This is such an interesting thread. I posted a poll on why you gain in the general section - but it seems most of you gained slowly over time. Fascinating!

I was a chabby baby and toddler, remember being teased in elementary school, really thin in late elementary school, slowly gaining between 12 and 15, really fat as a teenager (maybe 180-190 lbs), started college, smoking and boys (don't know which caused the drop!) and went down to around 140 lbs in my early twenties. Then, moves increased it somewhat, my first pregnancy I started at a decent 158, my second at 150, but then stayed around 165-170 (which I am now), but then I stopped smoking - went to 180-185 and stayed there for many years. I don't know whether it is psychology that I associate moves, stopping and starting smoking or something else with weight, I didn't think it crept except in the teenage years. For me weight stayed a long time the same, and then did jumps. Seems like everyone else here feels it was a more slow process. Hope either way this is going to work!