[00:00.00]Text The Day I Was Fat
[00:04.60]I was never in great shape.
[00:08.36]As a child,I was always called "plump."
[00:13.53]I could never sit Indian-style the way other kids did,
[00:18.68]and when I made the cheer-leading squad in eighth grade
[00:23.64]it was because I had a big mouth and a great smile,
[00:29.52]not because I could do the splits or perform elegant cartwheels.
[00:35.58]Although I maintained a respectable weight throughout high school,
[00:41.14]there was always a fat person inside of me just waiting to burst onto the scene.
[00:48.40]Adulthood,marriage,and settling down had bad effects on my weight:
[00:55.67]I blew up!The fat lady had finally arrived,saw the welcome mat,
[01:04.03]and moved right in.
[01:07.27]No one in my family could tell me I was fat.
[01:12.23]They know that I had gained weight,I knew that I had gained weight,
[01:18.18]and I knew that they knew that I gained weight.
[01:22.76]But no discuss the topic was out of the question.
[01:27.72]Once,my mother said,"You're too pretty to be so heavy";
[01:33.60]that was the closest anyone had ever come to calling me fat.
[01:39.53]Later,my husband teased me because we couldn't lie on the couch together anymore,
[01:45.90]and I just cried and cried.
[01:50.16]He never dared to mention it again,but I didn't stop eating.
[01:56.04]I had just given birth to my first child and was at least fifty pounds overweight
[02:02.88]Nonetheless,I remember feeling that that time was the greatest time in my life.
[02:10.32]I had a beautiful new baby,new furniture,a great husband,and a lovely house.
[02:17.48]What more could anyone want?
[02:21.32]Well,I knew what else I wanted:I wanted to be slim and healthy.
[02:28.19]I just didn't care enough about myself to stop my eating.
[02:33.94]I tried to lose weight every day,but I couldn't get started.
[02:40.00]Diets didn't last through lunch,and I got bigger by the day.
[02:45.96]One summer afternoon in 1988,as I was headed to the pool
[02:52.02]with my sister-in-law and our children,
[02:56.17]I got into an argument with a teenager
[03:00.53]who was driving fast and tailing our car.
[03:05.50]When he nearly ran us off the road,
[03:09.86]I turned around and glared at him to show my disapproval
[03:15.92]and my concern for our safety.
[03:20.31]Suddenly,we began shouting at each other.
[03:24.85]He was about 18,with an ugly,red,swollen face.
[03:31.10]The few teeth he had were yellow and rotten.
[03:36.16]He followed us to the pool and,
[03:40.00]as he pulled into the parking lot behind us,our argument became heated.
[03:46.98]"What's your problem,bitch?"he screamed.
[03:51.84]"You drive like an idiot!That's my problem,okay?"
[03:57.90]When I got out of the car and walked around to get the baby,
[04:02.86]he laughed to his friend,"Ah,look at her.
[04:08.22]She's fat!Go to hell,fat bitch."And then they drove away.
[04:15.66]Once inside the gates to the pool,
[04:19.74]my sister-in-law advised me to forget the whole incident.
[04:24.88]"Come on,"she said."Don't worry about that boy!
[04:30.05]Did you see his teeth?He was rude."
[04:35.70]But I couldn't get his words out of my mind.
[04:40.24]They stung like a whip."I'm fat,"I thought to myself.
[04:47.61]"I haven't just put on a few pounds.
[04:52.15]I can't get rid of my weight easily.I'm just plain fat."
[04:58.92]Nobody had ever called me fat before,and it hurt terribly.But it was true.
[05:06.49]On that very day,
[05:09.66]as I sat at the pool hoping that nobody would see me in my bathing suit,
[05:15.90]I promised myself that no one would ever call me fat again.
[05:21.67]The hideous 18-year-old idiot had spoken the words that none of my loved ones
[05:30.21]had had the heart to say even though they were true.
[05:35.78]Yes,I was fat.
[05:40.35]From then on,I was committed to shedding the weight and getting into shape.
[05:47.30]I started a rigorous program of running and dieting the very next day.
[05:53.78]Within months,
[05:56.73]I joined a gym and managed to make some friends who are still my workout buddies.
[06:03.39]However,in the past seven years,I've done more than lose weight:
[06:09.92]I've reshaped my attitude,my lifestyle,and my self-image.
[06:16.79]Now,I read everything I can about nutrition and health.
[06:22.25]I'm even considering becoming an aerobics instructor.
[06:27.81]I cook low-fat foods--chicken,fish,lean meats,vegetables
[06:35.26]and I serve my family healthy,
[06:39.23]protein-rich meals prepared with dietetic ingredients.
[06:45.39]The children and I often walk to school,ride bikes,roller-blade,and run.
[06:53.34]Health and fitness have become essential to our household and our lives.
[06:59.71]But what's really wonderful is that,
[07:03.47]sometime between that important day in 1988 and today,
[07:10.73]my self image stopped being about low I look and began being about how I feel.
[07:19.80]I feel energetic,healthy,confident,strong,and pretty.
[07:27.24]Ironically,the abuse I endured in the parking lot
[07:32.52]has helped me regain my self-esteem,not just my figure.
[07:39.28]My body looks good,but my mind feels great!
[07:44.93]I hope that the kid from the pool has had his teeth fixed because I'm sure
[07:52.19]they were one source of his misery.
[07:56.55]If I ever see him again,
[08:00.21]I won't tell him that he changed my life in such a special way.
[08:06.58]I won't let him know that he gave me the greatest gift he could ever give me
[08:13.74]just by being honest.
[08:17.50]I won't give him the satisfaction of knowing
[08:23.46]that the day he called me fat was one of the best days of my life. |