# How'd you get those extra pounds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200 "2012-04-08T21:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/41 "2012-04-09T12:23:45Z")
The only time I was ever truly svelte was when I had no car and had a serious cocaine addiction. Of course, being slim didn’t seem to be worth it at the time. Prior to that I was pretty husky all of my childhood and again soon after quitting the coke. Add to that a propensity to be physically indolent, a deep and abiding love of beer (which is expressed with far too much brio and frequency), a bitch of an oral fixation, and the fact that an incredible number of foods just taste so damn good, and here we are. I should also say I’m a strong irrational believer in the fabled “someday” that I know will never come. Once it does, I’ll be perfect from then on. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/42 "2012-04-09T12:39:53Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > They are not extra pounds. They are backup and reserve pounds! America has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve – I have my ass. Keep that quiet. Politicians may want to open your ass up for offshore drilling. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/43 "2012-04-09T13:10:38Z")
Middle age/slow metabolism. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/44 "2012-04-09T13:17:15Z")
I think it was just age. I didn’t eat any differently in my thirties then I did in my twenties. But around thirty, my body slowed down and I started suffering the effects on my unhealthy diet. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/45 "2012-04-09T13:54:21Z")
Girlfriend is an _awesome_ cook. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/46 "2012-04-09T14:27:23Z")
Alcohol. Sigh. I loves me my drinks, and like **Athena** , can easily drink up an extra 800-1000 calories a day. Easily. I’ve mused to El Hubbo, “I could just stop eating, you know. I could use orange juice and tomato juice and such as mixers, that’d give me nutrients…” Total bummer. I’m exercising more and eating better, and am down 11ish pounds. I still make room in the diet for a couple of glasses of wine, but it’s not ever nearly as much as I’d like to have. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/47 "2012-04-09T14:46:28Z")
I’m a stress eater and lately work/life has been chock full of stress. Sometimes when I leave work I just want to go home, skip dinner and eat a pint of ice cream. At least I’ve kept up pretty well with my exercise regimen so far, but I need to get back on a healthier diet plan ASAP! ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/48 "2012-04-09T15:13:10Z")
I’m pretty sure that what pushed me into weight gain was dieting. I look back at what I used to eat and it’s exactly what I’m trying to eat now. After my second child I decided I needed to diet to drop the last couple pounds I’d gained and went on a low fat diet. The increase in processed foods, change in my eating habits and the slow steady increase of sugar and white flour carbs in my diet started a yoyo cycle of weight loss and gain that’s gone on for 20 years. Of course it’s not the sole issue, I was also working insane hours and raising two kids which is a recipe for processed food and reduced exercise all on it’s own, but it’s still a little jarring to be trying to find my way back to eating exactly the way I used to. Now I just need to get rid of the habits and triggers of the last two decades of poor eating 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/49 "2012-04-09T15:24:54Z")
Turned 30, kept eating like I was 18. Making it worse was that I was always very thin. I’m 6’1" and I was 125lbs when I got out of college with the usual college diet of large pizzas and vodka. So when I started gaining weight years later, it was actually welcome and I had no incentive to change my habits. Plus my old job was located near numerous places for burgers, beef sandwiches, burritos and anything else you could think of. I eventually scratched 220 lbs and am working to drop that down to 180 or so. Knocked 10 lbs off so far. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/50 "2012-04-09T16:58:07Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Alcohol, no doubt about it. I’ve been tracking my food for the past week and I eat incredibly healthy without even trying. Lots of veggies, I don’t drink soda, I rarely eat sweets and when I do they tend to be tiny (one small square of chocolate, for example, or a quarter of a donut). > > But the beer and wine… sheesh, that adds up. One night out and I can drink up a 800 or 1000 calories easy. Similar story here. I quit drinking a little over a year ago, didn’t really change anything else in my diet, and have lost over 70 pounds since then! Everyone asks me what I’m doing to lose weight, and I just say, “I stopped drinking my calories.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/51 "2012-04-09T17:32:23Z")
Middle-aged metabolism + huge amount of stress + eating like an eight-year-old on crack = 30 extra pounds. I have lost 25 of them over the past two years by just not eating anything that tastes remotely good, and damn little of _that_. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/52 "2012-04-09T17:39:06Z")
Bad Back. It goes, I can’t move, everything I eat goes straight to my hips… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/53 "2012-04-09T19:37:17Z")
I stopped exercising and kept eating as if I hadn’t. Even then, I didn’t so much gain weight as move it from my shoulders & thighs to my midsection. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/54 "2012-04-09T20:11:26Z")
Pop and sweets, but mainly pop. Coke. I’m of normal weight, but am shaped rather like an apple now. I’m older, so my weight is settling strangely anyhow, but my waist has really thickened so that pants that fit in my waist are baggy in the seat and thighs. I see a lot of 60-ish women like this - Ivana Trump is one. I don’t know what causes it in other women, but for me it’s Coke. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/55 "2012-04-09T23:07:43Z")
For me, it vass ze Germans. When I worked in Germany, beer often cost less, or about the same, as a bottle of water, and tasted much better. Then toss in the Kaesespaetzle and other fun to eat and high calorie dishes. I could always rationalize: how often will I be here. For a while I was running every other day, then I started to get some knee pain. Over a couple of years it adds up. I have dropped about 15 pounds of the Germany, mostly through exercise, although I have to admit my eating habits in LA aren’t much better. _Noch ein Pils, bitte!_ ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/56 "2012-04-09T23:59:47Z")
You mean today? Right now? Easter candy! (I also blame Wegmans grocery store, they sell foil-wrapped chocolates by the pound for 9 months of the year and I can’t seem stop buying “just a handful”. Also almonds, peanuts, cashews, trail mix, granola - all that stuff meant to be used in baking and cooking never last long enough for that purpose.) ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/57 "2012-04-10T15:56:53Z")
Lack of self control Lack of exercise Overindulging Lousy food choices Snacking too much ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/58 "2012-04-10T17:49:07Z")
Cheese Fries. I would eat cheese fries morning, noon, and night, if I could. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/59 "2012-04-10T17:58:18Z")
Two bouts of depression (one in the early 90’s for about 30 pounds and one in 2002 for another 30), and a lack of self-control when it comes to making healthy choices. I don’t understand how anyone could choose to have a side salad when there are French fries available. It’s like people who eat half a candy bar and put the rest away for later. I am surrounded by robots; it’s the only explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200/60 "2012-04-10T19:15:07Z")
Working at a place that would deep fry battered chicken bits and then toss them in a sugary lime-pineapple-ginger sauce, which we’d serve over white rice with deep fried egg rolls on the side. That was my sophomore 15 right there. (I didn’t get the freshman 15 because that year I was working on the grill side of the food court and usually had much lower cal meals at the end of my shift.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howd-you-get-those-extra-pounds/618200.md?page=4)