I was not lazy or stupid!

Over the next eight years I gained weight at a steady pace, and at my high school graduation I weighed 160 pounds. Being 5’2” and strong, I wasn’t considered obese, but I was certainly larger than the other girls my age.

Sadly, society often assumes that overweight people are somehow lazy or stupid. I was not lazy or stupid!

During those eight years I was very active. I played basketball, softball, ran track, did gymnastics, water and snow skied, and participated in the marching band. I was no slacker in life, but I still put on weight in spite of my level of activity. In addition to being physically active I competed in piano and trumpet performance, as well as science, calculator, typing and math contests, and I graduated second in my class. I was the “smart girl”, and I was in no way lazy.

The Food Relationship

My relationship with food was an unhealthy one, but one that I enjoyed. I would sneak around in order to eat additional food, hiding the true amount of food I ate. It just never seemed like the amount of food that others were eating was enough for me. I would enjoy lunch with my friends and then slink off to the local convenience store to stock up on candy and chips to enjoy later. I’d eat the after-school snack that my mom had prepared, and then I’d hide in my room and eat the snacks that I had bought. There were even times when I would double up on the amounts that I brought home so that I could have a snack between dinner and bed time.

Things did not improve when I left for college. As a matter of fact – all HELL broke loose!!!  There were no limits to what I could buy and consume. Food was constantly available in the dorm and on campus. I also had the freedom of a checking account, a car, and the big city, all of which allowed me to eat anywhere and everywhere – anytime!!  Let’s not forget all the social events that went along with being a member of the “Goin’ Band from Raiderland” and being in a sorority. Food was EVERYWHERE – that “Freshman 15” turned to the “Freshman 45” in no time.

Here is what a typical day of food looked like for me in college:

Breakfast:  Three hashbrowns with butter, two sausage egg biscuits, and orange juice from McDonalds.
French toast sticks and hashbrown bites with maple syrup from Burger King.
Lunch:  Mashed potatoes, two grilled cheese sandwiches, and ice cream.
2nd Lunch (after band practice):  French fries with honey mustard, chips and salsa, and a coke.
Afternoon snack:  Six tacos from Taco Villa and a Choco-taco.
Dinner:  Fried cheese sticks, hamburger, and onion rings.

Is it any wonder that I weighed 280 pounds when I graduated college?!?

During my college years, I continued to be physically active. I was in the marching, concert, and brass bands. I was in sorority and served as the social chair, the Vice President, and then President over the years. I went out dancing several times a month, and I worked out three times a week at a hospital athletic facility, all while receiving a duel bachelor’s degree in Biology and Math. But, no amount of activity could undo the negative results caused by the quality and quantity of food that I was consuming.

The Diets

After I completed my Master’s degree, I went to Texas A&M to work on a PhD in neurotoxicology. It was then that I made a decision to get some weight off. I had two baby nephews that I wanted to run and play with, and I wanted to be the “cool” aunt. That just wasn’t going to happen while weighing 300 pounds, and so, I started “dieting”. The diets I tried over the next eight years were:  Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, low-fat, low-calorie (500 – 1000 calories), Dallas Diet, Richard Simmons Deal-a-Meal, Susan Powter’s Stop the Insanity, Jenny Craig, The Zone, Nutrisystem, Beverly Hills, grapefruit, Slim-Fast. I also hired personal trainers and worked out with them three days a week for the entire eight years, as well as doing a yoga class, a Pilates class, a Zumba class, and a kick-boxing class weekly. At the end of that eight year PhD program, I was on the “right track”, and I had lost a WHOPPING 40 POUNDS!!!!  Wait, what?!?  After all of that, I was only down to 260 pounds. REALLY???? How could I work out that hard and eat that “healthy” for 8 YEARS and only lose 40 pounds?? WHAT WAS GOING ON??!!

The “Experts” Recommend…

At this point, I was beginning a career as a toxicological scientist. Up until now, it had never occurred to me that the “experts” and the “peer-reviewed research” and the “recommendations” of the FDA, EPA, USDA, and other “leaders” in the health and fitness industry – just might be WRONG. As a human health risk assessment consultant who worked as an expert witness in litigation, I was able to see first-hand that two highly educated and qualified scientists could read the exact same research studies and come to completely different conclusions. Not only did they reach different conclusions, they believed their own conclusion so deeply that they were willing to get on the stand and swear an oath to God and country that their “evidenced-based opinion” was truth!!! Ding, ding, ding!!! I realized that everything, or at least a good portion of what I currently “knew” about health, fat loss, and exercise could be WRONG! That is when I said to myself, “Girl, you ARE the expert. You don’t have four science degrees and a PhD for nothing. Get out there, do some research, use yourself as a lab rat, and figure out what the heck is going on.”

My Philosophy – Food Is Fuel

I live what I believe. I believe what I teach,
and I teach what I live. The F3s!