TUNA'S DORM ROOM

My philosophy on life has always been that we all have choice. Even though some people have more choices about more things than others, we all have choices. The choice as to where we go out on the weekend, who we spend our time with, how we relax...whether or not we are healthy...I've always been bigger than the "average", i think i recall being told i was born an average baby, but that as soon as i was eating, i was growing, and i never stopped eating, but for periods of time would stop growing...up at least. I went through the typical growth spurts that kids go through, but a little more extreme, my eating was always out of control, and i never wanted to do anything because i was so lazy. I'd gone to specialist after specialist who all said the same thing...that if i didn't get my eating under control and start exercising, that i was going to die from Diabetes or heart disease...which is hard to handle when you're 13. As soon as i understood what genetics were, i began to blame them for everything...but genetics can only be blamed so much before everyone starts to see the truth. I was a lazy fat kid my whole life. By the age 16, I had grown up to about 6'3" and kinda plateaued there height-wise, but my laziness and poor eating habits kept me growing out. Every summer it was the same old same old "I'm gonna come back and no one's gonna recognize me!", but it wasn't until the summer between my sophomore and junior year that i would even consider changing seriously. One night quite randomly i was talking to my brother, and he mentioned how he had been losing some weight by working out and suggested that maybe i move in with him for a month and guaranteed 20 pounds of weight lost if i followed what he said. So i made the move, and with no television, or air conditioning, trapped in his one-room apartment all day while he was at work, i changed. I got my diet under control and exercised every single night and worked off 30 pounds in the 30 days i spent there. Weight loss, diet, and exercise became more than just "that boring stuff i hate that i don't wanna do right now" and became a passion of mine. i came back home and resumed school, i had lots of jaws drop, i had lots of people whispering behind my back about how much i had changed, and i pretended like i didn't hear it, but i heard it all, and it reminded me how my choices had gotten me to that point. I might have just rambled aimlessly and told a story, but it made me feel better, and maybe it'll let anyone who reads it know that it doesn't matter who you are, you can CHOOSE to be healthy or unhealthy...