Mama's soul food

I was raised up to finish every single piece of my food off the plate. If for some reason I did not finish my food I would get a spank because I would be waisting the food. So it happened then that evertime I am given a plate of food I will finish all of it or at least 95% of it, to avoid being punished. Most black children in the 80s were raised up this way, it is not perculiar. I now find myself doing the same to my kids. Teaching yourself to let go of old habits is very challenging, especially if you have been living with those habits all your life. Eating in moderation means listening to your body, chewing slowly to allow the food to be properly processed to the stomach and stopping when full. Eating like I used to not only meant I had to finish my food but also do it fast enough so that I can get mom, dad or nanny out of my hair. Xmas lunches were the worst, nobody forced you to eat, we would go from house to house having the delicacies prepared by each one of my friends parents, jelly; custard; cake; biscuits; sweets of all kinds and fanta what what will be at our disposal and we would eat it all - to the point where our tummies were so full we could bearly breathe or stand up before collapsing to sleep. I dont blame our parents, it was the way it was - and anyway you could not let your child grow thin or look too lean as it meant the child is not living in a healthy environment, so then I never stopped I continued to eat all food given to me, even when I had grown and had the delegation and authority to control my food intake. This resulted in me being being chubby and glowy as a young adult which in the old days of the HIV stigma associated with being thin - was not always a bad thing :-) .

Mom is here for the midterm holidays, she is a teacher or (an educator as they are now called) and I am thrilled because we are really close. I came home home last night to find that she had not only brought the usual warmth that warms up the entire house but that she had also brought her devine cooking. This woman knows how to mix spices and even if there are'nt any she will whip something out of your scantily clad pantry into a gourmet meal like something out of a cooking magazine. I ofcourse have learned to cook from her, my husband loves it when I go all out to cook the Sunday meals as its the only time I get to cook. You could smell mom's curry all the way from the gate and I knew that I was in trouble because not only am I still weak in the knees for good food (no amount of gym could cure that) but I am also going to have to eat or at least sample her "gain a pound per bite" food. It was worth it, I did not realise how much I had missed it, the only difference this time is insted of finishing all the food in the plate I asked her to dish out a small portion and was conscious enough of my consumption level that I was able to eat just enough to be full and not more than that. Being dedicated to a gym regime has helped me to make better decisions about what I eat, how I eat it and how much I eat. I am able to enjoy all the foods but in moderation. Most importantly I still worked out after supper . Something I wouldn't ordinarily do after my mama's cooking.