A Causal Analysis Essay Revision

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Fighting Obesity: A Causal Analysis Essay
I was once one of the ‘fat girls’ during my late teenage hood and early adulthood life. Often, I was laughed at, mimicked, and made fun of by my friends and even strangers who would stare at me and start whispering. This affected my self-esteem and self-image, making me became emotionally unstable. I had to do something about my weight, since I couldn’t even fit in a lecture hall chair because of my excessive weight. The weight loss journey is a lengthy process and painful. And although fighting obesity is a difficult task, it is still achievable through understanding the causes of weight gain, seeking professional help and having a support team to walk with you throughout the weight loss journey.
Obesity is caused by many factors some are genetic where you inherit a big body from your parents; it could be a person lacking energy which makes them eat a lot of energy giving food items so as have energy to do normal daily duties; or emotion disorders where some people eat to gain relief or food helps them to deal with extreme emotions; it could also be as a result of not exercising and poor health condition, where the body fails to process and break-down food (Brownell 381-383).When I was diagnosed as being obese, my physician noted it was because of my emotional disorder as every sad and unhappy moment was followed by eating excessive amounts of food. I would eat until my moods became stable and would immediately fall asleep, making this a pattern in my life.

At one sitting, I could easily consume 2 liters of milk or yoghurt, a liter of frizzy drink like coke, half a dozen friend eggs, and carton of cookies, fries, sandwiches, and chicken pieces. I would consume between 2500 to 3000 calories per day which is double the recommended calorie intake per person per day.
My emotional disorder probably begun after my mother committed suicide when I was 14 years, living in a house with an overzealous religious man for a father, who made me kneel for hours reading the bible and praying for forgiveness for my mother’s sin and mine as well, since he believed that women were the weaker gender and caused the ‘fall of man’ at the garden of Eden. The next four years until I turned 18 years, involved a lot of fasting for religious purposes which meant staying hours without food, beatings from my father who believed that this action could get rid of the original sin caused by Eve, and converting me into a righteous woman.
At 18 years I moved out and that is when my journey towards obesity begun, I had never eaten chocolate in over 5 years and various types of cookies since they was considered worldly pleasures by my father. So, on my own, I discovered so many different other food stuffs that I enjoyed eating, but with my history of emotional abuse I would eat to feel better and to gain control of my life. I kept adding weight and by 20 years, my doctor confirmed I was obese. I did not think it was a big issue until I developed breathing complications, tiredness, and eventually was diagnosed with a mild stroke.
Every six months or so, I would add between two or six pounds and at 23 years of age, I weighed my highest at 320 pounds and with my height of 4 feet 1 inch, my family, friends, and doctors feared for my life. I had shifted from class one at a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 to less than 35 to class two with a BMI of 37. It is at this point that I decided to do something about my weight.
I made a decision to lose my excessive weight after watching a show on TLC on morbidly obese men and women who weighed around 750LB and they could not move or do anything. The show shocked me to my core and I took my doctor’s advice on watching my emotions, trying to cut my bad eating habits and to exercise. This journey lasted over a year and a half and I reaped my results of having a normal weight while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is a lengthy and painful process but a journey worth taking for any obese person wishing to change their lives.
I started by documenting events that would lead to my emotional instability and I noted angry, harsh, and hurtful words affected me the most. So, together with my counseling sessions, I would listen to music in public places to avoid harsh words from strangers and kept busy using my hands to avoid snacking. This really helped since I avoided half of the hurtful words which used to lead to my emotional distress. My nutritionist replaced my big fridge stocked with unhealthy food items like ice cream, sodas and greasy fast foods with a smaller fridge holding organic food items with lots of vegetables and fruits. My friends hang photos of extreme obese women around my house where I could easily see as a reminder of where continuing my overeating habit would lead me. I also started exercising, walking for ten minutes every morning and evening with the hope of increasing my length and types of exercises as my stamina grew. At the end of the first quarter year, I could walk for an hour and exercise for half an hour.
This cycle of people would hold my hand when I was on the verge of giving up and kept me to my journey’s course. Other motivating factors included gaining my self-esteem and controlling of my emotions to become a confident woman. Over the months into my journey, an occasional emotional outburst would make me backslide and go back to my bad old habits, but losing the first few pounds and wearing a dress two sizes smaller, brought a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment which pushed me onwards to complete my weight loss journey. I was diligent in writing a journal to keep me on track and record the achievements I made on a weekly basis which eventually became the result I had set out to achieve.
This journey improved my health, physical appearance, confidence, and self-esteem creating emotional stability in my life. It was a lifestyle change that I am keeping up to date. In a period of one year and four months I lost 180 pounds, and currently my average weight is between 125 to 140 pounds.
Conclusion
The first thing to do in fighting obesity is accepting that you have a problem, then finding out the cause, and its possible solution. Every person seeking to fight obesity is trying to take back the control of their lives. It took me close to 3½ years to recognize and admit that I had a problem with my weight gain and I needed to get hold of my emotions and control of my life. Seeking support from my friends, nutritionist, and physician helped me achieve my goal of losing at least 150 lbs.
Obesity is caused by a number of varied factors and regardless of these factors it is a serious problem and affects a lot of people across the globe (Michie et al. 690). The good news is that any person can lose weight by taking the right steps and getting support during the journey. Throughout my journey, I credit my achievement to hard work and support from friends and professionals. For every lost weight, I gained my self-esteem and control of my life; this made me feel happy and confident. Setting my personal goals, documenting the journey, getting professional help, and making lifestyle changes worked for me and still does today. I have made a steady progress over time and these lifestyle changes I will keep even in the future times ahead.
I have also started a blog on social media, where I am sharing my journey with other obese people as an encouragement to them. I recognize and appreciate the value of having a support team and I am extending a hand to others who need help in losing body weight. In sharing my journey, I hope to support others too and create a healthier society.

Work Cited
Brownell, Kelly D., et al. “Personal responsibility and obesity: a constructive approach to a controversial issue.” Health affairs 29.3 (2010): 379-387.
Michie, Susan, et al. “Effective techniques in healthy eating and physical activity interventions: a meta-regression.” Health Psychology 28.6 (2009): 690.