Where I came from...
I wasn't always "morbidly obese," I got there slowly overtime. After puberty I was NEVER small! Hell, I was a "big girl" and proud of it. In 5th grade I was the biggest in my class, by height and weight, I even wore a size 8 shoe! By middle school I was 5'4, 185#, size 10 shoes, wearing a 10/12, and a size 30 competitive swim suit. I was not "fat" per say but I was "the fat girl" because everyone was smaller than me, except for my pal Kim. She was a bit smaller than me and was proportioned better, but she knew my pain, she just didn't let it get to her. She was "the tough girl" and she earned that reputation. (Hell she broke her knuckles more than once punching a stop sign out of frustration. LOL!)
Anyways, by high school I was packing on the weight... both in muscle mass and in fat. I was competing in sports so heavily that I was eating probably 5-6 times a day and my school lunch was a "double serving" of everything. I was probably consuming over 3000 calories a day. However I was swimming 2 hours before school, 1 hour during school, weight training for an hour in school, swim practice for 2-3 hours after school, diving practice for 1 1/2 hours, then home, homework and bed. I BURNED calories like a mother trucker. Freshman year I was a 12/14 and a size 32-34 swim suit. By my sophomore year I was working after practice and during the summer as a lifeguard and eventually a waitress too (Denny’s) and that is when the diet went to hell. Even though I was eating the same and working out more, I was eating JUNK! No time for good cooking or packing a health lunch for school.
My sophomore year I also joined track as a discus and shot put thrower. Coach D had scouted me off the swim team (his daughter swam for another school) he saw me at a meet win an event without kicking at all. SIDE STORY: my knee was blown from an accident my frosh year (got tackled by the HS quarterback running to his class) I had done INTENSE physical therapy to get ready for the next season but I wasn't ready yet... being the bull headed girl that I was I competed anyways. So I barely kicked and he saw it, he knew that he had found a girl for his throwing team. So I started body building during school with the football team. MAN DID I GET BIG! Now not only was I chowing down the carbs but I also had to double my protein intake. It seemed like all I did was eat! My Junior and Senior year I added another sport, diving. My team had always had good divers, but after they graduated we were left with a gaping whole in our line up. We were loosing a lot of points not having at least SOMEONE dive. Coach knew that my dad was a champion diver in his day (she lived on the same island that he grew up on) so she figured that I could do it. So she put me with the diving coach after I'd do a shorter swim practice then the rest of the team. Boy did my swimming suffer for that; and so did the amount of calories I was actually burning! I dove for the next 2 years and hated every minute of it, the pain and the bruising really drug down my spirit, hard. But I did it for the team.
The rest of my HS years consisted of AP classes, swim team, diving, track team, life guarding, assistant coaching, working with parks & rec, working at Denny's, working at the Metroparks, and gearing up for college. Did I mention I went through 2 long term relationships too? Yeah, I barely slept… but life was good. The only thing that brought me down was the weight. By graduation I was on the verge of depression... I honestly think that the adrenaline from my sports was the only thing keeping me from going off the edge. I was wearing an 20/22 (sometimes larger depending on the manufacturer); size 44 swim suit, size 10W shoe, 5'5, 210-220#. I was officially the fat girl. At least I had toughened up though, at least on the outside. I accepted my "Helga" & "Sarge" nicknames with pride... I was the enforcer... no one fucked with me and athletes from other teams avoided me. I broke school and regional records and that kept everyone off my back. I was not disliked by my teammates, hell they loved me because I was always prepared. I always brought the best food to the carbo loading parties. In track I brought a giant tent for the whole team to camp out in. LOL! I was team captain for two years on both teams and I carried the responsibility well. The most depressing days for me was those weeks leading up to the formals (we had three a year and I went to every one of them… Homecoming, SnoBall & Prom) I hated trying to find a dress to fit my proportions. Hell even at a 16 I still had a 44 shoulder and a 42 ribcage, my lat muscles…gods, I looked like a dude! Thinking back, I don't regret anything... it wasn’t all bad. It helped to shape me to become the person I am today. It’s just that weight and fitness have always been apart of whom I am… and it is still a struggle!
