The question of my background always comes up when I tell people I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. So, let’s go there. First, know that I grew up in an interesting family. My father weighed well over 300 pounds at points in my youth. How he got there on the food my mother made is questionable to this day. Yes, my mother can not cook. If it didn’t come in a box or can – look out! To this day we reminisce about the now infamous “Hawaiian Delight” – ground Spam balls baked with canned pineapple. Old friends still joke about our family’s ability to make a meal out of Rice-A-Roni and ground hamburger. I was the only person at college that thought the dorm food was a gourmet meal. Thanks to a position with the school’s Dance Company, regular exercise, and a pretty small stomach (yours would be too after 18 years of bad food), I didn’t gain the freshman fifteen and maintained 119 pounds.
Needless to say, my knowledge base regarding nutrition was nil. By my second year of college I was living in my own apartment and had to start creating my own meals. I remember calling my mom to get the recipe for her weekly special (when my dad was bowling) – creamed tuna on toast. Yep, it wasn’t long before the weight started coming on and my health started declining. This being the late ’80’s, “healthy” was all about juicing; so, I bought myself a juicer and learned about fasting. Weight and health both improved, in a fashion.
After college, the early ’90’s brought “healthy” being low/no fat diets. I was right on board. Yes, I did get thin. Thin enough to get extra work as a model/actress. I carried a dial on my key chain and logged every bite of fat I ate. I still juiced. In fact, every time I left my then-boyfriend I’d show up at my friends house with my dog on a leash and my juicer under my arm – the only things I needed. For full disclosure, I found a picture from this time frame – it’s a bit grainy since it’s an old slide, but it gives you an idea. Mostly skin and bones, no muscle or tone, weight about 130 pounds.
