To repeat many others, this is a great topic. I personally believe that most people are overweight for emotional and physiological reasons. I have known many overweight people and most of them link it to emotional causes. (I've talked to alot of people about weight...coworkers, friends, family, group counseling, etc.) In my case, I think it is mostly emotional. The fact that my body can't handle carbs well just exacerbates the issue.
Many women I know that are overweight, including myself, have been sexually molested or raped at some point in their lives, so sometimes people gain weight in an unconscious attempt to avoid sexual attention. For me, it's also about loving and accepting myself.
I've been below my goal weight before...and I gained it back...mainly because I didn't deal with the issues surrounding it. Part of me was expecting to be "fixed" and "perfect" once I got thin...heeh...i got a rude awakening I was just as miserable thin as I had been overweight. So for me, I'm working on changing the inside as well as the outside this time.

Anywhooo....I was actually thinking about posting a topic similiar to this last night...i'm glad someone did because I've been wanting to talk about it...I love reading everyone's responses.

Melaney