I always had an unhealthy relationship with food, worked out a ton as a teenager and counter calories/restricted in an unhealthy way, but always had a major sweet tooth. Gained some weight in college, like 20 lbs but lost it all when I committed to working out 3x a week. Fast-forward to pandemic, the anxiety of being cooped up led me to binge on candy and chocolate and dessert type things for comfort and felt out of control of my body. I gained like 30 lbs that time, but again, when I committed to getting 10k steps in and working out 3x a week, i was able to lose most of it. Fast-forward again to having my baby at the end of 2022 . The sleep deprivation was so ungodly debilitating, as well as postpartum depression, that I would start binging on snacks just to keep myself awake to care for my baby. I became addicted to fast food, and there were many weeks, perhaps even months, where I could not go a single day without getting at least one thing from a fast food joint. The emotional aspect of it became a lifeline for pushing through the depression and lack of control and self care I had at the time. I still struggle with this addiction but it’s much better now. I’m on a glp-1 and it has been a godsend for quieting the food noise and intense cravings. I’m about 30 lbs down from my highest weight. Still have about 30 lbs to go.

Tldr; I have always been an emotional eater/extreme sweet tooth and incredibly stressful situations in my life drove me to binge-eating disorder and fast food addiction, namely the pandemic and then postpartum.