At what age did you first realise you had issues with food/weight

[jfc]

I was thinking back to when I was 15. I wasnt overweight as such. I just remember squeezing into a pair of size 8 cords and not being able to breathe. I weighed about 7 stone 10 at the time.

But thinking back further to the age of 13 when I went on holiday and I was made fun of for refusing to remove my hacking jacket (they were in fashion then!) It was scorching hot but I wouldnt remove it inside or out because of my tummy...To me it was a 'real' issue but in hindsight it was probably just puppy fat...

I then started following something called the F Plan or the Baked bean diet as my friends called it. I lost a little weight and gained some.

At the age of 15 weighing in at 7 stone 10 and feeling fat for the reasons mentioned above. I went around europe on a 10 day field trip with my classmates and lived on a mars bar a day diet...I came home weighing 6 stone and looked skeletal...but was delighted at being able to fit jeans and clothes that normaly I would have to lie on the floor huff and puff and go red in the face and then have those tyre track marks all over my belly when I finaly take them off at night...

Anyway...I then went up and down with my weight until I fell pregnant at 24 and gained 5 stone

 

[jfc]

In thinking back...I was never really overweight until having my children...so why did I feel so fat and was it that early dieting that messed me up now

Is that why I binge or starve?

 

[chicken on a mission]

I didn't have a weight problem until I was 21 and moved in with my now hubby.

I know now through the LL counselling that this is because I then continued the cycle passed on to me by my dad that you cook to be appreciated by your friends and family. If you love them you over cater and cook rich foods you wouldn't normally have.

So my problem with food didn't manifest itself until I was then head of my own household. I moved out at 18 but for 3 years I looked cooked for myself so there was never a problem.

At least I know now and I have already stopped the rot so this will not be passed unto my daughter.

 

[kamiknix]

I never ever had a weight problem as a child/teenager. My weight all 9.5 stone first went on when I was pregnant with my first child in 1992. He was born at 8.5lbs! Lost all but a stone and fell pregnant again put on 4 stone in 17 weeks then loss twins at 18 weeks. Loss 3 stone before falling again Son born 7.5lbs! Lost most of the weight over the next 7 years 1/2 stone off goal and.....yep! fell pregnant again! Put the whole lot back on and a bit more! Weighed in the week before I had my 6lb baby! at 20 stone 6lbs!
Now in the 15's and heading downwards......Why did I get so big??? Because I was a complete PIG! I ate and ate and ate totally rubbish each time. I'm not having anymore children so no excuses!

 

[Isobel1965]

I was 10 and in a mixed class with boys at my private school (ooh get me! lol). We were in Music with Mrs Reid and my friend and I were playing a duet on the ol' johanna. I was tapping my leg in time to the music - I was barelegged, in summer uniform.

One of the boys - a long lanky blonde git - shouted out - "look at the leg of lamb bouncing".

I nearly died of shame.

I'd never taken much notice of my body before....ever since that day, I've been as self-conscious as anything but have trained myself not to care too much.....sort of lol.

 

[jfc]

it suddenly hits you dosnt it Isobel. What that boy did was cruel and thoughtless but children have a habit of saying it as they see it and it hurts.

My daughter is lovely to me normaly but she knows if I have upset her (not let her get her own way in some way)..to get me back she just has to mention my weight....but she dosnt do it very often....funily enough when I got to target last year and was in size 8 clothes she would still call me a lardy ass if she was upset...lol (So she hadnt noticed my weight loss of 5 stone either!)

 

[KD]

Ummm. I was about 3 when my Mum decided that I shouldn't play on the beach in my swimming costume because I was was too fat.

This continued, with different clothes from others (because clothes weren't available in my size...or so I was told). Not everything different, just school shirt, school knickers and suchlike.

On to aged 17 and given a pressent of a few weeks at Slimming Magazine club, which I was eventually thrown out of for losing too much weight, despite protests from my mother.

Sad thing is, I can't find one photo of me looking fat until I was about 26.

So I guess I always thought I was fat...but probably wasn't most of that time. Not my childhood anyway.

 

[jfc]

OMG...You were thrown out of a sliming club for losing too much weight...did you get to target or were they jealous of your willpower?

Thats sad about you being only 3 and not allowed to play in the beach, thats an important part of childhood...not just playing on the beach but being allowed to do 'normal' kids things and not feel different or inferior...made me a bit choked reading it..

xxxxx

 

[KD]

To be honest, I don't remember being particularly sad about being made to feel inferior. I just accepted it as fact. A bit like if you have no legs and someone tells you you haven't got any legs. It was just a fact that I grew up with.

It's only when you get a bit older you start thinking that it was way out of order, even if it was true.

She used to say, "You don't have the looks, you don't have a personality, but we love you anyway". I thought she was such a wonderful person to love me regardless. In hindsight, I'm not sure that she loved me at all.

Things got so much better when they took off my 2nd head

 

[Russiandoll]

I was made 'body aware' at the age of 11 by my netball teacher. I was in the 'A' team and we were practicing when the ball flew over my head. I jumped as high as I could but Michael Jordan couldn't have reached it.

