Just about a week left cats and kittens - let's get those entries submitted and let's see some of the contributions ... 
please....
please....Weight-Loss Essay Contest For Fat Loss
- Thread starter theleip
- Start date
Weight-Loss
- Status
Lena's story
I was having second thoughts whether to do this or not. But then I remembered that I’m learning how to be the new me, and new me is definitely not running from things anymore.
So my name is Lena, I’m 28 years young and I’m obese. I am 5’6’’ tall and my current weight is 216 lbs. When I started this journey as I call it I was 236lbs. I’m no writer and I apologize if my English in some parts sounds confusing.
My goal is to reveal myself. This sentence may sound strange, but my goal is to remove the walls I created around me. Since I am emotionally addicted to food this process will be a long one. Would I benefit from a personal trainer? Perhaps I would, but this is not why I’m writing this. To me this is one step towards my own personal healing. I just need to write it down. I need to do this for me…
So let me start by saying something about me and my reasons…
I was born and raised in Croatia, in town Rijeka. My father is Serbian and my mother is Croatian. This may not seem like something important but this is something that affected my life…in many more ways than I thought it would be possible. The country I was actually born in was Yugoslavia, an imaginary state, kept by a strong charismatic leader after whose death the country we then cherished would fade into the wind…just like that.
Being born to a mixed marriage made a great impact in my life. Before 1990 Croatia and Serbia were part of the same country. Then the war started. Croatia declared independence and Serbia attacked. The hatred grew stronger by everyday propaganda. It was a bad thing to be Serbian, just like it was a bad thing to be Croatian in Serbia. And being a bit of both definitely wasn’t a good thing. Fortunately I come from a town which is multicultural. People are more tolerant, but still I had to lie that my father was Serbian if I wanted to have relatively normal life. People were scared and did lots of stupid things. I remember that we kept an axe by the front door. You never knew if someone might come and do something in the name of ‘Croatia’. Even if I didn’t experience bombs I did experience a tragic side of the war…not having much to eat. I didn’t eat cheese for example for more than 7 years, we just couldn’t afford it. Leaving food on the plate wasn’t an option…you had to eat the whole thing. I think you can imagine why I ate like it was my last day on the planet. I didn’t care about putting on weight. When I was 16 I went to Italy to work there for the summer. This family owned a small restaurant, and the lady of the house would always cook things for 6 people and not 3, so at the end of lunch, dinner she would throw it away. I cried several times when I saw that. Food was a big treasure for me. And this was my biggest excuse. But this wasn’t the main reason I put on weight. I was putting on weight long before the war started.
My problems with food come from my early childhood, since I was about 3 until I was 9. This is also the period I have blocked from me for a long time. I started eating more when I was 3 years old. Doctors were saying I’m making up for being born two months early (I guess I was eager to see the world…ironically it took me almost 30 years to start seeing it). But I think I started because suddenly I was ordered to behave, I couldn’t express my anger in front of my parents, because they would either send me to my room or slap me in the face. I don’t blame them, they didn’t know different. My father’s drinking also didn’t help. He and my mom would fight a lot, and to me he was unrecognizable when he would drink…he still is. I hate when he’s having his drinking periods…he is the reason I would like to ban all the alcohol in the world.
Another thing that happened to me was when I was about 9 years old…when a cousin from my mother’s side abused me…I remember him laying next to me, showing me his privates. I remember touching it…I don’t remember anything else. Even this was something I remembered during last summer, and it took 6 months for me to start accepting the fact that it wasn’t my fault. I’m still having problems accepting it.
The last two things I pretty much blocked from my memory and didn’t remember until last summer… As i mentioned before, the war affected my life, it was the reason that I didn’t see my family from dad’s side for sixteen years. Since I wasn’t telling anyone about my childhood I forgot lots of things. Being in Serbia again, seeing all those places from my childhood made me remember everything, it made me remember my mom leaving, that cousin laying next to me... it made me sick to my stomach, I was crying like a little child, I was that little child. But then also everything fell into its place. It was scary and liberating at the same time. Now I had something I could work on. I also was surrounded by love. I received more hugs from my aunts and cousins then ever from my parents. This helped me remember and is helping me continue.
I didn’t start with the lifestyle change immediately. It took me some time to understand and accept the fact that some things are not my fault and that I can’t influence them. Even if the guilt part comes up every so often, I’m not giving up. For me this journey is not about losing weight, even if it is an essential part. It is about revealing myself and that scares me more than you know. Just when I think about it I feel panic.
However, I won’t give in to fear, even if it does keep me up at night. Some may find this funny or even strange…but yes, thought of shedding these walls I created is keeping me up at nights. Through this journey I need it to convince that little girl inside of me that she has become much stronger than she ever thought she might be.
Now I’m ready to see the world. I won’t let anything hold me back. Now I know who I want to be.
