Growing up Italian

I was never the healthy type, and was always the “fat” girl in my group of friends. Growing up Italian and Catholic food was our expression for almost everything, every emotion, every event. In Italian culture it is rude to turn down food when offered to you. Our way of coming together always included large meals that weren’t exactly the healthiest. There is an entire generation out there that uses food as comfort. Food addiction is no different than drug addiction and I had to rewire my brain to overcome by addiction to food and using it to heal my emotions. That is where my faith stepped in and I turned my faith in God as my way to heal emotionally and my fitness was how I healed physically. It wasn’t only a battle within myself, but also a spiritual battle. The devil comes to destroy anyway he can and he was using my body and my health to destroy me mentally and physically and the biggest attack was my emotions because the heavier I became the more I hated myself and allowed bad things to happen to me and allowed people to take advantage of me just to get approval from them. I thought as long as I did for them they would like me because after all who could like a fat girl like me when there are so many other girls that are prettier and skinnier. This went on throughout my early teens into my early adulthood and beyond. I had to fix my heart and how I viewed myself within before I could fix my outside appearance. Once I put all my faith in God my emotional and mental state started improving, I found value in myself and although I knew I had to get healthy I didn’t hate myself anymore and I was able to love myself enough to start eating the right foods in the right portions and I started working out and everything just kind of fell into place from there. Now instead of using food and running to it for emotional support I workout and I say a prayer to God to carry me through whatever obstacle or adversity I am facing and here I am today using Faith and Fitness to battle the devil when he comes to destroy me, my body or my health!