My "Fat" Story...

I am a fat woman.  I carved myself out of a mound of over 200 pounds of fat.  And so can you!!!!  I was a fat baby, a fat child, a fat teenager (size 24 ½ old women’s clothes) and now a fat adult, even if you can’t tell by looking at me today.

No one could understand why I was so fat.  They never saw me eating.  I was a “closet eater”.  I would never dream of “munching out” in front of other people.  At a party, I would pick at my food, barely eating anything.  But as soon as everyone was gone or I went home, I’d devour everything in sight. 

It wasn’t that I never tried to lose weight.  Actually I tried every fad diet in the book.  By the time I was sixteen, I must have lost and gained over 100 pounds, yet still weighed over 200 pounds.  But that was and is the problem with fad diets.  They aren’t something you can follow/ live with for the rest of your life.  At 15 years of age, I even tried to melt off my extra fat by taking baths in the hottest water I could stand.  And at my peak weight of 210 pounds, fitting into the bathtub without displacing all the water was not an easy feat.  

I tried the high protein, low carbohydrate diets that included 10 – 8 ounce glasses of water daily, but I spent more time in the bathroom than doing anything else.  Oh the things we’ll try to lose weight.  Everything except following a healthy diet and exercise program. 

I had every nickname in the book growing up including “Two Ton”, “Fatso Francis” and “Moose”.  I would always hear, you “have such a pretty face; too bad you don’t lose a little weight.”  At times the pain was almost too much to bear.

Well, I realized that in order to lose weight; I would have to want to do it more than anything else!!!  I began to understand that only I could make it happen.  I had a dream to be thin and I learned for perhaps the first time that if you want something badly enough and you’re willing to work at it; you can attain your goal.

I began a lower calorie, nutritionally balanced diet and exercise program and one year later the “new” me emerged.  It was an extremely challenging experience for someone who is only 16 years old, but as we all know, nothing worthwhile ever comes easy.  

Oh, there’s still that "fat" person lying inside this body.  After all it was part of me for almost seventeen years.  I even went on to college to learn about food and nutrition and become a Registered Dietitian.  I figured that if I couldn’t eat food, at least not in the same way I had for 16 years, I’d learn about it.  I would become an expert on how to make “the right choices” regarding food and nutrition not only to maintain my own, but other people’s health and well-being.

Yes, sometimes I still feel self-conscious, or want to eat compulsively or desire all the fattening foods I once loved so dearly.  But I enjoy wearing a size 8 or 10, fitting into a regular size bathtub (not a super-sized Jacuzzi) and feeling good about how I look even more.  So I have made the choice that I’ll never go back.  This is my new way of life.  And it could be the beginning of yours. 

"Helping People Make the Right Choices About Food & Nutrition"

Last modified:  August 26, 2008               www.rightchoices-nutrition.com            © 2008 RCN, LLC