Great question......why did I get fat...honestly.....it slipped up on me! I was a great size in high school and college....slowly gained during my first marriage of 11 years.....first hubby complained I had gained weight when I weighed 160 instead of 130.....we ended up divorcing......for the best. I did not remarry for 10 years, and he was a big and overweight man. He loved to eat and drink and go out to dinner, and I slipped into a different way of eating with him and it slowly started up. If given the choice I ate the wrong things.....I loved carbs....loved pasta dishes, garlic bread, wine. Can you guess that I love Italian food? I haven't been to my favorite restaurant in 2 1/5 years....... Sugar and desserts were NEVER my problem......I got fat on bread, pasta, wine, crackers, chips, popcorn, pretzels, fruit and starchy veggies. etc.

A few years after I remarried I damaged my foot in an accident......lost some toes and crunched up some bones and it kind of stopped the kinds of exercise I was doing.....it now hurt to walk, run, jazzercize, etc. weight crept up more and more. I also moved up to a more administrative job that keeps me sitting behind a desk most of the day.

These aren't excuses.....I let it happen -- except for the foot accident ----I ate myself this way. I could have switched to a different type of exercise that took the weight off my foot like swimming or cycling but I didn't.

My fault. I avoided the camera and was shocked to see pictures of my fat self if someone happened to catch me in a picture. Weird thing was I never "felt" as fat as I was......pictures were always shocking....like looking at a stranger.

To be honest, what finally got through to me was my feet....they began to hurt all the time....and my knees hurt....and I went to the surgeon who had operated on me 10 years ago when I had the accident. I have developed bunions too, and I was convinced that I had broken bones in my feet they hurt so bad.

He told me that I didn't......that my feet had become flatter, and in a very kind way suggested that my feet problems would be greatly relieved if I was able to lose some weight. He said that basically each step I took put twice my weight's pressure on that foot, knee -- at least that's what I think he said. If I weight 250 then I imagined 500lbs hitting my knees and feet every step.....no wonder I hurt ....Any way, he prescribed orthotics, certain shoes and a therapeutic dose of Aleve to begin with.

I went home determined to lose weight and searched for what to do.......I landed on Atkins and haven't looked back. I'm down 50 pounds........should be down 100, but I have stalled out for many months. However that 50 pounds made a HUGE difference, and I know if I can get the rest off my knees and feet will be joyful :)

I still miss the food that sent me here.. but I am determined to lose 70 pounds. This board helps.

lbangle - I can relate to some of what you mentioned in your post. I noticed not just feet pains, but back pains and a few other pains that I began to think would be relieved if I could get the weight off. I'd been exercising without changing my eating and that didn't help. Finally, I saw an ad for Atkins and began looking into it. So glad I did. Let's all keep going ... keep supporting each other! :) I know I need the support from this group. :agree: