The Weight Loss Success Story

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In my first week, i lost three and a half pounds. Within two weeks, i'd lost seven. And the weight kept coming off - enough to unlock vast wardrobes of old clothing,. My wife asked if i maybe secretly had cancer. But i didn't. As far as anyone could tell, all of that weight was just from snacking. She said, all these years, all you needed to do was pay attention. Suddenly i was slim. Even my great friend allan texted me about how good i looked. Did i say that? He wrote, with a face, palmy moje, when i reminded him of the time he squeezed my love handles. I still

We cannot escape our bodies. So how do we reconcile them with who we really are?

Sam Anderson, a staff writer, considers this particular conundrum of the human condition by recounting his lifelong struggle to maintain a healthy weight: his teenage triumph over the “legendary snacker” he was in middle school, the slow creep of the pounds in early adulthood, and the pandemic’s expansive effect on his waistline.

Anderson also explores what it takes to monitor food consumption, the linguistic legacy of 1980s diet culture, the curse of intergenerational weight problems, the natural limitations of weight-loss efforts and the importance of self-acceptance.

This story was written and narrated by Sam Anderson. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.