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Liberating Myself From Food
Posted on Jul 9th 2010 3:00PM by Ashley WisniewskiFiled Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Motivation
Ashley Wisniewski
"My credit card made me fat," I told my best friend the summer of 2008. She laughed, and I explained my rationale to her. It was so easy to go to the golden arches or the teasing bell de taco and watch those small amounts add up to big gains on my waistline.
My fascination, or obsession, with food began at the tender age of four when my late grandfather would take me to McDonald's every day, or would let me stop at the store up the road for a soda and chips. Looking back, I don't fault the class bully in kindergarten for calling me "Miss Piggy."
My struggles with my weight continued to spiral out of control through college. It wasn't until graduate school when I tried the no-to-low carb South Beach Diet and dropped from 250 pounds to 175 that I thought I had it all figured out.
Then a life of normal eating -- which included carbs -- happened... and so did 83 pounds. Between graduating from graduate school, moving to a new location, and suffering several dating mini-dramas, it was really easy for me to find comfort in the loves of my life at the time: French fries, chips, pizza and alcohol.
In 2008 I met my future husband. How are you going to say no to dinners out with your new honey or day-dates that involve wine and cheese tasting? Add in the stress of being a new professional, moving three times in three states within two years, and the accessibility of your credit card, you have a beautiful equation for an ugly realization. On January 4, 2010, I topped the scale at 258 pounds and realized it was time to get healthy and stay healthy.
After years of trying various diets such as Weight Watchers, South Beach, Cabbage Soup, Hollywood Juice, diet pills, and more, I found my way to Sparkpeople.com. I am finally at a point in my life where it's not just about looking cute in a little black dress (which will be quite fabulous), but also about my health and lowering my risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke and many other problems that can be caused by an unhealthy weight.
Within the next year, I want to run a 5K and be at a healthy weight for my height. I want to feel liberated from the lifetime of constant fear, criminal eating, dread of exercise and quite frankly, food.
