Why did you get fat?

[Judy1234]

I was just looking at photos of two women in today's Sunday Telegraph magazine both about 14 stone and around my height, 5 foot 5 ish and wondering what causes people to put on 4 or 5 stone.

Why does everyone lay into Xenia for asking a question that is as honest as any other? Before I got fat I used to wonder the same thing! Now I know, and now Xenia has been answered, she knows too.

Also lack of social networks and depression?

Oh Kilty, kick him in the knob

who was laying into her?
i wasn't. i answered her question. i just commented that i suspect she isn't fat.
whats wrong with that?

Coldtits - it does seem a bit of an insensitive topic to start in the weightloss topic and she has also mysteriously disappeared!!

My medication makes me want to clear my cupboards of food - and I do.

I comfort eat.

I am also a fat greedy cow who needs to eat less and do more.

lol coldtits i know! half eight in the morning eating branflakes! "eating again?" i get! he does it simply to annoy me, then goes on about how starving he is how he hasnt eaten despite me going "can i get you a sandwich, toast?"

blokes eh! who'd have 'em! lol
you see if i didnt laugh i would go eat a snickers bar or 3.

my time will come, he'll go bald and wrinkly before me and it will kill him! ha ha ha!

I'm sure a fair part of it is down to metabolism though.

I've had 2 children, am in my mid 40s, take no exercise, I snack, drink far too much wine etc and yet I am very thin/underweight and have been for much of my life.

Like everyone has said - I eat more and move less than I should.

I put a lot on before I went to uni when I was extremely unhappy with my parents and trying to pretend everything was great. Over 2 years I ballooned from a happy size 16 to a miserable size 24 - verging on a 26.

I've lost significant weight twice in the 10 years since. The first time I put it all back on but it took me about 3 years (and another not very happy time). Last time I got pregnant in the middle of it all but have managed to get back to where I was when I got pg.

It just happens to you over time - you don't want to see it, or you tell yourself that X shop just has smaller sizes, and next thing you know you're up another dress size and another few pounds.

I don't think I've ever hated myself or felt shame about it though. This year I'm aiming to lose another 2.5st - but that's so my DH will agree to having another baby, not because I hate the way I look (obviously I'd rather be less fat, but I know how to dress when I can be bothered, and can always make myself feel good (these days) if I get down).

I was corresponding with some people who are my height which is UK average height of 5 foot 5 who were double my weight. Also Delia Smith has talked about sugar addiction (I was addicted to chocolate, sweets etc) and have felt much better since giving up junk food. Programmes like radiantrecovery.com and the Promis eating guidelines and indeed diets for diabetics and most healthy eating programmes all consistently recommend a low Gi/GL diet more importantly that helping you lose weight but also to improve mental health and I have certainly felt happier since I stopped eating junk foods. That's more important than weight loss itself in my view.

I suspect some people are over eaters/addicted to sugar and others not and there are genetic factors in that. One test in Kathleen de Maison's book is - you come home. There is a plate of newly baked chocolate chip cookies on the table. You're not hungry. The non sugar addict thinks - those look nice - I might have one later. The sugar addict even though not hungry will start eating her way through them all and that's how I was.

So I think if people gradually reverted to the diet we used to have and indeed I had a as a child, breakfast with enough protein, lunch - meat, veg, good carb, dinner, no snacks we'd be healthier, like the Japanese with brown rice and fish., In other words it's the complexity of diet, the added sugars, even the added sugar substitutes which keep some people hooked on sugar (avoid aspartame, just drink tap water) which can make some people continue to eat unhealthy foods. IN other words some of us may be being slowly poisoned by those pushing sugar on us. I see it all the time - even at the air port checking in at Air Canada what were they handing out to the children... sweets, sugar pushing like cocaine pushing but no one takes seriously addiction to sugar. They just laugh that someone might not be able to stop eating all the chocolate in the house, whereas if she were describing how she was searching through all cupboards to find the last bottle of vodka you'd be sympathetic. Instead weight is just some huge joke.

(Skiing - we just went for a week although I did without effort lose 2 pounds but that must be due to skiing all day rather than sitting at a desk all day).

That's interesting Xenia.

I posted earlier that I am very thin - I hardly ever eat sweets or puddings or fizzy drinks (although I have a biscuit or 2 most days) And by hardly ever I mean I might have a can of coke half a dozen times a year.

But dh has a very sweet tooth and is very slim!

i did do a diet following the recipes and principles from the Japanese Women Dont get Fat book and must say i enjoyed the food, didnt feel hungry lost weight and was well chuffed, thought it was fab but then had another blinding row with dp which results in massive depression, eating everything i can find, going to the shop buying as much choc as i can and well you know the rest pretty soon after you feel there is no point!

however today ive been copying out the new slimming world plans and am considering starting the food optimising not with a mind to lose weight due to being pregnant but with a mind not to hinder myself before i start and to ensure we're eating healthy, my dd also starts nursery next week up a great big hill so as i dont drive i will finally be getting some exercise, all in all im rather looking forward to it, its also helping that this pregnancy i seem to be wanting clean food and limes rather than chocolate or anything cloying.

god i love limes

now please don't get too excited people but i agree with every word of your final paragraph xenia.

weight is a massive isse and food/sugar addiction is a vital partof that. yet those with weight problems are just seen as weak and lazy.

heaven forbid moondog comes on here.

