I come from a big family. They are all very tall, very large people. Growing up, I was very athletic and very thin.

No matter whose home I'd go to, my family would feed me. None of them could understand why I couldn't/wouldn't gain weight. My mom gave me weight gainer, wheat germ, eggs, anything she could think of. Yet, I remained thin.

What I did gain was a ferocious appetite. My freshman year of college, I gained 20 pounds. And each year after, I've gain no less than five pounds a year. In 20 years, I've gained exactly 200 pounds. After high school, I no longer participated in sports but the appetite has remained.

My weight really sped up after my wife and I had our first child. Our children are now 9 and 4 years old.

I'm worried because I know that African American men don't live very long. Most succumb to diseases related to high blood pressure or diabetes. Niether of my parents lived to 70 years old.

I want to live long enough to see my children become adults, marry, and have children of their own.