I myself have been struggling with weight problems all my life. This is why I get very curious when I hear about TV-shows like the ones we have seen lately... Fat Camp, extremely obese et cetera.
Why, and how, do people get that fat? How did I become fat? Of course the answer to that question is very obvious: I ate too much and did not move enough. But then - Why??
When I was a kid, I was much more of a thinker than a doer, I was always asking questions like why - and how, how does it work, what is that for. So that is why my father taught me how to read when I was four.
I wanted challenges for my mind - not for the body. The other kids were out chasing each other, playing ball and climbing trees - for me this was unbelievably boring. So I was reading, reading, reading.
The real problem started when I was around ten. I was to a healthcare check and the nurse said: Better look out for that girl, she is a little heavy for her age! I cried myself to sleep that night.
My parents then started to control my eating, and to comment on eating behaviour, body proportions and lack of exercise. I was still a child - and I panicked.
I started to feel bad about myself. Reading was bad - and that was what I loved doing. So I started to hide. Take my book and hide somewhere to read - in the garden, in the bathroom or with relatives. eating was bad too - so I got really fucked - up feelings towards it. I started to hide food and by twelve I was a compulsive eater.
Well to make a long story short - it all went all right, I went into selfrealization and spirituality when I was 25 and got rid of my problems.
But that is what I think when I see these programmes: "It might as well have been me..." I know what it is to loose control.
For those of you who have children: Please teach them about health and healthy living! But don't comment on their bodies and don't deny them to be who they truly are! The consequenses can be fatal.
