TOW #9

In his essay, "I lost 100 pounds in a year. My "weight loss" secret is really dumb," Alasdair Wilkins, a student at University of North Carolina, writes about his experiences of losing a staggering 100 pounds. Through his personal experience, he reveals the broader implication of how our weight obsessed culture perpetuates our unhealthy relationship. In order to shed light about the stigma on such a highly opinionated topic, Wilkins uses facts, and anecdotes to change his readers' perception on what it really means to be 'fat'.

First and foremost, 
Wilkins uses statistics to explain the misconceptions behind being overweight. In his essay, he points out that obesity is a result of ones environmental and society rather than ones deliberate actions. When he writes the obesity epidemic, he remarks that "a third of all adults in the United States are obese, and another third are overweight." (11) Then, after using facts to show the severity of the situation, he counters it with the argument that,  "the obesity epidemic doesn't exist because more than 200 million individual people lack willpower, or love food too much, or are too lazy to exercise" (11).  By using data, Wilkins appeals to logos and helps create the argument that weight problems are not issues with individuals, but rather, a result from the high stressed, and subjective society we live in today.

In his introduction,Wilikin uses personal stories to describe his own weight lost journey to the reader. Wilkins draws upon his own feelings and experiences surrounding his life before and after the weight-loss. Wilkins starts the beginning of his essay by listing the ways in which he feels better about life, but then for the rest of the paper, talks to the reader of how he wishes that he was happy with himself regardless of how he looked. The use of stories highlights Wilkins purpose of changing societies opinion on weight in hopes of encouraging others to find satisfaction in themselves and not a scale number.  

Through and through, Wilkins uses facts and anecdotes to craft an engaging and candid essay. He may not have shared a "secret weight loss" cure,but  he reveals to us the impact ones surrounding can have on a persons both physical, and mental well-being.