The moment puberty strikes me the hardest at the age
of 14 years old, my size was an L despite only at an average height of 160cm.
My face was round, red and pimply, my tummy looked bloated, my thighs expanded
at an outrageous rate(I seriously hate to wear jeans when I was a teen because
none of them fit properly), my calf becomes a carrot, not the real vegetable, I
mean its shape. Sigh… Baggy tees and comfy loose Bermudas were my only style.
My posture was bad too as I love to slouch like the cartoon character Hunchback
of Notte Dame. My head always hung low because I just wanted to be invisible like
Harry Potte in his invisible cloak. In short, I really felt ugly and never went
out with my friends and classmates. I actually never went out at all during my
secondary school to even university days. I shun cameras and ran far, far away
from photo-taking events as if they are lepers. I will rather be taking photos
than to be taken.
The only comfort is to immense myself in books. Lots
of them and I even slept with them as if they are cuddly teddy bears. I was
thrilled to be selected in the school Chinese dance club but my happiness was
short-lived. My dance instructress wasn’t that pleased with my built especially
my lower body. In fact, I was the biggest sized looking girl among my petite
and slim schoolmates. There was even once I overheard my dance instructress
passing the comment “She had elephant thighs” to the teacher-in-charge when I
was on my way to the toilet. This casual remark pierced right through my heart
and I quietly made my way to the warm up floor, forgetting I needed to pee. For
so long, I had yet to get over this hurtful remarks. I lost interest in the Chinese
dance though I did secretly hoped I can dance my way to a slimmer body. Nay…
nothing like that happen. I was too preoccupied with preparing for my exams
especially for the Olevel. At least, I had better luck with the national exams
since I’m really a “bookworm”.
I was not an active girl since my Secondary school
days. All the seatwork in the classroom, long hours studying, bingeing on junk
food and the escape from PE lessons really my lifestyle more sedentary than
ever. When I entered junior college, I was in my biggest built ever. Though
weighing at 53kg, I looked seriously plump because I also had a lot of baby
fats to shed. Till then, I realized the orange peel look on my thighs were
actually cellulite. I accidentally scratch my thighs with my nails one day and
wondered what that white, lingering streak was on my thighs. My mum teased me
about cellulite. I was deeply horrified! I had cellulite at the age of 17.
Arghhh….. I was still not doing anything about it because I was preoccupied in
my Alevel exams. I only know I wanted to get into the University and the other
non-life threatening matters can wait.
I plucked up the courage to join a slimming center at
the age of 18 years old. For the first time in my life, I am doing something
about my weight. Though such package is expensive, I was determined to shed
pounds off. I succeeded!
Yet such a success was short lived, weight tend to
rebound once I revert to a dormitory lifestyle. The results were not
sustainable. I embarked in yo-yo diet, protein diet and meal-replacement diet.
I haven’t even touched on the topic of exercise. I also tested a variety of
exercise from heart-pumping cardio exercise to slow, mediating ones like yoga
and Pilates. Even till the day I gave birth, the battle with weight still
continued. Despite all the ups and downs, I preserved to find the best approach
to slim down and this time focusing my effort
to sustain the results in the long run.
Stay tuned as I shared my first experience in the
slimming center.
