You could say that I have had three lives. I grew up in the ‘middle of the pack’ as a child always a bit wirey priding myself on my ability to sprint and jump. As I got older, I grew to be on the tall side (6-04) and found sports more in sync with my new body type. My third life was a struggle to stop growing out since I already stopped growing up…. this is a constant battle.
Recently, I ran into an old friend I haven’t seen since grad school and he commented typically on how much we had changed and that he jokingly always thought of me as his ‘fat friend.’ He moaned about how much bigger he was than me today. He then pried my secrets of weight reduction (Jenny Craig) but — I confess — I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I actually felt too heavy after the holidays and I was in the process of taking off the excess Christmas cheer.
So, the moral is that I don’t think everyone needs a fat friend to make them feel better, but slim friends ( or ex-fat friends) help make the transition back to normality easier. My guess that the next time I see him he will be as I remembered him… and without all his medication.
Roger