Fatness to Fitness Part I: Your Typical Childhood

Growing up in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, I had a typical childhood (for the most part). No matter where I lived, I had lots of friends and we spent most of our time outdoors. Every day after school and every weekend day was spent playing outside - from playing tag to building treehouses, roller skating and biking, you name it. Not much time was spent inside, and we barely ever sat still. Dinner time was when the streetlights came on. We had PE class every year from elementary school to high school, and recess was the highlight of our day. Martial arts were started in first grade, team sports in middle school, and varsity sports in high school. I played everything I could, including softball, volleyball, tennis, basketball, and soccer. Can’t forget marching band! Hey, that’s physical, too. Because of my active lifestyle and being naturally slender, I never paid much attention to what I ate. Neither did my friends or family. I can’t recall any conversations related to food other than what we wanted to eat at that moment (and usually all we cared about was that it tasted good). Except for the occasional, “Daphne, stop drinking so much soda!”

Nutrition was much different 10, 20, 30 years ago. We didn’t think too much about what we ate, and we all ate mostly the same things: Cereal. Soda. Pop Tarts. Hamburger Helper. Sandwiches. Chips. Pizza. The occasional fast food. Spaghetti. Cookies. Sports drinks. Chicken fingers. Fries. TV dinners. We followed the food pyramid (which was taught in schools). We didn’t think anything of it because it was normal. Upon entering adulthood and having to make my own food choices, I simply continued the trend because that’s all I knew. The result was a physique that many would call “skinny fat.” Because of my genetics and activity level, I wasn’t necessarily “fat” but I was (in my own terms) “soft.” And I didn’t feel great - I was sluggish, lacked confidence, and hated shopping for clothes because they never seemed to fit right. My weight fluctuated up and down throughout the years, and I even gained the Freshman 15 (exactly 15 lbs my first semester of college!). But I knew the little things I could do when I needed to lose a few pounds, which included cooking more at home rather than eating out, drinking less soda and alcohol, and so on. This trend continued for about 10 years, until something drastic forced me to change how I looked at nutrition, fitness, and body image.

My childhood nutrition in pictures.