My first memory of any talk of body weight was actually from a group of strangers. I was in a department store which I believe was Saks Fifth Avenue, but it could have been Burdines. I was sitting on a couch waiting for my parents who must have been shopping and neglecting their child who was overhearing a pivotal conversation. This gentleman was telling this entire saga about how he became so focused on weighing himself. He was discussing this with so much excitement. He was going on and on about how he started to weigh himself multiple times a day and how fascinating it was. He would not only weigh himself first thing in the morning before he went to the bathroom but after he relieved himself too. He would weigh himself after every single thing he ate and drank. He also got into whole diatribes about what he was eating, as well, but I do not remember the details – after all, this was over 40 years ago!
I have absolutely NO idea why I found this whole conversation so fascinating. It is possible I was that bored. But, I think it was more than that. I was a young and clearly an impressionable child. Ironically, I did go to become a dietitian, so I think it just struck me as so interesting. However, now, knowing what I know now and living the life I have lived, I believe this gentleman was ahead of his time. He was on the cusp of diet culture and societies fascination and obsession with how much one weighs and eats daily. Funny, that even all those years ago, while I found it fascinating, I also felt it sounded horribly obsessive and restrictive.
I suppose I was always quite intuitive regarding food and nutrition.
I am curious what your earliest memory was with regards to weighing one’s self?
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