May 11th, 2012
At an early age I retreated to the confines of my room and feeling safe in its loneliness. My peers, family and classmates suddenly rejected me as the fat monster. I was no longer the cute chubby Rocky but this fat, ugly kid that was embarrassing and not cool to be seen with. At 11 years old I couldn’t comprehend or understand the bullying, teasing, rejection and constrain of realizing your not liked or wanted anymore because of how you look. For years I’ve hid in my room watching and observing with admiration and envy “social life” shows on television, dreaming one day it will be dancing a night club being hugged by everyone. I studied interpersonal communication and relationship dynamic in preparation for being accepted and loved again.
Sadly food was my only love for many years and it made me feel good. I could always rely on the familiar taste and feeling to comfort me in a world that often felt unknown and senseless. Food didn’t tease me, reject me, judge me or treat me differently. Cakes, candy and Ice cream became a very familiar thing in my school bag, under my bed, and the hidden spaces of my room. Unsurprisingly my weight eventually sky rocked to 560 pounds. In the midst of that I was offered an opportunity that changed my life. I was asked to tell my story with the world on radio and soon television. For me it was a chance to finally talk to an actual human, even if it was a television or radio producer, I was suddenly confessing all my pain. Suddenly there was this person who wanted to hear it all. I was allowed to talk for hours about my pain, finally letting it all out and seek the love that felt like a faint after-taste from people. These devices that captured my thoughts, tears and feelings became my best friend.
Then came the realization that all this recorded and documented emotions, journeys and struggles were going to become public for the world to hear and see. The idea of my story being public weirdly was a subconscious thought I drowned in my mind with the relief I got from confessing my hurt and pain. I was scared, thinking listeners and viewers were going to mimic my skinny twin sister and think of me as a fat-sad-complainer who really didn’t want to lose weight. But I was embraced, understood and loved by strangers across the world.
The microphone made me an award-winning radio producer nationally and internationally. The camera finally visualized and gave face to my struggles, rejected body, deforming appearance and my story resonated with many, breaking record-ratings for many networks. MTV was very unique in that it gave me a platform to address the young demographic that made growing up as the “fat kid,” a living hell.
In the isles of hit reality and radio shows, I need you to find my story somewhere on the bottom shelf, decipher everything it’s made of and take it for what it is: a chance to change our generation, inspiring compassion, tolerance and understanding for everyone who feels different, rejected and struggles to be accepted.
Tags: Before and After Rocky Tayeh Samr, body contouring, BodyLIft Body, Bodytuck, childhood, conflict, excess skin, Full Body Tuck, Gastric band weight loss surgery Rocky tayeh samr food, Life, MTV, MTV WEIGHT ROCKY TAYEH TRUELIFE, obesity, plastic surgery, rocky tayeh, rocky tayeh mtv truelife npr wnyc samr obesity lapband, Rocky Tayeh Obesity childhood samr lapband lap band sam, true life, truelife, upper body lift, weightloss
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May 3rd, 2012
MTV & BANDITO FILMS
PRESENT
“I’M GETTING A SECOND CHANCE”
Filming MTV's Truelife's Premier Special:"I'm Getting a Second Chance"
My Journey captured on this show was two years in the making, 400 pounds lighter, 40 pounds of excess skin removed, two major operations later and finally being able to look in the mirror and see success with the help of AMAZING experts*! Watch hardships, emotions, confrontations, and a chance to finally “live life” unfold: candid, raw, “bleeps” and VERY real, on MTV.
While watching the show recently at a private screening with a very small crowd of familiar faces, I cried two minutes into it and stormed out the room. I ran out watching myself on television in denial and being defeated by reality and what is now my past. I luckily returned with the help of friends, to witness myself slowly become triumphant, although the road was BUMPY! My family and I all cried, we all grew and we all healed together during this process, including EVERYONE involved in the production of this show.
