I like to eat junk food and I really like to eat processed food. These are things that I grew up eating and I love them more than you could ever know. I also loooooove fast food (mmmm, french fries).
I have always been extremely skinny so it was never an issue weight wise for me to eat these things. Along with the above goodness I really like to drink copious amounts of wine and was a smoker at one point.
I found that when I got married I was at my heaviest (110 lbs, size 2) which may not seem big but I am 5 feet tall so even a couple of extra pounds shows. I look at my wedding pictures and depending on what angel the picture was taken from I think I look chubby. Was I chubby, probably not but I have weird standards and I look back and can't believe I didn't starve myself so that I looked svelte.
When I got pregnant with my son I stopped drinking and smoking and started to eat a bit healthier. I still ate fast food; whenever I drove by Burger King my mouth would water. After I had my son I was breastfeeding so I still was not drinking and was still eating kind of healthy. Then my world fell in around me- my son had a milk allergy and I would have to avoid all milk products.
I was shocked- how does one live without cheese and milk? And then it really hit me when I started reading food labels- all of that processed food that I loved so much had milk in it. I had to completely change the way I shopped and ate. Everything we ate was made from scratch and we started eating more vegetables and whole grains. When my son started to eat people food I went into hyper drive making sure that he had what he needed sans the milk. I lost a ton of weight and was down to about 90 lbs- I think from the dramatic change in what I was eating and not taking time for myself to sit and eat. Once my son was weaned and I could have milk again I started to gain some weight back but got pregnant within a couple of months.
My daughter had the same issue but at first we weren't sure if she had an allergy to something else so for a period of time I eliminated all major allergens (wheat, milk, peanuts, soy, egg, shellfish) from my diet and slowly reintroduced them. This was a trying time- I was hungry for normal food and I was cranky. I couldn't just grab a snack like I was used to; I had to plan out every day what I would eat (and thank God for Rice Works Chips). Luckily it ended up just being a milk allergy and I was able to imbibe in some snacking.
Both kids grew out of their milk allergies but what has stuck with me from this experience is how to feed my family healthy food. I enjoy cooking things from scratch and making healthy muffins, bread, pancakes, etc. I have found a balance between eating super healthy and enjoying snacks that works well for us. I also always read the labels on the food I buy (well, not the junk food because it is junk food and has junk in it- I don't need a label to tell me that). As of now I am at a normal weight (not sure what because I don't own a scale) and am in a size 0 which is fine for my frame.
I look back through my blog posts about my shopping trips and I can't believe it is me who is doing the shopping. I have done a complete turn around from four years ago when it comes to what I buy. It is hard to lie to yourself when you see in pictures what you have been buying and looking back I feel good. I can't say the there is anything that I am embarrased about purchasing (maybe the Chef Boyardee Beefaroni- yum!).
What does your shopping say about you?
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