Daphne's Story
So you’re probably wondering who I am and what gives me the credentials
to write such a book. As you might have guessed, I haven’t been to grad
school, and there’s no M.D. after my name. Heck, I haven’t even graduated
college yet. What I do have are a father and two grandfathers who are heart surgeons,
and an uncle who is a neurosurgeon. My grandma is a specialist in homeopathic
remedies and complementary medicine. 
(Basically, she knows a lot about vitamin
supplementation, natural remedies, and proper eating.) And my mom is a practicing
vegetarian. With all these health experts in my family, I grew up hearing about
what I should be eating, what I should be taking for vitamins, and how I should
be exercising to maintain ideal health. Of course, what I should have done is
not always what I did.
Even with all that medical knowledge surrounding me, from the time I was seven until I was seventeen I was overweight. At my heaviest, I was 5'8" and 175 pounds. I ate well, but in too large quantities, and I rarely made a concerted effort to burn off the extra calories. I’d beat myself up about being overweight, even though I had the tools to be in shape. Then I’d resort to an unhealthy diet to lose the weight that was making me self-conscious. Because being on a diet added to my insecurity, when the weight didn’t come off or came off too slowly, I quickly fell back into old habits and food once again became a comfort. It sounds like a psychotic see-saw, but this is often the way insecurities feed off one another. Because I hadn’t made a decision to change my lifestyle, it was impossible for me to keep the weight off. It was dieting itself that was keeping me overweight.
I was only able to lose—and keep off—the 30 extra pounds I was lugging around once I stopped treating food as an emotional crutch and put it back in perspective as the fuel that it is. Once I controlled when I would allow myself to eat (basically, whenever my body truly needed refueling), I could pretty much eat what I wanted. Gradually, what I ate began to shift toward the healthier end of the spectrum. Success led to success. Once I was able to reorganize my eating life, the rest took care of itself.
I talk more specifically about my journey in my book, but the point I’m trying to make is that I know what it’s like to be the “big girl.” I know how much you want to do what is in your own best interest. The Dorm Room Diet—and your own self-discipline and motivation—are all you need to create a plan that works for you.
