The journey from being an obese child to a strong and healthy woman took years. Here are her steps along that path.
Dwinelva Zackery, Age 50
Director of customer service at a healthcare organization in Northern Kentucky
I remember it like it was yesterday
I was age 14, and I was obese. I wore a women’s size 22. Something clicked and I said to myself: “If you continue like this, you will be obese all your life.” I didn’t tell anyone, and I didn’t do anything major. I cut back on sugar and ate more vegetables. I became a master at counting calories and didn’t eat after 5 p.m.
In college, my journey really started
By age 18, I had lost 30 lbs. I was still heavy, wearing a women’s size 16. But I took a conditioning class at college, and I began to run. My body started to look different; my legs and ankles were more toned.
The monster rears its head
In my 20s and 30s, I struggled with extremes of starving, then binging and purging. I hadn’t made the connection between my emotions and food. It felt like a monster would come out of nowhere and I would eat lots of food, then I’d fast or use laxatives to maintain my weight. People can look great on the outside and be in an enormous amount of pain on the inside. I started working with a therapist, and I learned how to make friends with the monster. It doesn’t go away. But I’m not afraid of the monster anymore. It has given me an opportunity to learn about myself.
Body awareness and personal acceptance
As a child, I didn’t learn body awareness. I didn’t know when I was full or when I was hungry because I ate all the time. Kids are cruel to people who are different, so I didn’t have many friends. I found comfort in food. Growing up in Northwestern Louisiana, everything revolved around big meals and Southern-style home cooking—fried foods, pork and grease. Helping an obese child takes more than giving the child healthy food. Sit down with the child and connect on an emotional level, because food is the child’s friend and is replacing something for the child. Tell the child you love him or her, and you’re proud of him or her. Also if there is anything I wish for, it is that I had been more active as a child.