I'm a lot like your friends. lonegael. I have a genetic predisposition to obesity, and if you put me alongside the other women on my father's side of the family, where it comes from--I'm the smallest one. I'm despairing if I'll ever lose weight, if I can actually starve myself and walk for miles, with no results.

Last night my husband reminded me of something. Since moving to the state of Washington, has anyone attacked me verbally about my weight? Other than that doctor, no. When I lived in Kentucky, I experienced a lot of drive-by harrassments; people yelling something obscene at me from their car. And when I lived in Southern California, people actually walked right up to me and called me fat @$$. Same thing when I lived in Florida and Nebraska. But somehow it hasn't happened in Washington, and I've lived here almost 3 years.