How I Became Obese

On a sultry afternoon on 31st July 2017, I walked out of hospital from a 2-week stay armed with a bottle of medication that I was instructed by my doctor to take. I was feeling much better than I had felt at the time of my hospitalization, so I didn’t think much of the impact these pills would have on my body in the next two years.

I was, after all, an otherwise healthy 25-year-old, weighing 145 lbs, which is about 66 kg. The very next day, 1st August 2017, I would cross state lines from Massachusetts where I had lived for the previous 5 years, to Connecticut, my new home. There I was to begin my master’s degree at a well-known state university. My weight gain between 2017 and 2019 happened paradoxically both gradually and rapidly, and by 2020 I became stage 1 obese, with a Body Max Index (BMI) of 35. This is the story of how I got there.

Given my consultation with doctors and my own analysis, my obesity is largely drug induced. The medication I take affects body regulations in this way: it increases my appetite and hence sugar cravings and thus my blood sugar rises over time. With increased blood sugar, my body increases insulin, with increased insulin, the excess carbohydrates I eat are stored as fat on my body.

While my medication is the main culprit in my current obesity, obesity is a multifactorial disease, as Dr. Jason Fung puts it in his bestseller “The Obesity Code”. This means, my obesity is the result of a combination of factors. I am determined to fight off my excess fat and weight, but the first step is understanding their root causes.

The first indication that I was gaining weight happened around Thanksgiving 2017. I was on my way to a Thanksgiving lunch organized for international students when I ran into my friend, an outspoken Nigerian man who was a fellow student at the university. I was dressed for the cool November weather in a wool oatmeal turtleneck that was slightly cropped, paired with tan jeans.

Both clothing I had recently acquired from my local Salvation Army, a faith-based charity shop that sells second-hand clothing. Because while I wasn’t thinking too much of it, I had gone one clothing size up since I left the hospital in the summer. This fall outfit displayed the mold of my expanding body and didn’t help my case for what was to happen next. My friend exchanged pleasantries with me, then went straight to the point.

“What are you eating these days? You are getting fat!”

“I don’t know”

“See your stomach. You are getting bigger than the first time I met you in August”.

Silence.

“Don’t just be eating everything, you are getting unhealthy”.

Glancing down at my protruding belly, I smiled sheepishly, and we walked silently to the Thanksgiving event where despite this conversation I ate two platefuls of roast turkey, gravy, mashed sweet potatoes. I also had a large serving of apple pie and whipped cream for dessert. The meal was accompanied by warm apple cider. While my friend jolted me to the realization that I was getting heavier, my weight wasn’t at a stage that would worry me. I was just a little overweight, that is all, I can control myself, or so I thought.

Medication aside, my unhealthy eating habits that featured lots of sugar and refined carbohydrates were another piece of my obesity puzzle. I was rarely eating at home, skipped breakfast only to buy a muffin and coffee with heaps of sucralose at 11.00 am then followed it up with a hearty soup at 1.00 pm. These I bought at the library cafeteria, since my office space was in the library.

In the evenings as I got hungrier, I would visit the student center building to get a Dunkin' with the occasional Boston Crème donut. Before leaving for home I would either have two pizza slices, or a pasta dish, or a burrito, or a subway sandwich. This was my daily practice during weekdays. Living farther away from the grocery store led me to buy fresh food less, especially as I didn’t own a car. So, I chose convenience over health. Notwithstanding the fact that this was straining my finances. I often ate some Wendy’s, Burger King, McDonald's, Dominos, or other local fast food on weekends.

When I cooked, I made meatballs with pasta and stored it in the fridge for the whole week for me to eat daily. However, I typically got bored with this food by the third day, so it lay fallow in the fridge. Soda, three to four teaspoons of sugar in my tea or coffee, juices and flavored yogurt were my beverages of choice. I rarely drank water. I also didn’t think much of my eating habits. Lack of awareness was affecting my weight. In December 2017, I travelled to Kenya for holiday where I went ham on food, returning to the USA in January 2018 significantly heavier, almost like a new person. I estimate that I gained 20 pounds (about 9 kg) in that short five-week trip.

Pursuing any educational venture means there are long hours put, and there is always the issue of stress. My Master’s program was no different, and I suffered from chronic stress in this program. I stressed about my classes, my part-time job, making new friends, job prospects after graduation, making it through the summer financially.

I became a pessimist, always seeing the negative side of things. What I ought to have done was incorporate exercise into my lifestyle which would have reduced the stress hormone cortisol in my body, but instead I was a couch potato. With time, I noticed that going up the stairs even only the two flights to my apartment made me go out of breath.

A well-meaning friend suggested we go to the gym together, I think that was their polite way of telling me that I was unfit. I never went with them but tried to go a few times on my own, though I felt very self-conscious. I thought everyone was staring at me, especially in the changing rooms when my belly of over 40 inches (about 101 cm) was out on display as I changed clothes. I never saw any overweight or obese person at the gym, so I felt too out of place. I resumed my lack of exercise and had nothing to blow off steam, hence the weight worsened.

In conclusion, I attribute my obesity to my medication, eating habits and stress with lack of exercise. These are the main factors that led me to being obese. And so, to reverse my obesity, I am also taking multiple actions towards these factors, and this will be the topic of a future blog post. Stay tuned!