Nutrition Quarterly Fall 2022

FOOD REBEL THE by Lindsay Kehl Have you ever come face to face with a real, live, Food Rebel? Maybe you have and didn’t realize it (they do seem like normal people to the untrained eye). Or, maybe, you are actually a Food Rebel yourself. In our contradicting societal norms, it is more common than you would think. If you are just curious or wondering if you or one of your kids are showing signs, keep reading. I know a thing or two about identifying a Food Rebel, because I am a 20yr Food Rebel in recovery. Here is a little background on my personal story to help you understand: My parents meant well. They wanted me and my sister to grow up knowing food as fuel. I was raised with proper nutrition as a focus. I knew the calories on a container of skim milk before I lost my first tooth. I understood Macros Nutrients before Algebra, the Basal Metabolic Rate before the 50 states and always had to stir my peanut butter (unlike all my friends). Fast Food, only in a dream and eating local and organic above all. My friends, on the other hand, got to indulge on the regular in the finer things like Fruit by the Foot, Tastykakes, McDonalds and, dare I say, Hawaiian Punch! As the years went on, I struggled with the complex of how I was raised versus what I was seeing around me; with my friends, on TV, magazine ads and in the stores. There are equal messages supporting living a healthy lifestyle as there are those promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. I often blamed my parents for my struggles, when the real problem was the confusion that was being created subliminally. And so, unbeknownst to me, my Food Rebel was born. It wasn’t until I was on my own that it became a problem. All of the sudden there weren't any restrictions. I could have all the things that I wasn’t able to before, and no one was there to tell me no. I no longer looked at food as just fuel. I began to over indulge, then binge and almost always replacing nutrient dense food with much tastier simple sugars and saturated fat. Soon weight gain, then joint aches, next mental imbalances and later risks for disease snowballed. Though I didn’t know it then, these were the result of letting my Food Rebel grow unbridled inside me. Nutrition Quarterly · Series 3 – Volume 4 13