I put on weight because I got pregnant and didnt lose all the weight then put on some more...am lazy, I love booze everyday, I adore cheese..chocolate...

I too agree Xenia that there can be factors in play which are not just eating too much and not moving enough. However with me it is not sugar but carbs. I can eat bread/crackers/rice/pasta etc all day long. And frequently do! I did Atkins very successfully once but put it all back on when i stopped and although I have tried again a few times I have not managed to stick with it.

I too am starting Slimming World tomorrow. Will be using making it low GI too as I do agree that that is a great help.

Absolutely no idea, but I have put on 10 kilos in the last ten years. After the births of all three children (last one born when I was 29), I weighed around 58kg for a height of 5 ft 6. I am now struggling to stay below 68 kg and have changed nothing about my diet or level of activity. I did spectacularly lose 5 kg, without trying (no diet, no extra exercise) about 12 months ago over about 3 months but it all came back again over the course of the next couple of months. I think it is metabolic. I should probably up my activity levels from the current 1.5 hours of fast walking daily, but I am not sure I have the time. Running seems to speed up the metabolism for me (swimming doesn't, nor does walking or pilates). I don't eat sweet stuff except for fruit, not because I stop myself but because I don't like it.

I put on 5st over the course of 3 years, largely due to illness/inactivity/side effects of meds which not only increase appetite but also mess up metabolic rate for ages

the odd kg of houmous I'd cheer myself up with probably didn't help either

change of meds which brought improvements in health which led in turn to increased activity levels have contributed to a loss of just over 3 of those st - a further 1st 2lbs gets me comfortably within the healthy range for my height

I swerved from quite enjoying some aspects of being fat (boobs!) to feeling less than human because of it at various times

Sometimes there are medical reasons.
But the basic is if you eat more than you expend you put on weight, well all know that and it's fairly simple.
But it's the psychological issues which really seem at the heart of some people's weight gain, eating when not hungry. Also some foods you can eat when you aren't hungry, very dense, lots of calories and no good value to them like donuts etc.

What interests me is how my tastes could change. I wasn't tempted by chocolate at Christmas. I didn't want it. I'm pleased I was able to make that change over a long period.

It's nothing like as simple as just eating less or better foods, not really a matter of will power. If your brain chemistry is changed so you've had a good breakfast with enough protein so you feel full until lunch time etc and don't eat foods which spike your blood sugar levels up and down gradually normal eating can be resumed rather than a silly temporary fad diet that is never going to last. Then when you feel happier internally you will eat better anyway. But I suspect people differ a lot. Children of alcoholics like I am often do have genuine sugar addiction. Other people don't. Some never over eat in a binging sense of a whole pack of biscuits when not hungry but just eat too much of the wrong foods all the time.

Low GI/GL seems to work best for most people ong term. Most women need some good carbohydrates like brown rice in order to feel content and relaxed and happy and increase their seratonin levels. No point in being as thin as a rake but unhappy and crying.

I think you're absolutely right, Xenia - we are a nation of sugar (and carb) addicts.

Just look at any high street or places where snack food/take away food is sold. And see how much of it doesn't have carbs - none of it.

We're all filling our faces with bread, pastry and sugar (in one form or another) to the exclusion of other, non-addictive foods.

Even foods that shouldn't contain it have sugar added to it, because manufacturers know it makes it more palatable, e.g. tins of soup, beans and cold meats such as roast chicken (using a brown sugar glaze).

You may not think you eat much sugar, but have a look at the ingredients list of any of the processed/pre-prepared foods you buy and I think you'll be surprised!

I also find the link between complex carbs/sugars and depression interesting.
i know that once I start hitting the bread and sugar I am sliding and have to cut back.
As soon as I wean myself off them my energy level goes through the roof. Yet I am endlessly drawn back to them .

Potatos not prozac ( or summat similar) was interesting book - as was the sugar addicts diet thingy.
I will google them if anyone should be even faintly interested

Similar to mysterymoniker. I've put on about 4st in the last 2 years due to a combination of medical conditions, inactivity due to illness, medication and a long period of not having the energy to shop or cook properly and stress.

I know I could have done better but my GP has told me to "give myself a break" so I refuse to feel bad about it.

My DP loves my increased boobs because of my weight gain (they were quite big to begin with).

Hoping to lose that 4st and the extra I was carrying before that this coming year.

I read somewhere that the epilepsy medication I have to take is known to lead to weight gain. Whether or not that is rubbish doesn't bother me too much - I like having some kind of excuse.

If I had to guess it is probably more to do with the fact that, since having my ds 9 months ago, I've stopped working and felt a little bored (yes, I know) and down. Comfort eating without anyone around me that might make me feel a bit guilty about stuffing my face. I'm heavier now than when I was pregnant. Oh, the shame.

The thing that pisses me of is that this stuff is even harder for our children because manufacturers keep adding more and more sugar. The sugar content of most cereals has gone up massively since most of us were kids.
Bastards