My Struggle with Obesity: My Move From Saudi Arabia to California

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 got tired living with obesity and being unhealthy. At the age of eleven, my doctor officially diagnosed me as an obese child. Being overweight did not affect me personally while I was growing up in my country of Saudi Arabia. People in my country are not as concerned with looks are as Californians. Saudi Men all wear the same thing, white garment called "Thoob," so no one was different from the others. When I moved to California, I began to feel social pressure to drop my excess weight, the sooner the better. Californians have an ideal image of men as slim and athletic. I felt so pressured for being different that I sited a goal to lead a healthier life style for myself to achieve. I had multiple problems living with obesity, such as poor body image, social pressure, low self-esteem, and to seek parent's approval. With the negative experience of childhood obesity, I have come to learn a valuable lesson to pursue and maintain a healthier life style.

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": they were the worst part of being overweight, followed by my chubby face. Sometimes I would wear several layers of thick clothes to cover my "man boobies," even if the weather was hot. That is how much I hated my body. But what is funny is that I did not feel this way about myself until I moved to California five years ago. Now, I live in a world that favors the slim, athletic body. That world did not help, instead that world made me feel unpleasant feelings such as anger towards myself and jealousy towards others who were in better shape than I was. Brained-washed by television and magazines to look in a certain way, I felt I was not worth looking at or even worth loving. I wanted to be someone else: a thin, good looking man. Sometimes I would look in the mirror and wonder, "How did I do this, how did I eat so much that I have led myself into obesity?