MK Shine Protein Power Balls
Have you ever wondered about or heard about the connection between childhood eating habits and our health and weight as adults? Is there a connection? Science says, “Yes.” How does that work?
Let’s use me as an illustration. I loved the vanilla protein shakes my dad made for me beginning when I was 6 years old. The raw egg was masked by the single scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Around age 12, I became the ‘cook’ in my family -my mom worked full time. Hamburger Helper was introduced into our menu… along with the many Tuna Helper varieties; Simple recipes that I could manage. My sweet go-tos were Oreos, Little Debbie’s and Three Musketeer bars. Eggs were eaten daily. Taco Bell tostadas were my favorite fast food. The cool thing was that there was no such thing as GMO’s; the soil was not contaminated with heavy metals, and crop chemicals were minimal as compared to today.
Fast forward to my adult life. I crave Mexican food. Eggs are so satisfying. I drink protein shakes daily. Casseroles are my favorite. To complicate things a bit, I developed an emotional eating problem in college and craving all things sugar. After getting that under control, my sweet cravings never left me. When I pass a Little Debbie display or see Oreos on a dessert table, I have to tell myself, “Just keep on walking!”
In my Health Coaching practice, I see the connection of childhood eating and adult eating behavior in nearly every case. We tend to gravitate to the familiar and satisfying. But here’s the real problem. Our brains become hard-wired by our early-life eating habits creating deficits in our health today. To be more specific, we develop hormonal issues, blood sugar imbalance, digestion problems, gut health, immune problems, issues with weight-loss, and disease. Did you know that it is not so much that disease runs in families, as much as it is that eating habits run in families, which then promote the diseases that run in families. (Read that again?)
Let me give you two illustrations. Let’s look at Diabetes. Let’s say your mom has it and granddad has it. You are pre-diabetic. You eat bagels or cereal or muffins for breakfast; maybe even skip it altogether! You have a sandwich and chips for lunch. Your snack is a donut, or granola bar, or sweetened yogurt; maybe even a bowl of fruit. Dinner? Some meat, cooked veggies and potatoes, or rice, with more bread or chips. Pizza is always welcome! Snack before bed? Carbs. This way of eating is a how-to-get-diabetes recipe. But, “I crave that stuff…. I ate it as a kid.” Exactly.
Ok, now let’s look at weight loss. “I can’t lose weight; I have such a difficult time losing weight.” Your dad may be obese and mom thin. Up the family tree, you see overweight people on each branch. You were stressed out as a kid and/or young adult. It’s carried into your adult life. Your sleep is not great. You ate processed food as a kid; pre-packaged food and fast-food. Even if you ate home-cooked food, you lacked fresh vegetables and you loved cokes. Here’s the thing, hormone imbalance starts early on (there are 50+ hormones in the body) and when some are negatively affected, it spreads through many body systems, which then messes with metabolism. Never underestimate the effect all this can have on the body starting at a young age..
There are many other illustrations concerning cancer, brain issues, etc. What is the solution? First, I’ll tell you what is NOT the solution. Jumping into a fad diet. These wreak havoc on the hormone system. -Check out my Facebook page, MK Shine to keep up with those trends. Instead, I invite you to go over your health history, and then together, we will plot your course to a healthy plan that: repairs, refuels, re-energizes, resets -whatever you need- and also help you to adopt healthy eating and lifestyle habits.
I can’t say enough how difficult it is to overcome lifetime unhealthy habits by yourself. Support is key.
Here is one small step you can take now to help your body begin a turn-around. Ditch the processed foods. Forever. Today. And if you listen carefully, you will hear your cells saying, “Thank you.”
Need help? I’m here for you.
xo, mk