Weight gain doesn't arrive with a press release. It creeps in through side doors: a hormone shift, a snack drawer at work, a parent who needs full-time care. Or it lands all at once, months after a change you didn't think could possibly affect your body.
A Reddit thread compiled by Bored Panda asked users who had gained a significant amount of weight to name the one thing they blamed most. The answers were brutally specific, and very few of them were simply "I ate too much." One user gained 2 stone in under 6 months and pinned it on perimenopause symptoms that hit without any change to diet or exercise. Another runs 100 to 150 miles a month and still blames sugar and potato chip binges for a 25 to 30 pound gain over just a couple of years. A third cited untreated binge eating disorder they couldn't afford to treat privately, and said they are winning the battle on their own.
- The original Reddit thread was posted by user 90s-Hercules.
- The World Health Organisation says obesity more than tripled globally between 1975 and 2022.
- Roughly one billion people worldwide are now estimated to be living with obesity, including about 880 million adults.
- One respondent gained 2 stone (roughly 28 pounds) in 6 months after symptoms of perimenopause began.
- Another respondent cited full-time caregiving for a mother injured in a car accident that wasn't her fault.
The reasons that came up again and again
Menopause and perimenopause appeared near the top, and the respondent made clear it wasn't a willpower failure. No real change to diet, no drop in activity, and 1200 calories a day plus extra exercise still didn't shift it. They're now discussing HRT with their doctor, which suggests hormonal treatment might be the unlock, not another diet plan.
Relationship weight gain was a lighter entry. One user blamed a partner who was a fantastic cook, and another said both of them gained about 20 pounds during the relationship and lost their initial abs. The tone was warm rather than guilty. "It was honestly happy weight gain," they wrote.
Binge eating disorder, caregiver burnout, and grief-driven drinking showed up too. One respondent lost most of their central vision, went through a divorce while fighting for custody of their kids, and described turning into "a person who eats and drinks his feelings real quick." Another put on around 30 kilograms after losing a job to depression, and has since lost 17 kilograms through diet and cardio. That one is a rare win on the thread.
What it means for you
If you recognise yourself in any of these posts, the lesson is that the cause usually isn't laziness. It's something else driving the behaviour. Treating the upstream cause, whether that's grief, hormonal change, addiction, or untreated trauma, tends to do more than another diet.
Say you started a new night shift six months ago and the weight piled on without a clear reason. Before blaming your willpower, look at what else changed: meal timing, sleep quality, access to decent food, and stress hormones. The fix might be a better lunchbox, not a stricter calorie app.
Our analysis
The thread exposes the gap between public health messaging and lived experience. WHO numbers show obesity tripling globally since 1975, but the individual stories are where the trend actually lives: menopause, addiction, grief, caregiving, divorce, vision loss. The eat less, move more approach rarely accounts for any of that.
One user pointed out that the NHS doesn't cover binge eating disorder treatment, and that they couldn't afford private care. That's a structural failure, not a personal one. When the healthcare system doesn't treat a recognised condition, the bill lands on the patient's body.
A few of the causes are almost suspiciously ordinary. Buying a car. Having a baby. Starting a relationship with a great cook. The thread quietly makes the case that weight gain isn't always pathology; sometimes it's the predictable fallout of a life change nobody warned you about.
What we don't know: how representative this thread is. Reddit threads self-select for people willing to write a paragraph about their body to strangers, so the tone leans more reflective than the average person's experience. Still, the range of causes matches what obesity researchers have been saying for years.
What to watch next: more threads about caregiver burnout, midlife hormonal weight shifts, and the NHS-style gaps that leave eating disorders untreated. The conversation is shifting from "why don't they just eat less" to "what actually changed in their life," and that's overdue.
Key takeaways
- Global obesity has more than tripled since 1975, per WHO figures.
- Hormonal, psychological, and caregiving causes came up far more than simple overeating.
- One respondent lost 17 kilograms after gaining 30, suggesting reversal is possible once the root cause is named.
Frequently asked questions
Who started the Reddit thread about weight gain?
A user named 90s-Hercules posted the question asking people to name the one thing they blamed for their weight gain.
How many people worldwide are estimated to have obesity?
Roughly one billion, including about 880 million adults, according to WHO-cited figures.
What were some of the more unusual reasons people gave?
Losing most of their central vision, full-time caregiving after a parent's car accident, and buying a car that ended years of walking everywhere.
Did anyone in the thread report successfully losing the weight?
Yes. One respondent who gained around 30 kilograms after being fired has since lost 17 kilograms through diet and cardio.
Why does the thread matter beyond entertainment?
It shows how often weight gain is driven by hormonal shifts, trauma, or burnout rather than simple overeating, which has implications for how obesity is treated.
Inspired by reporting from: boredpanda.com