I was husky from elementary through early high school, then had a growth spurt and dropped a ton of weight. I was 6'2" 185lbs all through my early 20's, however, eating tons of fast food, drinking and not exercising caught up to me in my mid 20's. I got up to 270 when I was 27.

After watching my brother finish an Ironman and having one of those moments where you look at yourself in the mirror and are completely disgusted, I realized it was time to make a change. Two years later I finish an Ironman and dropped down to 175.

6 months later I had my first child and my training/diet was completely gone. 3 years after my Ironman I have gotten back up to 235 and recently started a completely vegan diet with a little running mixed in. I have had knee and back issues, which seem to only come up when I get overweight, so that gave me more reason to get back to it. It really is all about what you consume.

stress hormones and over eating. you can't outwork a combination of those two things.

1. Long commute (2hr20 per day round-trip)
2. Desk job
3. No exercise
4. Didn't eat out a whole lot but ate a lot of processed foods

Never really got "fat" but definitely "chunky" and the quintessential definition of "skinny fat"

150lbs graduating HS. 173lbs as a jr at A&M.

Down to 143lbs and feel better @ 27. Working out a lot but diet could still be improved.

Poor eating habits. Typical American diet.

Cheap food meals. Cheap food is typically bad for you and as a college student and early graduate I couldn't afford much more than cheap food. Add in not enough physical activity and I gained 50 lbs in 5 years from sophomore year to year 2 out of A&M. And I held onto about 30-40 lbs of that for the following 15 years with much more exercise and physical activity - it was still my diet that caused and continued to fuel that unhealthy weight.

I'm doing OMAD and I have lost 42 lbs in 4 months pretty easily. I am 6'1" and 194 lbs today, with probably another 10-15 lbs to lose. I went from 29% fat to 20% body fat.

Always husky growing up. Did fine in junior high and high by playing sports (football and powerlifting)

Got to college and no longer had training routine so ballooned from 190 to ~235 freshmen and sophomore year. Lots of McDonalds, Fatburger on NG (RIP), and heavily processed food at home. I'm sure I got over 235 but when you're overweight, you usually aren't running to get on a scale and verify.

Started running some junior and senior year and really cranked it up after graduating with marathon training. At my lowest I've been around 160, now hover around 170-180.

My diligence on my diet ebbs and flows with other sources of stress in my life, and it doesn't take much to make a difference. My BMR at 210 lbs is less than 200 calories more than it is at 180. If you pick a sugary cereal instead of oatmeal or have a beer or soda per day that you otherwise wouldn't, you're there.

I've never let things get too far gone, and I can lose weight pretty easily once I start paying attention to it again, but nutritionally empty, extremely palatable food is cheap, available everywhere, and tastes good. If you don't consciously choose to eat healthy, it is too easy to stumble into 500 calories a day that you don't need.

Unhealthy relationship with food/ feelings.

Nothing hugs me like a deep dish cheese pizza. I've done well, dropping down into the 180s and maintaining it when I can get in a solid routine of eating and exercise, but life tends to get in the way, and once I teeter over the edge of that wagon, all bets are off. I don't halfass it.

This as well, I don't half ass. When I'm dieting I go all in and when I'm not I go all in. I find it easier to not eat than it is to have only a small portion of something I want to indulge in

Kids
long commute
bad sleep
stress eating
lack of exercise

Consistently choosing to eat pizza and beer instead of chicken and beans. It was easier and felt better. Took two years to go from 145 to 183. Currently am back down to 145 or so.

Beer.

Too many burgers and fries (my weaknesses) for meals instead of making healthier choices. That combined with missing too many workouts and I've put on an unwanted 15 lbs or so currently.

CrockerAg98 said:

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Yep, I'm in or out. I have no ability to moderate when it comes to food. If I don't have a donut, I'm fine. If I have one, I'm having all of them.

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Then don't have a donut

Layne's in college and public account in adult life. Lost the weight both times when I left those situations and think I'm at a solid, realistic weight now.

Jobs that required lots of travel and eating out. Down 50 lbs since.

Presley OBannons Sword said:

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CrockerAg98 said:

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Yep, I'm in or out. I have no ability to moderate when it comes to food. If I don't have a donut, I'm fine. If I have one, I'm having all of them.

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Then don't have a donut

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That's my only option. When I fall off the wagon for stress or life, it goes out the window, but I've also had many happy, fulfilling years, eating good food, but not eating the "donut". I recognize the problem. It's no mystery. Just a choice I have to make, and sometimes I choose poorly.