*BIG THANKS TO THE EXPERTS:
The pro’s are in, the fight starts and my team is strong thanks to the help of an extraordinary “Life Coach” Laurie Gerber (of the Handel Group). The advance skills and innovation of “miracle worker” Dr.Dennis Hurwitz (of Pittsburgh) my plastic surgeon. Only two of many amazingly extraordinary people who helped make this dream an actualization. “Bandito” for you!
At 15 Rocky produced a personal radio documentary titled “My Struggle with Obesity.” The story won national and international accolades, becoming one of the first substantially informative documentaries on a now growing and deadly epidemic. Rocky’s radio stories are used in classroom curriculums across the United States and abroad. Rocky is an Award-Winning journalist for WNYC/NPR and television personality (NBC,PBS,Food Network,FOX,CW11,MTV,etc.)
PRESS CLIP
“TRUE LIFE PRESENTS: I’M GETTING A SECOND CHANCE”
“What if you were given a second chance to get your life on track? Two years ago in True Life: I’m Uncomfortable With My New Body told the story of Rocky, an overweight teen who had recently lost over 300 pounds. Unhappy with the excess skin left by his rapid weight loss, Rocky continued to hate his appearance, obsess about food and isolate himself from others. Now, the song remains the same — Rocky is still living with his parents, prone to wild eating binges, and fearful of social interactions. In this special, Rocky is about to get a chance to change that tune — because we’re setting him up with a life coach who will try to help Rocky conquer the problems that he hasn’t been able to solve on his own. True Life Presents: I’m Getting a Second Chance.
Executive Produced by Josh Haygood (Bandito Films), Dave Sirulnick, Marshall Eisen, Betsy Forhan and Jim Fraenkel of MTV.
Watch the Full episode here
Tags: I'm getting a second chance, josh haygood, laurie gerber, Life, MTV, rocky tayeh samr obesity childhood lap band weight loss, True, truelife
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September 5th, 2011
One year later I returned to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to complete my plastic surgery operations with a full Lower Body Lift. This was the second major surgery that removed a combined, 40 pounds of excess skin from a total weight loss of 400 pounds. At 23 years I am trying to still create a normal looking body from what was once a huge, ugly person weighing over 560 pounds. With each major plastic surgery operation I am getting closer and closer to appearance I can accept. I have given up on an appearance society can accept, because no matter how hard I try they are always displeased. They stared and laughed at me for being fat, they stared and laughed at me for having excess skin and they look shocked and puzzled at me now for my scars. It’s easy to fall back into a negative cycle of thinking and living alone in my room again. I can look at my scars in two ways, disgust and fear people will freak out when they see it, or as if I am a survivor given a second chance to live. This is my second chance at life, and I am going to live it! We have to help ourselves, kids especially (that’s when my ideal of comfort, living and beauty was distorted) realize that society’s ideal of beauty is unattainable and once a person realizes that beauty truly is how you feel about yourself, the quest will end. Second major surgery a success, excess skin from my chest, arms, back, stomach, inner thighs and rear have been removed. I have a normal looking body now, toned, defined and I have abs on the way. It’s often so unreal for me to comprehend. But the body is a reward for living at peace with my mind. Because when I tried to chase the “beauty” every single diet failed. However when I started living at peace with my mind, the “beauty” came. On the road to recovery now and thinking about life and our purpose as humans to love and respect each other blind from religion, skin color, race, ethnicity, orientation etc. Love you all, and hope we continue to inspire each other to want to live a happy life with one another.
Tags: beauty, childhood, children, diet, doctor Hurwitz, Excess, excess skin, fat, health, Lap Band, Life, lower body lift, massive weight loss, obese, obesity, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, plastic surgery, rocky, samr, Skin, skinny, tayeh, thigh plasty, thighplasty, True, truelife, weightloss
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July 22nd, 2011
Tags: childhood, childhood obesity, Lap Band, lapband, MTV, obesity, rocky, rocky tayeh, samr rocky tayeh, tayeh, weight loss, weightloss
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June 8th, 2011
I want to apologize to all of you and just let you know I am coming back full force to this site soon. I have been very scared about having my lower body lift surgery, which is a long procedure, comes with way more health risks then the upper body and is so far from home. Thank you all for sending your support. I hope you understand, it has been really crazy for me the past couple of months. I am currently working on a Show, with an amazing Life Coach and I can’t begin to say how much I have been through emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually. Lots of tears, yelling, fighting, hating, loving and caring at home we have been through an intense journey. When this show airs on MTV in February it will inspire many people, I PROMISE.
