I'm overweight because.....

[LovelyLyds82]

This is a great thread, I will be back to read in full an answer. Who knows maybe I will find out more about myself here Xx

 

[ihavethesun]

"No diet or anything works on me I'm probably actually literally just made completely different from everyone else in the world so nothing anyone knows can make me skinny and that's why I'm fat"

I never could do better than that.

 

[Biglad]

I eat more than I exercise......

 

[Manxy64]

Mine have gone from "I've just had a baby" to "I'm too busy to exercise" to "I'm stressed". I don't know why but, after being unhappy with my weight gradually creeping up for the last five years, something clicked in my head last month and I signed up for Slimming World. I've lost eight pounds in five weeks and couldn't be happier with what we're eating as a family, I'm enjoying planning and making the meals, and thanks to this site I've tried a lot of things I've never made before.

If I knew what 'clicked' last month, after months of telling myself that I really needed to lose weight but not taking action, I'd love to share it. Aren't we strange things?

 

[rani]

Because i eat if bored,or if am happy.i dont know when to stop. I love food .x

 

[BrightSide]

Hmm ... I think there's loads of reasons I've used (some are very surfacey, and some are a bit deeper)

Surface reasons:

• Because my whole family (or just abouts) is overweight
• Because I've been overweight since I was a child - I've never even known what it's like to be thin
• Because I'm on medication that makes you put on weight (this was true, at the time - but not to the extent that I did)
• Because I'm lazy/stupid/greedy (insert self-kicking word here)
• Because I haven't got time to diet (i'm too busy/too stressed)
• Because this is just 'me'
• Because I'm beautiful the way I am (I never really believed this, having poor self-image, but I tried to tell myself this)
• Because I'm pretty healthy for someone my weight (I am active, but having a BMI of 40+ I think I was lying to myself on this score)
• Because I like food (and beer!)
• Because I eat more than I burn off (pesky science)

Deeper Reasons:

• Because I've been through loads of stuff in my childhood (trauma etc) which left a giant dent in both my self-esteem and my emotional regulation
• Because I learnt that my body is a bad thing, and tried to ignore it (and eat for my emotions no matter what my body said)
• Because I've grown up in a world where body issues are pretty much part of a rite of passage (even without trauma)
• Because I've been much more comfortable sorting out my head and my life, but somehow neglected the body along the way
• Because I'm scared of trying and failing
• Because I'm really good at avoiding weighing myself when I know I've had a bad week (and those weeks have sometimes stretched to years!)
• Because I didn't always think I mattered
• Because food felt better than feelings
• Because I've accepted an image of myself as 'fat' and couldn't hold on to a vision of myself as anything else (so never truly believed a diet would work for me)

So ... why am I saying 'NOW - I AM GOING TO LOSE WEIGHT'?

Because whilst these reasons make sense in context, I'm done with letting my past dictate my future. I'm losing weight because I deserve to feel healthy and in control of my own body. I'm losing weight because I'd like a child, and I'd like to be able to pass on a positive body image to him/her. I'm losing weight because all the reasons above are no longer enough to stop me.

 

[DianaS]

I can't afford to diet
I don't have time to diet
I'll start the diet tomorrow

 

[Becoming Me....]

Greed, pure greed and then it was im in such a rut it's hard to get out x

 

[Fiddle girl]

This is a great thread...and an important part of why we do and don't lose weight.

I used to think 'there's something wrong with me - I don't overeat, its not my fault I am over weight' when actually my diet was not as healthy as I thought
'I can't be thin'
I wish I could but it's just not possible for me, it's so unfair!'
'No one will love me because I am fat'
'Its the reason I can't do this/that/the other'
'Im still healthy'
'can't really tell' - you could.
'Size 16 is average' I wasn't even in 16's any more. I'd tell myself and others I was and cut labels out of clothes that were over 16...most of my clothes were 18, if I fitted a 20, which I did, I wouldn't buy it. I would go without or get something stretchy in a smaller size.
I was hiding in fat from rejection, fear, failure and didn't want to expose myself to the world.
I will not go back there. I am mentally better than I have been in years and there is no need for me to be obese, I can lose weight and be a healthy weight. I do not especially over eat, but what I ate was terrible from being a teenager onwards. It is much better now! Following slimming world and regularly swimming and running and have lost 2 st 12.5lbs so far, 2 st 9 to go...at least. I have no idea what I will look like as I have never weighed my goal weight, not my current weight for that matter! xxx I am ready. I do not need to be fat, or keep excess fat. I am ready to do life now, and stop hiding

 

[Fiddle girl]

I'm glad you dont have these any more either....its good to be done with our excuses! Mine lasted a long time...I'm glad I don't need them anymore...I am still emerging more and more the more weight I lose...I'm still me...just better and more the 'real' me, even though that phrase sounds so naff! yak! But yeah...

