Weight Loss Reflection

My weight never once had a part in any of these life decisions. We are now currently in the spring semester of my first year of college and I am finally realizing something. My weight is not a reflection of my mood. Ten year old me would have never believed that the word “obese” was not the worst word she would or could be called in her lifetime. Twelve year old me would have never guessed that a girl her size could get a boy a zillion times better than Austin, a boy named Travis who tells her he loves her every chance he gets. Sixteen year old me only assumed that the weight loss that she had lost was only the product of a sport that she no longer played, but now she is under the goal that she had set for herself when she was at her worst and is still working towards losing more. I am currently eighteen and I have learned two things. Everyone’s thighs jiggle when they run and that assuming things about the future does make an ass out of you and me. I still binge on fast food sometimes, and say hateful things to myself in the mirror too. I am only human. My diet is also healthier; I exercise frequently, and try to smile more often. Although my weight is still something I believe I could work on, it is no longer in control of how I feel. I am, and that's just a bittersweet

In school I felt like everyone knew I was fat. There was no doubt in my mind they watched me with the same disgust I found I had for myself. I couldn’t tell anyone my concerns about my health. Of course these were not the same concerns one with crippling insecurity about weight and appearance but more of how could I last the day without getting too dizzy. How could I stop from falling asleep in class or sleeping as soon as I got home. Hiding became a way of life. The distorted view of myself was due to what would later be diagnosed as anorexia nervosa.

Per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly one in three children age two to nineteen in America are obese or overweight, putting them at risk for serious comorbidities. Like many illnesses, obesity reduces the life expectancy and quality of life of those affected. The impact of obesity on children and adolescents’ physical, social and emotion wellbeing can be extremely devastating. The body mass index which most obese children suffer from limit their ability of be mobile. In addition to this, they may endure a change in their academic performance due to their health status. Obese children are less likely to perform to their full potential in school (Wang and Veugelers, 2013). On an emotional level, many obese children and adolescents suffer from low-self-esteem. These self-confidence issues may arise as they start feeling self-conscious about their weight. Unfortunately, at this age, kids tend to highly value their peers’ opinions. This can be negative or positive depending on the individual, but it is most likely going to be negative for obese children. Their peers’ opinions can impact the way they view themselves. Bullying can become a problem, as they constantly worry about their peers teasing them about their weight. It is not easy building self-confidence when one’s self-image is constantly are belittled and scrutinized. Per Wang and Veugelers (2013), a study shows that children’s self-esteem and academic performance decrease due to obesity. Adolescence is a phase in which a person builds and develops not only self-confidence, but his or her personality. Due to this fact, it is extremely important for them to have a strong self-esteem and personality as they grow Moreover, it is essential for policymakers to focus on creating programs to reduce obesity among children because it is the easiest, and best way to lower the national obesity rate. Children are constantly growing in

Ever since I have been in school I was always the “bigger girl” of all my friends. I constantly wished I could look like them, and fit into the same clothing that they wore. I know that sounds silly and when I look back at it now it was absurd, I was young and did not know any better. I struggled through middle school, and then high school took effect. I pushed myself so hard to lose weight, to reach my goals, to finally be happy with myself. I ended up losing twenty pounds. Back then that still was not satisfying enough for me; I was obsessive about the number I would see when I stepped onto that scale. I wanted more! That was then and this is now. Being twenty years old, I wish I could go back to that weight I was in high school, but not having that negative unhealthy attitude towards myself. A negative mind is never going to give you a positive life. As a college student I am always busy and on the go, I sometimes lose track of what food I am putting into my body, and how I am putting that food into my body. This book put a different perspective into my mind, and made me realize that I needed to change something in order for me to be happy with myself again. One specific part of the book really caught my attention. It is titled,

Recently I have been motivated by my friend Adrian’s life changing decision of putting behind his desire of just letting go and being determined to live a healthy life. I have always had an active life and enjoy playing sports but figured that it wouldn’t be enough and I am currently on a diet which has cut down on my calorie and sugar level intake. Nowadays I take the time to read nutrition labels and measure portion sizes which make a great difference. Every now and then I have a break and consume foods that are not healthy but I now I am doing better now. It is a constant struggle to not get tempted into a delicious looking pizza or some perfectly rounded donuts but I stay motivated to achieve my

The way adults bring up their kids will reflect the life that they will live later. It is extremely important that our youth understands what chronic diseases are and how severe obesity can be. Not only do children need to understand the intense health issues that obesity has, but also the social impact that it can deal with. Many kids deal with severe depression, self esteem issues, and may deal with being bullying due to that fact that they are overweight. In the “Weight of the Nation,” there are a few kids who are interviewed and explain that often feel like out casts when they are school and will hide in the background so that no one has to look at

When I was at high school I felt bad about my body. I was chubby for the first three years of high school. It was until my Senior years that I felt better about my body. I lost about 15 pounds, which was noticed by my friends. I am currently the same I feel great about my body, but I think I could lose more weight.

