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| I'm having a FAT day! By: Mai Eldib It seemed to me, that every day was a Fat Day. Despite how silly this sounds, it was the reality of the situation. I don’t think there was ever a time that I wasn’t on a diet, exercising, meeting a nutritionist or following the latest weight loss fad. My love-hate affair with the scale happened a long time ago. As far as I can recall, I saw my first dietician at the young age of NINE! I distinctly remember what I was told to consume for breakfast; either 2 pieces of fruit plus a piece of whole wheat toast or two boiled eggs. Of course, all I could think of were fluffy pancakes with a spread of delicious Nutella. It was a struggle to constantly believe that in reality working hard to drop down to a lower weight would be beneficial to me in many various ways. Whether it be my health, the look of clothes and most importantly my self- confidence; nonetheless, I wanted to convince myself that this is who I was. I am overweight and this was how I shall remain. I was afraid of change. I hid behind my weight. I hid behind my muffin top sides and tummy. My relationship with various diets went on until my first year in college in 2005. I remember every dietician; the first one was Dr. N, who was all about sautéed vegetables and minimal amount of grains. To Dr. A, who put seeds in my ear that supposedly suppressed my appetite to Dr. M in New York who made me keep journals of my eating habits that only revealed that I overate and didn’t control my portions. Followed by two stints at a Spa where I was put on a rigorous regime of healthy food and liquid fasting with strenuous daily hiking in the mountains of Czech Republic. Whatever it was, I tried it with no form of solid conviction. Essentially I was trying to shed some pounds to please my mother. It was an ongoing battle between us; the issue of weight was always the reason for many of our quarrels. She felt that I didn’t put enough effort and dedication to losing weight and I felt that she could only see me as an overweight kid, period. There was never a case where I stood in front of the mirror and felt that I was making any progress or even any reason to let me continue with making sacrifices. Even though, all along the way, I was of course exercising, not regularly necessarily, but managed to get to the gym at least twice a week. Even with this slew of different doctors, I never fully dedicated myself to the program of weight loss. I snuck some chocolate here, some ice cream there. Falling into the trap of over-eating; thankfully I wasn’t a fast food junkie. But there’s only so much rice and vegetables servings you can eat without realizing that eating a lot of “healthy food” doesn’t mean you will be able to keep the weight off, let alone lose what’s already there in excess. It wasn’t until an intervention by my mother in my second semester sophomore year where we started a detoxification program that started me on a path of slow success. After drinking nothing but vegetable and fruit juices for 10 days and cleansing our bodies from impurities and everyday chemicals, I found it too hard to mess up yet again. Like studying and working hard to get to the top schools, I needed to work hard and not neglect my health and body. But why now? Why did I come to this realization when I was around 19 closing to 20 years? Because it’s not easy being a nine year old and thinking I shouldn’t eat this chocolate bar in my lunch break because it will show up on my thighs or on my belly. Nor is it easy during finals or when applying to colleges to decide to snack on carrots and cucumbers. But it is imperative to realize sooner than later. Most importantly, weight loss must be a personal journey. Not something that is forced from your mother, friends, or doctors. We all know that too much McDonald’s is bad, but having it once every 6 months won’t kill you. The decision is hard and isn’t easy to come by – but it needs to be innate to your identity. I only started to lose weight and keep it off when I believed that it made me happier and that it was the healthy decision. Don’t get me wrong I still manage to get some nutella and pancakes every now and then, but I no longer crave them. I kinda like eggs and cucumbers. I struggle from time to time to maintain my weight. Always aware of the fear of gaining it all back!! I am trying as much as possible to go to the gym at least twice a week and to snack between my meals – not to have a feeling of starvation when I come to my meal times. And if I don’t have time for a gym routine, a brisk stroll in the park is always refreshing. And my ultimate favorite workouts put some dance music and release yourself for 30 minutes. It’s hard to stay on track, but eating in moderation and in a healthful manner is essential. One of my absolute commandments: NO JUNK FOOD or SODAS! Trust me they pack in non-beneficial chemicals into your system. And who doesn’t love a home cooked meal to food from the microwave. Natural is always better and more nutritious. |
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