My Upper Body surgery went well. I am still getting use to the scars. I have a flat stomach, amazing chest, back and arms. I have been exercising and I can see abs forming! This is very crazy!
Sending Love To All of You! Thanks for the Support!
-Rocky
Tags: body contouring, excess skin, lapband, lower body lift, MTV, obesity, plastic surgery, rocky, rocky tayeh, samr, upper body lift, weightloss
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January 30th, 2011
It breaks my heart that so many people are being killed because of their religion. Right now as you read this, guns are being pointed at someone head with the intention to take their life as quickly as possible, because they are Jewish or Muslim.
Muslims see Jews as the enemy and Jews see Muslims as the enemy. From Junior high school to High school, I watched my religion (Muslim) go from a get out of jail free card to an airport strip and search cause. It’s still confusing to me.
I’m the youngest of eight siblings from a Middle Eastern family, in Brooklyn New York. My closest relationships have been and are with Jewish people. I have spent my teenage life befriending Jewish families and friends. My mom runs a daycare with all Jewish parents; she is Middle Eastern, as she would like to say Palestinian. The whispers and rumors, you hear on BET, Al-Jazera, cheap ignorant mediums, etc. about Jews and Muslims are not true. They are not crazy, greedy, evil, cult-monsters that hide and want to take over the world. Muslims are not terrorist, women oppressors who use archaic policies to enforce religion.
Jewish people are just like us and in some cases better. I didn’t realize many of my friends were Jewish until I asked them. It’s so funny but my best friends in high school were all Jewish. The girls shared the same life challenges my Muslim relatives face, cultural marriage, religious observance, family pressure and all the challenges of living a religious life in a party hosted by the devil, New York. When my friends and I discovered our religions (Muslim and Jewish) we joked that normally Jews and Muslims should be killing each other. It’s funny to say that in New York, where that sounds extreme. However across the globe hundreds of people are being killed, shot to death, houses misled bombed, stone murdering because of religion. Really? The verses that tell you to love one another and live in harmony cause the deaths of innocent women, men and children.
It’s really sad that on the most holiest land on earth, where all our bibles share a communality, is the most bloodshed and death. We are using religion as a weapon to concur and destroy and it’s disgusting. It’s even more ugly when I hear relatives use ignorant blind hatred to label people as the enemy. I realize the higher education people have the more intellectual and understanding they are. Religion should not determine your friends from enemies. Our time on life is short. We should not spend it fighting and hating each other. Please make an effort to talk to people outside your religion, I’m telling you; you would find so much communality and maybe family.
(So I am working with a Life Coach for an MTV show; that is teaching me to turn my compulsive, emotional eating into something creative. Writing this and getting it off my chest sure does feel better than a pint of ice-cream.)
Tags: conflict, Gaza War Muslim Palestine. middle east, hate, Islam, Jews, middle east, Muslims, rocky, rocky tayeh, rockytayeh, tayeh, war
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September 2nd, 2010
The most emotional time of my life, it was very overwhelming at times. I finally had my upper body lift. I’m recovering now. I will post a new blog entry about it tonight or tomorrow. so much has happened, so much is happening. Love you all. the support means so much. you all are like my family. i wish I had the resources to bring you all together in a room, so I can meet and hug you all! one day!!! Love Rocky.
