The chubby, pig-tailed girl in this picture is yours truly. Back in the 80s and early 90s most kids didn’t have a weight problem. I was one of the few who did.
I grew up in a loving, supportive home with my dad, mom, and four sisters. My life wasn’t perfect, but I had a happy childhood and did not experience abuse or trauma. At about the age of five, I started gaining weight. To my knowledge I didn’t turn to food for comfort or to escape my feelings, but simply loved food and had developed bad eating habits.
My mom was into health foods and healthy eating. So, we didn’t typically have junk food or sweets at home. Occasionally, we would have ice cream or my favorite snack, Rotel cheese dip. It was my kryptonite. Once I started eating it, I couldn’t stop until I was miserably full. I remember being at a friend’s sleepover and eating my beloved cheese dip. All my friends were stuffed from eating so much, but not me. I could have eaten twice the amount of my friends. Only the fear of embarrassment kept me from eating more. Cheese dip wasn’t the only food I pigged out on. Overeating had become a normal behavior.
As my weight continued to increase, so did my unhappiness with myself. I wanted to do something about it. I tried counting calories, but restricting calories left me feeling hungry and unsatisfied. I hated being hungry. In the sixth grade, I joined Weight Watchers. It was a food restrictive diet similar to counting calories. It didn’t work for me. Also, I was only 12 years old and lacked the maturity and discipline to stick to a diet.
My sophomore year of high school, my mom mentioned to me that her friend lost weight by counting fat grams. I was hopeful it would work for me too. I figured I could eat as much fat-free food as I wanted and not be hungry. I started limiting myself to 20 grams of fat a day which was the recommended amount for weight loss at the time. I ate healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and chicken. But a majority of my diet consisted of processed foods like low-fat Snack-well cookies, fat-free Fig Newtons, fat-free Saltine Crackers, gummy bears, frozen yogurt, sweet tea, and soda. As unhealthy as those foods are, the diet worked. I lost about 1-2 pounds per week. We now know this was a very unhealthy way to eat. If I ate like that now, my blood sugar would be so out of whack I wouldn’t be able to function.
I lost all the extra weight and maintained it into my 20s by continuing to count fat grams and exercise. After my second son was born, I had a stubborn 15 pounds of baby weight that I couldn’t lose. I switched to the Somersize food combining diet. Foods are broken down into groups. For example, proteins can’t be eaten with starches and starches can’t be eaten with fat. I lost the baby weight, but the diet was too complicated and not sustainable long term.
Over the years I have been asked how I maintain my weight. I thought sharing part of my story on the blog might help others too.
Currently, there is so much noise and confusion in the nutrition industry. It’s hard to know what to eat. Even those who know what to do, often lack the desire, focus, or motivation to follow through. Others are confused about even where to begin. I recently had a friend share with me that her doctor told her she needed to loose weight in the next six months. He gave her a handout on the Mediterranean Diet and sent her on her way. She was on her own to figure it out.
I know what it is like to want to change, but not know how. Over the next few weeks, I will share the steps I have taken over the past 25 years to successfully manage my weight and fitness. If you would like to receive notifications when a new blog post is available you can subscribe in the left sidebar of the page if viewing from a computer or at the bottom of the page if viewing from a phone.
If you are struggling with weight management and are ready for a change, I’d love to walk with you on this journey. Feel free to contact me at jehardin75@gmail.com.
Blessings,
Joy
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Love you too!!
Hi Karla! I hope it can be helpful to others who are struggling. Hope you and the family are doing well!