How did you first learn you had a weight problem?

For me, I was blissfully unaware of what a pound was or even what a diet was until I was in the 6th grade and they weighed us in class. I weighed 85 and my best freind weighed 70. I didn't even realize I was bigger than her. Judging by the reactions from the other kids, I determined that weighing 70 was much better than weighing 85 and I also determined that what one weighed was a big deal. I was not the heaviest kid in the class ( a lot of the kids were about my weight and one girl weighed 150) but I decided right then and there that I wanted to weigh 70 like my best friend.

That weekend over a huge pancake and sausage breakfast I asked my father how I could weigh less and for the very first time I learned what the term reduction diet meant. It sounded pretty easy, but my father told me it was too late to start that day b/c I'd already eaten all those buttery, syrupy pancakes and all that sausage. I know my mother had been on "diets" but I never equated the word diet with the plates of tomatoes and cucumbers my mother seemed to be eating so often.

The following day I started my first diet and I really believe that's when my eating problems began. I did not lose any weight, but I began using my daily calorie allotment for foods that had no nutritional value whatsoever. I couldn't see wasting precious calories on meats and vegetables and salads when I seemed to get so much more enjoyment out of starchy, sugary foods. We had a bakery around the corner and I began to spend my allowance at the bakery so I wouldn't be tempted to waste my calories by eating the nutritious meals that my mother prepared.
asugar

My mother put me on a diet at age 5 because an uncle said I was getting too fat. I've seen pictures of me at that age. I was perfectly normal.

This is the same mother who used to say things like, "Oh, those three potatoes look so lonely on that plate. You could eat them, couldn't you?" "Would you like some apple pie with your diet Coke?" In reference to a 20-lb weight loss that put me at 145, the smallest size I ever achieved as an adult, "Oh, well, that was a nice start."

I loved her and she loved me, but it was, at times, a very strange relationship. I miss her.

I never did till after the birth of my third son, when I started to gain weight AFTER he was born. So basically I've always known since I was an adult, no one had to tell me.

I didn't have a weight problem until I went to visit relatives the summer I was 15.

And it was my mother that pointed out the problem (not very nicely). I immediately got a diet book that said I could lose the weight (I had gained 11 pounds) in a month if I went on a 1,000/day diet. I did go on the diet, and I did lose the weight in a month. But if it had been handled differently, I never would have dieted and I sometimes think I wouldn't be in this mess right now. If I had just realized then that going back to normal eating and normal routine I would have eventually shed the weight.

Since that time, it has been an up and down ride. The reality...up until five years ago, I was never more than 15 pounds over my ideal. And in reality, was not overweight by any charts. If I had just exercise regularly then, I probably would have never dieted. From my own experience, I do believe that dieting makes you fatter. Not only regarding more weight gain, but also less muscle mass.

When my clothes got tight.

I wasn't fat as a kid, but I had a *fat year* when I was like 11-12.... This one time when I was like 11? I don't even remember.. me and my friend (boy) were outside and he said he weighed like 90lbs, and I weighed like 120... I told him 100 LOL and he said "THATS IT????" lmfao.

But then I lost that weight, and got fat again thanks to my thyroid.

My mother spent her whole life trying to gain weight. Naturally skinny. When I was little she kept shoving food down my throat because she didn't want me to be skinny too.

Well, I must have taken after my dad and not her, cause I just kept gaining! By 11, it was my doctor who told my mom that I was fat and needed to diet. Unfortunately, she didn't understand what that meant, and so I just continued to gain.

I'm now 53, and have had my mother move in with me 6 years ago. She wants to do all the cooking, so guess what? I've gained 15 lbs in 6 years with her here. She would cry if I didn't want to eat what she cooked, and being a good daughter, I gave up and just started eating.

So here I am, having had many discussions with mom and asking her to understand our differences.

My mother is obsessed with fat and put me on diets from as early as I can remember (certainly by age 5). I sometimes look at pictures of myself as a chlid and I can't figure it out. I was never skinny, but I certainly wasn't obese. I was just a large child, the tallest kid in the class, and I am large boned. All I remember from childhood is my mother trying to control every bite that went into my mouth. Of course, I learned to sneak around behind her back, eat forbidden foods at friends' houses, etc.