I was recently cleaning out the garage and I found some pictures that made me go back to the beginning... to before I was labeled "morbidly obese" and found myself struggling to just live and eventually making the biggest decision of my life.
Can you find me? I am in the middle somewhere!
I'm on the left going off the starting block. Freestyle (front stroke) was never one of my favorites, but it was a hell of allot better than breaststroke, my poor injured knee couldn't take the stress. Butterfly was always fun but one hell of a workout. I was a backstroker. I could swim faster doing backstroke than I could doing front. I was funny that way. I was "all arm" as my coach said. And my flip turns, I was notorious for how long I would stay underwater after a turn doing a butterfly kick before coming up. The judges always watched me to make sure I broke surface where I was supposed to or they would disqualify me... I was a rebel. I think I might have actually took 8 - 10 strokes above water (although I was so strong that half my body was out of the water) before going into the next turn...lol!
Ahhh.. the diving years. OUCH. Let's see I've smacked every part of my body on the water, hit the board with my head 3 times, and I have landed on the board completely flat when I was doing "dry runs" (Running through the approach and push up but supposed to just run the dive in my head and not actually do it. Yeah, my body decided to do it (a reverse dive), but I never pushed off. That was a back boarding experience I'll never forget. LOL! Poor Tom Papp thought I was going to have to go to the hospital. LOL! I eventually woke up all back boarded and demanded they let me off the board. Had a migraine for days and never told my 'rents.
Coach D and Coach B... I never really liked Coach B but that was ok... she was in charge of field events but because myself and my partner Lisa got so good, Coach D sent us off to practice at another High School (ironically my dad's old HS) to train with their throwing coach. This guy’s daughter was the Canadian National Champion! Anyways... Coach Dennisuk was the guy who recruited me off the swim team. He hounded me my entire freshman year! I finally gave into his requests but only after reaching an agreement that he'd never make me run. #1 my knee was jacked up already and I didn't want to fuck my swim career. #2 I hated to run! Of course by my sophomore year he had broken that deal and had all of us throwers running. It was a "free event" with no points for any team... it was called the "fat girls relay"... it was a 4 x 100 relay run where the shot put and discus throwers ran the event and we passed the disk or shot instead of a baton. It was quite amusing to watch! The guys' relay was even funnier! Anyways, Coach D saw something in me that I never did... I loved him then and I still love him now. He changed my life in more ways than he knows. Hell, had I not joined the track team I don't think hubby and I would be together today. We've been best friends since I was 11 but by high school we were both working and competing so much we never had time together outside of the sports that we did together. LOL!
Yup, that's me and my bleach blonde hair! LOL! Discus was my thing... I won 1st place at practically every meet. My senior year I broke a 22 year old school record. Shit, I went to regions and did extremely well. I actually loved the sport, I'd do it now if I had a team to compete on... I still have my practice disk and shoes in my foot locker! I was "Helga" and my partner in crime, Lisa, was "Inga" and *said in deep german voice and accent* "together we'd fuuuuk you aup!" Hehehehe... yeah we were the duo. She and I would go 1-2 in shot, and then in disc I'd take 1st and she'd take 2nd. It was great! Anyways, like I said these are from my first year throwing disc so I am using a very simple form. By the time I graduated I was doing this fancy assed spin thing.... it was crazy looking but when I released that disk... it flew... and of course so did a loud and intimidating...."keeeeeeaaaaaaaaaa" with every single throw. Hehehehe....
I was scarey looking wasn't I? And that was just my freshman year. We got better uniforms and I got HUGE by my Junior and Senior year! LOL!
Well thanks for walking down memory lane with me. I have more pix and memories to share but I need to get my ass in the shower. I have to drive to Seattle to see my mom and aunt tonight before they leave for their week long Alaska cruise (they're flying in tonight and bunking in a hotel and then getting on a bus to meet their boat in the morning)! LUCKY BANDITS!