Bouncing off a FB post - how old were you when you went on your first diet?

 This was such a great thread started on the Facebook DS board, and I wanted to put this question out on this board.     The responses really pointed out that obesity is clearly more than just "a refusal to push oneself away from the dinner table," which was laid on me by a normal-sized friend of my mother's as a teenager.

How old were you when you went on your first diet?

Very early puberty, maybe 11 or 12. I remember being all dressed up in my best new clothes for a Christmas party and an uncle came up to me and said, "What happened to you? You used to be so pretty and cute." Never forgave him, but later found out he was mentally ill... But I also never recovered from that comment. I dieted for the next 45 years.

I was 6.......and I think that's sad. I've had a messed up metabolism my whole life.

My mom took me to my 1st dietician at one of the local hospitals at age 6. Did WW at age 10, did some National Weight Loss Plan (a knock off of WW) at age 12-14.

Sigh, I had a miserable childhood.

My mom made me go to the iet Center when I was 10 but I remember being made to diet much earlier. I would sneak food into the bathroom to eat just to feel i had some control.

In retrospect, I wasn't fat. I went through the same little pudgy thing my 10 yr odl son went through. I was perfectly fine and normal and grew up thinking I was fat. By the time I realized what a crock I had been fed I really was FAT with a messed up metbolism.

My mom and sister STILL to this day obsess about their weight and they are my size. I am actually smaller than them both now.. weird.

 Nina:
This is what I posted on Face Book....quite similar to your situation:

This is an EXTREMELY emotional post, and an excellent post topic. If any diet/weight loss researchers would like to gain some insight into the origins and manifestations of obesity, this thread would be an ideal starting point. My history? I was not an obese child. My parents were AFRAID I'd become an obese child. BUT - if you want to make a person obese, just follow their simple plan. Here it is: I developed some prepubertal "thickness" at around age ten, and my mom put me on the "egg/grapefruit diet." At this point, I was required to weigh in for my parents every few days. If I gained weight, I was forced to put on my swim suit and "model" for my family how fat I'd become. If I lost weight, I was rewarded with new clothes. My mom was constantly on a diet at that point, and if she was "good," I was good, if she was "bad," I was bad. I was starving half the time. I began to sneak food, and developed an obsession with it that remains to this day. My dad used to bring the scale into my bedroom at 5:00 a.m., wake me up, say, "Get on the scale, you need to weigh in, and I'm leaving early to go out of town on business" and I'd dutifully get up and step on the scale. The fear I now have of the scale is horrifying. Most people on OH know how much I hate the scale! This process with my parents continued until I was about 16. At 15, I started taking Dexatrim. When one stopped working, I'd take two, when two stopped, I'd take three. I was up to five a day (and this was the OLD Dexatrim) and it was such an expensive habit that I began shoplifting them. I wouldn't sleep for days. I continued to abuse Dexatrim well into adulthood, until I discovered.....Phentermine When my doctor refused to prescribe anything like that, I discovered that you could order it (illegally) from places like Indiana and Africa online. My Phentermine abuse habit continued until I had my DS. My parents? Now they harp on me constantly about being too thin, LOL. I can never please those people. It's really ****** me up.

Wow Julie...you and I need to talk!  My experience is extremely emotional too.  

