We all have a story that defines who we are.

In this story are woven the threads of our dreams, hopes, fears, disappointments, circumstances, and our past – uniquely making us a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.

Part of my story includes my struggle with food beginning in high school.  I vividly remember weighing in at 98 lbs. during gymnastics in junior high.  But by the end of my sophomore year of high school I was up to 143 lbs – a whopping 45-lb. weight gain on my 5’4 medium size frame.  I had to do something and I had to do it fast!

That was when I began my career of dieting.

Being athletic and participating in a whole lot of sports and activities allowed me to get back down to a normal weight but I was never quite satisfied with my body. This led to the perpetual chase of the “ideal weight” carrot. Know what I’m talking about?  It is crazy, but that is how I lived for so many years of my life.

It was my normal, my landscape.

But I can actually say that it all changed when I began living at Peace with Food.  That is not to say I don’t have an ideal weight, because I do, but this time it is more of an optimal weight range than an unrealistic all-time-low number.  No more of this all-or-nothing mindset.  Enough of the obsession!

How did I get this peace?  Here it is in a nutshell.  I began believing that I could do it and I changed the way I thought about my situation.  That was step one.  It was a big step that took me years.  But even in believing that I could have Peace with Food (and peace with my body) didn’t result in it magically appearing.  After years of failed attempts, saying I was frustrated with my situation is putting it mildly.  I needed practical steps to take and the skills to carry it out.  I needed to find the answer to my dilemma, the combination to the lock.  Enter Peace with Food.

As I began writing this post I really had to ask myself, “What is my purpose for sharing this part of my life? Is it to inspire, motivate, entertain?”  I think it can be all of these, but more than that, I feel a calling to help others in their journey to Peace with Food.  That’s my mission, my assignment – to share with others what I have learned in the decades I’ve spent struggling with food and help them experience peace and freedom.

When I was in college, my Biochem instructor would always say in his Indian accent, “Take-home-message.”  We knew that when he uttered these three choppy words we needed to take note because the point he was about to make was of utmost importance.  That is what I hope to leave in every Peace with Food post.  A take-home message.  A nugget that will help you live at greater Peace with Food.

So here’s the Take-Home Message:

No matter what your story is, you can have Peace with Food.  No matter what your beginning is, you can rewrite the end.

 

 

 

P. S.  Stay tuned for Lara’s Story . . .