For a long time I wasn't eating a ton of junk (certainly more than I should have been but not in the extremes that Hollywood likes to portray), I was just eating slightly bigger portions than I should have been and never, ever exercising. So I was gaining between 5-10 pounds a year, but 10 years of that later, here I am. I was also eating cereal for breakfast and I've since learned that I can't have carbs for breakfast at *all*, and only very few for lunch, or I have massive blood sugar issues, causing me to eat a much bigger lunch and dinner than strictly necessary.

Now, I either have one or two hard boiled eggs for breakfast or just skip it altogether depending on time, a salad for lunch (preportioned out so I'm not adding loads of calories with too much cheese/dressing), and a home cooked dinner of pretty much whatever I want, but also fitting within my calories. For instance last week I had 'naked' fajitas, potato soup, and burrito bowls.

When I first started my current job I really struggled with not getting fast food every day for lunch. I was used to being a stay at home wife so it was a big change for me. I didn't gain weight doing that (not sure how, I'm sure in the long term I would have) but I felt terrible all the time. Switched to salads and while it was a struggle at first, now I enjoy them and feel gross/tired if I have something else. Never thought I would see the day I looked forward to a salad for lunch.

My mom was very anti-junk food (not for health, but because we were poor so we never had money for treats like that) and so as soon as I was old enough to have my own money and a way to get to the store... I just went crazy! I used to drink unbelievable amounts of sugary soda (now, I'll have the occasional diet one, but NOTHING like what I had as a teen). Junk food like entire bags of chips, ice cream, bags of candy, cookies, etc were always being snacked on.

I would also eat out ALL the time, either fast food from drive throughs or going to restaurants. I would even eat fast food and then eat dinner with the family to hide the fact that I'd already eaten bc I knew my mom wouldn't approve. No veggies to speak of, lots of red meat and white things. Basically, I had a taste for "poor" food so I ate lots of highly processed things. I knew it was going to make me fat, but I had a kind of rocky home life and really terrible self esteem (at the time) so I just didn't care. I kind of figured, what's the point in staying thin and healthy when I could enjoy this food, right now, and not deprive myself?

Now that I'm an adult (lol, kind of) I'm moving more toward the home-cooked meals, portion control, no longer treating/rewarding myself with food and no longer snacking to ease boredom. I've found that I really do enjoy cooking, and I also really like vegetarian food--probably not going to go vegetarian, but I have cut back on meat that's not seafood or poultry

I've always had kind of a tendency to try and eat healthy, because my mom instilled that in us. But there's also a serious sweet/fat/salty tooth that gets me into trouble.

The last thing I remember before I turned over this last new leaf was Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie. Truth be told, though, I still eat junky stuff once in a while. It's just a lot less and a lot less often!

I always ate healthy foods. My problem was(sometimes still is) portion control😢. Also, I used to snack a lot more than I do right now.

I don't think my meals were that different, just a lot more eating between meals and a lot more desserts on a daily basis. Lots and lots of snacking! The meals were never the problems, it was everything else!