Call it good fortune, but I was a relatively small teen. I was also naturally a tomboy, so playing sports and keeping active was embedded into me at a very early age. It wasn’t until college when the wonderful world of dieting – and I say that with extreme sarcasm – was introduced to me.

I had put on that predictable freshman 15, the extra 15 pounds that my friends who had entered college years before had always mentioned. For the first time I had become conscious of my clothing, my workout routine (which had diminished a couple months prior to me entering college), and my diet.

I wasn’t alone. Talking to friends about it, I soon found out that I was in good company. Many of them had begun cutting back from the campus food, limiting their snacking, and trying to “eat better.” It was the first time dieting had ever become a regular thought for me.

Overtime I began to notice celebrities’ diet plans and workout routines. I remember becoming obsessed with Janet Jackson’s fluctuating weight on her petite 5’2 frame. It was then I realized that even they weren’t immune to social criticisms.

But I was fortunate. I never became obsessed with dieting like many young women in our culture are today; I was raised by a family who was accepting of real bodies. Thinking back now, they would probably be more concerned if you didn’t have a little meat on your bones!

Tell us Frugivores, when was the first time you heard about dieting? How did you react?