My food epiphany
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| Tue, 07-26-2005 - 2:59pm |
I was trying to catch up on what I missed on the board when I came across Chrissy post about "don't hate me because I am thin." As I read the part where she called (or seems to be calling) people who eat lots of junk food lazy, I became very sad. Being prego and very hormonal I got really depressed thinking, "Am I just lazy?" I thought about the way I eat compared to the way ya'll eat (I know I shouldn't do that, but...) and began racking my brain to figure out why I eat the way I do. Here is what I realized:
I didn't have much of a mothering mother. She isn't completely "there", so I missed out on a lot of important information growing up. This included my ability to make good food choices. Here is a sample menu from my childhood:
Breakfast-brownies, pudding, or cake with whole milk.
Lunch-coldcuts on white bread, chips, candy bar with kool-aid
snack-cookies with kool-aid or whole milk
dinner-something fried with two or three starches on the side with kool-aid
desert-jell-o, pudding, cake...
snack-candy bar, coke
Not to mention that there were always bowls of candy around the house with no restrictions put on them. I was a pretty lean kid because I was just as hyperactive as I am now, so I don't think anybody ever noticed that I didn't eat well.
Then I went to college. I ate like the typical undergraduate-lots of pizza, pasta, sugary cereal...But what is amazing is that I ate better during college then during my childhood.
When I graduated college I worked 9-5, trained tkd 5-9 (I was competing heavily at the national level), and dh worked 3-9 as a gymnastics coach. When we were home the last thing either of us wanted to do was cook or clean up. So I ate lots of fastfood and pizza.
Then came dd. I no longer trained tkd, but I became a gym rat. I started to learn about fueling the body to be able to perform. I realized that my eating habits would rub off on my precious little girl. So, I started to eat whole grain bread, fruits, and vegetables.
I have come a long way in the last four years considering my childhood. I eat good food to fuel my body, but I also eat junk food. Am I lazy? No. I realized throughout this thought process that I like to eat, my mini culture has dictated to me what I prefer in food. Yes, I try to limit my cookie intake, but I am not going to not eat them if I want them. I am enjoying food because I like it!
I just wanted to share this with all of you. I think I have a healthy outlook on my food now. I also wanted to say thanks to ya'll for inspiring me. I have learned so much about diet through you. I still don't know what hummus is, but I'll get there :)
Love ya'll
Paula

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I'm sorry about the laughing and it's not because of you but that I'm sure Millcreek didn't mean it the way it came out sounding. I didn't think of it that way, either, until you wrote about lack of compassion and tact.
i totally agree with you jean, about hearing different perspectives and taking it as a learning experience whether or not i change my mind. i (obviously) have very strong opinions but i'm also very open to people challenging them and making me see things differently (for instance, as i do as a result of Kel's last post on this thread). i think that opportunity for being challenged and growth is a huge benefit to being on this board.
this is particularly well said - "If I were to leave every time I disagreed w/ someone w/out seeing where they were coming from, I'd never learn and become a better person." i totally feel the same way, and not just about message boards but about every aspect of interpersonal interaction.
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