Why do people let themselves get fat?

[Anonymous]

especially when they were skinny before. i know a lot of people, guys and girls, that got really fat after college all of a sudden. how do they let that happen? i mean i understand putting on a little weight but some people blow up. dont they realize theyre gaining too much weight?

[GOLDFISH_smile]

Your body can still be changing from puberty. Some things don't finish til what, 25? 26? So that can be a big factor in weight gain as a person ages.

Also at college you may have meals planned for you, and have easy access to a gym right on campus as well as recreational sports and walking between buildings. When you graduate if you move out on your own, you suddenly have to cook everything for yourself and you have to pay for and drive to a gym to workout. Also you can't just walk around campus anymore with friends, you have to call friends and make plans and walk around the streets right next to traffic...

So obviously someone's regular diet and exercise can change a LOT right after graduating college, and not as likely in a good way. That's another factor.

Just because someone continues to gain weight doesn't always mean they haven't noticed, or that they aren't trying to reverse it. That's very hard to do if it's not a "simple fix" or you don't know what that fix is.

[beefcakebradybatson]

A surfeit of junk and/or comfort food.

[Finchie40]

It could stem down to a lot of reasons , stress, depression , addictive personality disorder , etc.. So someone that went from skinny to fat is more than likely suffering from some sort of mental disorder or internal disorder , failure to thrive or failure to go see a doctor and find out what the hell is happening to them. Why people shouldn’t be quick to judge someone based off of their weight and just assume they are lazy and don’t do anything. Everyone of us as different genes , that usually stem down from our ancestors , I was always considered a broad guy , my Grandfather was a broad guy just like myself , big boned with a mixture of muscle and fat , My body fluctuates like crazy , To some people I can be considered fat and to some people I am considered average and strong , so i have always been in the middle when it comes to size. You either like my size or you don’t. I honestly consider myself a Bear , because come Winter time , which I hate with a passion , I tend to hibernate more in my home and don’t stay very active , I still work out but not as much until spring and summer hits and I am usually back on gear exercising and doing more stuff outside staying active and soaking on the sun. So come winter time I will usually put on some pounds cuz I hate the winter time I hate being cold and freezing my ass off. I also feel depressed when the winter comes , why I would like to move somewhere where it is warm all year round. lol

[Sonorous]

Because it's easy to do so in this day & age. High calorie, high glycemic, low volume, easily palatable processed foods are everywhere. People let themselves get fat because we live in a society that makes it easier & cheaper to be unhealthy & fat than it is to be healthy and slim.

That coupled with the car-centered nature of many of our environments & the sedentary lifestyles due to work or school etc makes it very easy not to burn enough calories through walking & other cardio movements.

Being unhealthy is becoming normalized so people don't have as much incentive to be fit. Annnd there's not exactly a 1:1 correlation of being fit & being successful in the current society either; causing less & less incentive to be skinny or fit.

Another reason can be that they no longer care about looking good anymore. Maybe the role of being a fit person or even the drawbacks of being fit didn't outweigh whatever benefits they're receiving by being fat.

The lists can go on and on for reasons why. But ultimately, it's due to environment. That's what I've heard the science points to at least.

[Daniela1982]

Maybe they don't drink enough water. If you don't drink a sufficient amount of water in a day, your body might think it is hungry when all it is looking for is water. Therefore you might keep eating until you are too full to eat anymore.

Crap! I wish they would fill up my water dish.

[Lliam]

I'll tell my own story.

I was very active all my life and wasn't really into food. I was slender and very fit.

When I was 26 1/2, I got a job as a motor vehicle damage field adjuster/appraiser. I had to cut my rock star hair and wear a suit. I no longer recognized myself when I looked in the mirror. I no longer fit in with the kind of people I had fit in with before and I also felt like an imposter in a suit with a regular hair cut.

Part of my training was to have a desk at various autobody shops. My company would send customers whose cars were driveable and I would write estimates on the repair cost.