Suddenly she blew the whistle, everyone stopped and the netball court fell silent.
Miss 'M' screamed out "Deborah G!!!! Your problem is that you're growing THAT way (gestured hand away from stomach) instead of THIS way (gestured hand upwards from head)"
The silence was deafening apart from a couple of sniggers. I was totally humiliated.

Later on, I went home and took a long hard look at myself in the mirror and thought, 'so that's what being fat looks like.' I saw myself through 'fat specs' from that day onwards.

Thing is, the following year when I started senior school, we had to weigh and measure ourselves in science (I was horrified at having to do this, being fat and all). We had to use the new 'metric' weights and measures and I distinctly remember being 35kg. Enormous!

Well, converting it shows that I was just 77lb - or 5st 5lb.

But that single cruel comment made by a netball teacher followed me my whole school life and ultimately impacted on my adult life too. Mad.

 

[MandyB2]

I've been overweight for as long as I can remember.. in photos of me up to 5 years of age I looked pretty normal but after that I gained a stone a year till at the age of 15 I weighed in at 19 stones +. I realise now my overeating stemmed from an unhappy and insecure home life due to my mother's mental health problems. Being big as a child caused me lots of pain and a thick skin!!! It also caused me to lack in confidence and self esteem which are problems I am still dealing with today. Over the years I have yo-yo'd between 11.5 and 20 stones, suffered bulimia and constantly felt bad about myself due to my weight. Only now and into my 40's have I started to believe that I am not destined to always be overweight.. I am very much work still in progress but I firmly believe that I will reach my goal and stay there as I'm finally beginning to like myself a little,which is a whole new ball game to me

xxxx

 

[KD]

Only now and into my 40's have I started to believe that I am not destined to always be overweight.. I am very much work still in progress but I firmly believe that I will reach my goal and stay there as I'm finally beginning to like myself a little,which is a whole new ball game to me

And you'll get there

I have to say, that even at the beginning of this diet I didn't believe I would be able to stay slimmer. I think I assumed I would just have the chance to be slim for a summer...just to see what it was like.

It wasn't that I didn't want to be slim forever...just thought that I didn't have it in me to be able to do it.

So we live and learn and sometimes it takes us until we get to 40+ before we realise it's not just for others, we have the strength to do it for ourselves.

 

[Piper]

I was fairly young to be honest. At around 10/11 I carried some puppy fat, and was bullied at school because of it (not helped that my Mum taught there so I was a target anyways). From then on really I lost weight/gained weight. I was at my thinnest around 15/17 when I weight 8 stones 4lbs and my periods stopped for six months so obviously too thin for me. I can't really remember a time when I haven't battled with my weight. I think I've tried everything thats going too, laxatives, making myself sick, slimming pills, most diets you can think of. I need to sort my head out as well which is why I'm hoping to get counselling for my self esteem at the same time as doing CD (did the LL counselling but tbh it didn't do much for me).

Lynne x

 

[tulips]

When I was very young ( up until about 7 yrs old) I was constantly taken to the doctor for being UNDERWEIGHT!

I don't know if these issues lead to me then overeating as I do remember people making me eat extra portions to make me look healthy!

Once at secondary school, I knew I was bigger than my peers, but it didn;t bother me, I was very active and fairly happy.

Reaching 14 and having to wear clothes from women's depts in clothing stores was when I knew there was more of a problem! I did weight watchers for a while and lost some weight and learned about good food, but i was a rebel. My parents were constantly watching what I ate and I guess that's where the secret eating started! It was best to keep it hidden from them. Whatever went missing...my baby brother was blamed..poor lad! LOL!

At 16, I went clubbing a lot and maintained a fairly good weight.

By the time I went to uni, I went mad... take aways, beer & cider all attributed to the big me!

Then I lost all control, food was a treat, a comfort, my friend really in many circumstances, stress, celebrations and in general day to day situations!

I have hated myself for so long now, I know it will be a slow process to begin to like what I see and I hope that I will eventually like myself, because most days......... I don't.

 

[lorraineb]

Hi everyone, new here!

My nan is bulimic, and has been since I can remember. My mum was anorexic and always starving for a few weeks to lose weight. Both of these made me very aware of my body and food, and I remember being a perfectly normal weight, but throwing my lunch away at school- I was probably around 9.

Then in primary school I developed much faster than the rest of my year, and was growing breasts at 10. Everyone at school would say how big I was and tease me over it.

Added to this was the fact I saw food as a punishment- I never wanted to sit at the table and eat, but my parents made me finish it all! Food was also a treat thought- my nan would give us a huge bag of about 7 full size chocolate bars a week. I was the only one of us to eat them in one go though!

As I got older, I got bigger, untill I was 14 and weighing 14 stone. I didn't even notice I had got that big. Then came the binge eating, puking, then starving. I am very aware that my relationship with food is very difficult.