The love for food

Have you ever felt as though food is your number one enemy? How can a person manage to be thin when there is so much good food out there in the world? Hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, cookies, cakes, candies, potatoes, the list is endless and restaurants are always coming up with new ways to keep us in their take out lines after work.

From experience, I know how easy it is to fall in a deeply imbedded food trap. I used to go to work where I would snack all day on various foods that I would bring in or that my fellow co-workers would share, which would then lead to lunch usually at the closest fast food restaurant to be followed by more snacking, then going home to more fast food or the freezer section of my grocery store. There have been times that I know my body was screaming for more nutrition. I was ignoring the screams. What are the screams, you wonder? I will explain… (Please forgive the gross-out factor): constipation, diarrhea, excessive flatulence, dehydration, dark urine, fatigue (low-energy), indigestion, heart burn, the list goes on and on. These are simply the symptoms! Eating poorly for a good portion of your life can lead to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, weak immune system, this list also goes on. These food issues are not unique to people with excess weight. Chances are, you know several people who are of moderate weight that eat horribly. These people can be very frustrating to be around especially when their body does not seem to show signs of their bad habits! Truth be known, that these habits will probably creep up on them later on in life.

When I think about the relationship that a lot of Americans have with food, I think about a funny little story that I was recently told about a conversation between an Asian woman and an American woman:

American woman: orders soup or some other dish at an Asian-Inspired restaurant that has tofu in it-she begins to eat her food when she unknowingly tries a bit of tofu. She is very annoyed by it and asks the waitress what is it

Asian woman: kindly explains to her that it is tofu and explains the ingredients

American woman: tells the waitress that it tastes horrible and wonders why they would ever serve such an item

Asian woman: begins to explain to her that tofu is good for her

There have been points (currently and recently) in my life that I have had an over saturated palette. In order to taste good to me, my food needed to be drowning in grease, saturated in butter, rolled in sugar and heavily sprinkled with salt. I was suffering from the “but, it tastes good” syndrome which is one I am still trying to overcome. Eating well does not have to be a painful experience. I recently had a conversation with Josh (the boyfriend) about how thinking about eating well forever made me feel sad. Looking a little closer at this comment I made and he so kindly pointed out to me, showed that I was relating food to emotions instead of as a basic human need. What if food had no flavor and its only purpose was to nourish your body? That can open up a flood gate of responses and emotions for many people. Eating well is simply…well, simple! The fewer ingredients the better and the more nutrients you eat for fueling your body, the better. It sounds so elementary health-class to me, doesn’t it you? Let’s use the standard old car fuel as an example. If your car ran on food as fuel and you needed to make an eight hour drive would you fill your tank with donuts, candy, cakes, and fried items that would leave you on the side of the road within a couple of hours? Or would you fill your tank with whole grains, vegetables and proteins to get there?

Simply thinking about what is going into your body on a daily basis could be startling. I like to call poor eating “food overdrive” or “food autopilot” this is simply when eating becomes a hobby or an event and the only requirement is that it tastes good. No thought or hesitation only wondering when I would eat again and where it would come from. Turning off the food autopilot can be scary and uncomfortable. Think about what you ate over the past week or start writing down what you are eating (ugh the dreaded food recording!) regardless of what it is. How many times do you eat processed, high fat, low nutrient foods a week? My food inventory has gotten better in the last couple of months, but defiantly has much more needed improvement.

It may surprise you to know (it still surprises me!) that there are foods that you love that are very good for you. Today I will work on a list of foods that I love that are nutritious (when I say love, I mean on the same level that you love your favorite not-so-healthy foods.)

My story is weighty, the token fat girl

As this blog is titled, it is in fact all about natural weight loss. What is natural weight loss? Well, in my opinion it is weight loss that doesn’t require knives, pills or starvation methods to get results. Losing weight on your own, naturally, slowly, and safely. I am not a nutritionist, weight loss counselor, doctor or even a guru, but I am fat. I will be filling this blog with my own musings, advice, information, and my day to day struggles (and success) with carrying extra weight on my body. This is the good the bad and ugly of being fat in today’s society.

A little about me:

I have started about 20 diets in my whole life, some have worked (temporarily) and some lasted for about 2 hours. I’ve started weight loss groups, challenges, blogs, and diaries, to find out that weight loss is not a plan, a method, or an expensive secret. Excess weight is a result of many things for many people. Some people grew up thin and then gained weight, while others have suffered with food addictions their whole lives. The weight is more than likely a result of something else that is happening (or has happened) in your life whether it is medical or situational, it seems to be the effect of something greater than too many pastries.

Being fat and staying fat can often be in a form of denial as well. Every day I hear misconceptions about general good health (from thin and fat people) and I wonder why so many people are misinformed about basic nutrition and exercise. Myself included! A lot of my denial comes from the pain of being fat… the rejection, the looks, and the unrelenting need to fit in and to gain attention. It wasn’t until my late teens that I could face the fact that I do have a weight problem and it wasn’t until awhile later that I could talk about it.

My weight is a result of an excessive love for food, not a pain soother, although would later become that with the trials of life and being fat. I remember being very young and hiding extra food from my parents, and eating excessively when I was home alone or even eating once at a friends house and then again at my house all the while letting my parents think I only ate once. My weight was always very embarrassing to me when I was a kid. I never felt like a huge outcast, but I was defiantly the slow kid in dodge ball.

When someone would bring up my weight (mostly family) I would cringe and turn red. The weight-talk for me had a similar reaction to the sex-talk for most teens. I hated it. When I was 12 my grandmother would offer to take me to weight watchers. I don’t remember my exact reaction at the time, but I know it was something in the form of murmurs and reaching for the nearest little Debbie cake, which she always had an abundance of.

A year prior to that I remember faintly that my PE teacher was requiring us to take a physical fitness test at the end of the year that would qualify us for an all day recess… I failed miserably. I had to stay inside all day with another kid that was in because of bad behavior. My excess weight experiences are very typical and cliché. I was never asked out on dates, to dances, most boys made fun of me, and I had no self-confidence.

As I get older I realize that these experiences have made me into the creative and unique person that I am today, but severely out of touch with my body and societies reaction to excessive weight. I’ve never been the woman to turn down sweets because I was watching my figure or the woman who always asked if her outfit made her look fat. I am fat regardless of the outfit I wear. I mostly gravitate towards and relate to other women with eating or weight issues and often find it hard to relate to women who don’t. I am annoyed by the skinny girl that constantly whines on and on about being fat simply for the reaction and to be told she is gorgeous and thin. I don’t think I am ugly and it hasn’t been until recently that have started to appreciate my appearance.

As you can tell, I have a lot to say about the topic of fat and weight loss and will have much more to come!

Lorrie

My All Natural Weight Loss

My All Natural Weight Loss Coming Soon