The body shops would take me to lunch at really good restaurants every day. I discovered amazing food. I started eating a lot.

My job kept me really busy so I was sedentary. I was eating a lot. I was depressed and didn't like myself.

I started gaining weight and, by the time I was 29, had put on over 50 lbs. My waist went from 36" to 42".

After 28 years old, I didn't even have a girlfriend because I didn't want the kind of girl who would want me.

I just smoked weed to ease my depression.

So that's what happened to me.

Post script:
When I was 34, I went on Weight Watchers, started exercising a lot, and lost the weight in 5.5 months. I got back in really good shape, too. Right away, after about a 6 year dry spell, I got a gorgeous girlfriend. After a year, when that didn't work out, I got together with the most amazing women of my entire life and lived with her for two years. That was a peak period in my life.

[WindAtMyBack]

I was pretty trim and in good shape until I was about 50. That is when I quit smoking after a few decades. I put on about 30+ pounds within a few months. Smoking is a stimulant. I always went outside to smoke and usually did yard work when I was out there. The lack of the stimulant, the lack of that exercise, and to a lesser degree increased eating, all combined. I suddenly got fat. I never liked the extra weight, but never lost all of it either.

I'm not super overweight though. Fat has gotten so accepted in our society that even overweight people are often called skinny. When I tell people I need to lose weight, they look at me like I'm crazy. They'll say that I do no need to lose weight. But I am most definitely overweight by 20 pounds or so.

I was athletic when I was young. I did heavy labor for work for many years as an adult. I was in pretty decent shape most of my life. I do NOT accept being fat. I am in the process now of losing some weight. I'm not a tub of lard, but I do want to get back to a healthy weight.

[Lynx122]

Some people just are lucky till 25-30 their metabolism keeps them thin even though they have a bad lifestyle. Then at 30 they start gaining weight and they've never had to bother with this before so they haven't learned how to be disciplined and they don't care enough to change their lifestyle now. Maybe they're already married or in a longterm relationship and they get lazy. There could be many reasons. I'm actually right now adjusting my lifestyle because I started gaining weight. I always moved a lot as a kid and young adult but I never had to have a strict plan of how to stay in shape I just did sports whenever I felt like it and it was never a problem but now if I don't move and eat a lot I will gain weight quickly. But I hope and my plan is that I can use these new consequences as extra reasons and motivation to become more disciplined than I was before, and get in better shape than I ever have been :)

[PeachyPie93]

Kids, stuck in the house, eating left over food your kids won't eat, depression, self hatred, not caring, can't seem to find the time to work out, too lazy, too tired, too busy. There are tons of reasons why people get fat, and of course people notice they are getting fat.

[FunkyMonkee]

In some cases, it's not that you let it happen, it just does without you even noticing until you're already fat. I used to ALWAYS be skinny as a stick!! 20 years ago, I lost my girlfriend so, no more sex, my bike, my band, dad filled in the swimming pool , the job I'd been at for a few years stopped having me feed these big machines and, instead, had me stand in one place and do a LOT of hand work, and I was VERY sad and depressed over losing my best friend so, I just started gaining weight without knowing it! By the time I noticed, I was almost 100 lbs. over!! At that point, I figured, I'll just let it go to 300, maybe 305 just so that I can say that, at one point, I was over 300 lbs.. About 10 years later and I'm still trying to lose that extra 115 but, now, it's 145!! At one point, it got up to 175 over!! Almost twice my normal weight!!

[jorfan3]

Life happens, and with our work society, physical and mental health aren't considered a priority unless you can't come into work. If you're burnt out, too bad. If you're sick, oh well.

It's often after it's too late that people start prioritizing health, like hearing voices or having a heart attack.

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

It looks like @PeachyPie93 named everything of importance, in the form of a list. If you are genuinely interested in digging the sheer extent of your question, then here is one lead to understand earthlings, including yourself: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_psychology

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

At some point our metabolism stops being as good as before. I used to be skinny growing up, I was 40-42 kg till 18. Then during pandemic I stayed home and got to 55 kg, which is a lot to me, because I am 159 cm tall.