By the time I was a teenager I think my metabolism was screwed up from all the diets and I did develop a weight problem. Then I started putting myself on diets and my weight went up and down. I managed to hold it down from my late teens to my mid-twenties when I got pregnant for the firs time -- I gained 75 pounds during the first pregnancy. At that point, it became pretty obvious I had a weight problem!

Was like the liz story. My father would tell tanya that she was too round or insinuate all her growing up that she was fat.
I now look back at pictures of her as a child, and she was merely a small round person. Not fat.. just naturally round if that makes any sense.
I was leaner and thinner. And I was able to maintain that for three pregnancys. This isn't to say that I also didn't get it in my head that I was very fat.
For me it was a different vehicle. My mother never liking tight clothing would put me in size 12. Constantly. Fact is at 5'4 and 120 pounds, and a girl that walked most places, I couldn't have been THAT LARGE. I don't have large bones..
But I got that message.
I even remember getting my wedding dress and the woman assisting me said "OH please let me get a smaller size for you that fits... and I said..no.. I am MUCH larger than I look.. I need size 12"..and so now you see pictures of a bride with a dress that really does fit WAY large on top..
I can't seem to get a handle on what I really am.
All I know is that I should NOT weigh what I do at the height I am..
Poofie!

Didn't become overweight till I was 40 (except for my 2 pregnancies but weight came off pretty fast afterward). I am bi-polar and had trouble getting stabilized with my meds while going through a severe depression (lasted about 2 years) Doc tried many combinations and I finally found one that pulled me out. During my depression I slept most of the time and ate what was around since I didn't want to cook. Hardly went anywhere and didn't get any excersise. That along with side effects of my meds is where I believe I gained all the weight.

Seems like I woke up one day, looked in the mirror and saw a totally different person....fat! Hated the way I looked but it took about another year before I finally started to do something about it.

I was always told that I would get a new wardrobe if I lost weight. I would get a boyfriend if I would lose weight.

My parents really didn' t know any better but damn ... I still think my life will be better if I lose weight.

I learned when I was 7 years old and my mom enrolled me in dance class (mixed gender) and was teased by a few boys. Needless to say it left an impression so when I became a teenager I was on the verge of anorexia. I started regaining the weight around the age of 18 and it continued until I reached my maximum this year at 198. That was April and that is when I decided to take control before my 40th birthday. Happily, I am down 1/2 of what I wanted to lose to reach goal and feel confident I will reach my goal by my 1 year Atkinsaversary on 4/6/03

My self esteem and safety were shattered at around age 10 and it got worse from there...was a perfectly normal child, but early depression made me look for comfort inside, and guess where I found it? Started putting on pounds right away. I can still hear those words "Your FAT!!!" in my house, but there was nothing else that helped but more food.

When I look at my high school pics and remember that I weighed 144, I have to shake my head...I was beautiful, had no body problems, just a little healthy meat on my bones! But I always FELT fat and I soon fulfilled that awful prophecy.

I lost all my 20's to obesity...260 at the highest. I dropped 90 pounds on my own through sheer disgust, and aside from 25 I put on through a 5 year relationship, that just ended, I have kept most of it off. NOW that I'm grieving, I'm down another 15.

Most people are fat in their heads first...God save us, it's a crime what we put into the heads of children and young girls especially.

Every body's beautiful.

My first memory of being aware of my weight was during one of those 6th grade weigh-ins as well. I can't believe they did that. All of a sudden all of us girls became aware of the weight issue, and just loved talking about how much everyone weighed. Ugh. I was just a little overweight at the time, but really piled it on over the next couple of years. My first diet was the Stillman diet when I was in the 8th grade. That was the first of many. My weight has NEVER been stabilized (and I'm now 43). I'm always either gaining or losing. That's why this time I set a very realistic goal of 190. I'd really like to get there and just hang there for a while and prove to myself that I can maintain my weight. It's funny though, how different you feel about yourself depending on whether you're heading up the scale or down. Right now I'm 217, and feel great. Of course, the last time I weighed this, I was on my way UP, and it was horrible. I couldn't believe I had let myself get over 200 AGAIN. There is a tremendous mind/body connection regarding our weight that is as important as what we put in our mouths.

Tami