I had dropped out of school and was a runaway, so I didn't have family to fall back on if I didn't work. I didn't have a lot of other options of making money other than modeling.

My parents were both from the East and had moved to San Francisco only so my father could go to law school there.

My weight fluctuated when I was 30, and I did the unthinkable - I stepped out as a plus-sized model.

Just because you're a different size doesn't mean you're sitting on the couch eating bonbons all day long watching TV.

I was in a sushi bar and it dawned on me - how could I discriminate between a cow and a fish?

My days are jam-packed with carpools, classroom assistance, tending to chickens, dogs and seven acres of olive trees!

I am not naturally that thin, so I had to go through everything from using drugs to diet pills to laxatives to fasting. Those were my main ways of controlling my weight.