For the past 2 years, I’ve been living a balanced life and hav been keeping my weight in 46 - 48 kg range, which is pretty nice, I am 46.5 kg right now, which If I remember correctly is 18.4 BMI.

[JoyScore]

People might struggle with weight gain for various reasons, including stress, emotional eating, lack of time, or difficulty with healthy habits. It's often a combination of factors, such as busy schedules leading to poor food choices or emotional challenges driving comfort eating. The JoyScore can help by providing personalized insights and tools to address these issues. It offers support through stress management techniques, mindful eating practices, and wellness goals tailored to your lifestyle. By understanding and addressing the root causes of weight gain, the app empowers you to make positive changes and build sustainable, healthy habits.

[DrPepper12]

Yes they realize it and don't need your observation or opinion on it. Very arrogant of you to ask that dumb question.

Pregnancies, less physical activity, time constraints, continuing poor diet choices, expensive healthy food, etc are possible reasons.

[art84]

I used to be skinny till I was 17 years old. I weighed 150 pounds and had a flat stomach. Then when I was 19 years old I went to 180 pounds. In my 20's through 30's, I weighed 200 pounds. Now in my late 30's I weigh 160 pounds though aren't in shape.

[dagoozer]

From my experience, I was a healthy weight until I was 23. Then I was diagnosed bipolar and have gained 20 pounds average every year since. I'm 115 pounds heavier now than before I started gaining weight. It sucks and a lot of days I eat twice a day but I don't lose the weight.

[exitseven]

they get married and no longer have to work so hard to attract women. They have time consuming careers and spend time raising families. And as you get older your metabolism slows down and you do not burn calories as efficiently as toy did

[quickquesocheese]

I used to sound like you until when i was eating my best and working out the most gained an unhealthy amount of weight. Your body changes and so does your metabolism. One day you will be there too.

[SeriouslyNotSerious]

Health problems and medications can affect a person's weight too. Let's not judge too quickly. 👍

[jeefery]

Its easy to get fat, it's harder to stay in shape. I've been depressed for about a year and I've gained like 20 lbs, which makes me more depressed, which makes me want to eat and drink more. It's a vicious cycle

[ProbablyClueless]

I think a lot of it is a combination of laziness and not paying attention. Stress, change of lifestyle, just generally having other things to focus on.

[Dinklex3]

Some people don’t care, some people don’t realize, some are focused on other things.

[zagor]

I don't know. A friend of my family was a great guy, funny and always willing to help, but he died in his 50's because he weighed like 350 lbs. And was 6'2, not 8 feet.

[Sharkstealth]

There is no way ill ever get fat. My stomach gets bigger but thats it. Most people put on weight from settling down. Mostly all they do is clean the house and eat.

[Fireguy17]

lazy, a lack of self-esteem, poor choices, bad habits.

[thearchjoker]

self indulgence, lack of good role models, not caring

[beefcakebradybatson]

They're sofa spuds (couch potatoes as we geezers call them) who likely eat too many potatoes and don't exercise nearly enough.

[Staximus]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/TeMILysgJ9I

Because☝️

[Anonymous]

how it happened 2 me is that i was always skinny actally had roblem gaining wight and then one summer my metabolism changed and i was eating the same but got fatter. and since then i always had a problem being slim

[msc545]

You do not "get" fat. Your genetics cause that.

[RedInnocent69]

Depression, hormones, metabolism, stress. Lots of things really. Not always helpful calling it out.

[dragoblack]

Over-reliance on Convenience and enjoying minimal effort.

[bubblegunnn]

They are satisfy their mouth

[Ladsin2]

Eating too much and exercising too little.

[jahaims]

Usually poor mental health

[LiamJHayden]

Laziness.

[DrPepper12]

Genetics are a much bigger culprit

[Walksbehindtherows]

Idiocy