Thinking about the future in light of the past

Halloween 1994- close to my heaviest weight ever( my son is the box of french fries, I am the pumpkin)

Yesterday afternoon I was digging through old pictures, trying to look for a very specific photo, and coming across snapshots from so many moments of my life. So many brought smiles to my face, but then there were some that just made me cringe. Those cringing ones were always due to my weight, and it made me wonder just how did I get so big and not notice ?

I have been overweight my entire life, but it seems that after my son was born I got in even worse shape. Part of it was the normal hormonal baby weight issues, but a bigger part was due to stress eating. We had this wonderful baby at long last, but this wonderful baby was not hitting developmental milestones in the proper time and not acting at all like other normal children. The mystery and frustration at the mystery brought me to deal with stress he best way I knew how- through food. If nothing else in life appeared to be normal, at least our table would look like a "normal", traditional family. I cannot fix the problems with my son, but I can offer the whole family a quick shot at food amnesia through a big pan of homemade cinnabons. Or fresh baked bread. Or cookies. Or just about anything made with lots of cream of mushroom soup or sour cream, and topped with mounds and mounds of cheddar cheese.

Now combine this with the total lack of full length mirrors in the house,no scale and a very busy life, and you have the perfect recipe for obesity in the extreme. Top that off with financial problems and deep discount food stores , and the picture is complete. It is a cant fail formula.

So I have asked myself what moves can I take to insure that this does not happen again ? These are a few things that have come to mind.

1. ALWAYS have a working scale in the house
2. BUY a full length mirror
3. REALIZE a good walk is going to do more for family bonds and comfort than any food
4. STOCK UP on foods that are weight friendly like whole grains
5.BEAT STRESS with a quick sprint on the stationary cycle
6. EXPLORE the possibilities in your neighborhood on foot. Walking to somewhere or walking to find something is a lot more appealing than just walking- and you never know what you will discover. It makes the world seem more open to you, which makes your own ocean seem larger. Everyone is given the same amount of trouble in life ( salt). Their ability to taste the salt is determined to the size of the vessel of water they dump it in. Small cup, you really taste it. Pour it in something the size of a lake and you will not notice it at all. I think it's a better kind of amnesia