Anorexic at 11 A lifelong dieter at 66? No A lifelong good eater, active, fit and happy eater

This is about “How to Get off the Diet and Weight Yo-Yo train.”

Yes, I was Anorexic at 11. There was no name for the syndrome in 1966 or at least, not well known.

Someone in the bunk in sleep away camp thought to have a contest about weight loss. Well, the only reason I was aware of calorie counting was that my teenage sister was going to Weight Watchers, probably to lose 5 pounds.

I won the contest, living on cucumbers and mustard. This started the constant weigh-ins, the distorted body image, all of what characterizes anorexia. Instead of eating, I became the family chef. I could taste something and not eat dinner. And I became a professional chef, caterer, and culinary instructor.

If I didn’t study food service, I was going to become a diet doctor!

Then came the calorie counting. I couldn’t understand how a friend could consume a 25 calorie stick of gum. My daily life was consumed with when I could go home and eat a 20 calorie carrot. Coffee for breakfast, diet soda for lunch.

At 18 I came home from a 2-week job as a camp counselor and ate an entire apple pie. My body was so happy that everything I ate turned to pounds. Forty pounds in one month later and I was fat. And it stayed there.

I stayed away from carbs (Stillman diet, precursor to Atkins and Keto) and ate fattening nuts and cheese instead of meals.

I chewed so much gum, my fillings came out.

Fast forward two years, a chef stint overseas, 100 calories per day and the weight came off. But the yoyo continued.

I flew to Calabasas annually to the Ashram Spa to climb mountains and eat a 600 calorie vegetarian meal. ( also quit smoking there annually) I ballooned when I was pregnant but then lost the weight pretty quickly with coffee, cigarettes, and crumb donuts.

This was the discovery-crumb donuts. Obviously, I am not recommending the above-said diet but it’s about finding what you like to eat, eat it in moderation or as a treat but not starve yourself.

I went back to playing tennis, a game I loved growing up. I couldn’t afford to play in NYC or Chicago where I had lived, but now I could, living in the suburbs.

I even joined ballet classes full of kids (best shape I was ever in)

I was never a sandwich eater or morning OJ drinker or late-night ice cream binger because of my anorexia.

So sandwiches were a treat, so was peanut butter by the spoonful. But it could be one spoonful. Depriving myself of every food I liked just made keeping the weight off more difficult.

It’s calories in and calories out. It’s easy today with technology. I want a Reuben? Walk an extra mile when time allows. Learn to enjoy fruits (today’s pineapple is as sweet as any dessert) and vegetables. Buy what’s on sale. Sauté your broccoli in olive oil and garlic, make it taste good. Egg whites taste just as good as whole eggs, particularly made into an omelet, and are virtually calorie-free.

Unlike my mom’s generation, I don’t need three meals. One in fact of what I really want is so much more satisfying than three dull meals.

To understand your calories, maybe count on an app for a while until you can do without. Find something you like to do that burns calorie. I like to hike, particularly with a dog or audiobook on my phone. At 66+ I still play singles tennis and it burns enough calories to come home and eat a hot dog ( on a bun with sauerkraut) followed by a draft beer, after a 2-hour match.

But I choose a green salad as a side in a restaurant instead of fries( I eat a 6–8 of my husband’s)

Yes, I remember what I ate last night. No mindless or binge-eating; it doesn’t work. Think about what you are eating. Right now my buttered toast is tasting really good (yes, real butter)

Weight training builds muscle and helps burn calories faster.

It's easy to watch a few videos and spend 15 minutes, several times a week lifting, squatting, and building.

Obsessing about my weight and my poor body image only made me an unhappy person. More than 50 years later, I look back and see that food is one of life’s pleasures and any exercise makes me feel really good.

It’s never too late to start good eating habits. There are no mistakes, just opportunities. A really fattening meal can get followed by a low-calorie meal. If it’s about calories, it’s about portion size. I once read an article that Barbara Streisand split her restaurant meal in half as soon as it came to the table. I don’t think she took the uneaten half home but that story always stuck with me.

Bottom line: Eat healthily but foods that you like. Keep moving and you will feel a whole lot better. Don’t try diets that you know you will never be able to stay on or that will provide a temporary fix. Find Like-minded people to exercise with and discuss diet and food.

Bio: Laurie Hander Leahy Co-founder of PNT Pets, Inc. Poop ‘N Tie Bags The only drawstring poop bag. Graduated from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration Attended classes at CIA Owned and operated Food Fantasies, a catering firm in NYC NJ, and Westchester, NY. She Taught culinary instruction at BOCES including a low-calorie healthy cooking class for adults and a summer culinary camp for kids.