"What Caused You to Get Fat?"

On one of the forums that I frequent, one geared towards weight-loss and healthy living, someone asked the question “What caused you to get fat?” Instead of answering there, I thought I’d blog about it.

I read through a slew of excuses. People blamed kids, injuries, over-eating, depression, laziness, and even gremlins. You can go read the thread here. Or just skip it. I would.

The thing is, no my own weight gain sneaked up on me. I gained weight because I wasn't paying attention. One day, I was the picture of health. The next day, a few years later, I was a mush ball of goo, more like a picture of fuzzy jello. That isn't exactly true, and there were many contributing factors, including the above mentioned (except maybe the gremlins). But the biggest contributor was that I wasn't living my life. Life was running me, and I was just going through the motions.

I can't say that one day I just woke up and said "@$%&, I'm fat!" Because I didn't. I didn't even wake up and say "@$%&, I'm not living my life!" It was a long process. Or, I should say, it has been and continues to be a long process.

I started waking up around Christmas 2010, and still doing so. And it is changing my whole life, not just my fitness level. I slide, on occasion, or often, back into old habits. Much of this week has been like that, leaving me pretty angry with myself.

That's how I got fat.