What My Dad Taught Me About My Health
I was 14 years old when I first went on a diet. I devised this diet on my own. It was the “eat only watermelon” diet. I had learned that watermelon was low in calories, so you could eat a lot of it. I have no idea how I thought of this, except that it was summer and we had a lot of watermelon around. It only lasted a day or two, and was not sustainable, as you know already.
Since then, I’ve been a vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian. I’ve been on the Keto diet, Weight Watchers, and Hershey’s Bar diet, among others. I actually lost weight on the Hershey’s Bar diet. Name any diet, I’ve likely tried it.
I had discovered Teen Magazine the year of the watermelon diet. I was enamored by the advice and articles in that magazine and read it cover to cover. The models in Teen made me feel that my body was inadequate for the first time in my life. I was curvy, and some of my peers had not yet started to develop. I felt like something was wrong with MY body. The Charlie’s Angel I idolized was Kate Jackson, and her lithe, boyish body.
My cousins were a couple of years older than me, and were very sophisticated and smart, always talking about their diets and how to slim down. Even my grandmother was always on a diet or buying some strange exercise device. She even hired a masseuse to massage away cellulite. Looking back, I had a lot of bad influences as a 14 year old that impacted my self esteem. I had poor female role models for healthy weight management when I was an impressionable teen.
My dad, on the other hand, always maintained a healthy weight. He ate a healthy diet and exercised every day. He enjoyed an occasional treat but was very conscious of his and his family’s health. In my childhood home, we had no soda or sugary treats, except on special occasions or holidays. Dad weighed himself every day. He said, “Eat healthy food, not too much, and exercise every day.”
My unhealthy relationship with dieting finally resolved when I became pregnant with my daughter. I realized then that it wasn’t just about me anymore. I realized how I treated my body would affect my daughter. This was my wake up call.
When I decided to make a change for my health, it was my dad’s words that I heard guiding me toward a better lifestyle. He showed me that it didn’t have to be overly complicated. No crash diet or unsustainable workout regime will keep you healthy in the long term, I just had to learn that for myself the hard way!
Instead, I do my best to move my body daily, whether it’s a walk around the block or a full workout. I try to eat health with the occasional indulgence and take my time so that I can recognize my fullness cues. I am so thankful I had my dad as an amazing example to model my own habits after.
So, this Father’s Day, maybe you can take some advice from my dad:
“EAT HEALTHY FOOD, NOT TOO MUCH, AND EXERCISE EVERY DAY.”
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