CrockerAg98 said:

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Presley OBannons Sword said:

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CrockerAg98 said:

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Yep, I'm in or out. I have no ability to moderate when it comes to food. If I don't have a donut, I'm fine. If I have one, I'm having all of them.

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Then don't have a donut

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That's my only option. When I fall off the wagon for stress or life, it goes out the window, but I've also had many happy, fulfilling years, eating good food, but not eating the "donut". I recognize the problem. It's no mystery. Just a choice I have to make, and sometimes I choose poorly.

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Sounds like an addiction. There are ways to get help with that.

I used to travel a lot for work, don't do that anymore. The biggest I ever got when I was on the road was close to 210. I'm 5'11" and I had to move up from 34" pants to 36" that was a wakeup call. I didn't do anything crazy, just cut out a lot of junk, but after that for years I hovered around 195, I just figured it was my normal.

Last year I just looked at myself disgusted. I was exercising regularly, didn't drink, but looked and felt like crap. I just had one of those moments when I decided to make a change. I was seriously considering going either vegetarian or vegan for a month, just to see what would happen with my body.

Ironically while researching ways to transition my diet I stumbled upon keto and it just seemed to fit. Ditching the carbs and increasing fat intake just seemed to make sense. I'm not strict keto, more keto adjacent, I eat too much protein to be full on keto. But it works for me. My weight these days hovers around 170 +/- and I'm down to 31" pants, which I haven't worn since HS most likely.

I get cravings, but they're weird cravings. I never crave cookies or chips, it'll randomly be at the grocery store and I'm surrounded by something like fruit. I figure if that's the sugar my body craves every once in a while I'm okay with it. After lunch I stay full for a long time so maybe half the week I don't even eat dinner. I believe that's why I would eat and eat, just wanted to get full. A gram of fat has the same calories as a gram of carbs, but one keeps you full for a long time. This is not a diet I preach to people, but it helped me lose weight and keep it off. I also don't get sleepy in the afternoons when I'm working. I've seen a lot of benefits, it's not easy but the restrictions help to keep me focused on where my next meal is coming from.

In 2002, I was arguably in the best shape of my life when I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was prescribed a high dosage of Prednisone and was on it for 4-5 years. I went from about 205 to 272. I hurt so bad the first year that I quit working out, while on Prednisone. I still haven't broken the code on getting back into the gym, and am still around 245ish. My RA has been in remission for the last 5 years.

SJEAg said:

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Bad diet - lot of fast food and eating until stuffed. Too much alcohol.

Childhood I stayed a healthy weight thanks to being a highly competitive swimmer (2-4hrs a day in the pool for 10 years). Senior year in high school when I quit through most of college went from 170 to 220. Dieted to meet womenz...down to 170...met wife...got married. 20s-30s had kids, got desk job, gradually went back to 220. Tired of being fat at 39 and did keto...down to 180. After a bump back to 190 I got serious and started running. Now a distance runner doing 60-70 miles a week and in the low 160s.

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How old are you now and how long did it take you to get to 60-70 miles/week?

I'm 41. I went from couch (seriously couldn't run a 1/2 mile) to 13.1 in about 4 mos back in early 2017. Marathon in 12/17 on 40-50 mi a week. Have done 60-70 much through 2018...marathon #2 coming in Jan.

Think my next goal is to get back into swimming, dabble in biking, and maybe start thinking about an Ironman.

Congrats! Sounds like you already have a good running base and with the swimming background you should have no problem with an IM.

Always has been and always will be diet. I'm far more active than 90% of the people I am acquainted with that are of a healthy weight. I'm HEB positive

Was in best shape of life at 21. Unexpected acl injury was discovered during a planned meniscus repair. Without getting into details, the injury changed my life course far more than anticipated or appreciated. Literally lost a job opportunity. Ended up getting lazy (and depressed). beer and an American diet didnt help. Got a desk job and tried to get back in shape. While i did recover my weight lifting, i was never was able to recover my running (and still cant, that knee hasnt been the same).

Basically injury>lazy>work>family. Life piled up and i couldn't get over my mental block. Im still within 15lbs of my 21 year old self, unfortunately, its all fat.

Never get out of shape. As someone who grew up outside, playing sports and partaking in constant physical activity, i took for granted the effort required to be in good physical condition. It's very hard to get fit if youve lost it. Trying to be healthy and setting reasonable expectations has helped. The family ran a 5k last week so were are trying. Thats all we can do i suppose.