This topic hit a nerve with me.
All of my life I've struggled with weight and food issues. My family is rather screwed up. My dad used to be an alcoholic and when he drank he would become emotionally abusive. I spent my childhood and part of my adolescence being berated for being darker than my dad, for being what he considered fat, and for being born basically (now, things have changed.) I was never fat as a child, I just carried a lot of baby fat, some of which I still have now. When I hit middle school and was teased by my classmates for being a nerd, I started to eat to cope. By the time I was in 8th grade, i was 13 wearing a size 16. High school, I went to a school for the first time that wasnt majority black. Many of my classmates had issues with their weight and there was pressure to be thin. I started to starve myself during the day and at night I would eat a small dinner so my mom would think I was eating regulary. By the time I graduated, I was a size 10 but my metabolism was screwed up. After starting college, I started to eat normally again and I regained weight. I'm now a size 14 but I'm 5'8 so I look more like a size 12, but my metabolism is slow.
I'm currently on a plan to lose weight (20 lbs by Thanksgiving, lost 6 already!) after both of my parents were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes runs on both sides of my family tree so I need to lose the weight NOW and keep it off to lessen my chances of getting it. Even though ppl in my family say I don't need to lose weight.
The problem with America is that everything has to be bigger and faster and it has to be here now. I'm still learning portion control but its hard with all of the commericals for 20 oz coke and supersizing and stuff.