Well for me carb abuse began VERY early. One of my earliest memories, about 3 or 4, is being found under the dining table DRINKING maple syrup! My other favorite was brown sugar. While my mom did not have dessert on hand everyday it wasn't a big no-no. There were usually cookies in the house but I had to share them with 4 siblings including a big and HUNGRY brother. I think one of mom's tricks was to get cookies we didn't particularly like such as Pecan Sandies when what we wanted were Oreos or Chips Ahoy. What is so funny now is that my kids love Pecan Sandies but they are not on my shopping radar but Oreos sure are--well, were, I don't dare have them in the house right now. I think one of the reasons that I didn't really have a weight problem as a child was because, looking back, we really ate a fairly low carb menu. Breakfast was normally eggs or some low sugar cereal, lunch was PBJs on whole wheat light on the J or meat sandwiches on wwb and dinner was meat, veggie, salad and a starch but only one. Bread or rolls were only on the table for special occasions because mom didn't want us filling up on it. My real problem back then was what I could get on the side and in middle school it only got worse because we could go downtown (such as it was!) for lunch and EVERY day found me eating 5 candy bars in addition to my lunch and sugared soda. I was devestated when the candy went from 5 cents to 7 cents! That was a major dent in my allowance! (Is this a sign of the times that there is no cent symbol on my keyboard?) I think that it was made worse by the fact that school was an absolutely miserable experience for me and eating the candy was certainly one way of feeling better--or so I thought!

Even greater than any psychological hang ups about food for me are hang ups about exercise! I hated gym and the house we grew up in did not have a yard conducive to playing unless you were a mountain goat! My description of starting my day would be that on a daily basis I had to climb out of a pit! The bedrooms were downstairs and the house below street level! Talk about a psychological mindset!! Even now my issue is not so much food but getting off my keister and getting it moving!! Being from a family of greater interest in intellectual pursuits than atheletic endeavors there was never much of a push to get moving although my 86 year old father is still taking a daily walk after having been told to 30 or so years ago! As does my "Twiggy" sister!

I believe that there are as many different combinations of factors leading to obesity as there are obese people! Even siblings could be obese for different reasons. One could have an actual problem and the other may have just eaten her way there. In some families you have several toothpicks and one with a real problem (I had a classmate like that) in others you may have the reverse. Some may have family problems, others may have school problems, others may have genetic tendencies and others may develop the problem. Some are heavy from the beginning and others react to some physical experience and others may listen to "conventional wisdom" and end up with a problem.

I think most of us have issues that need to be dealt with whether we are obese or not. It's the human condition! As far a therapy is concerned I can see a use for it but not if it is an eternal, never-ending thing. I was in therapy for a couple of months because my sister and mother thought it might help (I think social interaction lessons may have been more useful!) but all that woman would do was to sit there and listen to whatever came into my head. I came to the conclusion that it was a waste of time because I knew what was in my head! I wanted to know what to do with it!! My sisters, however, are wed to the idea that therapy is necessary for everyone! (One of my sisters is wed to a psychoanalyst but even he can't figure her out!) Therapy with a specific goal or for a specific issue and an end in sight can be very useful, but than so can a good, honest friend who is willing to kick butt!!

Connie