I was having second thoughts whether to do this or not. But then I remembered that I’m learning how to be the new me, and new me is definitely not running from things anymore.
So my name is Lena, I’m 28 years young and I’m obese. I am 5’6’’ tall and my current weight is 216 lbs. When I started this journey as I call it I was 236lbs. I’m no writer and I apologize if my English in some parts sounds confusing.
My goal is to reveal myself. This sentence may sound strange, but my goal is to remove the walls I created around me. Since I am emotionally addicted to food this process will be a long one. Would I benefit from a personal trainer? Perhaps I would, but this is not why I’m writing this. To me this is one step towards my own personal healing. I just need to write it down. I need to do this for me…
So let me start by saying something about me and my reasons…
I was born and raised in Croatia, in town Rijeka. My father is Serbian and my mother is Croatian. This may not seem like something important but this is something that affected my life…in many more ways than I thought it would be possible. The country I was actually born in was Yugoslavia, an imaginary state, kept by a strong charismatic leader after whose death the country we then cherished would fade into the wind…just like that.
Being born to a mixed marriage made a great impact in my life. Before 1990 Croatia and Serbia were part of the same country. Then the war started. Croatia declared independence and Serbia attacked. The hatred grew stronger by everyday propaganda. It was a bad thing to be Serbian, just like it was a bad thing to be Croatian in Serbia. And being a bit of both definitely wasn’t a good thing. Fortunately I come from a town which is multicultural. People are more tolerant, but still I had to lie that my father was Serbian if I wanted to have relatively normal life. People were scared and did lots of stupid things. I remember that we kept an axe by the front door. You never knew if someone might come and do something in the name of ‘Croatia’. Even if I didn’t experience bombs I did experience a tragic side of the war…not having much to eat. I didn’t eat cheese for example for more than 7 years, we just couldn’t afford it. Leaving food on the plate wasn’t an option…you had to eat the whole thing. I think you can imagine why I ate like it was my last day on the planet. I didn’t care about putting on weight. When I was 16 I went to Italy to work there for the summer. This family owned a small restaurant, and the lady of the house would always cook things for 6 people and not 3, so at the end of lunch, dinner she would throw it away. I cried several times when I saw that. Food was a big treasure for me. And this was my biggest excuse. But this wasn’t the main reason I put on weight. I was putting on weight long before the war started.
My problems with food come from my early childhood, since I was about 3 until I was 9. This is also the period I have blocked from me for a long time. I started eating more when I was 3 years old. Doctors were saying I’m making up for being born two months early (I guess I was eager to see the world…ironically it took me almost 30 years to start seeing it). But I think I started because suddenly I was ordered to behave, I couldn’t express my anger in front of my parents, because they would either send me to my room or slap me in the face. I don’t blame them, they didn’t know different. My father’s drinking also didn’t help. He and my mom would fight a lot, and to me he was unrecognizable when he would drink…he still is. I hate when he’s having his drinking periods…he is the reason I would like to ban all the alcohol in the world.
Another thing that happened to me was when I was about 9 years old…when a cousin from my mother’s side abused me…I remember him laying next to me, showing me his privates. I remember touching it…I don’t remember anything else. Even this was something I remembered during last summer, and it took 6 months for me to start accepting the fact that it wasn’t my fault. I’m still having problems accepting it.
The last two things I pretty much blocked from my memory and didn’t remember until last summer… As i mentioned before, the war affected my life, it was the reason that I didn’t see my family from dad’s side for sixteen years. Since I wasn’t telling anyone about my childhood I forgot lots of things. Being in Serbia again, seeing all those places from my childhood made me remember everything, it made me remember my mom leaving, that cousin laying next to me... it made me sick to my stomach, I was crying like a little child, I was that little child. But then also everything fell into its place. It was scary and liberating at the same time. Now I had something I could work on. I also was surrounded by love. I received more hugs from my aunts and cousins then ever from my parents. This helped me remember and is helping me continue.
I didn’t start with the lifestyle change immediately. It took me some time to understand and accept the fact that some things are not my fault and that I can’t influence them. Even if the guilt part comes up every so often, I’m not giving up. For me this journey is not about losing weight, even if it is an essential part. It is about revealing myself and that scares me more than you know. Just when I think about it I feel panic.
However, I won’t give in to fear, even if it does keep me up at night. Some may find this funny or even strange…but yes, thought of shedding these walls I created is keeping me up at nights. Through this journey I need it to convince that little girl inside of me that she has become much stronger than she ever thought she might be.
Now I’m ready to see the world. I won’t let anything hold me back. Now I know who I want to be.
that was incredible Lena... thank you for writing ti and for sharing it with us here... you are amazing...
excellent - i can't wait to read some of the other entries
Good luck everyone. Today is the big day..
theleip
2
And The Winners Are!!!
