Climbing The Rope: Childhood Tales Of Being The Spokane Fat Kid

OK, I know you’ve seen it.  That scene in the coming of age movie with the clumsy Spokane fat kid or the scrawny nerdy kid in gym class being forced to do some meaningless physical task that is clearly out of their ability to do…

…pull ups, push ups or the worst of all, climbing the dreaded rope.

The kid is struggling with all of his or her might to accomplish the feat.  All the while, the coach is standing there humiliating the poor soul, shouting insults and demeaning remarks while the rest of the class watches and laughs.

So now do you remember those scenes?  I have always remembered them because I could relate all too well to those kids.  I was the clumsy fat kid.  I was teased and made fun of all through elementary school.  “Emily the Elephant”, they called me.

Getting Active

For some reason, probably a boy, I decided to join the Little League team.  I sucked!  I couldn’t hit.  I couldn’t catch. I couldn’t throw. Worst of all, I couldn’t run around the bases too fast without becoming overly winded.

I never really thought that there was anything I could do about my weight.  I figured that it was just the way I was.  I’d never heard of dieting, I was only 8 or 10 years old.  So I just lived with being an overweight kid and the taunting and the teasing that came with it.  However I did make a vow to be good at sports so the kids would pick me for their teams.  So that’s what I did, I became great at sports, any kind of sports.

Loosing The Weight & Spokane Fat

When I was about 13 I went through adolescence and continued with sports and to my delight I lost my weight.  It just sort of dispersed and went to all the right places.  I felt great and looked great.

Even though I looked great I never quite looked great enough.  I was never able to shake the Spokane fat syndrome, Emily the Elephant self image.  The elementary school taunting stuck with me.  It was a constant insecurity but I did a two things that allowed me to subdue that voice of self doubt:

1. I worked out daily through various sports
2. I ate a strict diet of weight loss pills, diet soda, iced tea and lemons

I know, not very healthy, but it kept my weight in check kept Emily the Elephant at bay.

It Came Back!

Then, at age 19, it happened; disaster for my body.  I got pregnant and had a baby.  I ballooned!  I gained so much weight during my pregnancy it was unbelievable to me.  Then I developed gestational diabetes and was referred to a nutritionist to manage it.  When all was said and done I was 50 pounds heavier after the birth of my son.

Emily the Elephant was back!  She was back to stay.  I was the Spokane fat kid again.  No matter what I did I could not lose the weight.  I tried diets, exercise videos, classes, pills and supplements.  I lived a very active lifestyle; rock climbing, mountain climbing, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and anything physical and outdoors.  I try to eat a healthy diet and have done moderate exercise on a regular basis.  I would lose weight and gradually gain it back, nothing has worked.

Now it is 17 years later, my son is graduating high school this year and I still have not lost the weight.  Emily the Elephant has refused to go back in her cage.

What Do I Do Now?

To find out what happens next and how Emily found Zach Hunt, personal trainer at Phyzique in Liberty Lake, WA read my next post “Climbing The Rope: Breaking The Mental Barriers To Getting Thin”.

Related posts:

1. Climbing The Rope: Breaking The Mental Barriers To Getting In Shape In Spokane Getting In Shape In Spokane: My Story… I will admit that I have struggled mentally with fitness.  Being overweight has...