MY STORY

Part I

I didn’t notice my weight and eating habits until I was in junior high school. One thing I would never do to my daughter or granddaughter is say, “ If you don’t watch out, you will be a little 5X5,” something my father always said to me. That phrase gets fixated in your mind and you start to dwell and think about food all of the time. Up until this point I never thought about food before.

Between my freshman year and my sophomore year of high school I was a size 12. I was the same size as my mother. That year my body changed from being a little girl to a young woman. I went from size 12 to size 6. I was ecstatic. But with that, brought an unhealthy obsession with food and weight loss. I was so obsessed that I would starve all day and then pig out at dinner.

At this point in my life I began to see the importance of movement. I was never a very good athlete but I loved to play, “Flies Up” with my friends and siblings. I took physical education classes in school. track and field, gymnastics and loved to play softball.

When I was 16 years old, I started working for my uncle at his restaurant. It was a family steakhouse. I would go to school, starve all day and then go to work and gorge myself on all the yummy desserts. It seems my palate was drawn to the sugar.

I was also obsessed with the bathroom scales. I was on them all of the time. I put on about 10 lbs. I was consumed with getting this weight off. I started a vicious cycle of not eating sugar. No sugary foods would I eat. I lasted about 3 days and then my will power would cave in. I would eat and eat sugary foods until I was literally sick. This lasted for several years.

At this same time I would go roller skating after work. I loved to roller skate. The skating would help me bring some kind of balance to my weight loss efforts.

Stay connected for the rest of my story.