I was eleven when two big things happened: I was diagnosed with ADHD, and I went on a diet.
I would only remember the diet, although the two were connected all along.
At just under 5 feet, I weighed 130 pounds and wore adult-medium clothing. I couldn’t land certain figure skating jumps, fell asleep in class, and hated myself.
When I was diagnosed with ADHD that same year, the doctor didn’t explain much. She thought it was a “learning disability” that I would “outgrow.” So I forgot about it for twenty years.
But I couldn’t forget my expanding size.
The tipping point came at a friend’s birthday party. Dressed like a furry orange traffic cone in orange fleece, I tried to join a group. They moved away. “She smells,” one laughed. She wasn’t wrong — I’d been sweating since I arrived.
Around that same time, doctors confirmed I was sensitive to gluten, dairy, and sugar. I was put on an elimination diet.
By the end of my first week, I had lost six pounds. I had so much energy that I nearly got in trouble for running in the school hallways. My coaches were dumbfounded. “What did you do to her?” my ice dance coach asked my…
I was eleven when two big things happened: I was diagnosed with ADHD, and I went on a diet.
I would only remember the diet, although the two were connected all along.
At just under 5 feet, I weighed 130 pounds and wore adult-medium clothing. I couldn’t land certain figure skating jumps, fell asleep in class, and hated myself.
When I was diagnosed with ADHD that same year, the doctor didn’t explain much. She thought it was a “learning disability” that I would “outgrow.” So I forgot about it for twenty years.
But I couldn’t forget my expanding size.
The tipping point came at a friend’s birthday party. Dressed like a furry orange traffic cone in orange fleece, I tried to join a group. They moved away. “She smells,” one laughed. She wasn’t wrong — I’d been sweating since I arrived.
Around that same time, doctors confirmed I was sensitive to gluten, dairy, and sugar. I was put on an elimination diet.
By the end of my first week, I had lost six pounds. I had so much energy that I nearly got in trouble for running in the school hallways. My coaches were dumbfounded. “What did you do to her?” my ice dance coach asked my…
I was eleven when two big things happened: I was diagnosed with ADHD, and I went on a diet.
I would only remember the diet, although the two were connected all along.
At just under 5 feet, I weighed 130 pounds and wore adult-medium clothing. I couldn’t land certain figure skating jumps, fell asleep in class, and hated myself.
When I was diagnosed with ADHD that same year, the doctor didn’t explain much. She thought it was a “learning disability” that I would “outgrow.” So I forgot about it for twenty years.
But I couldn’t forget my expanding size.
The tipping point came at a friend’s birthday party. Dressed like a furry orange traffic cone in orange fleece, I tried to join a group. They moved away. “She smells,” one laughed. She wasn’t wrong — I’d been sweating since I arrived.
Around that same time, doctors confirmed I was sensitive to gluten, dairy, and sugar. I was put on an elimination diet.
By the end of my first week, I had lost six pounds. I had so much energy that I nearly got in trouble for running in the school hallways. My coaches were dumbfounded. “What did you do to her?” my ice dance coach asked my…
