Secrets of a Former Fat Girl Read Free

journey that over the next three to five years revealed to me the body I was meant to have, and helped me discover the person I was meant to be.
    Through lots of trial and lots of error, I finally managed to get my weight down to somewhere around 117, where I’ve kept it for the last twenty years or so. Along the way I reclaimed, recovered, and revealed the powerful, confident woman I am inside.
    I was able to do what the so-called experts say is nearly impossible—what you no doubt think is impossible. I’ve been there. I know how it is to hear those success stories and think, “Good for you, girl. But I’m different. Just because you did it doesn’t mean I can.”
    That’s the way I used to think—that I was destined to be a Fat Girl, that I was “big boned.” I thought the girls I saw in the “before” and “after” shots were either fakes or had some kind of special willpower gene I wasn’t born with.
    But I’m no fake, no genetic mutant, and I’m not all that special, either. I just happened to stumble upon the solutions I needed as someone whose very identity was wrapped up in being a Fat Girl—someone whose specific needs weren’t being addressed by the big-shot best seller diet gurus out there. While they were yammering about the details, such as how many carbs are too many carbs, whether dairy puts pounds on or takes them off, or which is better, low fat or low cal, they were completely ignoring the real issue. The real issue was not “How do I lose weight?” It was “How do I begin to think about myself as someone who can lose weight?”
    Through my experience I’m convinced that being a Former Fat Girl is more about changing how you think about yourself and how you carry yourself in the world than what diet plan you’re on or whose workout you follow. And that has implications far beyond the size of jeans you wear. It means that you are building the confidence that will allow you to be a success story in every aspect of your life, not just on the scale.
    The measure of a Former Fat Girl isn’t how many pounds you’ve lost, it’s how you go for what you want in your life—how you take risks, speak up, and don’t let fear or doubt rule you. It’s how you walk through life with your chin up; how you look people in the eye when you speak.
    The shift from wannabe Former Fat Girl to actual Former Fat Girl is about changing your life from the inside out, about going from seeing yourself as a victim of schoolyard nicknames and plus-size labels to a confident, secure, self-celebrating—and, yes, self-accepting—woman. It is about coming out of hiding and shedding the layers, both literally and figuratively, that prevent you from getting what you want out of life. Most of all, it is about identifying the obstacles in your way and finally having the support and resources to make the transition once and for all.
    Your Starting Point
    With my secrets and with my guidance you can make that transition. You can become a Former Fat Girl. You can harness the appetite that seems to control you. You can say no to unhealthy foods and unhealthy habits and mean it. You can break free of the fear and insecurity that hold you back from getting what you want in your life.
    Even more than that, you can shed the image you carry around of yourself and start to see yourself in a new way. There is a place where you no longer have to hide all the things that make you special and unique, where you can let your personality shine and actually flirt if you so choose. As a Former Fat Girl, no longer will you have to bypass the cool clothes on your way to the “big girl” section of the department store. No longer will you be too ashamed to order crème brûlée, for fear that everyone in the restaurant will pity the poor Fat Girl who just can’t deny her sweet tooth. No longer will you seek the comfort