Fat Childhood...and then some

I was born a thin child. I have the pictures to prove it. Then, heredity took over. My parents, my dad 6'4" and a nice thick build and my mom, 5' on a good day with a little heel on her shoes and a very petite, thin build, made your favorite blogger. (That's me, by the way) Without using profanity and looking at this without sugar coating it, I was totally skull f*&(^d in the genes department. No, not the mom jeans, the other genes. I got my dad's build and my mom's height. Fab. My sister, on the other hand, got my dad's height and mom's build. What. The. Hell? She says, "well at least you have straight teeth!!" (yes, I just looked left, then right, then left again. She really does say that.) No, I don't blame my parents for my fattishness, it is just fun to poke at them a little bit. Hee hee.

Okay, my sister called me "fatso" a few times growing up and while it probably wasn't the nicest thing to say, you gotta appreciate the brutal honesty of a little sister. It
was true. Sigh. You know those tests they give you in school
at the beginning and the end of the school year where they measure your weight, height, BODY COMPOSITION, flexibility, ypu ran the mile, did pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups? I would find myself devastated by the "results" of these types of tests, especially in elementary school. The problem was that not only did I feel like a failure, I wasn't taught how to "fix" the problem. So, what was the point of all of it? Well, in my loud opinion, there was no point. Without teaching me what I needed to do to be in a "good range," I was left dreading the test at the end of the year which was undoubtedly going to confirm that I was still a weak fatass. No, I'm not going to start protesting these tests in elementary schools. I'm just painting you a fatty picture of fatty me. My parents weren't into routine fitness back in the day, so I didn't have someone close by to guide me on what should be done or what to do with that information. Did I also mention that this being back in the day, my jean hiking dad would cook old school with bacon grease? He will tell you to this day, "but it tastes really good!" Umm,
yeah, dad, nothing like your lips glistening from grease. I'll stick with EVOO or cooking spray, thanks.

I struggled with chunkiness for a very very long time and even went a couple years of throwing my lunch away and having nothing but a Jammin' Berry Hi-C juice box once a day and choking down as little as possible at supper time. I got thin. People noticed. Boys noticed. I liked my thinner self, with the exception of the obsessiveness of staying thin.

Fast forward a few years and I pack on the pounds like I am saving up for a trip on an expedition trans-Antarctica.

Fast forward a couple years more and I start losing the weight thanks to the release of Tae-Bo. Thanks again, Billy for the wonderful mornings and some fantastic evenings. Raaaarrrr. This was the point where I had to stop because little did I know that the flab I was carrying around my waist, was also holding up my rather large chest. I recall going for a walk, barely making it back home because my back seized up on me (before cell phones were more than just using
them for emergencies on the road). I finally made it home and
immediately called my jean hiking dad and told him I wanted a breast reduction. He said okay, we will get it done. We did. God bless my jean hiking dad for calling insurance and finding out exactly what we needed to do.

Fast forward quite a few more years, I woke up one morning and decided to make changes. I signed up for water aerobics classes where I happened to be the youngest person there. I even got my mom to sign up for a session or two! What a supportive group - older women. Perfect! That class turned into twice a week, then I started getting braver and trying other classes, toning, yoga, weight training, aerobics, circuit training, step aerobics and my least favorite was a "dance" class that wasn't anything like dancing at all. What a waste. This time around, after all was said, but I wasn't done, I lost 42 pounds. Then, (here's the short version), I started feeling poorly, was diagnosed as being in ovarian failure/early menopause and ended up getting pregnant. Wow.

Fast forward another year plus a few months and I just decided to go for it again. I practiced my START SMALL philosophy
and ran with it, literally.

I am somewhat bothered by the charts at the doctors offices (or the wii fit that exclaims, "that's obese!" whenever i get on there) that tell you where you should be weight wise. I often wonder how every single person can fit into that chart given their genetic makeup and how, other than basic functions of your body, how someone other than yourself can be an expert on YOUR body. YOU have to figure out what is BEST for you and be your own expert.

I am still playing and trying to fine tune things for me. I know what I do and don't want for myself, so there's half the battle already won. I blog about what I do to spark ideas in you all and they are yours to leave or take. I know that it is easier for me to take suggestions from someone who is more like me rather than the person whom has more time to spare, more money and in a completely different place in their life. I can assure you that I am human, otherwise I think I would do a better job being me if I had superhuman abilities.

Signing off for now, to all of you near and far and to my friend BK whom I met in water
aerobics, until next time...