The Fat Kid
Watching the Biggest Loser the other night and seeing the kids on
the program this year brought me back to my childhood. I remember being the fat
girl in class, and I was the fat girl in class when there was only one or two! These
days it doesn't seem like as big of a deal because there are lots of fat kids
in class. When I was younger I hated the way I looked and felt. What was even
worse is that I had no idea that I had the power to change it! I thought
that I was just born that way....destined to be the fat kid forever! Please, I was
using the baby fat excuse til I was 12!
Growing up in a large Italian family I loved my pasta, my bread, my cannolis, basically everything that is very delicious, but adds to the pudge! My mimi would always make me a huge ice cream cone whenever I visited with neopolitan ice cream (I always made her skip the vanilla and strawberry and only put in the chocolate).
I didn't really see a huge difference
(maybe I just wasn't aware) in my eating habits compared to the other kids...and I was
athletic and played sports so that seemed the same, so therefor came to the
conclusion that I was just born that way. I was always uncomfortable in my own skin, and my confidence was affected because of this. If the adult me could give the kid me a stern talking to right now, I would smack the twinkie out of my hand and smack some sense into myself! (the pic on the right is of me in
middle school....I look MIZ! LOL)
Growing up in a large Italian family I loved my pasta, my bread, my cannolis, basically everything that is very delicious, but adds to the pudge! My mimi would always make me a huge ice cream cone whenever I visited with neopolitan ice cream (I always made her skip the vanilla and strawberry and only put in the chocolate).

So this first picture is actually pretty funny because when I was a child and my grandmother would have the whole family over on Sunday afternoons for a meal of lots and lots of pastas and bread, I use to top it off with sugar cubes that she had in a bowl on the table for coffee. And I wondered why I was the fat kid LOL!
But I
guess if you are eating or drinking these things, you might as well be eating
the sugar cubes! For those of you that don't know sugar is quickly assimilated by
the body causing a sudden raise in glucose level in the blood. It causes an
instant energy boost. In response to high blood glucose levels, the body
secretes more insulin which makes the glucose level to fall. When your sugar
level drops, you feel hungry and eat more food.
This
effect can clearly be seen in children. Kids eat cake, biscuits, and lots of
sweets in a birthday party and they become manically energetic. A short time
later they become irritable and tearful. This is caused by reduced blood sugar
levels. If you give some more food to eat that time, they will be happy. It is
a main cause of obesity in children.
So this
next picture is interesting because right around the spike of obesity happened,
also the time I got fat, is when we started seeing more processed foods that
used hydrogenated oils, and high fructose corn syrup. I use to always wonder
why if my brother and sister had the same genes as me, why weren't they fat
like I was when they were younger. Obviously this isn't proven, but my brother
is ten years older than me, and my sister 5 years older... they grew up in a
different food era!
There are ways to not only get your kids and yourself educated and interested in health, but to also bring you closer together while you are learning! Check out my spaghetti squash recipe! It is a fun healthy recipe that could easily be done with your kids! If you have room for a garden in your back yard grow some veggies! Get your children involved in the process. When they are involved in the whole process it not only helps them learn about veggies and health, but then they get to see what their hard work created! It will get them excited about eating veggies and cooking with them! maybe make a veggie pizza when you are done!


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