Confessions of a Fat Kid (Adult)
I was a skinny kid up until nine years old when something, I’m not sure what, happened. I started getting air tanks (love handles didn’t seem appropriate at the time) and a gut. Man boobs came shortly thereafter.
Over the years I found myself more and more immersed in the life of a fat kid. This post is not a sob story about how I was teased at school or even about how I ate because I was unhappy and I was unhappy because I ate. No, this post takes an honest look at the mistakes that I made with my health when I was younger and now as an adult. Over the years I formed many bad habits and lifestyle patterns. Here they are.
Childhood
- My crutch – When I was six I was diagnosed with Asthma that, among other things was triggered by physical activity. This became my crutch in PE later on and therefore spared me from the humiliation that comes with being a fat kid who sucks at sports. In retrospect, it would have been better for me to suck it up and get in the game every once and a while, but the longer I sat against the wall, the worse it got…I’m talking here about the next habit that I developed out of this crutch.
- Laziness – Sure, I liked video games like most kids. I also enjoyed taking apart electronics and watching sci-fi So what came first? The geek or the fat? That’s a good question for another post. The quick and dirty of it is, if I could get away with not having to move a muscle, I did. All of that inactivity seems to have added up.
- Eating habits – I never made healthy choices when given the chance. They served salad at the school cafeteria all the time, but I always went for the burger or pizza. I paid no attention to portions or nutrient value. I ate what I wanted because it was my right. This self serving and self deserving attitude made its way into other areas of my life as well.
Adulthood
- My crutch – It’s in my genes. I’m fat, who gives a rip? I’ll deal with it later. Maybe when I become a father. These are all things that I leaned upon and defended myself with when faced with an upgrade in pant size. The truth is, there’s no better time than now to start a new pattern of health in my life.
- Laziness – For much of my teenage and early adult life I took a very apathetic stance when it came to my health. What comes will come, there’s nothing I can do about it. Unfortunately I wasted years with this mind set. If only I had a little more confidence in myself, maybe I’d have done something about it. I never exercised and I slept as much as I could get away with.
- Eating habits -One of my first jobs was working at McDonalds where I got a free lunch every shift. That was bad, as you can imagine. But even as I changed jobs and got out of food service, I still ended up at these fast food joints eating crap every day. Because of my apathy, I didn’t even care. That junk tastes good, honestly, and if it tasted good, then what else did I need to consider? Eating out all the time, eating late into the night. I did it all. I even…
- Smoked – I’m not talking about a cigar every now and then, no. At one point in my youth I smoked a pack a day. Even typing that now makes me cringe. There are few things that I can think of that were as stupid as that. It goes back to that “who gives a rip” attitude that I had.
The above patterns and habits are just a slice of what I need to change. As my journey through this process of self improvement continues, I’ll be sure to let you know what habits I come to recognize and how I break them.
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