Wednesday, May 2, 2012

She Gets It From Her Momma

I take after my mom's side...thicker and curvier. My brother and sister take after my dad's...slimmer and leaner. My curves hit in junior high. I am curvy pear with plenty of hips.  




By the time, I had hit high school my mom moved from being thicker and curvier to being overweight. Through high school and undergrad, I maintained a weight of around 125. In graduate school, I started putting a little bit of weight on - My weight varied from 130 to 135 depending on how active I was and how well I was eating.


My mom did a wonderful job of making me feel secure in my own skin. When trying on clothes, she helped me figure out what looked best on my body type. She never criticize my shape or weight. She also never went on any crazy diets or criticized her body in front of us. She always dressed sharply. (I never really realized this until a few years ago...Reading and listening to some peoples accounts about the struggles they had with weight because of their mothers emotional baggage).


I can't quite remember when...but it was sometime after I had finished graduate school...My family doctor and I were chatting at church. She mentioned that I need to watch my weight and that I need to consider my family genes. 


I worried about that from time to time. Would I be able to overvoid being overweight like my mom? Was it just a matter of time? I am obviously have the curvier, thicker trait. Then I started to put on more weight...Maybe it was indeed inevitable.


But, as I started to lose the weight in 2009 and worked to keep it off, my mom had been  gluten free and diary free for about a year due to some health issues. She had lost 40lbs and started working out again regularly. I realized I don't have to worry about about being overweight because of what I got from my momma. I just have to work a bit harder - eat balanced meals and stay active.

3 comments:

Leigh said...

Love your insight. I've moved to a healthier lifestyle to avoid the type 2 diabetes that my (birth) mother has. I also have the same body type as my birth mother (she's a heavy woman), but I know that I can definitely make different lifestyle choices so I don't become her...or blame her:)

Dawnya said...

I love this post. Congrats to both you and your mom for finding balance and learning what works for your bodies. Keep up the great work.

Papi's Girl said...

I agree. The same goes for diseases that we think are inevitable because of our family medical history. We can also avoid them if we eat well and stay active. Great post. I wish I got my mommas bootie...LOL! Not the case but I can build one with deadlifts and squats..LOL!