I first realised I was unfit when I joined secondary school. Once a year we had to take part in the dreaded cross-country run. The overweight boys like me would always be left behind. So, we made a pact to walk the course instead. The rest of the boys had already got changed and was waiting by the finish line, jeering us as we came into sight – at which point we all burst into a sprint to avoid being the last one. That was the ultimate humiliation. It was the Eighties: a merciless time.
Food has always been a solace and a refuge for me. Speaking about bulimia, Princess Diana came up with one of the most powerful evocations of comfort eating: “like two arms wrapping themselves around you”. When I had a bad day at school, I was more likely to eat ten biscuits that evening instead of two. This is why being overweight is often a chronic condition: you are finding comfort in the very thing that is making your situation worse.
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