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August 20th, 2010
It’s Friday morning 6:15am and my heart is beating through my chest. I am watching the sun slowly rise. Words can’t describe how scared I am. In 45 minutes I will remove excess skin from my chest, arms, and stomach. The blue ink throughout my upper body is smearing and I’m still scared. I couldn’t sleep the surgeon will understand. I want to say right now, I am so thankful hundreds of strangers, friends and loved ones have emailed me and supported me so greatly throughout the years. You’ve been through a lot with me, through morbid obesity weighing 540 at 18, losing 360 pounds, and now removing 40 pounds of excess skin. I am still scared and the sun is further up. Love you all dearly. Wish me luck.
Rocky Tayeh
Hampton Inn University Center/ Pittsburgh Oakland
3315 Hamlet Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Room 718 (my area code in Brooklyn, crazy!)
Again Love you all!
If you don’t know how much this skin bothers me watch the first MTV Truelife Show
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August 9th, 2010
I’m having my first full-body tuck operation in Pittsburg this coming Friday, 2010. I have lost 370 pounds thanks to the Lap Band Surgery with Doctor George Fielding of NYU. I was left with over 20 pounds of excess skin throughout my body. In five days I will have the first of two operations. This surgery will remove excess skin from my stomach, arms, chest and back. It will reshape my entire upper body, which will trade skin for scars. I’m being filmed for an MTV show, and I must say I like the emotional support and comfort from the producers more than the cameras. I am so scared, wish me luck cyber friends and FAMILY AND NO MORE BAGGY SHIRTS!!
Rocky 2010
!
Tags: BodyLIft Body, Bodytuck, Full Body Tuck, Lap Band, Lift, MTV, rocky, truelife
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May 23rd, 2010
The MTV show Truelife “I’m uncomfortable with my new body” has inspired so many young people it makes me so happy. All I want from telling my story on all these shows is to help make life a bit easier for a different or awkward kid growing up. We live in a world that puts beauty and normality on levels unreachable and makes idolized-beauty and positive self-esteem unattainable. At 15 I produced and recorded an award winning radio documentary for NPR called “My Struggle with Obesity.” Since then I have been on many television shows (Tyra Banks, Food Network [a first for this network], PBS, etc.) they where all amazing and seemed to have impacted an older audience of adults. For the first time it seems this MTV documentary managed to get into the lives of so many young kids and introduce them to topics beyond the world of Pop Culture and People Magazine. So many KIDS, have emailed me or even stopped me on the street to commend me and encourage me to go forward with my plastic surgery. I’m talking about skateboarders, jump-ropers, bubble-gum poppers, all the little monsters that threw things at me or made fun of me when I was obese, calling me names like “Fat Albert or Barney the Dinosaur” are now nice to me. These kids now hug me and scream “your so inspirational dude!” I cried the first couple of times wishing these same kids grew up with me instead of the monsters that made my life a living hell, teasing me and making fun of me almost everyday. That’s why I am still speaking at schools across New York about childhood obesity, teasing, health, radio production and of course being on television. I am so glad young people are getting a glimpse into what it means to be different and struggle with body image. I really think this show is helping to create a more comfortable environment at schools and in playgrounds. Because these kids now think the fat kid or the different kid is cool!
Lastly the MTV show was amazing. I felt really comfortable with the producers Elyse, Kelley, Mark and Brian. When being filming and interviewed I always feel like I’m making a friend and finding someone who really cares. It breaks my heart when the show ends, because they are gone. Now 23, I understand how that works. The show was still a blast and it felt like a big therapy session to spill my guts out. Finally, here is the MTV show (Link below) it was about me losing over 380 pounds with the help of the Lap Band Surgery and exercise. It focused on my excess skin after massive weight-loss. I still haven’t had the two operations needed to remove all the excess skin. I am planning to have it this summer. Please be nice and don’t say hurtful things. A lot of people are facing post weight loss issues and this is something I am still going through.
