体胖心宽
在大学的照片上我很瘦。那时我全天工作，全天上学，抽烟，吃快餐，喝软饮料。朋友们说现在的我和照片中的我一点都不像。那时的我看上去一脸病态、情绪低落、身体很差。
根据医学标准，我现在的体重已经超标到危险的程度，但我的生活状况比以前任何时候都好。我戒了烟，每天吃很多蔬菜；我喜欢散步、游泳、学跳舞。我积极锻炼、注意饮食，并不是为了减肥，而是因为我热爱生活。医生说我很健康，这比苗条重要得多。研究表明坚持运动的肥胖者的死亡率比不运动的“正常”体重者低得多。
人们从孩童时代就开始歧视肥胖者。一项研究表明，在幼儿园，孩子们更喜欢同龄的残疾儿童的照片而不喜欢肥胖儿童的照片。与此相似，一项对大学生的调查显示，他们宁可同吸毒者、小偷或盲人结婚，也不愿意同肥胖者结婚。这类态度导致了肥胖者在生活各方面受到歧视，包括经济方面。事实上，一项研究表明肥胖的白种妇女的收入比苗条的白种妇女少24%。
人们常常为歧视肥胖者找借口，认为肥胖是自己选择的。选择？在这样一个对体重高度敏感的文化中谁愿意选择做胖子呢？社会上对于肥胖存在种种错误观念：所有的肥胖者都有饮食、感情或精神问题；要是他们真正想减肥，是可以做到的。
然而，事实上，有些人天生就肥胖。人的体型是一个科学问题，而不应该成为评价一个人性格的依据。疾病控制中心的报告表明78%的美国妇女正竭力试图减肥，但成功率却出奇的低——其中95%的人在2至5年内又恢复了原来的体重。
常常有人对我说“你有一张漂亮的脸。”我却对此不以为然，因为我知道他们的潜台词：“你要是瘦一些的话会很漂亮的。”其实美是别人教给的概念，而且美的文化标准也在不断变化。
后来的生活中我欣喜地了解到，不同文化的审美标准是不同的。有一次我到英属维尔京群岛，一名当地人邀请我和他在海滩上一起拍照。我问他：“你为什么选我呢？这儿有些女人身材好得像模特。”
他微笑着对我说：“狗才喜欢骨头，男人喜欢肉。”
Unforgettable Life
With more than 20 million records sold, and several Grammy awards to show for it, Natalie Cole, the daughter of famous singer Nat King Cole, has made a name for herself in music.
Along with her great success, however, Natalie Cole has lived in a world of drugs, crime, and failed marriages.
"I have been to hell and back," she says.
In the book Angel on My Shoulder, Cole gives us an honest look at the difficult path she has taken, sharing, as well, her successful recovery.
"Where I'm at now helps me to look back on my life and realize that I've really had quite a colorful and rich life," she says. "I really could have turned out to be a different person."
As the second daughter of Maria and Nat King Cole, Natalie had as normal a childhood as was possible for a little girl whose father spent much of his time away from home. With hopes of one day becoming a doctor, she left her family in Los Angeles to attend a boarding school on the east coast.But when she was 14, she received some terrible news: her father was dying of lung cancer.Less than two months later, in 1965, Nat King Cole died at the age of 47. During her college years at Amherst, Cole began to experiment with drugs, though they didn't stop her from joining a music group. She played in small clubs on the east coast, using drugs more and more frequently.
Without enough money to pay the bills and to support her drug habit, Cole turned to stealing and got into trouble with the law. Eventually, she became so badly affected by the drugs that she decided to quit on the spot.
She says it was a miracle—the work of an angel on her shoulder. Her drug habit kicked, Natalie's career really began to take off.Only two years after being arrested and almost dying because of drugs, Cole's first record won two Grammies. In 1976, she married Marvin Yancy, her songwriter and producer.They soon had a son, Robbie, and Cole's life really seemed to be coming together.
"Marriage to Marvin, and Robbie, was like a breath of pure, fresh air," she says. "I was with a man whom I loved and who loved me... we were just so close."
Sadly, the marriage wouldn't last. After four years of being drug-free, Cole was once again using.
In 1983, Cole checked herself into a recovery program, and was finally able to mend the wounds from her difficult past.
After narrowly escaping death once again, Cole decided to record her father's greatest hits, including the phenomenal success Unforgettable: With Love.
Cole, who has fought and won many battles to find personal happiness, says "I'm so grateful for the way my life has turned out."
无法忘记的生活
唱片销量超过两千万张，并因此而赢得数项格莱美奖，纳塔莉·科尔——著名歌手纳特·金·科尔的女儿——在音乐界一举成名。
然而，除了巨大的成功之外，纳塔莉·科尔的世界里还曾充斥着毒品、犯罪和失败的婚姻。
“我去过地狱，又回来了，”她说。在《我肩膀上的天使》一书中，科尔真实地向我们展现了她走过的艰难道路，也讲述了她如何成功地康复。
“我现在所拥有的一切让我回顾我的人生，并认识到我的生活是多么的丰富多彩，”她说。“我真的有可能已成为另一个不同的人。”
纳塔莉是玛莉亚和纳特·金·科尔的二女儿，对于一个父亲时常不在家的小女孩来说，她的童年已经算是够正常的了。怀着做一名医生的愿望，她离开了洛杉矶的家，去东海岸上寄宿学校。但在14岁那年，噩耗传来：她的父亲患了肺癌，已经奄奄一息。不到两个月，也就是1965年，纳特·金·科尔去世了，享年47岁。
在阿默斯特上大学期间，科尔开始尝试吸毒，不过毒品并没有妨碍她加入到一个音乐组合。她在东海岸的一些小俱乐部里表演，吸毒也越来越频繁。
因为没有足够的钱支付账单和购买毒品，科尔开始偷盗，后来惹上了官司。由于深受毒品之害，她终于下定决心立即戒毒。 她说那是个奇迹——是她肩膀上的天使创造的。戒毒后，纳塔莉的事业真正开始蒸蒸日上。在经历了被捕和因吸毒而差点送命仅仅两年之后，科尔的首张唱片便赢得了两项格莱美奖。
1976年，她嫁给了她的歌曲创作人兼制作人马文·扬西。他们很快有了一个儿子——罗比，科尔的生活似乎真的是日臻完善。 “与马文的婚姻，以及有了罗比之后的生活，就像是呼吸纯净、新鲜的空气，”她说。“我是和一个我爱的并且也爱我的人在一起……我们亲密无间。”
不幸的是，他们的婚姻并不长久。戒毒四年之后，科尔又一次开始吸毒。
1983年，科尔报名参加了一个康复计划，旧日的创伤终于得以愈合。
在又一次死里逃生之后，科尔决心录制她父亲的成功之作，包括红极一时的《难以忘怀：带着爱》。
为了找到自己的幸福，科尔投入并打赢了多次战役，她说：“我很感激生活对我的最终安排。”
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