Southern Diet
I grew up in a small rural town in North Carolina and remember hating fresh farm vegetables. My parents and both of my grandparents had gardens. I wanted potato chips, pasta, pizza, ice cream, and candy bars. I grew up on extra sweet iced tea and colas. Our meals were focused on fried vegetables and canned and processed meats. A typical meal included fried okra, corn on the cobb (with lots of butter and salt), and fried potatoes, alongside fried Treat meat. While we had the illusion of a healthy garden behind our house, once gathered they were all fried or cooked with oil. I lived my childhood, adolescent years, and young adulthood not knowing anything about healthy eating.
Growing up on a fried carbohydrate diet, my weight started to show this after I graduated high school and became less active. This was about the time the physical fitness craze began with fitness gyms and Jane Fonda workout tapes. I had never really worried about my diet or health. Back then we went to the doctor when we had an aliment and received pills. In today’s world we recognize this was a poorly constructed health model but in those days it was the normal in taking care of our bodies.
As I became more self-conscious of my weight and how I looked, I began to investigate how to lose weight. I started learning about calories which I had never even considered before. I joined a gym and experienced the euphoric effect of a good workout and the power of sweating. Between counting calories and working out I took my overweight body into an underweight status and exhausted myself trying to achieve the model look. I still had no idea what healthy was supposed to look like. I got very close to anorexic behavior. Someone close to me made the comment that I had become “skinny fat” and needed to work on my definition in my muscles. I really thought lower weight would make me perfect.
About this time, I was getting dizzy when I would work out and then sit in a sauna (all the gyms had them back in those days). Thankfully my soul made me realize I was not healthy at all, but just weak, exhausted, and undernourished. I became an expert on proper nutrition and food preparation. I could recite the calorie count of any food, beverage, or stick of gum. I learned different ways of food experimentation without the added fat, salt, and processed foods I had grown up on. At the time I worked in healthcare, so I had access to a plethora of information. We had a dietitian on our staff, and she supported me in my quest for healthy options and education.
My experiences taught me the need to spread information on health and nutrition and how food affects our bodies, minds, and spirit. As I continued to self-teach myself on healthy lifestyles, I developed a proper workout routine and healthier foods and food preparation to support a healthy lifestyle. I tried to be a role model to my friends and family. I had renewed energy and a healthy glow, which was the best example I could provide. The concept of fresh vegetables steamed, broiled, or raw were delicious. I have never missed the unhealthy preparations from my childhood.