Rocky MTV True Life I\'m Uncomfortable with My New Body
Tags: childhood, fat, npr, obesity, plastic surgery, rocky, true life, truelife, weight
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February 20th, 2009
I have an adjustable gastric band around my stomach that controls how much food I can eat. With hard exercise and a restricted diet I lost over 300 pounds. For two years I have been eating based on my lap band. Every single bite of food I take has to be in tiny sizes. I have to constantly make sure I’m chewing enough to avoid throwing up. Soups, smoothies, and liquids were my main diet for the past two years. But with one trip to the doctor’s office and an adjustment to my gastric band, I am free again. I could now eat anything I want with no restriction on the amount or type of food. The first thing I did was visit a local dinner. I ordered all the foods I desired. I couldn’t do that before, just sit down at a diner, order a regular meal, not worry about chewing thoroughly and just enjoy. I couldn’t stop ordering food. I ordered a “Thanksgiving dinner” to make up for the thanksgiving I spent alone in my room. I couldn’t eat a full plate on thanksgiving so to avoid the awkwardness I hid in my room while my family enjoyed a turkey with relatives. I ordered a hamburger to make for all the times I couldn’t eat one with friends. I ordered six milk shakes and wanted more. I loved every second of it. I allowed myself to continue eating by convincing myself “today” was a celebration of my weight loss. But that celebration lasted everyday for the rest of the week. Now five days later I gained over 50 pounds and I feel fatter then ever. My new jeans are now extremely tight on me and my body is going back to its original size very quickly. For a while I thought if the gastric band helped me lose this much weight it has enabled me to have more self control. But I realized that same hunger that never gets satisfied still exists without the gastric band. There is something wrong with me. I don’t get that “enough, stop eating” signal. I also eat with a lot of emotion, each bite of food I take I am thinking of something emotional in my past. At times it’s happy eating and at times it’s sad eating. I learned I don’t have control. I am so sad that I gained so much weight and allowed myself to get out of control. It was this Rocky that become morbidly obese. It was this Rocky that made food his best friend, inside his room and away from people. But Life as a morbidly obese person means being made fun of and treated like shit. Which means I am putting the liquid back in my gastric band. Back to the skinner Rocky, the Rocky people smile at.
*Rocky Tayeh is the original Author of this post (Feb.2009)
Tags: Gastric band weight loss surgery Rocky tayeh samr food
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February 27th, 2009
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I am the youngest of eight siblings from a Palestinian Family. My mom’s family still lives in Jerusalem.
At home we have a special satellite dish which broadcasts news from overseas. When the fighting gets bad in Israel, my mom cries and yells every night. She screams for us to come downstairs and witness the tragedy on television. Violent images of dead bodies and people crying keep showing up on these news shows.
It started all over again when the war in Gaza started. However, I can’t force myself to see this situation from my mom’s passionate perspective. My sisters and my mom go to Jerusalem every summer. They love their homeland. I refuse to go. I don’t feel I am connected to a land I don’t know that much about. I also fear that I am putting my life in danger going to a war zone. My grandmother calls my mom sometimes and fills her in on the violence, which makes everyone sad. I try so hard to push away all these news reports and close my ears and eyes. What I try to do is understand this conflict from a fair point of view. I think the Israeli people have every right to guard and protect themselves from missile attacks and terrorist threats. And because of that, my sister screams that I have become “Americanized”.
It was my friendship with many Jewish people that changed my perspective about this conflict. Sometimes we even joke about how we are supposed to hate each other. My friend Sarina begs me not to “throw a rock” and I beg her not to bomb my neighborhood because I threw a rock. I also babysit for a Jewish family. I have grown to love this family like my own. They treat me with such respect and passion and they always tell me: “Make yourself at home”. I know some would call me a traitor for this, but I find it so beautiful that I help watch their children and house. Even my mom, who runs a daycare center with a lot of Jewish kids, has built very strong and loving relationships with their families.
But I also know she has probably gone through some hard times here in the US. I often find it extremely hard to say that my family is from Palestine. I fear I will be stereotyped. I used to wear a Middle Eastern scarf around my neck. After September 11, a lot people started looking at me like I had a bomb, and a couple of times I even got stopped by the police. It was a horrible feeling. I can only imagine how my sister feels, she always wears the scarf. From an early age I felt it wasn’t cool to look or act Middle Eastern. That’s why I like using my middle name Rocky.
