The devil invented low-fat ice cream.  For years I believed lies, including the one that said I needed to constantly watch my weight by trading taste for low fat and no sugar.  A blast from the past helped me differentiate between the truth I couldn’t see as an adolescent (and beyond), and the lies fed to me from so many different areas of my life. 

Weight is a battlefield, and I’m a veteran.  My family growing up was full of skinny people, not just normal weight.  Skinny.  My Mom, God bless her sweet memory, drank protein drinks between meals to keep her weight up!  The privilege of being the middle kid of five belonged to me.  Bookended by two older sibs who were skinny and two younger sibs who were, yup, skinny, I stuck out as the pudgy one.  Moreover, my Mom didn’t let me forget it. 

The Devil Invented Low Fat Ice Cream

For my own good, my well-intended parents frequently reminded me of how I didn’t fit into the family profile.  “Do you really want to eat that?”  “Do you know how many calories are in that?”  Consequently, I grew up convinced I was fat. As a result, I forever fought with my body to lose ten, twenty,  or thirty pounds.

Fast forward forty-something years.  My brother sent me some old black and white photos of myself at fourteen, and I actually gasped.  I was, excuse me, HOT!  Not fat, not even pudgy.  More importantly, this girl had curves that flattered.  What a revelation!  Digging into photo after photo I saw a normal weight, healthy, (dare I say it?) attractive girl.   Could it be I was brainwashed into a bloated body image? Finally, I started to see the truth.

Where do you feel like you are brainwashed?  Is it your body image?   Do you wrestle with the idea of good and bad food?  What about something else like your athletic or academic ability?  Do you think the devil invented low fat ice cream?

Are You Struggling With Body Image?

Is Body Image Impacting Your Day To Day Life?