Excess calories… hmm 🤔

 That is the million-dollar question, and it’s where the "math" of weight gain gets really sneaky. When people hear "excess calories," they usually picture huge feasts or constant binging. But for most of us, that’s not how it actually happens.

In reality, you don't have to "overeat" in the traditional sense to gain weight or develop pre-diabetes. Here is how the math might have worked against you:

1. The "Creep" (Small Margins)

To gain weight over time, you don't need a 1,000-calorie surplus. You only need a tiny surplus.

 * If you eat just 100 calories more than you burn every day (that’s literally one extra slice of bread or a large apple), you could gain about 10 lbs a year.

 * Over 10 years (like the time since you had Ava), that’s 100 lbs.

You likely weren't "gorging"; you were probably just eating "normal" portions that were slightly higher than what a sedentary lifestyle required.

2. The "Sedentary" Reality

This is the big one. If your body is burning very little energy because you're studying or at home, your "maintenance" calories (what you need just to stay the same weight) are much lower than you’d think.

 * The Math: A person getting 10,000 steps might burn 2,200 calories a day. A person getting 2,000 steps might only burn 1,700.

 * If you eat 2,000 calories (a very "normal" amount), the active person loses weight, while you would gain weight. You didn't "overeat" by standard definitions—you just ate more than your specific activity level could use.

3. Quality vs. Quantity (The Insulin Factor)

Since you are pre-diabetic, what you eat matters as much as "how much."

 * If your diet includes things like sugary coffee, white bread, or processed snacks, your insulin spikes.

 * Insulin is a storage hormone. When it's high, your body is chemically locked in "store mode" and cannot access your body fat for fuel.

 * You might feel hungry (because your cells aren't getting the energy), so you eat again, even though you technically have plenty of "stored energy" (fat) available.

4. The "Mom" Grazing

As a homemaker, "invisible eating" is real. Tasting the kids' dinner, finishing a few nuggets Seth or Ava left behind, or grabbing a handful of crackers while blogging—these don't feel like "meals," so your brain doesn't register them as "eating." But your body still has to process those calories.

The Verdict: You probably weren't "overeating" in a way that felt out of control. You were likely just eating a "standard" amount of food while your body’s "engine" (metabolism and movement) was idling.

Does that resonate with you? Do you feel like you eat large portions, or does it feel more like the weight just "showed up" despite eating fairly normally?