I LOVED McDonalds and ate there almost every day. I hated to cook and McDonalds was easy and convenient. When I felt I needed to lose a few pounds, I would just eat a happy meal instead of a filet of fish. And if I thought I needed to lose more than a few pounds; I would order a ‘vegetarian happy meal’ – a happy meal with no meat. I was a pro at the McDonalds diet.
I had NO IDEA what my eating habits were doing to me. I have pretty much been the same size my whole life (minus the Freshman 15 and being pregnant, which is a whole other story!) I thought I ate healthy by eating Lean Cuisines and Healthy Choice. What I didn’t realize was my depression and my anxiety were a direct result of my food choices. I, unfortunately, didn’t make this connection until much later in my life.
(Me - 21 years ago in front of our first house)
Freshly married - November 1999
6 months pregnant with The Boys. Just before I went to the hospital for 6 weeks.
I got married to Greg and became a mother of twin boys, Joshua and William. We continued to eat at McDonald’s often. Having twins is challenging and McDonalds Playland was THE BEST babysitter for a Mama needing a break.
At the end of Josh’s kindergarten school year, his teacher told me she thought he should be put on medication. I immediately started to do research on how I could help my boys. I read so many books on how your brain and body are affected by the foods we eat. I spent months educating myself on what children should eat and what vitamins they needed to be healthy. And nowhere in any of these books did it say, “enjoy fast food as it does great things for your health and well-being.” My passion around how food effects the brain started with my kids and my determination to make sure I cured their ailments with food instead of medicine.
(Me & The Boys 2001 - 1 month old)
I put them through an extensive elimination diet where we all became aware of how food was affecting them. We changed our way of eating. We changed our whole life. But to be totally honest, I was so focused on what THEY should eat and what was BEST for Them, I NEVER focused on myself. Ahhhh motherhood.
Don’t get me wrong, we ate a lot healthier, and I learned how to cook. (and by learning how to cook, I mean I went back to work full time and my husband Greg took over the cooking – Thank you Greg).
I went back to working full time and went back to some of my old eating habits. However, I traded up to ‘healthier fast food’. (spoiler – there isn’t a ‘healthier fast food’ – unless your local farm opens a drive thru). I THOUGHT I was doing good. And to be totally honest, I was doing the best I knew how to do at that time.
What you eat is only a fraction of the problem. Who you are being is another very important element to your overall health and wellness. When I went back to work, I climbed up the corporate ladder to the top STRESSFUL rung. What I know now, is not what I knew then which is that WHO you are being is just as important as WHAT you are eating. And living in a stressed-out state wasn’t doing me any favors.
Always on the go, travelling, working non-stop, stressed out was doing a number on me. STRESS is the #1 contributor to depression, anxiety, weight gain as well as weight loss. It’s a major contributor to inflammation and autoimmune diseases. I was feeding my depression and I didn’t even know it.
Senior Buyer - 2012 with my amazing team! Commuting to Toronto everyday.
Executive Vice President - 2017 on my way to an account in my upgraded rental car. Mustang convertible! The perks of a frequent traveler.
After years of feeling like garbage, I knew something had to change. I decided to research and educate myself all over again. But instead of focusing on what kids should eat, I focused on what I should eat. I started to learn what was good for MY body and MY brain. And holy crap has my life changed ever since.
I know firsthand what food can do to your body and mind. I know how incredibly important it is to find out what foods your body likes and what foods your body doesn’t like. When you can become totally aware, like I have been able to do, it seriously is life changing.
