 |
| This is the only picture I had to prove that once upon a time I did gain 30 lbs while single. We were clowning around at the porch and sis Jeni fell down to the rose bushes (behind us) just before this picture was taken! |
I was a skinny girl throughout my childhood days. I did not eat veggies until I was twelve. My younger siblings who ate veggies grew up healthier and with better body build. Fortunately, my children grew up with an appreciation for eating vegetables.
During the latter years of my high school days, the so-called baby fat grew stubborn and wouldn't leave me alone! I can't wear slim fitting jeans then and my t-shirts were a size bigger. This continued throughout my college days. If you saw my college pictures, you will probably poke my head for thinking I am delusional and vain about body weight. But when you are in that phase of life when the definition of beauty, grace and poise points on being lean and slim, mundane things such as one's weight is the center of one's drama.
It did not help that because I love to read and I am hopeless on anything sporty, I spent most of my time as a couch potato. The only "exercise" I got was travelling from Rizal and walking along the streets of Divisoria, carrying heavy baggages with my mom. Or the weekend laundry day and we have to fetch our own water from the deep well a few meters from our house.
So for the first four years of my college life, I was obsessed about wanting to trim down and be rid of the baby fat. I'd eat breakfast and lunch but would skip rice for dinner and eat 2 slices of plain wheat bread only, sometimes with half a serving of noodles (I stayed in the college dormitory and there is no cooking facility there. But we can heat water for noodles and coffee).
I also attempted to join my dorm mates who jog very early morning. Call it plain laziness - I have every excuse in the world - "It's too cold..." "I just slept two hours ago..." "I need to meet my article deadline..." etc etc.
I gained much weight during my fast food days stint. There is an underlying story about how I ended up gaining that much at the time of your life when you are suppose to be enjoying the benefits of youth and a relatively faster metabolism. And I can tell you that the reasons go deeper than mere gluttony or hunger. I never confronted that thought and those reasons until today.
My husband and I met in college at the time when I was still overweight and chubby.
In my final year in college, my then boyfriend (future husband) knocked some sense into me and convinced me to quit the stupid dieting that never worked. (He did not say it was stupid but I guess he thought it anyway)
After I quit my nonsensical diet and started eating full meals regularly, I lost my baby fat and the excess weight!
And I never gained it back since then. Such was the irony of life!
