatsplentyjack]

Infact I've just done the bmi calculator and I'm at the very top end of healthy weight a few extra pounds would push me over. I have lost 2 stone since April after having a really hard pregnancy but I still feel disgusted in myself.

[KittenKong]

Age, baby and having i job I loathed did it for me. Up until my mid 30s I was skinny as a rake but ate/drank like a horse or steroids. Dad was tall and very slim - I look more like him than our mum and thought is always be a beanpole.

[WeRTheOnesWeHaveBeenWaitingFor]

Slim in my teens and 20’s very fat now.
All the women were the same in my family so I think it’s genetics.

[Thatsplentyjack]

I use food as a reward to myself. I always have done that though. I also work with kids and kids eat ALL THE TIME therefore I want to eat all the time, although when they have a snack of fruit and some rive cakes etc, I have a latte and biscuits, or cake.

[MarleneDietrichsSmile]

I was a very fat baby, a chubby child, a lanky teen and slim in my 20s

At 50, my weight is still healthy but am a size 14 now instead of a 10

It’s down to being bored and frustrated and gym closure in the pandemic. Snacking more. Moving less

[MistletoeHolly]

I was an effortless 8-10 up until 5 years ago when I met my husband and our socialising consisted of food and alcohol. Prior to that I my social life did involve alcohol but in smaller amounts and with lots of dancing for hours

[CrispAndFrosty]

I was more active, walked everywhere. I've been an utter pig since student days (well, forever, really, but as an adult I can give full rein to my impulses), so my weight has crept up for years, but was mostly kept at bay by activity. Now that I hardly go anywhere, plus the weak stomach muscles that I had have been fully wrecked by pregnancy and my breasts are bigger for the same reason, I look a lot more matronly even though a lot of the baby weight has come off (I ate more than you would believe while pregnant). I'm sure I could fix it if I were disciplined, but I'm not and I'm happy enough to be a soft and cuddly landing spot for my little one for now.