Dieta

Do I have an eating disorder? Am I incredibly large? Or are people just very comfortable with calling you fat?

In Canada, it is pretty taboo to tell someone they need to lose weight. Furthermore, people often do not go out of their way to help you lose weight. In Ecuador, on the other hand, losing weight is a team effort. Who says Ecuadorians are not helpful?

The “vecino”, who takes us to work everyday in the little illegal taxi, is a little overweight. (Vecino means neighbour) Apparently he has lost about 20 pounds in the past two months. What is his secret? Every morning he goes and drinks a jugo (juice). Several times a week everyone will talk about the jugos on the way to or from work. (Really these jugos are a protein-shake/meal replacement)

His apparent success with these jugos has convinced one of the other girls at work, Luz, to join him every morning. Now the jugos were not a topic of conversation several times a week—but everyday there was a discussion about these magical jugos. “maryam, come with me tomorrow and you will see!” The vecino and Luz would say to me every day to work, and again every evening returning home.

Finally, they convinced me.

One day, I met Luz at 9:00 am to go and meet the vecino.

“maryam, did you skip breakfast like I told you?”
“Yes.”
“Good”
“So what are these jugos like, Luz?”
“They are really thick. They are made with papaya and melon.”
“Luz! Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“What?”
“I HATE both papaya and melon juice!” Luz began to laugh and by the end of the conversation we had reached our destination.

We entered into a building to which I never used to pay attention. We walked into a room on the first floor. There were seats arranged around the perimeter of the room, except for one wall of the room which had a table with two blenders, two buckets of papaya and melon (vomit), a kettle, and other important utensils which help people lose weight.

I sat down and was handed a large glass of green tea. Luz instructed me to drink the litre-large glass of tea.

I also hate green tea. I gulped it down as if it was a cough syrup—the really crappy kind you gulp down hoping that not a drop will hit your taste buds. I was successful in downing the liquid. My taste buds, however, were not victorious.

I was then given about a large glass, about a litre more or less, of papaya-melon juice…but it tasted even more disgusting than I expected. As I took my first sips, Luz, the vecino, and all of the vecino’s family (weight loss is a family bonding event apparently) turned to me “Te gusta? Te gusta?” With the man who served me the drink still in the room I said con fuerza “NO! Of course not. I hate papaya and melon. I told you before.”

i.e. SURPRISE. This is disgusting.

But knowing that it was all I was going to have for breakfast before work, I finished the jugo. I tried to finish it as quick as I could to get through the horror and pain that was the blended drink I held in my hands.

“Calm down, maryam. Drink it slowly,” said the vecino. I then noticed how I began to feel really woozy. I just drank over a litre of liquid in less than 5 minutes, on an empty stomach. I was not sure if my nausea came from the massive amounts of liquid or the fact that merely the smell of papaya makes me want to vomit.

“¡CHUTA MANGOS! I am already full. I don’t want to finish this.”
“Finish it maryam. It is your breakfast.”

I continued drinking the juice—more slowly but with just as much difficulty.

“It tastes really funny. There is something more than just papaya and melon in this,” looking down at the drink with the face of disgust I had since I first sipped the tea.
“Of course!” said the vecino. The man who made the juices heard me and passed me a jar of powder. “You can read this, it’s in English.”

It was a vanilla protein shake. This was what everyone was drinking? The protein powder was the magic? These were the magical jugos? I was ingesting a jugo of papaya, melon, and vanilla. If I knew what I was getting into, I would never have signed up for this.

I finally got through the awful experience and we left. “So you are going to come back tomorrow, right?” asked both Luz and the vecino. I changed the subject.

That day for lunch, I ate with Luz. The chef gave us our plates and said “It is because of your diet.” Yes, Luz was on a diet, but I didn’t really understand why she included me in the club.

On the way home, the vecino and Luz were talking about the hilarity of my juice adventures. In order to shut them up and convey to them how much I did not want to return for more jugo, I said “If I don’t lose 10 pounds today, I am not going to drink those disgusting juices.”

One of the women turned to me and said “But maryam, being on a diet is not easy.”

“WHAT? I am not on a diet.” The entire car turned to me and said, “You’re not?”

I am no longer just the intern.

I am now the fat intern.