My mother is morbidily obese and while I am not considered obese, I’ve hung onto five pounds of baby weight with each child and feel it my responsibility to lose those 10 lbs before I get pregnant again. At a size 8-10 (I’m 5’5″), I’m not freaking out – but a recent visit w/my mother (who’s knees are giving out and has type II diabetes) has left me more than concerned. My mother has always ate poorly and out of her four children, two are obese, one very thin and I, at 31 and two children, am just beginning the battle of weight. However, my issues aren’t with overeating on junk. I’ve educated myself and purged my house of trans fats, artificial colors, flavors/ sweeteners, preservatives, GMO’s, refined sugar, high frutose corn syrup and so on. My problem is that I love to cook. Also, I’m an American living in Europe and am very passionate about trying new foods (ethnic, etc). I try EVERYTHING. Cooking/Baking and trying new foods is something that brings me great joy. The problem I got from my mother is: No portion control. I never learned to respect my body in watching the amount of what I eat at each meal. If the stuff that’s being served tastes good, I have trouble stopping myself from going back for more. My mouth waters and my mind BEGS for more – even if I’m not hungry. Organic, low-fat, whole-grain apple muffin, I’ll take three, please.

This has become a mental battle like no other. Giving birth naturally, in the water, was a walk in the park in comparison to the struggle I have with portion control.

After reading this post, I wonder, did I actually develop this problem from watching my mother eat or from her incontrollable, bad eating when she was pregnant for me? Or both??? I’m thinking both…