Every tree has roots.
I was 14-years-old and in the eighth grade. I was in my room watching a music awards TV show on a small black/white TV my uncle had given me. I remember looking at myself in a vanity mirror in the dim light of the TV in my room and saying to myself, “I'm fat and I'm going to change it.” Thus began a damaging and sad period in my young life.
about six months after I decided to "become thin"
Looking back I can see that I had never been anywhere near "fat" in my entire life. I had developed breasts earlier than most of my classmates. I needed to wear a real bra when I was about 9-years-old and for this I faced endless ridicule and teasing by my female classmates in primary (elementary) school.
I had always been quite active. We had a large garden (back yard) and I remember my mother would often "kick us out" of the house for the afternoon to play. In my small rural Montana town sports ruled the day. Sports were practically the only thing going on in town. I wasn't really very coordinated at basketball and didn't like the competitiveness of it. I tried out for cheerleading and didn't make the squad—same thing with volleyball, although I made the team but only as the alternate's alternate. My sport was swimming. Beginning in early June every year since I was 11-years-old I trained for a couple of hours a day, five days/week so that I could go and compete in swimming for two days on the weekend. It consumed my life and I loved it. Outside of that I always had an interest in fitness and nutrition.
But, once I made the decision to “become thin” I really started abusing my body. I look back and feel sad because the health problems I have today, I feel may be directly related to my actions back then.
My daily routine consisted of often getting up before dawn to work out. This tells you something as I am NOT a morning person and hate getting up early—but I was compelled and driven. I wouldn't eat breakfast but would go out to run or go to the school and run stairs at the gym and lift weights. Then I would exercise in P.E. Class, eating a very low-fat/low-calorie lunch. I never ate sweets or dessert. After school I would train again—either going to run with my dog or if it was track season, track practice. I didn't even like running! I really didn't like track but I felt compelled to do it.
running in middle school track:
it didn't help that when assigning uniforms my track coach lined the girls up along a row with our backs turned to her and then made a remark, "looks like you need an extra large." My classmates can verify this incident.
As my dad comes from a German/Southern European heritage we often had homemade sausages and saurkraut and potatoes. My dinner meal might consist of ½ of a peeled boiled potato with no butter and a cup of saurkraut. After dinner and homework, before bed I would do pilates exercises in my room—leg lifts etc.
This continued for at least 18 months when one day while we were bowling for P.E. class my P.E. instructor confronted me telling me that she and the other P.E. instructor had been discussing it and thought I had lost a lot of weight really rapidly. I just told her, “Oh, I'm training right now...that must be it.” They left it at that.
That summer, I went to buy a sun dress for an upcoming trip to the East Coast to visit my best friend at the time. My mother saw me come out of the dressing room wearing a spaghetti strap dress and she just started to cry. I got angry at her and demanded, “Why are you crying?” She breathlessly gasped, “Because you're so thin. I can see your bones.” When I stepped off the plane in Philadelphia a couple of weeks later the shock at how thin I had become was evident on my friend's face. She looked worried. That was a turning point for me.
here I had actually gained weight--I was "fat" in this picture
But, not before previously that summer I hurt my right shoulder socket while swimming and had to start physical therapy for the damage to my muscle and tendons that caused. I really think that my body had started to consume my muscle and that made me more prone to sports injuries. I still have daily problems in the right side of my neck due to that injury over a decade ago.
At this time I had started accompanying my mother to reflexology appointments. Her reflexologist was an elderly man named Carl Saunders. His office was in one side of his home and a visit to him took at least two hours. Because I had problems with my neck and back I started to have my own appointments with him.
I remember Carl was already quite old when I met him. He passed away last January at the age of 98 but he was already in his mid-80s when he was my reflexologist. He must have known that I was too thin but I think as the wise and educated man he was, he knew it was a sensitive issue and didn't directly confront me. Instead his guidance was more gentle and subtle.
Carl Saunders, 1912-2011
I think the fact that he still had the strength in his body to give massages and reflexologist treatment to patients several times/day, several days/week is a testament that he must have been doing something nutritionally right with his body.
Through him I gained my first real exposure to holistic medicine. As he worked on my feet he would explain what he was doing. He would give me advice on what I should eat and how to help my digestion and how important various nutrition and daily habits are to one's body. I wish I could say I have followed his advice more carefully. Still, I gained so much from Carl.
Carl told me I must start eating avocados. He said, “They are high in fat but it's the good kind of fat that will help you. It will help your body.” He also told me to eat mozarella cheese as it is easier to digest than cheddar. He told me to take a digestive enzyme to help me break down my food and to do stretch exercises in the morning. He also suggested I start taking a USANA multivitamin for teenagers called Body Rox. That is when I first started taking USANA.
Fast forward at least six to eight years into the future. I'm living in Hong Kong and pregnant with my first child. It has been a rough journey for me and at four months pregnant I feel absolutely worn out. I took a look at the prenatal vitamin by Materna (Wyeth) I was taking. A bright pink pill, I thought, “This can't be all that 'natural.' I think I need something more.” So, I started searching for a better prenatal vitamin.
At that time I came across a website where a woman was talking about her problem with anemia. In the past and especially when I was under-eating, I also was anemic. She wrote that when she was pregnant she started using USANA Essentials which cured her anemia. I hadn't taken USANA in a very long time and I had no idea where to buy it. I e mailed my mother in the States and she contacted a friend who was a USANA representative. Through this friend, I learned that there was a USANA distribution center literally around the corner from where we were living—less than a block away behind SOGO in Causeway Bay. So, I started taking USANA Essentials and immediately felt a difference. Both of my children have been born completely naturally, without any medication and without induction on or one day after their due dates. At birth they have been strong and alert with excellent neck control. I think USANA has made a difference in their health and in mine.
I still take USANA vitamins and have convinced my husband to also try them. My pre-schooler also takes USANimals and loves the taste of them.
one of my two "USANA babies"
My husband has always been a strong skeptic when it comes to vitamins. His struggle has been the complete opposite to mine. He has a 28-29” waist. He is tall and thin and very athletic. He is forever trying to gain weight. Since starting to take USANA Essentials about six months ago his torso has gotten more filled-out. He is still athletic and will never be overweight or even “chubby” but he is gradually working toward a healthier weight and USANA has been a part of that.
In my recent adult, married life I have gone the opposite direction of where I was at as a teen. Depressed during my first pregnancy, I gained 80 pounds. I struggled for two and a half years after my son was born with this weight, eventually losing about 60 pounds of it. With my second pregnancy I gained about 50 pounds and so far have only lost over 30 pounds of it. The changes in my body have not been easy to deal with both on a physical and psychological level.
However, as I have strived to lose weight and regain a sense of control over my figure in the past four years I have learned a lot about nutrition. I am still learning a lot. Currently, I am continuing to take pilates classes and work toward rebuilding my body core strength as well as strengthening my back. The strain of the weight gain during my first pregnancy caused a vertebre to bulge which caused me to only be able to crawl on my hands an knees about ten weeks after my son was born. I dealt with excruciating and debilitating back pain for a long time and gained help and relief through massage therapy and chiropractic care. Pilates is helping me move to the next level of rebuilding my health.
This blog will detail my continued journey with nutrition and health—both physical and psychological. I hope to offer an honest look into my life and share the things we do. I hope to share useful tips, insights and information regarding food, natural beauty, emotional/spiritual balance and the like—both for the individual and the family.
I welcome you to come learn with me as I learn and may we all grow healthier, stronger and blessed together.
-M