I was about 8 when my mom put me on my first diet, the "grapefruit diet".  My grandfather would make pig noises, poke me with his fingers, tell me I was fat, and say "Gawd look at that".  My cousin, aunt, sister, and mother (either all of them or one of them depending on who was around on a given day) would laugh at his actions...which encouraged him to do it more.  My mother (divorced and a "wild" woman) became very competetive with my looks as I got older.  It did not help that half the strange men she brought around told her I was "cute" and...  Anyhow, by the time I was 11-12 (6th grade) I began to try my own forms of dieting...often starvation followed by periods of binge eating.  When I was 14-15 (9th grade) another girl I knew told me how she threw up to stay slim.  At first I followed her advice and used a large balloon to induce vomiting...since I could not seem to do it with my fingers.  When the balloon got stuck and snapped one day it scared me so I started looking for alternatives and I found Ipecac syrup.  I began eating a whole large pizza or a dozen donuts in 1 sitting, then I would take the Ipecac syrup.  After about 15 minutes it would make me vomit.  When I couldn't vomit anymore, I would fill myself with water and take more Ipecac syrup.  I would continue the cycle until my vomit was clear water with no signs of food.  It continued for years until I got pregnant.  I could not control the vomiting during the pregnancy and my ex-husband thought I was doing it on purpose (which I swear I wasn't) so he told the docs and I was admitted for a long time and had to do mandatory counseling.  He began to control me through food...and I blew up from 150 pounds pre-pregnancy to 306 within 1 year post pregnancy.  I have not binged/induced vomiting since I was about 24.  Needless to say though my yo-yo dieting continued for years.  Oh and my son was healthy (8 pounds 9 oz at birth) and will be 20 this November.

Yup - we do!
The ensuing issues I had with food, and self-image caused me to engage in behaviors that I cannot even elaborate on these boards.     I'm sure you feel the same way.

Shine on sister!  We survived this!

Oh Julie. That is a heartbreaking story. I am sooo sorry that you had to experience that, honey!

I put myself on a diet when I was in 7th grade. Mind you, I was NOT fat, just thought I was because I met a bunch of girls who were smaller than me. I thought it was simple, calories in should be less than calories going out. So I read labels and ate crap but damn if my calories were not low. I ate an ice cream bar for lunch. That was it. Nice diet.

My older sister was forced on an Herbalife diet and it went horribly wrong, so my mom never bugged me about my weight. I bugged me.

Nicolle

Julie,

I was fortunate. I am not obsessed with food. But i know many who are who I am sure started the cycle with parents who made them diet.  I was on all the diets. i am an exprt excerciser too. I know ALL about how to eat right and work out but in adulthood I just couldn't do one or both for long. I don't know if I secretly held the fat and ate as I liked in rebellion.

My issue was not eating for many hours (cause I am totally ADD) but when I did finally eat it was alot and usually frozen something, fast food or some huge homemade meal.  I could put away 2 plates of chicken, rice and corn or a whole pizza. I rarely excercised. I wasn't a huge soft drink or candy gal but loved my fast food and junk.

Even when i did super well and ate high protein I still only lost 40lbs. my metaboism was shot.

I remember in high school, being embarrassed to go to the line when they offered seconds. I imagined everyone was staring at me and making fun. When i look back at how I looked in high school i realize i wasted so much energy and self esteem because I believed the image of me my mom had brainwashed me into seeing. I was prob 150-160lbs when I was a freshman in H.S.

My sister was bulimic for a long time (she never would admit it) and my mom always on a diet. My mom eats half of whatever her husband orders when we eat out with him and with me she enjoys her meal. I couldnt live that way. My sister is now bigger than me and our relationship is strained because she is envious and can't wrap her head around the fact that her upbeat, intelligent, outgoing fat sister now can eat rich, flavorful foods and has a bangin bod and J LO ass.  She is very jealous of the attention I get. It's sad.

I remember meeting boys and they would like me then i would bring them home eventually and my sister would steal them. I realize now it wasn't that she was better (although she was thin) but the minute we were around my sister I suddenly had ZERO self esteem.

I am so thankful for my DS. My relationship with food is a love love one. food is no longer my enemy. I am free from the full time job of dieting for the rest of my life.  I will be 44 in Dec. I have a hell of alot of years to enjoy life as it should have been from the start. I am not super workout chick but I enjoy being physical. walking, riding a bike. Feels amazing.

I will be reading the responses and answers on here with great interest. This is the kind of thing we should be talking about. We all have our stories of how we got here.  Thanks Julie!