And The Winners Are!!!
Well I have finished reading it all. First off I want to say thank you to all those that sent in an essay. Not only did you open up to me, you put yourself out there for change. That is such a hard thing to do, and I couldn't be more impressed with those that had the guts to do that for themselves.
I have never had a harder time in my life deciding something. To be honest I can say I can't see myself doing an essay contest anytime soon because it was just that emotional.
People from all over the country, the world even have been through some amazing changes in their lives. I can say that I am a better person for having experienced just a chapter, just a section of it with them. The hope is that I give someone a new chapter, a new hope. So now for the winners, but quickly a review and a slight change for how many winners there are.
Initially I was going to have 3 winners. I got so many entries, and so many good stories that this became impossible to pick just 3 people to provide with something. So I have extended it to 7 winners! There are now 5 third place spaces!!!!
For 3rd place, the winners who will receive copies of "The Fat Loss Troubleshoot" package are...
-Jared Connor (jconnor222@aol.com)
-Kathleen (korKatiii@yahoo.com)
-Lena (lencii@hotmail.com)
-Jenny F. (Pftjen@juno.com)
-Mark (mmbarker@aol.com)
2nd place winner, who receives a $25 Dollar Gift Card to Supplements 101 and The Fat Loss Troubleshoot is...
Maleficent (email address removed)
1st Place winner, who receives a $50 Dollar Gift Card Supplements 101, The Fat Loss Troubleshoot and 1 Month of Free Online Training is...
-Sarah Jenson (sjrobberts75@yahoo.com)
Congratulations everyone!!!
Winners will receive their prizes and any additional info in their email within 24 hours!
Essays: The Grand Prize winner Sarah has stated she did not want to share her story to the world, at least not yet. It is hard but I have to respect that, however she did say that I could post this up...
"I don't remember the last time I felt like I was home. Having lost everything in Katrina and now living with people who I don't really know, I feel as if my life is not my own. My body is not my own. I want to be home again, with myself"
I have decided to take Sarah's Case on until she hits her goal, Let's all wish her the best of luck!
Again thank you so much for sharing what you have, I can't begin to express how moved I am. I will be compiling some quotes and snippets of various essays to post once I have final approval from the authors.
I will be having more contests in the future so always keep a check back in the challenge section or at my site
Thank you
-Leigh Peele
And The Winners Are!!!
Well I have finished reading it all. First off I want to say thank you to all those that sent in an essay. Not only did you open up to me, you put yourself out there for change. That is such a hard thing to do, and I couldn't be more impressed with those that had the guts to do that for themselves.
I have never had a harder time in my life deciding something. To be honest I can say I can't see myself doing an essay contest anytime soon because it was just that emotional.
People from all over the country, the world even have been through some amazing changes in their lives. I can say that I am a better person for having experienced just a chapter, just a section of it with them. The hope is that I give someone a new chapter, a new hope. So now for the winners, but quickly a review and a slight change for how many winners there are.
Initially I was going to have 3 winners. I got so many entries, and so many good stories that this became impossible to pick just 3 people to provide with something. So I have extended it to 7 winners! There are now 5 third place spaces!!!!
For 3rd place, the winners who will receive copies of "The Fat Loss Troubleshoot" package are...
-Jared Connor (jconnor222@aol.com)
-Kathleen (korKatiii@yahoo.com)
-Lena (lencii@hotmail.com)
-Jenny F. (Pftjen@juno.com)
-Mark (mmbarker@aol.com)
2nd place winner, who receives a $25 Dollar Gift Card to Supplements 101 and The Fat Loss Troubleshoot is...
Maleficent (email address removed)
1st Place winner, who receives a $50 Dollar Gift Card Supplements 101, The Fat Loss Troubleshoot and 1 Month of Free Online Training is...
-Sarah Jenson (sjrobberts75@yahoo.com)
Congratulations everyone!!!
Winners will receive their prizes and any additional info in their email within 24 hours!
Essays: The Grand Prize winner Sarah has stated she did not want to share her story to the world, at least not yet. It is hard but I have to respect that, however she did say that I could post this up...
"I don't remember the last time I felt like I was home. Having lost everything in Katrina and now living with people who I don't really know, I feel as if my life is not my own. My body is not my own. I want to be home again, with myself"
I have decided to take Sarah's Case on until she hits her goal, Let's all wish her the best of luck!
Again thank you so much for sharing what you have, I can't begin to express how moved I am. I will be compiling some quotes and snippets of various essays to post once I have final approval from the authors.
I will be having more contests in the future so always keep a check back in the challenge section or at my site
Thank you
-Leigh Peele
Last edited by a moderator:
Congrats to all who entered -- and to sarah for winning... that's awesome
thanks leigh for offering this challenge
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