DIET................
The word strikes fear and revulsion in the hearts, minds and guts of millions of people daily. I was no different.
In my early teens my mother tried incessantly to help me lose the weight I was gaining.
Of course, I rebelled.
It wasn't that I didn't want to be healthy, or fit.... It wasn't even that I didn't like the food she was serving to that purpose (OK, boiled cabbage topped with BBQ sauce IS nasty....lol). I think, honestly, it was the hypocrisy (as I saw it), both of my parents were obese at that time, and I felt like the only reason we were "dieting" is because I was 10-20 lbs overweight. I think we also had the notion that healthy food is supposed to taste like cardboard, and for a foodie that is unthinkable.
Looking back we tried many things, some worked sporadically, some, well I don't remember if they worked because some of that time I have intentionally blocked from my memory. I know we did WeightWatchers for a good bit of time, and I believe it worked for the most part, however, weight watchers doesn't teach one how to "think healthy" but only how to "do healthy". I don't know if that makes much sense, but we weren't taught to view food as food in weight watchers, everything was about the "exchange". It's not a bad system, it just wasn't right for me. I didn't learn to look at real food for it's nutritional value....i.e. what that food does for and to my body, instead I was instructed to look at food for arbitrary number values that didn't have any meaning for me. So, while we lost weight while doing weight watchers, we quickly regained when we couldn't afford to use the program anymore because it didn't actually prepare us for going it alone.
We tried the "Daniel Diet" about the same time that we joined a local food co-op....it wasn't bad but unfortunately it quickly devolved into a cabbage diet because the co-op got a really good deal on cabbages and we wound up with like ten heads...for a family of 3.
Sporadically we did exercise, which isn't really high on the priority list of homeschool families. We would do early morning aerobics along with the broadcast on TBN... looking back, quite honestly it is hard to get your heart rate up to melodious instrumentals with little to no identifiable drumbeat. And then for a time we walked 3-5 miles a day around a local park...of course we would stop on the way home and pick up fattening food from a fast food place cause we were too tired to prepare a meal after that. I will say that although I didn't lose much weight (I think I have always gained muscle faster than I lose weight) my legs looked amazing that summer and I felt better overall.
What fascinates me while looking back, is the realization that although I pushed back against the dieting craze my mother seemed to go through, I have always been interested in nutrition and healthy lifestyles. This was confirmed for me recently while talking to my mother...I had had a memory flash of me bringing home nutrition, fitness, martial arts and bodybuilding books one summer and devouring them...she remembered that time and said that was about the time that I started enjoying cooking. (this may have even been when I became a foodie).
The problem with my newfound love for cooking was twofold...1. I didn't have an instinctive knowledge of portion control due to environmental factors and 2. I didn't have enough understanding of nutrition and the physiological effects of food to modify the recipes that we had in the house. My palate had been trained to cheeseburgers, fried chicken and hamburger helper because they were inexpensive and easy to prepare. I didn't know how to use spices and seasonings and at that time was afraid to try. So, I enjoyed cooking alot... but what I was cooking was slowly killing me.
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