On Being Fat by Pamela J. Mulraney

Author:Pamela J. Mulraney
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783066537
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

(A) ‘Shit happens’… (Adversity)

(B) We eat shit… (Behaviour)

(C) We’re sick… (Consequence)

This is the very simple premise and, it has to be said that in life they all get mixed up because life is like that! It doesn’t come with a plan… it’s muddled, so the residual ‘baggage’ that we carry often requires firstly a recognition that it exists within us, secondly the will to want to consciously leave it behind and thirdly the strength to address the issue along with all the other stuff that life routinely throws at us! And of course while we’re giving this some thought another bag of crisps has disappeared without trace and our brain cells go stiff!

Which brings me to roast potatoes; when I was a little girl at junior school, we all had school dinners and for a dare I ate thirty six roast potatoes at one sitting… 36… thirty six… THIRTY SIX! And I’m still chuffed to bits because I got ‘positive strokes’ from my peer group. They were impressed! I didn’t get many positive stokes when I was a little girl. But convert that same equivalent achievement to adult hood… eating two huge Sunday lunches at a carvery when I was 50 (because they say you can eat as much as you like) and I became REALLY FAT. Annie told me last year how deeply embarrassed she was… it plunged me into reflective shame. My glorious achievement didn’t come with positive strokes that time (but my goodness… it tasted good at the time… both meals!) And that’s the thing… the pleasure of good food. I sometimes think I simply haven’t got that ‘full’ switch that’s supposed to kick in when I’ve had enough… I never seem to feel full until I really am fit to burst… and I can always find room for ‘a wafer thin mint’!

So, referring back to the ABC theory. The adversity: I felt unloved. The behaviour: I ate roast potatoes to impress people with a view to being shown affection and given approval. The consequence: I subsequently associate food as a balm and, ultimately, become REALLY FAT.

I recently read a brilliant quote… it was written anonymously, so I don’t know who wrote it, but if it was you, thank you!!!

‘If hunger isn’t the problem, eating isn’t the answer’

If I could live/had lived by that simple principle, I would not be REALLY FAT because yes, I do love lots of food, but I also eat lots of food to comfort me… and I have done from a very young age. This is where the psychological stuff really rears its ugly head because I was unwittingly conditioned in childhood to see food as something other than a fuel to keep me going!

You may need a bit of history here… bear with me…

Annie and I are biological sister’s, our biological Mother died in childbirth when Annie was seven and I was four; my step brother (who is three months older than Annie) is the son of my stepmother by her first husband.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.