Larissa P.
This was written in 2007, and I'm leaving it for posterity just the way it was. But my life is so much different now! :)
My name is Larissa, I'm a...thirty-something-or-other. I currently live in Texas with my three children, my mother, my sister, my nephew, four cats and one dog. I have a tendency to take in strays. Although you would think I'm just talking about my animals, it happens to be how I ended up with the extra relatives, too. Thank heavens I have a large house.
Of course, my house isn't the only thing that is large. But would I be here if it was?
I have been a Jane of all trades, my career choices have taken many turns: day care teacher/owner, fast food, midwifery assistant, school bus driver, ebay entrepenuer, web designer, postal worker, tax preparer, and finally, where I am today, computers. I currently work for a national corporation at their internal tech support help desk. I adore my job!
Besides computers, my interests include playing Guild Wars (a game I helped to develope for a year and a half before release as an alpha tester!), gardening, home decorating, reading...oh, I'm kinda a home body.
All my life, I have felt my excess weight has held me back in all arenas - socially, career-wise, etc. I always have to overcome predjudice/assumptions based on my appearance, or simply AVOIDED the situation and thus, the assumed rejection I'd get. In otherwords, I've been hiding, and the few moments I tried to be brave and go forth and declare my worth, I would get proof on why I should have stayed in hiding. One particularly painful moment I was in a job interview where I was in a tiny chair that was too high, and too narrow, with no table in front of me, trying my best to look dimunitive and relaxed infront of two interviewers when in fact, I felt like a big blob and knew that's all they could see. With my feet barely touching the floor, I never felt so humiliated in my whole life, and wasn't surprised when I didn't get the job, despite my excellent training, experience and references.
I know that's why I've done so well in the Tech Support arena. They can't see me on the phone...And gee, I'm so cute, really, other than the 150 extra pounds! Red curly hair, milky skin, cute freckles, bright blue eyes, come-hither mouth...lol. Doesn't it just SUCK that if you were just given the right genes, you think you might have turned out to be a heartbreaker instead of heartbreakee? *sigh*
Fast Facts:
- As of this writing (9/4/2007) I'm 5'2" and 282 lbs
- My maternal grandmother weighed over 300 lbs after 6 kids
- I was a small baby (6 lbs) and a normal-sized kid
- Puberty hit, and the hips were widening...and wouldn't stop
- At age 13, my mother's friend warned me about the cellulite growing on my thighs...
- At age 16, I weighed 155 (wore a size 12) and it caused me to lose out on a part in a school play
- I'd give anything to be a size 12 again!
- By age 20, I was up to a size 18 and had tried many diets already
- In my 20s, I was having children and yo-yo dieting, once actually getting down to 140, but it didn't last
- At 30, I was going through my second divorce and horrified to find my weight creeping up higher than at my heaviest pregnancy weight...
- I haven't managed to lose more than 30 pounds at a time since then, and only at a painfully long crawl, and it has come back every time
- My associated aches, pains, and health problems now at size 24 (pushing 26) make me feel 60 at 37!
