I’m Linda Sherwood, a writer, teacher and mother living in northern Michigan with my husband and four children. I’m also on the web at www.lindasherwood.com.

My fat history: I have always been called “big boned,” but I wasn’t fat until I was an adult. The first time I weighed over 200 pounds, I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. I remember being horrified. I had three more children in four years, and when it was over, I was fat.

I went on a prescription diet pill (phentermine) and lost inches quickly, although I didn’t lose weight. I was down to 180, but I fit into a size 12. That was in 1999. Although I lost weight, I didn’t learn anything about maintaining a healthy weight. After I finished the pills, my eating habits caused me to gain weight.

Stress and my career choice didn’t help. I spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer, so I didn’t get a lot of exercise. I was holding my own until 2004. I hovered around 200 pounds until 2006 when I gained 40 pounds in a year. I was working two part-time jobs and going to grad school. Most days I left home at 7 a.m. and didn’t return until 11 p.m. That meant I ate at least two meals a day at fast food places, and my weight went increased.

My highest weight (outside of pregnancy) was 250 pounds, Jan. 1, 2007. I gave up fast food and pop for the new year, a resolution that I’ve managed to stick to. I probably still eat out too much.

I’m trying to lose at least a pound a week. It’s June as I write this, and I should have lost 24 pounds by now. I haven’t. But I haven’t given up, and I’m trying.

Fat Man’s Daughter explores the ways in which I have dealt (generally unsuccessfully or at least obliviously) with the consequences of obesity on my life — both my father’s obesity and my own and my fears about how it will impact my children’s lives.

After my dad’s weight-related death in November 2003, I realized my understanding of weight involves a lot of denial including my denial regarding body image.

I grew up with a father who weighed over 400 pounds, but I never thought of him as fat. When my own children began to deny I was fat, I became concerned about both my own denial and my children’s denial regarding weight issues.

Fat Man’s Daughter is about my struggles to change my relationship with my body. I realize my definition of normal regarding weight issues was skewed. I am trying to find out what healthy weight really means, so I can help my children develop a healthy body image.