I
was square in the middle of the regular kids, we were not called nerds
even though many of us were, and some of us were jocks and scholars.
This same core group kept in contact through high school. I was always a
chubby kid, but I remember thinking of myself as fat in maybe the third
grade, I remember what classroom (in the new section) I was in. This is
the first time that I knew not to take my shirt off or to go swimming
anymore.
I
liked electronics, reading, computers, and cycling. I loved watching
sci-fi shows and nature documentaries. I always had big music collection and
a nice stereo. I took to computers as soon as I could afford one and found
Fat Acceptance.
The
first time I realized I was fat was when I was trying
to find bellbottom pants in my size!!! The 60s and 70s had a lot of fad
clothes that I missed out on. In addition to being a fat kid, I kept my
baby fat for a long while. I used to chafe in the groin a lot and there
was an embarrassing smell that went along with this. I never using the
showers at school and did not participate in school sport teams after
elementary school. Still I was comfortable with physical activities that
suited me. On a Saturday or a Sunday my friends and I would ride bikes
around town half a day and then think nothing of finishing the day with
a 24-mile ride to the nearest city and back.
From
the end of elementary school I started to really experience breast growth, which really
increased my body image problems. It stunted my dating activities and
looking back I missed a few subtle offers by girls in high school, I
remember one that snuggled up to me at a pep rally and stated how she
loved chubby guys. :)
Both
of my parents were fat and both were thin before they moved off their
family farms in rural Virginia and came north. My father would say a
little something to me after I got bigger than he. His comments were
never the "you have get thin" type. My father also has the
breast enlargement problem, but not as bad as me and not until he was
married and started gaining weight.
Did you make attempts to lose weight? If so, why and how did it go?
I attempted to lose weight in College by eating a simple diet of different combinations of frozen
vegetables and seasoning. I also ate fruit away from home cooking. Each
day I was riding my bike most of the Afternoon. I got down to below 210
lbs. When I started working longer hours I stopped and the weight came
back.
School
was OK for me. Maybe because I was one of the first Black kids in the
neighborhood I got left alone. A friend, Clayton, was fatter with more
fat rolls and at the time bustier than me. He got teased relentlessly.
To his credit he never shied away from wearing a fitting tee shirt. I
always wore clothes that would not draw attention to my fat and me. In
fact I still do pick my clothes to work around my weight.
There
always have been friends of all sizes in my life. Fat has never been an
issue in my family or extended family of both my parents.
In
school teachers should be more knowledgeable of fat issues. For
instance, I almost
did not graduate from high school because I never passed swimming. A
counselor had to write a waiver for me to graduate.
