Christine Schoenwald

My brother, Frederick, was eight when I was born. I don't know if he was happy to have a sister or resented me being born, as it was difficult to get any kind of reading on what he was thinking or feeling. I never felt any love or affection from him — unless his way of showing it was through emotional and physical abuse.

Astrologers believe that the positions of the sun, moon, and planets at the time of your birth have a direct influence on your character — so why shouldn't they also have an influence on what you drink when it's time for wine?

“You’re fat and ugly,” I’d hear, or, “Look at your stomach, it’s disgusting!” This wasn’t a neighborhood bully taunting me on my way to school — this is what I said to myself all day long, well into adulthood.

When the formerly fat spoke of their hardships, I didn’t take them seriously. I thought that without the problem of weight, their lives must be perfect.

The truth is, we want our cats fat and our women skinny.

I’m riding my bike around a local community center on a Sunday morning.

My candy addiction is always with me, but the period between Halloween and New Years is the most challenging time of year.

One of the reasons that narcissists are so troubling is their lack of compassion and awareness regarding how their behavior affects other people.

I grew up in a fatphobic household — one that was created by my mother’s fear of getting and staying fat.