I am a weight loss expert. This isn’t something I studied in school but acquired through personal experience. I went on my first diet at age 13. I can still remember the feeling of watching my classmates eat their bags of chips and chocolate cupcakes, wondering why I had to be the fat one. Why did I have to feel hungry all the time?
Of course, the diets I subjected myself to were ridiculous (grapefruit, cabbage soup, you name it) and I could never stick to them very long. My teens and twenties are a blur of carrot sticks, cottage cheese, melba rounds and jeans that were too tight. I yo-yoed up and down so often and gained and lost the same 30 pounds 10 different times in my life. Yes, that is 300 lbs! Wow! Oprah call her fat years her “unconscious” years, and this was exactly how this time felt for me—like I was living someone else’s life.
So, what is someone with major food issues going to study in college? Nutrition, of course! Thinking that the right amount of knowledge would surely heal my food issues, I received both my Bachelors and Masters degrees in human nutrition. Yes, I knew all about fats, carbohydrates and proteins, calories and the like, but I still didn’t know how to turn off the voice telling me to buy the big bag of tortilla chips because I deserved them and then chastising me for not having the self-control to stop eating them. There wasn’t a class for that!
Looking back, I think learning so much of the science behind food actually made my food issues worse. There was major guilt—for example, since I knew how fats are metabolized by the body I should know better! After graduation, I started working with college students on improving their diet and many of them had food related issues. So, here I was, trying to help them improve their health with diet, yet I myself was still obsessed with food. I was at a low point in my ever yo-yoing weight so I looked the part, but inside I was struggling.
So, what is a Nutritionist with food issues who feels like a big fraud going to do next? Go to Culinary School and become a Chef, of course! Fortunately, I attended the Natural Gourmet Culinary School in NYC, a culinary school focused on whole, natural foods cooking. In learning about foods that nourished physically that actually tasted good (unlike cottage cheese and cardboard crackers) I really started to look at food differently. Food lost it’s Good/Bad, On My Diet/Off My Diet status and became just food, and delicious food at that! In fact, I couldn’t believe how delicious healthy food could be when prepared the right way. During this time in culinary school, I ate as much as I needed without portioning foods or counting calories. Interestingly, my weight started to stabilize without me focusing on it. More important than the way I looked on the outside was that the voices started to quiet down and even though I was surrounded by food, I was thinking about it less and less.
What also came during this time was an acceptance of who I am and the foods I love. One of my favorite go-to diets in my early years was the low-carb diet, mainly because it worked so well for me (since it eliminated like 75% of what I would typically eat—I LOVE CARBS!). I could lose weight like crazy on that diet. But, I was seriously neglecting the inner child part of me that loves bread and starch. Now I realize that I just can’t eliminate an entire group of foods that I LOVE and expect to feel peaceful about it. And I also know that I feel better when I choose carbohydrates that are whole and minimally processed.
I want to inspire and motivate people to try a simpler way of eating–to eat foods grown by the sun, not made in a lab and to connect with their food by appreciating it and being grateful for the foods that make them feel alive. I truly believe that when we eat simple, unprocessed plant foods we NOURISH ourselves way beyond fat, carbohydrates, protein or calories. By filling up on pure foods loaded with fiber and nutrition, we can stop counting calories and start actually living our lives. And by making our healthy foods taste amazing, we honor our inner child who still wants that yum-yum feeling.
Please take some time to explore my website and learn about my meal planning service in which I send you healthy recipes, a shopping list and a dose of inspiration every week to support you on your journey to eating healthier. My desire is that my service can help you cultivate a more nourishing relationship with food and allow you to focus on other important things in life.
Until our paths hopefully cross someday, Eat Well, Be Well and LOVE Every Bite!
Jennifer
