Member-only story
When food is killing you
My soon-to-be ex-husband was thin when we met, but he gained almost 200 pounds over the twenty-plus years. Yes, believe it.
I don’t think it was my fantastic cooking, which by the way, the kids say I am not that amazing. He rarely ate at home, and that was probably the cause. He comes from a heavy family. Not one person in his immediate family is thin. In fact, they’re all either type 2 diabetic or pre-diabetic from obesity.
I am lucky; I come from thin stock and have never had to worry. I do appreciate that about my body and am immensely grateful.
However, I refuse to blame his obesity on his DNA. It just doesn’t add up to me. I would see him eat when he was bored, tired, just because something smelled good, even wake up and sleep-eat, which he didn’t remember doing. I believe that to him, food is just another compulsion. He has a very addictive personality. My ex has been an alcoholic since his teens.
He would order four appetizers and two dinners at a restaurant just because he wanted to try them all. During covid lockdown, while working from home, he would spend more than half the day in the kitchen. His parents are the same way; they eat to cope, to stay busy, whatever. They just eat, and that is how he was raised.
