If you’d known Rochel seven years ago you’d never recognize the woman she is today. With her stylish clothing and well-coiffed wig, she fits the profile of a fashionable frum woman to a T. But it wasn’t always like that. What came before was a woman who was over 250 pounds, and whose hygiene left much to be desired. If what’s outside reflects the inside, Rochel was in trouble. Coming to that realization, however, was almost as hard as what came after — a complete makeover from the inside out.
Rochel has always had problems with food.
“For as long as I can recall I’ve had food-related issues” she says. “I was raised in a house with a mother who was absolutely obsessed with food and health.”
Rochel’s mother was so vigilant about health she used to weigh everyone weekly even her husband. Tight control was kept over food. “I had to ask for everything; there was no such thing as taking food by myself even when I was grown!” At mealtimes her mother watched what everyone ate commenting whenever she thought anyone was overeating. “She was always telling me I was too fat that I should stand up straight to look thinner.”
Rochel shows me a picture of herself as a teenager. “The irony was that I wasn’t even fat! But my mother lived in fear that I’d become fat; she was always threatening me that she wouldn’t go shopping with me if I gained another pound.” This threat was never actually carried out but it was enough to put enormous pressure on Rochel.
“My mother kept an eye on all of us but I got the worst of it. On Fridays she would give my siblings cholent to eat but she never gave me any. She felt that I had a weight problem so I couldn’t afford to eat extras. To this day I have a bit of an obsession with cholent.”
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