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extreme weight loss
I cannot overstate my hatred of The Biggest Loser enough. My reasons are simple: The show is built around extremism; many featured trainers are downright abusive; and the long term impact of the show subjects participants and viewers to physical and mental damage that can permanently hinder their efforts to lose weight and live a healthier life. In every single way, it presents a broken and incorrect vision of weight loss.
How does a person reach 350 lbs? You eat that big. For me, these behaviours were set at a young age.
I used to weigh more than 300 pounds. In 2003 I lost more than half my body weight. You might think that when I reflect on my 300-pound self that it would be with disdain or pity. Hell no. The longer I'm thin, though, the more I miss the gifts of living in a body so big that people often turned away. It may sound strange to some, but here are five things I miss about my old, obese self.
I have always struggled with liking myself and feeling worthy of love. I turned to food as a form of comfort and as a way to control my otherwise uncontrollable life. Every time something went wrong I would eat -- a lot. And of course I became overweight, very overweight, and then eventually obese. Then I woke up one morning and said, "Enough is enough!"
