Review: Training yourself
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 11, 2014
One of four children, Laurel Handfield, grew up fat. It was made more difficult by the fact she was the only one of the four children who had a weight problem.  One of her sisters was teased as being a bean pole.  How could life be so different for children from the same family, the same parents?My heart went out to her, as I too grew up fat.  At least I had a good idea why.  My Dad was overweight, as was my mom, but in reality I knew it was because my mom could cook like a chef.  Our lives revolved around Church and food.Because of the way she looked and some deep beliefs she had about death, Laurel did not participate in sports or any kind of physical activities.She hid all her bad feelings in food, taking advantage of the way she felt while eating a medium-rare cheeseburger, steak fries and drinking a silky vanilla milkshake.Hating being overweight, Laurel turned to eating and purging.  This was wonderful, in her eyes.  She could stuff and purge and still lose weight.  She was blissfully unaware of the risks.Her moment of revelation came on her first day of high school, when, even though she was now at an average weight, no one said much at all to her.  She had no energy, and her body was not toned like the bodies of her classmates.The story of how she became aware of habits and what she had to do to be healthy and in good shape is one of courage and revelation.  Bits and pieces came together to help her become the person she always wanted to be.Her story is interesting and well documented, one each person who has been fat can relate to and one that can help people who have never fought to be thin get a better understanding of the life of someone different from themselves.