” The following article is reprinted from “”Teenagers Abroad And In China,”” a Chinese magazine by and about teens.
By Wa Wa
My dad is obese. His cumbersome body makes him clumsy in movement. Every time we take a long walk, he puffs and puffs, out of breath. He has a huge beer belly. My dad is a cheerful person, he loves to play jokes on me.
I am not tall but plump enough. Yet I deny it’s influenced by an inherited gene. A few years ago, I was slender. Just like Yang Fudi in the Chinese movie “In the Year I was Sixteen,” the efficiency of Ten-Year Reform (a campaign to improve the economy) and people’s better living conditions reflects on me. Like my dad, I am cheery. A smile is on my face all day long, so my classmates tease me, saying I must have found some gold or U.S. dollars on the road. (In China, U.S. dollars are considered very valuable.)
Mom sews all my dad’s clothes. Though he is not tall, he is so big around that it is extremely difficult for him to find suitable clothes in any dress shop around. I’m sure his size is larger than XXL. My mom protests that dad should go on a diet, because she can make herself two dresses with the material my dad needs for only one suit.
My neighbor, aunt Zhang saidabout me, “She’s so smart, but she’s too fat.” My aunt Wang replied, “That’s right. I think only a silly boy would makes friends with her.” Gosh! I am only a young girl, I don’t know myself when I will make friends with a boy. Why are they so worried?
Why aren’t fat girls beautiful?
To be honest, I really want to be as slender as a stalk of bamboo. I could wear so many beautiful dresses. I don’t understand why people never see fat girls as beautiful nowadays. The standards of beauty must be changed. Oh! If they were, I would be a great beauty. (Ha, ha…)
One hot day, I was sweating all over and having a bowl of hot rice porridge. Dad shook his head at the table. “It’s another sweaty summer. I’m glad, my weight will reduced if I sweat more. Wait and see, I’ll be thinner than you are.” I almost spat rice out of my mouth. “Daddy, don’t you know you are like a camel and I am like a horse, compared to you? The thinnest camel is bigger than a horse.” It’s ridiculous that Dad wants to be thinner than I am.
While we were watching Zhenega, an exercise program on TV, Dad asked me to follow it. I protested, “Daddy, why don’t you do it yourself?” A crafty smile appeared on Dad’s face, “Don’t you see that I’m busy now? To be frank, they are exercises to lose weight. I give you the chance, hoping you get thinner soon.” It seemed that Dad was not a selfish person and was being considerate to me. In fact, he was busy enjoying the TV program. I really don’t want to obey him, but when I heard the exercises can really reduce your weight, I agreed and went downstairs to do the hard labor.
Dad made a diet plan
Then Dad made a “diet plan” for me and himself which is more detailed than a study guide to pass exams. For example, half an hour running should be done every morning; each meal should be less than 150 grams and we mustn’t sleep more than 8 hours. We must restrict the four S’s: “soup, sugar, sleep and steamed dumplings.” Dad and I follow the plan together and supervise each other.
Once mom wanted to buy tofu. When she left home she found that she forgot to take some money. So she returned and knocked at the door. Dad and I were doing Qigong, which is like kung fu in slow motion. Neither of us could stop to open the door. My mom kept knocking for 15 minutes. When we finished our exercises and opened the door, the tofu salesman had gone. Mom could do nothing but grumble, “Look at you two. Old and young, you are both crazy. I was afraid you two would get into trouble by doing this darn Qigong to lose weight!”
You shall reap what you sow, as the saying goes. Our hard exercises have had great results! Look! The man coming towards us is my dad. He, just like me, is getting thinner, isn’t he?
To contact “”Teenagers In China And Abroad,”” write to TICA at 14 Hedi Road, Nanning, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China.”