When I look at all this madness in Gaza and Israel, I simply can’t understand why across the globe we can’t live together. Why at the holiest place on earth there is so much violence and death. I think we can live together under one government, not looking at people as Muslims or Jews.
By: Samr “Rocky” Tayeh
Tags: Gaza War Muslim Palestine middle east conflict jewish a
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April 3rd, 2009
Since I was fifteen I have been telling radio stories about a subject very close to me, my battle with obesity. I use a microphone recorder to record my deepest thoughts, interviews with my teasing family members and try to answer questions about my continued overeating. At home we don’t have sit down time in which we share our emotions or talk about ……let say “emotional eating.” That simply is too much to deal with or understand for my Middle Eastern mom and Cleveland, Ohio born dad. I’m guessing high school didn’t offer parenting courses. But my relationship has been with my recorder. Every time I feel emotional I turn the recorder on and express how I’m feeling, sometimes I cry, laugh or just complain. But the feeling, the idea that something has registered how I feel and doesn’t make fun of me or judge me, feels so good. I’m guessing that’ why my radio stories have been so popular. But I’m learning now that maybe some of that judging and teasing can help me see things from a different perspective. Honestly at 21, I am learning I can replace the microphone for a friend. A caring and supportive friend. I have been looking for that at home for so long but with bad results. So here it is, let’s put our cells, myspace, facebook, ipods, and other electronic devices down and see what an actual human being has to say. There is nothing like a face-to-face interaction with someone that cares about you. Give it a try, maybe a stranger, maybe that person you married?
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May 2nd, 2009
The MTV Show that I am on is airing Saturday morning and I can’t sleep. The title of the show is called “I’m uncomfortable with my new body” and that I am. I lost over 340 pounds with the help of the lap band surgery and hard exercise. I am 21 years old and still in college, it’s taking me a while to get done because I battled morbid obesity, had weight loss surgery and now dealing with a full body tuck. The MTV show is about my excess skin and how uncomfortable it makes me. I was supposed to have the surgery two months ago but I wasn’t at my lowest weight possible. So I plan to have this surgery in the summer. I don’t know if I should be excited or scared that in a couple of hours millions of people are going to know my problem. A problem I hid so well from everyone with the help of tummy tuckers, spandex shorts and body wrappers. But if anything this is a true story and if it helps to let someone know what life is like after losing so much weight then let it air! I hope they just understand how much I am going through. And just how crappy it is that people made fun of me everyday when I was fat. And now as a skinny person I am called “Cute and sexy”. It’s hard for me to mentally transition from a fat monster to a cute guy. But if anything losing this much weight has introduced me to a brand new life. A life of socializing, partying, dancing, hanging out all these I still don’t feel comfortable trying.
Tags: MTV WEIGHT ROCKY TAYEH TRUELIFE
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May 28th, 2009
The MTV show I was on True-Life “I’m Uncomfortable with my new body” has aired, the response has been amazing . . . I mean huge! Almost everyone has seen it. I have hugged like 300 strangers in the past week who assure me “I’m beautiful with excess skin or not”. My goal is to hopefully save (AT LEAST) one child from becoming obese and going through a hard life like I did. So this entry is about a thought I have been thinking about for the past six months. But some lady, who has been observing me for some time now brought it up. She said this (with my best recollection word for word):
“Rocky come here! You’re so damn Sexy! You’re like model cute! The Hair, the eyes, the height, and the body . . . it’s very nice. But your personality doesn’t go with your body! (I screamed WHAT!) I swear! Just listen! ! ! You know that fat girl in high school who was really fat and then she loses all the weight and everyone is like “wow she is pretty” and she still thinks she’s ugly . . . That’s you. “
I didn’t know what to say. I contemplated in my head if she was insulting me or complementing me. But she said it. Honestly . . . every time someone looks at me I think they’re going to make fun of me just like they did when I was fat. But it’s totally different now. I get treated really nice. Strangers have never been kinder. People smile at me for no reason. But still I have my defenses up, my mind fixed on my reaction to another joke I anticipate coming from a stranger. But it’s not like that anymore. People don’t shout out “Fat ass” anymore. It’s like the Halloween costume is off and i’m freakin naked in a new world.
