Blame it on Genetics

Hope everyone is enjoying the week! Thankfully, it’s been rather uneventful here, which I always consider a “good” thing.

Today was no exception; however, as the week continues, it seems that work always get a little more demanding with each day and by Friday, I am more than ready for a break. Does anyone else feel that way?

I want to share an article that I came across while enjoying my lunch today. It came from the new Self edition and it told the story of a 75 year old woman who confessed her life-long struggle with weight and food outlook. Basically, this woman revealed that her entire 75 years of existence, she has ALWAYS had an unhealthy relationship with food. At one point she gained 100 pounds making her severely overweight and then lost over 100 pounds, causing her to be underweight so it was just one massive battle of never feeling content. The point that I found the most compelling on this whole article was the idea that she attributes her entire struggle to her childhood. She feels that as children, we are forming our state of minds and how we see things based on what we observe or learn from others. So, as a child, she had an uncle who was “fat” and every time he would reach for a cookie he was immediately scolded and told to eat celery instead of cookies. So as a child, the association that cookies make you fat is ingrained and over time, as you hear this more and more, these associates will become beliefs.

This got me thinking, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. As we raise our children, we are constantly making associations in order for them to understand what is right and wrong. For example, we tell them “Hot and Ouch” when they point at the stove or clap our hands and cheer when they put away their toys. These correlations are what provide them with the basic principles in order to maintain an adequate life. So if children are constantly hearing their mentors using the parallels of food being bad or how fat they look, we can only expect them to begin to believe in these things as they grow older.

I also think of my own upbringing and the results oh my own relationship with food for such a long time. Many people in my family have struggled with their weight for the duration of their lives and as a child, I was slightly shorter and more stout than my sister, so naturally, I was told that I was the “doomed” one out of the two of us. I would inherit those infamous family “fat” genes and there was nothing I could do to avoid it. Now, being an adult, I am not overweight and I did not inherit those genes because frankly, they DON’T EXSIST! But it took me a long time to realize that what I believed was a lie. I was not doomed and I can truthfully and whole heartedly believe that my body and health are a result of my own decisions, not my family’s!

Needless to say, it was an interesting article and it really got me assessing my own parenting some day. Don't get me wrong, my parents are AMAZING and they have done such an outstanding job at raising two daughters. I attribute the person I am today to them and I will be forever grateful for everything that they have instilled in me. I only hope that one day, I will be able to reflect a purely healthy outlook to my own kids and that they will be surrounded with the ideals that happiness and healthy balance in life is the only way to truly live!

Okay now on to the rest of the day. Toly and I had another delicious dinner. It's Wednesday which means BFD in our household. (We look forward to this every week). BFD this evening happened to be omelets. Mine with spinach and kale (another sneak in of the super food of the week) sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese and the boy had bacon, ham and cheddar. I also cut up some fresh fruit to eat along side.

Magnificent!

Well that's all, this was quite a long post and I'm too tired to think of anything else. Have a good night!