My dad has always been slim and he appears to be able to eat whatever he likes. He has always eaten a fairly healthy, balanced diet - with each food group accounted for. Well, that is except for seafood, which is notoriously expensive and if there is one thing I know about my dad, it is his dislike of parting with money for things he does not consider to be good value. Seafood is rarely cheap, and dad would rather keep his money and go without seafood. Dad does however, make up for his lack of seafood consumption throughout the year, at Christmas time. He will usually eat his body weight in oysters, prawns, crayfish and anything else he can fit in his stomach. Admittedly, he does eat seafood at times other than Christmas - he once consumed seven dozen oysters in one sitting at an oyster shucking competition!
It is from my dad that I got my relatively fast metabolism and the allergies that accompany those genes. I also got my eczema, asthma and hayfever from him too. I have always felt somewhat hard done by in the genetics department because of my allergic make up. I felt left out at parties and many gatherings because they always centred around food. Our culture is completely obsessed with food, and along with the obsession invariably comes the constant need for dieting.
I get bored to bits with all the carry-on about food, and even more so by the carry-on about dieting. Perhaps this is because once again I feel left out because I can’t relate to others’ obsession with food; for me it has always been the enemy.
The reason for this spiel is that my sister and her husband have lost a staggering 20kg each since January (by following the Dukkan diet and exercising like maniacs); my mother undertook an extreme diet that ‘left Dukkan for dead’, weighing all her food portions; and finally the last straw…my lean, healthy, never eat a bad thing father is on a diet! My family has truly gone mad. I am all for staying healthy, but have never understood the extreme swings and round-a-bout dieting approach. I often feel alone on my island of allergies and general disinterest in food.
The reason for this spiel is that my sister and her husband have lost a staggering 20kg each since January (by following the Dukkan diet and exercising like maniacs); my mother undertook an extreme diet that ‘left Dukkan for dead’, weighing all her food portions; and finally the last straw…my lean, healthy, never eat a bad thing father is on a diet! My family has truly gone mad. I am all for staying healthy, but have never understood the extreme swings and round-a-bout dieting approach. I often feel alone on my island of allergies and general disinterest in food.
I was the allergic kid growing up, in an era when allergies weren’t common and the average mum didn’t know about anaphylaxis or Epi-pens. I was different and difficult. The kid that went home early from every birthday party vomiting in a bowl. I was not the type of kid that anyone envied.
That seems to have changed now that I am an adult, and my allergies and lack on interest in food have meant that I haven’t experienced the same weight loss issues as many people (I am also not as good a cook as many people – there are no Masterchef aspirations in my kitchen!). The only diets I have been on have been elimination diets to try and pin point the allergies, which usually fail and I have to gain back the weight lost in the process.
It is a strange feeling to have people envy what has always felt like a curse, but really they aren’t envying my allergies or lack of enjoyment of food, they are envying the bi-product of appearing effortlessly slim. So to anyone that shares that envy, I say don’t. Be glad that you can eat the foods that you enjoy, without fear that what you are putting in your mouth will make you ill. Exercise in a way that you enjoy and do both things in moderation without either becoming an obsession.
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