MY STORY

Part 2

I met my best friend my junior year of high school. Our high school was what they called an “Open Campus” which meant that you could come and go as you pleased. Most mornings my friend and I (she had a vehicle) would skip school and go get donuts for breakfast. My friend was from a wealthy family and could afford most anything. She also was obsessed with her weight. Her mother would go to doctors and get a prescription for diet pills for us. They were all the rage at that time. The pills would work a few days to curb my appetite but then back to the binge eating I would go. My friend and I even went so far as to go to a dentist and have our teeth wired shut so that we could not eat any solid food. Ummm... only liquid food like ice cream milk shakes. Uggg. The night following the day I got my teeth wired shut, I didn’t get much sleep. I was worried about having to vomit and not being able to cut the wires on my teeth quick enough before I choked to death on my own vomit. I got up in the middle of the night and cut the wires on my teeth.

I got married shortly after I graduated high school. About a month before I got married I started taking birth control pills. One of the side effects of birth control pills was weight gain. I was so paranoid I was going to gain weight. I already weighed 132 lbs. on my 5'4" frame. I did not want to gain any more. I lucked out and was one of the ones who lost weight instead of gaining weight. I lost 9 lbs. I was ecstatic. At this time is when I was trying to implement more healthy eating practices. I was now in charge of the grocery shopping and the meal preparation. I could now buy what I thought was healthy options.

I started eating a lot of salads and fish sticks. My husband was an avid hunter. Something I had never eaten before we were married was venison. My father was not a hunter. We ate a lot of venison.

In April of 1981 I became pregnant. I tried to eat the best way I knew how but I still found myself eating a lot of sugary foods. My goal was to gain between 25-30 lbs with my baby. I put on 30 lbs. Even still I had some weight to lose. I nursed for 6 weeks. I should have nursed longer but it seemed like all I was doing all day long was nursing my baby. He was up about every 2 hours.

After I quit nursing I ate the best way I knew how and made a hit and miss effort to exercise. The foods I ate were either low-fat or no-fat. I would eat all I wanted because I thought that was the way to go. Little did I know that I was eating more sugar and refined carbs than my body knew what to do with. I was young so my body compensated. I lost the weight three months after I gave birth.

Another thing I was paranoid about was having babies too close together. I didn’t want to have weight from one pregnancy being carried over to another pregnancy.

My weight was a constant battle for me. I know now why!!! It was all of the low-fat or no-fat, high carbohydrate diet . I was trying to adhere to. Ugg! What I would have given to known what I know now about diet and exercise.

Stay connected for the rest of my story.