Question:
Why am I overweight?

I have received my packet from my surgeon. One of the questions it asked is "Why am I overweight?" hhmm, How should I answer this? For some reason, this just blew me away. These papers are going to my insurance, so I want it to say the right thing.    — elainabolser (posted on June 3, 2002)

June 3, 2002
They are wanting to know if you've been overweight your whole life perhaps being very heavy in grade school and being obese in High School and continued to gain into your adult life until you were diagnosed as being morbidly obese. Is your family large people who eat large meals and are not active? Or were you normal as a child, went on a diet as a young adult to loose a few pounds and you lost the weight, then regained more than you lost, then 2-3 years later lost again, and regained more again and again and again... so in 15-20 years you've ended up morbidly obese. They are asking you " Did you Yo-Yo your way to this large weight by dieting or what? " Some people are a little overweight until they have an event in their life, like a car wreck or knee surgery or suffered depression, and in the time of recovery they gained enough weight to be morbidly obese. Each person's body handles food different. Only you can say what happened to you.
   — blank first name B.

June 4, 2002
Geeze - I don't know how I would answer that question either. Knowing me, I'd probably put something on there smart-_ss. Some of the questions that the psychiatrist papers asked and that were in the questionaire were silly to me - I kept waiting on them to ask me if I frequently bite off chicken's heads at night or something - DOH !! As for "why am I overweight" - I'd tell them that all of your life you've had nightmares about people who looked like Twiggy or Olive Oyl and that you were drawn to people like Bluto, Oprah or Rosanne and that's what you set your goals after. JEEZE ~ all kidding aside - tell them as the other posters have directed you to - I'm just being goofy. :) Good luck to you.
   — Lisa J.

June 4, 2002
I was asked that question also. I told them that I seemed to get hungry more frequently than other people,and so it seemed that I was always battling feelings of hunger. I also told them I chose the RNY because of my tendency to overindulge in sweets.
   — Kathy J.

June 4, 2002
Knowing me, I would go with the sarcastic-truth...."Because my body does not efficiently burn off the excess calories I ingest."
   — Lisa N M.

June 4, 2002
I answered honestly that I had been normal weight all of my life, until I started to use oral steroids for control of asthma. I gained 120 pounds over the course of one year, and despeite numerous attempts to lose the weight, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Redux, Meridia, etc., I have been unable to lose and/or maintain a normal weight. If you take any medications for other conditions, that may very well be the case for you too. Good luck!
   — Maria H.