WEIGHING IN
Part 1
After seeing an article on my fav newspaper site, The Guardian UK, I decided it was time to weigh in on the whole obesity debate.

First, a wee background on me. I'm currently about 30 to 50 pounds overweight (in Brit speak, 2 to 4 stone) depending on which flab chart or which exercise/nutritionist I look to. As a kid I was under weight to the point of anemic. I was usually the beanpole in my class. By high school, I was relentlessly harassed about my weight. The only problem -- if you saw my school pic, aside from my very fat Irish face -- I wasn't overweight. I was ungainly and awkward but I wasn't fat. Of course, this never slowed my loving father or brothers down. They openly referred to me as "fat slob" because, after all, I wasn't built like them.

In my late teens and early twenties I went the insane diet route. On several occasions (once because I wanted to joing the Air Force) I starved myself and ate Dexatrim. I ran 2 to 3 miles a night. This culminated in my passing out from hunger during a housecleaning job.

In my late twenties, I went to a wholistic doctor. He put me on thyroid supplement and I went on a radical Yeast Reduction diet. I lost about 50 pounds in 7 months. My energy level went through the roof.

In 1996, I did a stint as a wildland firefighter. This included physical training. I ran 3 miles a day, blew out my knees, kept running, worked 18-hour days and went from a chunky 191 pounds to a brawny 168. After four months of killing myself I only lost 23 pounds. Weighing yourself on a scale is deceptive. My boyfriend said I looked "ripped" and that I was "toned up." I was also dead tired. I'd contracted mono in the spring and hadn't taken thyroid supplement in almost a year.

That fall, I went on unemployment while working on my creative writing. I lived in intense poverty, ate the cheapest food I could buy, didn't take any thyroid supplement for almost two years and proceeded to go from 168 to a record 215 pounds by 2001. I worked a desk job and spent lunches stuffing my face in front of the computer.

During this 1999 cellulite blow out, I cycled to and from my job for a total of about 10 miles a day. I ate salads for lunch. I hiked on the weekends. I jogged when my knees permitted. I joined a gym in January 2000. I did aquacize. I did 30-45 minutes two times a week on a cross training machine (like a treadmill). I did a High-protein Diet in Fall 2001 and swore off sugar and carbs for three months.

In November 2002, I worked 9-11 hours a night. I hit the cross-training machine 3-4 times a week. In January I went to England. I ate bangers-n-mash (sausages, gravy and mashed potatoes). I ate fried fish-n-chips. Between November and the end of January, I lost 15 pounds. I DID NOT diet. However, I did walk 10 miles a day while in London and only ate twice a day: bacon and egg breakfast and nice greasy English food for dinner (no one over there knows how to make a salad).

Hang on for Part 2 ...

-- Mz M.