A Tale of Two Cheesesticks

Two polly-o cheesesticks frighten the hell out of me. How could a seemingly delicious snack scare someone?

Well, let's go back 8 years to my sophomore year in high school... Everyday for lunch I walked to my best friends house for lunch. She only lived a few blocks from our high school, so the walk never took too long. Upperclassman students at my high school had the privilege of going out for lunch to their homes or local food places if their parents signed a permission slip. When we'd get to her house, I would get my lunch out of the refrigerator...

Two polly-o cheesesticks

I can remember eating my lunch very slowly and very methodically, trying to make the food last as long as I could, pulling hairlike strands of cheese off the stick and placing it in my mouth, barely tasting a thing. I would chase the cheesesticks with one bottle of water. That concluded my lunch. I never used to think there was anything wrong with eating that everyday for lunch, but when I think about my breakfast- nothing or a granola bar- and my dinner- a bowl of soup or a salad- and paired with 2 hour practices for competitive cheerleading, I realize now that I was not consuming enough food.

Sure, I was at my lowest weight and smallest size of a 6/7, and loving the attention of my body was garnering, but I'm sure my body was suffering from the lack of calories and nutrition it needed to keep up with school and practice.

I don't think I would go as far as to call it anorexia, but it certainly was not a healthy relationship food. It's amazing how healthy I thought I was just because I had managed to get into a size 6. I know now that health doesn't correlate with a size.

I feel healthier now at a much larger size 12. I, and others, need to be reminded that a good relationship with food takes work, but the benefits of a healthy body will make you feel better than any silly size regarded as "the perfect size".