I Had to Make a Change
Throw Back Thursday! This blog was originally written in 2015.
In 2014, I read a lot about nutrition. I became acutely aware of the horrible relationship I had developed with food. I did not understand a lot about food. Like many troubled relationships, I found that it all boiled down to three key elements: understanding, communication, and expectation.
To understand the growth that took place, let me tell you how it started. I grew up in a healthy household where I enjoyed well-balanced home-cooked meals with fruits and vegetables. My mother was a full-on veggie lover who loved to exercise and always told me she was a “fat kid.” I did not understand how that was possible when I was a pretty skinny kid/teenager. Like most young people, I was not too fond of the wide variety of vegetables she did, so I stayed very close to broccoli, green beans, and salads, but I could eat a whole pepperoni pizza and never gained weight. In junior high school, my friends called me “Ribs” because you could see my ribs when I wore a bathing suit.
A significant shift happened while I was in high school; my mom fell ill, and our roles reversed. I became the breadwinner, household shopper, and chef. I wasn’t old enough to understand the value of the substance and makeup of our bodies. So, I unknowingly made the mistake of choosing quick and easy routes to meals and food. The majority of the time, that meant frozen and microwaveable. A while later, I noticed I was gaining weight and feeling sluggish. I decided I was overeating, so I started taking diet pills to suppress my appetite. Since I was not fond of coffee, I would drink 2-3 energy drinks daily. My body communicated that it needed fuel and expected nutrient-rich food, but I did not understand. I wanted to look like the girls in the videos and magazines and hoped to slim down.
As a requirement for college, I took a health class, and I learned a lot about what I needed to have a healthy, well-balanced diet. It did help that I had at least started eating less food. I alternated between salads, frozen microwavable dishes, and over-cooked vegetables. I still took diet pills and drank energy drinks. I had developed a sugar addiction and was often stressed out. I was dealing with my mother’s multiple sclerosis, attending college, and working full-time, and the weight just piled on. I visited my Uncle Dwayne before he was going into gastric bypass surgery. After not seeing me for ten years, he had much wisdom to share on the unhealthy pathologies that our family shared with food. I spilled all the beans on what I was doing to myself. He made me promise to stop with the diet pills and energy drinks. He never made it out of that surgery, so I could not go back on that promise. Our conversation also took the blinders off to the world of weight problems I had only begun to understand, and years of unhealthy eating and stress had helped me to get up to 236 lbs. Something had to change at only 5 feet 6 inches tall, and it did!
They were two of the best friends anyone could ever have taught me about food. They helped me learn how to buy, cook, and eat healthy, fresh, and flavorful food. I learned optimal food combinations, portion control, and healthy sweet tooth alternatives. With the assistance of this incredible support team, I started 2014 as a vegetarian who ate a rainbow of foods. I juiced fruits and vegetables and prepared my meals in advance to accommodate my busy schedule. I soon started feeling different, vibrant, healthy, and alive. Mid-year, I started eating fish and some small portions of meat, but I did not abuse my body the same way I previously had. I also kicked the habit of running to food when I felt stressed.
Moreover, through prayer, meditation, and clear communication, I have learned how to remove, avoid, and limit unhealthy stress. I have seen the needle on the scale go down, which is nice, but even more fulfilling is knowing that I am well on my way to being healthier. I am being loving to my body, and it feels great!
The most important lessons I learned were simple and applied to many different areas of life. The first and most valuable lesson I learned was that what you put in impacts what you get back. Like the adage “You are what you eat!” If you are loading yourself up with crap, you are going to feel like it. I started eating more foods grown on plants, not manufactured in plants. The fresh fruits and vegetables that now occupy the majority of my dietary intake give me life, not a bunch of chemicals that I cannot pronounce, and my body does not know how to break down.
The second most valuable lesson that I learned was support and accountability are essential. I didn’t feel alone with friends to talk to when I was going to fall off the bandwagon. We started sharing holidays when we thought we were not strong enough to resist the heavy food our families prepared. Last but certainly not least, I learned I had to keep my diet flavorful and exciting, which took preparation and time. I had to learn to try different things and step outside my comfort zone. Subsequently, I realized that investing time and energy in preparing my food was a great thing. I remember always rushing to get some food so I could do this or that, but this revelation hit me like a ton of bricks, “If you keep running on fumes, you are going to run out of fuel!”
My hope for you in this next year is that this encourages you to invest in yourself from the inside out.
If you are looking for other ways to continue to revolutionize your diet or life in general, take some time to check out our other blogs and contact us for your first coaching session. We dedicate every day to making a Life You Love to Live! Let’s thrive together in 2015!
Little did I know I would become a Personal trainer in 2017. :)
