I was born in Malaysia and have lived in England and in Trinidad. My second husband who was from Scotland. He was transferred to Michigan, and we came to live in Ann Arbor. Not knowing anybody, I became isolated. I had culture shock and was always hungry. I weighed 186 pounds, the highest weight I’ve ever been. My only medicine was food, food, and more food. There was never enough. I prayed for help only after I had eaten the food. I was searching for a solution to get out of my obese body. I tried injections, ate raw eggs, drank oil and milk three times a day, and went on a grapefruit diet. I tried a wine diet, where I drank one glass of wine three times a day. One last thing my doctor suggested was that I should wire my teeth and have liquid food through a straw.... Continue Reading
Most of my life has been extraordinary. I have had two long-term careers I loved: social work and teaching. I grew up with an amazingly talented, attractive, and accomplished extended family in beautiful homes. There was a lot of love, but also depression and alcoholism. I clearly remember my father’s beautiful artistic sister dying when I was five. I didn’t know at the time what suicide meant. Later, I found out it was also the cause of death of my grandfather’s sister. I overate sweets from the time I can remember, but was so active I was only a few pounds overweight as a child. In my 20s I maintained a normal weight. I had found out that if I drank the foamy kind of alcoholic drink, it took my appetite away. I realize now that I was technically anorexic, as I frequently didn’t eat anything for days, but the... Continue Reading
I joined FA at the age of 71. I was 50 pounds overweight, had diabetes that had been out of control for 30 years, was on medication for heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. I was bingeing at least weekly. I was dying and I knew it. I became a food addict when I was a child. We lived in a rural area, where there were many farmers who would turn over their vegetable fields and orchards to people for picking after they had done two “pickings.” We were very poor, so we took advantage of this food. In this way, we had every fruit and vegetable imaginable. During this time, we had plenty and my mother made sure we ate well. She froze many of the vegetables to make dishes during the winter. There were no limits to how much or what we ate during this time.... Continue Reading
After a semi-successful bout on a commercial diet, I weighed 170 pounds. At 5 feet 3 ½ inches tall, I was far from slim, but considered myself acceptable. I was 47 years old. At a routine visit for my COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), my pulmonologist said, “You could do less damage to your body by gaining 100 pounds than you are doing by continuing to smoke.” I quit smoking, and with his “permission,” promptly gained 50 pounds. Then I developed breast cancer and had a lumpectomy. A few years later, I reached 236 pounds. In addition to being morbidly obese, I also developed type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease, an enlarged heart from high blood pressure, and stage 1b lung cancer. I had more doctors than friends. After having a procedure for my lung cancer, the thoracic surgeon said, “You better hope this worked. I don’t feel... Continue Reading
Growing up, I learned that there were certain “rules” in my family. The rules were: you should know the right thing to do in every circumstance. You should do the right thing in every circumstance. If you had to ask how or what to do, you lost. No pressure there! My father was a minister. He often told me I had to be an example to the church and to the whole community of what a well-behaved child should be, and he enforced that policy with a razor strap. As early as 9, I remember the high school football player and store clerk, who caught me stealing sweet stuff in the grocery store. I was terrified that he’d tell my parents if he saw me with them, so I insisted on staying in our car in 100 degree weather in Texas while they went in to shop. In middle school,... Continue Reading
