I was never the most athletic kid, so naturally, my mom was always trying to get me to eat more. I remember her incessantly telling me to “eat more, eat more” as if it was going to magically make me stronger and more active. Little did she know that all of her nagging was actually making me more inactive and, eventually, much heavier than I should have been.
My mom’s guilt trips started when I was in primary school. She would guilt me into eating more by telling me that I should be eating more because of how skinny I was. Then, she would move onto the “you’ll never be strong” angle. That was one of her favorites.
Guilt Trip
For example, I really hate eating fruits but every night after dinner, my mother will cut fruits and force the whole family to eat. There was once I told her I didn’t like to eat fruits, she guilt trip me by saying that I don’t appreciate her efforts and she only ate fruits the whole week to show that nobody wanted to eat and she had to clear everything herself.
Another time I pretended to eat but actually I was holding the same piece of fruit the whole night but somehow she knew and she kept asking me if the fruit is nice. When I said yes, she set aside one whole bowl for me and watched me finish it. It was the longest meal I ever had.
Even though I hate fruits, it’s not like I don’t have vitamins or fibre in my diet cos I can eat vegetables so other than to torture me, I really don’t know why my mother wants to force me to eat fruits.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to eat; I just didn’t have much of an appetite. But, that didn’t stop my mom from trying to stuff me with food. She would often go out of her way to make what she called “special treats” for me. These were usually unhealthy snacks that were loaded with sugar and fat.
I would try to tell her that I wasn’t hungry, but she just wouldn’t take no for an answer. She would keep pushing and pushing until I caved in and ate whatever she had prepared.
My mom’s guilt trips didn’t end there. She would also constantly nag me about exercising. She would always tell me that I needed to be doing more physical activity, and she would guilt me into going to the gym with her. Of course, when I got there I would just sit on the side and watch her workout.
This went on for years and, as expected, it had a huge impact on my health and weight. I gained more and more weight until I was finally considered “obese” by doctors. I was so embarrassed and ashamed of how I looked that I would avoid going out in public.
I felt like a total loser. I was constantly getting teased at school and I never felt like I fit in with the other kids. I was also miserable because I was stuck in an unhealthy cycle of overeating and not exercising.