Oh, Very Young

My daughter, 13 and a solid jock, sits down at the table and in the time it takes the rest of us to enjoy our meal, she has wolfed down twice the amount we eat. Then she spends the balance of the meal rolling her eyes because we eat “SOOOOO slow!” An hour later, she is looking for dessert. Before bedtime you can find her in the pantry cruising for a snack. Yet she has a perfectly proportioned body. How does she do this? Well, unless she is sleeping (and sometimes even then) she never stops moving. She consistently burns more calories than she takes in.

Think back (for some of us, way back). Was there a time in your life, maybe when you yourself were in the throes of teenaged angst, when you could eat a large fry, two greasy burgers a regular Coke and still not gain an ounce? Maybe you were a real “Sweetheart” who could eat candy bars for breakfast and lunch and still fit into those peg leg jeans. Quite possibly, you were like my girl -- eating double, sometimes triple portions of pasta, and still climb trees higher and faster than anyone else in the school. Is that still possible? Are you eating as if it is?

I bet you can’t get the same results these days.

As a natural effect of maturity, our bodies tend to slow down and we can no longer use so many calories. If we are not careful, our bottoms and our bellies are getting wider and our hearts are having to work harder. Too hard.

In truth, I do worry about my daughter. I am afraid she is establishing bad eating habits that will cause her real trouble (and lots of grief) later in her life when her metabolism slows down to a more normal rate. When the time comes and she is no longer able to slam down these mega portions with out doing serious damage to her heart, arteries, kidneys (and don’t forget her waistline), she might find herself in the same situation that many of us are in right now.

How about you -- are you still a member of the “Clean Your Plate Club?” Do you still eat so fast that your stomach has no time to signal your brain, “Hey -- we're full down here!” The result being that you have gone from full to overfull before you had a clue? Maybe you fill yourself with delicious but empty calories, the kind that fill many processed snacks, instead of the things your body really needs like protein, veggies, whole grains, or fruit.

What do your notes and journals tell you about your eating habits -- are you starting to see any patterns yet? Hang in there with me. Keep learning about yourself. Embarrassing or not, this is a journey we CAN manage together! Do you have any questions the Garrison Center can help you with? Please, feel free to contribute to this or any other of our discussion groups at any time. You are welcome here.

To the Journey,

Toni A. Tripp
Tripptales Fable & Allegory