Just the word "diet" has always conjured up such a feeling of dread. I remember being in high school and college and all the girls, including myself, were always on some sort of diet.
You read about it in every magazine, all the "how -to's" to become model skinny by doing this or that, by eating this or by not eating that. It didn't matter what shape or size you were, we were sold that everyone needed to be on a "diet".
They were always restrictive, life consuming and usually involved starving yourself. I hated it. I hated the work, I hated the feelings of hunger, the confusion, the lack of success that always came along with it, and eventually the shame because I just couldn't seem to make any of those so called "easy" summer body diets work. So I stopped magazine "dieting" and just resolved that I was fat. To be fat, was simply my lot in life. I was meant to be fat. I was obviously too dumb or too lazy to follow a plan, count calories and get that summer body. Even today, everyone I know is on a "diet" of some sort.
Just listen in on any mom conversation at a sporting or school event. Gluten-Free, Keto, Whole30, Plexus, Paleo, all the stages of being a Vegan - its down right exhausting listening to their myriad of foods they can and can't eat, what scales they use to count and weigh their food and there I sat being fat. Listening and feeling shameful, thinking " well, at least THEY are doing something". It didn't matter to me, that the next week they were on to something else and I really had no idea if they were successful in their efforts. All I knew is they were doing something, and I was not. I know better of course. I also know Evie.
For almost 10 years now I have known Evie and never have I met a more honest and sincere individual. I sent her a message one day when I had enough of just being known as the fat mom. It was one word "help". She knew what I meant, and had been waiting for me to realize I needed to reach out to her. I needed to be ready to make changes, not to be told I needed to change. Evie responded and the thing she stressed the most, was to just " eat real food." I was blown away. What did that mean? I eat food all the time, or I sat around not eating and just being hungry.
How in the world is this going to work. Eating was going to equal success????
Surely she meant to say I was going to need to run 5 miles and drink those nasty protein shakes 3 times a day in order to lose weight and be healthy. But she didn't. She kept saying " Eat. Real. Food." When I pressed her as to what that really meant, she said " stop eating shit". Eve is a real straight shooter that way 😉. She said " make small changes that you can live with, don't do it all in one day". This is too simple I thought. Eat real food and make small changes. I thought it over for a few days, trying to decide if I could really try again. What if I joined yet another program and failed. I didn't want to just waste money on myself. Then Evie posted a photo and caption that had to do with self worth and it struck a nerve. I mustered up the courage to try again and I joined Eat. Move. Live. I decided on a small change. I stopped ordering soda and drank water. By day 3 I realized I was doing it, I was actually succeeding with my goal. My super small goal.
It gave me the courage to try another small change. I stopped eating fast food. This was hard, as a sports family we seem to always be in the car and running from place to place. It was a huge thing to plan ahead and stick to the plan. But I did it. I ate apples and almond butter in the car instead of french fries, waters instead of sweet tea. I was feeling proud of my efforts. Then one evening about 2 weeks later, I noticed something. My face looked different. It wasn't so round, so puffy. It wasn't so "fat". I was blown away that the simple, small change that I had set my mind to could make a such a huge difference. It made me believe I could change. I could change my eating habits, I could change my way of thinking about eating, I could change the way I look. I could do it, and it didn't have to take over my life. I didn't have to starve myself or exercise to pure exhaustion. I had to learn to eat real food, I had to learn what that meant. My trips to the grocery store are different now. I am way more observant. Stores don't want you to look at the produce. They want you to look at all the pretty packaging on the products on the shelves.
They want you to notice the sale tags and make you feel like you are getting such a great deal on chips or sodas. They want you to feel like you are saving money by spending money on "junk food'. By using EML recipes and shopping lists I have found that it doesn't have to cost a fortune to eat healthy. It costs a fortune to be distracted by the advertising and marketing and to not have a plan. I look at labels now, not because EML says I have to, but because I want to. I want to know what I am feeding myself, and my family. For so long I just believed the marketing and the fads and bought what they sold me as healthy ( fat free, low fat, sugar free.... surely those things must be good for me right ? ) I am not perfect and when I make crappy decisions when eating out, or fall back into old habits,
Evie has taught me that I haven't failed (yet again). She has taught me that there is another chance next time I eat. I get another chance to make a better choice. It’s not all or nothing, it is doing something that is important and being conscious of what you are putting in your body. When people compliment me on my physical changes and ask me what I am doing, I smile and say " I eat real food" and I happily tell them about Evie and Eat. Move. Live.
- Kris Karney