Because im lazy
Because im destined to be
Because im a loser
Because of my parents
Because of my friends
Because i dont have time
Because i hate diets and cant keep with them
Because i cant control myself..

Im glad i dont have these anymore.

 

[Sassie.b]

As a child I was slim, energetic and always on the go. At 13 my parents divorced and my dad (who I've never got on with) wouldn't move out, home life was miserable. I spent all my pocket money and babysitting money on cakes and chocolate, because eating them gave me great pleasure and made me feel good and that was the start of my comfort eating. I became less confident but if I felt down I ate to feel better - viscious circle. My poor mum tried to help but I wouldn't listen and carried on.

I took this unhealthy approach to food into adulthood and the weight piled on. As an adult I should've done something about it but in all honesty I was too lazy - I loved food, eating out, takeaways and going to the pub too much. I had a boyfriend that loved me whatever size I was so I just carried on.

You have to be in the right headspace to diet and, apart from trying WW, I never was. It was only when I was approaching 50 with creaky knees that I took a good look at myself and realised I couldn't continue stuffing my face.

So in a nutshell, I do blame my unhappy home life initially, but later it was down to me, eating and drinking far too much and doing no exercise.

 

[Elsa]

Mine was always... I've always been big even as a baby I can't be anything else! But I've recently looked back at a photo of myself at about 13 when I thought I was massive. I'm not. I'm bigger and curvier than an average 13 year old but not obese. I just felt it. My mind was set from a very early age. Did the fact that my Mum was constantly on a diet impact me, that she hated that she had big legs (classic pear shape), that she didn't want me to "suffer" like she had and put me on a diet from as early as I can remember? Well heck yeah - she was coming from a good place but basically I got conditioned early that I came from "big genes" and was aware even at 7 years old that I had bigger legs than my friends and that I always would. I guess I never really believed I could be anything else and my eating habits got really f'd up very early. I used to "steal" the cooking chocolate from the cupboard because I hated that my brother was allowed desserts and sweets and I wasn't. I don't blame my Mum, she is as messed up as I am really - but I reckon I am going to do it this time. It's taken almost 45 years but I think I've got my head sorted at last.

 

[tipperary]

Old thread but is it Ok to bump it.

Why am I overweight.
Well unlike many of the ladies here it wasn't pregnancy. At 19 I was 45 kilos, by 22 I had three children and was...45 kilos. Three babies kept me fit and agile and was always on the go.
At 30 my children were well able to go out themselves and didn't need me to bring them for a walk. Going from daily 8k walks pushing a double buggy to no walk and using the time to do the ironing/washing/whatever caused the start of my weight gain.

So my other excuses

• Family are all overweight so its not my fault
• She's fatter than me so I'm not too fat
• We all get bigger as we get older
• My husband is French so I have to drink wine
• Its too cold to go for a walk
• Its too warm to go for a walk
• I'm tired
• I hate waste so will eat leftovers rather than throw them out
• I am very good at making cake
• I "love people" with food, come to my house and you will be very well fed, everyone knows this
• I love cooking and cook really well
• I teach cooking and so have lots of food testing and tasting to do
• I treat myself with food and wine
• I'm on holidays and feel obliged to eat and drink lots of new taste experience's
• Life is too short to deprive yourself

Yup, all that sounds about right, just a load of excuses rather than accept its my fault.

 

[Enough]

I'd rather swallow my feelings than deal with them?

 

[Doctor Cox]

We are all overweight because we eat too much crap and don't get off our hole as often as we should

My favourite excuse has to be the thyroid though or the life is too short excuse, it's about to be even shorter folks