Background: Sister and I are Overweight, Step-Brother is Overweight/Obese. Everyone else is Normal Weight.
I had Easter at my house and it was filled to the brim with 19 people, mostly family and a few unrelated. It was (at first) amazing. Then someone said the fateful words: "This is the best Easter ever!"
As if on cue, my mom and step dad yelled, "WE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!" Everyone got scared. Moving? Time Share? Surgery? Funeral Plots? Lifestyle Change? What?
"We are doing a Weight Loss Challenge! (You don't have to do it if you don't want to). We are paying $10 for every pound lost!!"
Everyone looks at the three fat sibs. My neighbor who escaped from his crazy family to seek sanctuary in a normal household goes out for a cigarette. I can feel my MIL judge (me) silently with her eyes. Sister starts reprimanding Mom about how this is embarrassing. All the thin people join in The Challenge in an awkward attempt to defuse the situation.
Then, it gets Worse. Unsalvageable.
An argument ensued (why don't you join in the challenge? can it be about health AND fitness? would you have this announcement if us three were svelte?) and Mom said, "You do whatever it takes to lose weight! If it takes smoking, drugs or a trauma, GREAT! You DO IT!!" (referring to her unintentional weight loss when she was getting a divorce). And then, "No one will tell you the TRUTH! I'm your MOTHER, and I will tell you the TRUTH!"
When I look in the mirror, I honestly think I look great (size 12, exerciser, mostly raw vegan). She did work as a professional ballet dancer in the 40s/50s and ran a ballet company, so on one level I give her a free pass ~ But I am still gobsmacked. We are still getting over it.