Backstory on me...

As I sit here thinking about writing this blog about eating healthy & exercise, I find myself looking back to where my journey started.  A little back story on me is that I grew up with a single mom & 2 brothers.  I never remember one time in my childhood my mother talking about being on a diet.  She never was & did not go to the gym.  She wasn't really big or really small just average.  I grew up the same way an average size with no second thought to what other people weighed vs me.  Lord knows my brothers didn't talk about their weight & diet either!  Like many we did not have very much money growing up & if it wasn't for food stamps we probably wouldn't be alive today.  Thinking back to it now it was a lot of processed foods (i.e. frozen fish stick, banquet frozen meals & frozen tator tots) things I wouldn't even look at in the grocery store now! Though needless to say my mother was not as chef (bless her heart) so I was just happy to be fed.  Another thing I struggle with now is if I am full to stop eating, simple enough right?  Well in my household you didn't leave the table until you had a happy plate & all your food was gone.  I principle I understand as a parent but have had a hard time breaking as an adult.  In fact I remember a night I slept at the dining room table because I wasn't allowed to leave the table until I ate my dinner.  When I woke up the next morning & asked for breakfast I was told I would eat my dinner leftovers for breakfast because I would eat that before I received anything else.  Ah the fond childhood memories... :)  Anyway, as I struggle with food now I look back to the lessons my mother taught me & I couldn't be happier.  I am truly happy that I never once thought about a diet, calories or carbs.  I never compared myself to friends or celebrities.  I was taught to love myself just the way I was & to love others the way they were as well.  A lesson I am ever mindful of to this day.