Reality Check

Have you ever looked at someone who was overweight - or obese for that matter - and wondered how they could have let themselves get the way they were? I have asked myself that question on more than one occassion, and unfortunately that obese person I am referring to is me. But it wasn't always this way.

Growing up I was very slim, healthy and active right up until I graduated from high school. I was invovled in gymnastics, tennis, basketball, cheerleading, and track and field. Fast food meals were few and far between, and would only consist of a child's size portion of a hamburger and fries. But oh how things have changed! In only 10 years I have managed to pack on a whopping 130 pounds! Incredible isn't it? How could I have done that to myself you ask? Well, it's a little thing called D-E-N-I-A-L! Seriously!

I first started gaining weight my first year of university. I wasn't concerned about the weight gain at first because I could afford to put on a few pounds "here and there" - nothing wrong with a few curves? Besides, the "Freshman 15" was to be expected- wasn't it? However, that carried over into the "Sophmore 15" and so on. When I went from 120 pounds to 200 pounds I then began trying to make myself look slimmer by wearing baggier clothes (which does not actually make you look slimmer), trying to hide my double chin with long hair (also not flattering), and standing really close to the mirror when doing my hair and makeup in the morning as to avoid the fat globules on my face and body. Trust me- this technique worked for years until that fateful day when I was entering the bank!

Yes, it was a trip to a bank -made entirely of reflective glass- that made me face the incredibly daunting reality that I was a PHAT (plenty o' hips and thighs) chick with an eating disorder (and not the Karen Carpenter kind of disorder). Who is that girl? I could only think to myself in horror? That girl is me.

And so I start this blog by admitting to myself- and to the world?- that I am a PHAT/fat chick, and I am on a mission to lose 120 pounds and get my sexy back!