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June 12th, 2009
After graduating from high school I got accepted to a number of really great colleges. However because I weighed 540 pounds fitting in a normal desk was a dream. In high school I had special desks in all my classes. However I was going to go through that torture of being the odd one. So I took two semesters off and lost a lot of weight. Now finally back in college I am making it my mission this summer to get through my biggest hurdle, math! For the next month I am going to be studying like crazy! So I am writing this to let you know I have read all your emails in response to the MTV show I was on! I read them all and I just want to say a really big THANK YOU! I will eventually reply to those emails when I get a chance. And no I still didn’t have my full body tuck yet to remove all my excess skin. I am now down to 195 and my body is looking better! Love you all!
PS I also wrote a new article for the Huffington Post about watching Obama give his speech at Cairo. It’s interesting and I would love to get your feedback! (Link Below)
My New Story
Tags: rocky tayeh mtv truelife npr wnyc samr obesity lapband
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July 11th, 2009
NEW YORK, NY July 10, 2009 —As a little kid, Samr “Rocky” Tayeh was the adorable, chubby boy at home; but at school classmates called him “Barney”, the big purple dinosaur. Rocky didn’t hide in a corner and wait for the bullying to stop, he learned how to use his sharp tongue to shut other kids down, but sometimes he takes it too far. Rocky heads out to a park in Brooklyn to talk with kids about how they survive teasing. Radio Rookies Special
http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/136348
Tags: rocky wnyc hour radio rocky tayeh samr brooklyn kids jo
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September 6th, 2009
I have been reading all the emails I get. I am so happy I can offer inspiration to people all over the world (even schools in Germany, WOW!). I’m sad to say for some reason my mailbox deleted all my webhosting emails, which means I can’t personally reply to those emails you sent in the past. However I just want to say they all touched me, from a guy battling cancer, to a woman finding herself again, I wish you all the best of luck. If anything I just want people to see life as a mission to leave inspiration. Because in the end, your money, your houses, your jewels are all meaningless. It’s the influence and impact you had on people that mean everything. Love you all so much! And remember let each day be a new day. –Rocky
(also, I’m finally starting to put my book together, it is about overcoming obesity and all the luggage that came with it.) Follow my progress and life on this blog.)
Tags: Rocky Tayeh "Rocky" Tayeh Samrrockytayeh obesity childh
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September 24th, 2009
Fat Happy?
My sadness and lack of self-esteem as a fat person comes from my dysfunctional family interactions. There was defiantly no couch time for emotional talk at home nor was their an explanation for being called a fat pig by my mom or dad. Although I understand now, that is was their archaic sense of humor. Theirs still a huge sadness that takes over my body when I see fat people. I just feel so sad for them. I recall how much I hated myself when I was fat and think they must feel the same way. I recall all the ugly faces, rude comments and insults I went through. I watch them carefully on the street as if I am observing a painting. I look for any indications to prove my assumptions correct; they must be sad. But they smile at me as if everything is fine. As if being huge is normal. Was I the victim of a fat-people-picked-on-fad that vanished? Maybe now, maybe today people are cool with it. Maybe it’s okay to be fat. Maybe you can be fat happy. Maybe the world looks beyond the fat and at who people really are. But is that ever the case? How many relationships are initiated by how good we look? How many good mornings are passed your way? It’s sad to say I’m meeting beautiful people now that wouldn’t have given me a second of their time if I were fat. We walk together on the street and as we pass a big person they whisper in my ear “Hey Rocky look at that fat cow!” My facial expression indicates that I find them funny.
Tags: Rocky Tayeh Obesity childhood samr lapband lap band sam
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