Laurie’s Positive Points:  Remember that food is our friend.

During my youth, I ate excessive amounts of unhealthy food. I ate processed food every day of my life, and I drank about six cans of Diet Coke a day for about five years of my life.

I ate processed food and things with every kind of filler. I thought this was normal and everyone else was doing this, so I never thought what would be a consequence for me eating this way. I never was aware that this might not be the best way for me to live. 

My weight was always going up and sometimes, for brief times, down, but it was a terrible way to live.

My face broke out all the time because of the food quality I ate, so continual breakouts were not a happy way to go through my teens.

I also went to extremes emotionally when I ate regular processed food. I was always cranky, angry, sad, and chagrin about my life. I was emotionally all over the map regarding my fear thoughts eating that way.

But later, after living in Japan for a year in college while living with a host family there who ate traditional Japanese food, I ate with them continually. I lost 30 pounds because I ate no processed foods during that time.

I was amazed I lost so much weight at the time and was thrilled about that accomplishment because I never felt good about my weight in my teens while I ate considerable amounts of processed food.

It never occurred to me in my teens that Diet Coke was unhealthy. I assumed it was because it was low-calorie. After all, it was diet. I could get away with drinking it. I often drank six cans a day. In my teens, I did not like plain water.

I thought plain water was boring, and I tried to avoid drinking it until my 20s when I took the time to get into a better relationship with water. I was grateful I grew and expanded. Growth can take time. 

My early 20s was the first time being bedridden for two and a half years. I was so sick I could not recover from having about ten strains of the flu.

So I had to change how I lived because what I was doing was not working for me. I was so exhausted and had lots of physical pain after this. I was at a critical time in my life, and I stopped eating processed food and soda, diet or not, and learned to love water.

So in my 20s, I learned about what other kinds of veggies I could eat because I ate almost no vegetables until my mid-20s when I learned to eat well at last. I found that when I eat so well,  I feel worlds better emotionally because I did not eat any processed food or soda.

I learned from experimenting with food how much better my life can be when I eat well. 

All Love,

Laurie Prezbindowski

Licensed Acupuncture