Member-only story
The World Treats Skinny People Better
My Life-Long Journey With Losing and Gaining Weight
It all started when I was 5 years old. I am of English/Ukrainian/Italian heritage. There are overweight and skinny people in my family. I go more toward the heavy side.
And my mom noticed. This is back in the early 1980s. My mom would put on an exercise tv show and encourage me to do jumping jacks or sit-ups. I was taught from a young age to hate my body and that fat was bad.
My mom also restricted my sugar intake, a lot. I naturally have a heart-shaped face but to her, it was fat. Everyone in her family was thin and she did not want a fat daughter.
So from baking me a birthday cake with no frosting, to giving me a big Easter basket and then freezing the chocolate so I couldn’t eat it, she was cruel. She would have sweets all over the house, tucked into the highest cupboards for her and the rest of the family, but none for me.
I got skinnier and skinnier, mostly because of riding my bike and playing outside, not from her calorie restrictions. My sister inherited the skinny genes. She never really had to diet and my mom never put her on a diet.