At barely 20 year's old, with a three year old daughter, I wanted to set a great example of health and confidence and being over weight wasn't the proper way to do that. I was insecure, self conscious and uncomfortable with my own body and standing in the mirror cringing wasn't something I wanted my daughter seeing. I had tried the diets and the gym, but it just didn't seem to be cutting it, I really needed the extra push. Something to really get me over and through the plateau it seemed like I had been stuck in for, forever.

I was constantly bullied by my peers and family members about my weight leading to depression, resentment, and unhealthy, dangerous habits. After 6 years of bullying and snide comments about my weight, I had developed Anorexia Nervosa with binge eating disorder at twelve years old. I remember the first time thinking "It is only once, it will not develop into a habit". Eight years later, I currently struggle with the demons of an eating disorder that become exacerbated by stress. However, throughout my disorder, I have grown.

When I gained weight, I was lucky to have a group of cool, smart, fat-assed chicks to rewire my brain and inspire me to look at the world as it was: a serious fat-girl hating place. They were a fantastic group of activists and performance artists called Pretty, Porky and Pissed Off who were breakdancing, crafting, baking, publishing, tap dancing and speaking out for the hot fat girl revolution. They invited me to work with them and it completely changed my life.

I chose child obesity because my thirteen year old sister suffers from it, at first it was just “baby fat” and she was going to grow out of it. Then it became she’s just “big boned”(which is nothing but an excuse). Now it has reached the point that if there is any sweets purchased and left in the house they are demolished within twenty-four hours. She started 6th grade in august and she was so excited to try out for the cheerleading team. I was a cheerleader for years so I thought I would help her get prepared for tryouts, she wasn’t the best but their was no doubt in my mind that she wouldn’t make the team. The day of the tryouts she came home and when I asked her how it went she burst out in tears,

As a child, I grew up very close to one of my cousins whom at the time was overweight, but at home was treated as if nothing was wrong. She was looked at as the subject for all jokes, not only in school, but after school hours too. Needless to say, she went into depression and became bulimic. Her illness subsequently developed other physical medical issues, but the biggest issue was her mental state. It was not until several years later that she got through the majority of her issues. Although, she has overcome most of her issue, there still permanent damage done to her body.

Since middle school weight has always been a struggle for me. I was always bullied for being the big kid in the class. It was not until my seventh grade year that my father told me if I drank water and no juice for a whole month straight he would pay me $50. At the time I did not understand why he was challenging me for something like this but why not do it and receive $50. Within that month I had lost 15 pounds. I was shocked because going into the bet I did not realize that I would be losing weight while drinking just water for a month straight. After losing all this weight I was able to maintain it until around the end of my senior year of highschool. This is when I started to become relaxed and not so active like I have been in the past.

In the past, I’ve used probability to determine the amount of weight I would lose during exercise. Living in north Texas and training for endurance events in the summer can led to some serious heat related illness if proper precautions are not taken. It is for this reason I tracked my sweat rate. At a minimum, I took two sweat tests a month during the summer for over three years. The sweat test consisted of weighting myself without clothes before exercise, one hour of intense exercise with no water (or an exact amount like 16.9 so I could add it to my calculation) and no restroom use, then weight myself again without clothes on. I collected data points from 85-90, 90-95, and 95-100+ degrees. While 2% weight loss can be seen as reasonable 3%

When my family moved away from the place I grew up I began to have a major problem with my weight; I turned to food to comfort me. I somehow felt secure while eating and because of that psychological reassurance I got from the food, I was soon over weight. I knew I had to do something but that urgency would die when I would be introduced to a new flavor of Brewster’s ice cream or a limited time only supreme large fries that I saw advertised on the television or in a magazine. My self esteem and body-image suffered a great amount during those years of constant struggle. As I looked at pictures of celebrities, athletes, average people, friends, my sister and then myself, I noticed something, all of them were thin except me. After this and