A weighty issue .....

I was 10 pounds, 15 ounces at birth.  I was a BIG baby, and while I wasn't ever obese as a child, I definitely wasn't thin.  In fact, my clothes came from the "chubby girls" section of the store.

 

"As happy as one whose extra young pounds have been delightfully
transformed by the designing magic of Chubbettes"

 

Once, when I was 9-ish, my neighbor J (who, rah-rah-siss-boom-bah!, would later become a cheerleader) was sitting next to me on my bed and remarked that I had "fat thighs."  I don't remember any of our other conversations, but that comment is seared into my memory.  Ahhhh, the things that make an impression.

 

My grandmother didn't exactly obsess about my weight (to me), but she would make comments along the lines of "When she cares, she'll lose weight."  And yet, meals were not low-fat, and she didn't try to make me diet.  She did encourage me to go outside and move around, but I had very few friends and, therefore, not many options for non-solitary play. 

[While tangentially discussing fitness, I'll toss out the fact that all girls were required to wear blue gym suits like these for gym class.  Ugh.]

 

And almost every Sunday after church, the three of us would go to MCL Cafeteria, which had what seemed like a endless supply of delicious food, and I always had plenty of starchy foods and rolls and dessert on my tray. 

 

This was also the era of the "Clean Plate Club" -- we were told to eat everything on our plates because "children are starving in Africa."  I still don't quite understand the connection, but I ALWAYS cleaned my plate.

Looking at pictures of myself from that time, I don't think I looked terribly heavy, but I certainly felt -- and was made to feel -- that way.

"Does this mish-mash of patterns make me look fat?"
Dated 1970, but taken much earlier -- 1966-ish.
My lack of style is notable, but so is the skirt -- watch for it to be referenced in a future post.

 

Unfortunately, I was an emotional eater even then. 

Even though I didn't like what it did to me, food was comfort ... food was love.