Some of My Best Friends are Skinny People

One of my challenges in losing weight has been living with skinny people, namely  my husband and my two daughters.  They don’t eat astronomical amounts of foods, but they can eat whatever they want and stay thin.  The foods they sometimes want are my problem foods.  Then I am the one who eats astronomically.  I am triggered into space-age eating by pizza, cookies, Doritos, cake and chocolate.  A skinny (and athletic AND gorgeous) friend said to me once, “Well, you can have any food, just have a little bit”.  Thinking back on it, it may have been justified to karate chop her.  It just doesn’t work that way for me.  It’s easier for me to not have these foods in the first place so I stay in control.

Now we come to the subject of my hubby, God bless him.  I love him to pieces, and we are very compatible, but not metabolically.  He’s a total health nut now, but the past is a different story.  He used to ask me “When are you going to make me a cake?”, as though it was part of our wedding vows that I had neglected.  Funny, I didn’t remember reciting, “For better or for worse, I will keep him supplied with baked goodies.”  One time, I was making an effort to eat healthier, and in cleaning out the pantry, I had thrown out his new salty treats.  Was he ever maaaaad!  He then informed me that whenever we ate healthier, HE was the one who lost weight.  Our different eating styles were a source of conflict for years.

There is this big jigsaw puzzle that explains why I struggle with my weight, and his influence used to be just one piece of the puzzle.  I’ve learned helpful things by observing him too.  He gets really strong signals from his body on what and how much to eat, and he actually listens to those signals.  Imagine that!

I cannot blame him, or anyone else for that matter.  Ultimately it was ME who gained the sizable amount of weight that I gained in my 20’s.  The positive side of realizing that is that I had the power to do something about it.  Since peaking at my highest non-pregnant weight in my mid-20’s, I’ve gradually, and fitfully, lost about 50 pounds.