My Goals: The Influence Of Living With Obesity

My goal is probably not one that most people would set for themselves. Most people set their goals in terms of their education, career, and family. My goal is to lead a healthier life style because I’ve gotten tired living with obesity and being unhealthy. At the age of 15, my doctor officially diagnosed me as an obese child. Being overweight did not affect me personally while I was in Elementary and in Middle School. When I moved to be in High school, however, I began to feel social pressure to drop my excess weight, the sooner, the better.
The mirror can be your friend or your enemy. I considered it my worst enemy because I had to look at something I feared: I had to face myself at my worst physical shape. I had what was called "man boobies": …show more content…
Now in their late forties, they are overweight. Most of my family were always in good physical shape, so I have been among my siblings who has experienced obesity. My father, who has become the greatest influence of all, has been pressuring me to lose the extra weight. It all started when I was officially diagnosed by the doctor as overweight. He used to approach me and say "I love you son. If you lose the weight, it will make you more handsome than you already are". At that time, when I did not yet have the will to lose the weight, my father 's comments would hurt my feelings. But my father meant well, he wants me to experience life the way he did when he was young living in the Philippines, the life of being in good physical shape. Now when I ask him why he pushed me to lose the weight, he tells me it was because he knew how social pressure was something every teen experiences. My mother has always accepted me for who I am. At the end of the day I became my parents motivation to lead a healthy life has inspired them to seek the same thing. With their expectation for me to lose the excess weight and lead a healthier life style, my motivation grew even …show more content…
The fact is that being overweight did not bother me a lot like it did. Being overweight has taught me a valuable lesson, a lesson I learned through losing my self-esteem. It made me hate myself, especially physically. It made me feel not worthy of love or worthy of being with someone. Social pressure was the number one factor that triggered all those ideas and thoughts. Along the way, I realized that living a healthier life style was indeed what I wanted and needed. Starting to shed the extra pounds, I feel physically and mentally better. I am motivating my parents to do the same thing, and it has boosted my confidence to feel good about myself. Throughout the years growing up with obesity, I have come to realize that I want to lead a healthy life