Friend of Julie: True confessions

Hi, my name is Linda and I am a food-a-holic.

I LOVE food!

I MEAN -- I REALLY REALLY LOVE FOOD!!!

phew, got that off my chest. True confession time, I LOVE FOOD!!! There I said it...

I am Italian, what do you expect! I was/am a member of the clean plate club, and that included everyone else's plates too!

As a child I always thought of the starving children in other countries, so I dutifully ate my food and enough for them too! I am sure they knew I was helping them.

Food has comforted me, has kept me sane, has helped me through rough times, has made me happy, is always there for me, always tastes good, is associated with happy times - celebrations, sad times too., Food is just always there, it is like such a good friend.

Food ALWAYS called me! and I ALWAYS answer my friends calls!

Except, it isn't a good friend. Have you ever had a friend you just loved but they just weren't good for you? YUP, I got one here called food.

I remember some of the boys I would bring home and my parents just didn't like them. No matter what I said, they knew they were not good for me and just didn't like them. Or some of the girls I would hang around with, my parents would work on me to spend less time with them, the influences from these 'so called friends' was bad.

HMMM, I survived the bad boy friends, I survived the less time with the bad friends. I lived to tell about it and in return ended up with a good life.

Soooooooo, hmm, what do I do about my faithful friend food. Food controls me and yet gives me what I want, then slaps me in the face and makes me feel bad. Now if my kids were hanging around someone like that, I would step in and say, GET RID OF THEM NOW!!! (well, I would say that but who knows if they would listen) Soooo, why do I hang around with Food.

I need to take my own advice and the advice of my parents from so long ago. (OH! my parents would laugh if they knew I said that)

I need to break off the relationship and stop letting it control me.

I need to spend less time with it, the influence is bad.

I need to find healthier ones, better influencing ones, ones that won't slap me in the face.

Then I need to make a new friend called EXERSIZE. I have hated that girl all my life and still hate her, but I know I have to become friends with her. She just grates on my nerves and gets under my skin. But I have to learn to like her, some say I have to love her. OH MY GOODNESS, just keep testing my patience will ya!

I am 54 years old ( OH MY! Did I just admit that!!!) and have to change my life and my 'friends'. Not easy when the old ones are comfortable like my old sneakers. Scary, uncharted territory. But it is like going to the dentist, it is something I have to do whether I want to or not.

So, when I stomp and whine and complain and talk bad about my new food friends and that girl exersize, just bear with me and know that I am trying. I never did like being told what to do and still don't. I kick and scream the whole way and sometimes end up glad I tried. I have a feeling I may kick and scream on this adventure, but I have a feeling I will like the outcome.

So, meet my new food friends meat and vegetables, and (gulp) exersize. Still don't like her but letting her in a little at a time to get used to her and maybe overlook her lousy features and try to find the good features.

and meet my new friend - POSITIVE ATTITUDE!! She has never been in my life before and all of a sudden I realized she is a big part of my life, she just crept in!

I LOVE Julie's program, I am enjoying the new me that I am becoming. I am REALLY ENJOYING this adventure! WOW! who is this person 'talking' that is me!!!???