Always a good eater, I remember that until I was five years old they still gave me my cornstarch drink in the morning and at night "tetero de Atol" (Atol tea pot) besides breakfast, lunch and dinner, pure spoiled! and not to mention when I was craving for a malt with milk, what a delight.
At home we raised rabbits, chickens, pigeons, we did not miss the Creole egg with the arepa, and the caraotas or lentils with spaghetti how delicious, with fried or stewed chicken or steak, and the slice of ripe and fried plantain is a law: it is not left on the plate!
When my great-grandmother Isabel returned from Portuguesa state, she arrived with a load of mango, sesame, bread, corn, plums, yucca, that was a party, everyone in the house ran to meet her, to help her with the shipment, that week my grandmother Julia prepared Andean chicha ummm!!! so rich, yucca fritters with paprika and cinnamon, and the smell of toasted sesame that pleasant memories.
After adolescence, my metabolism changed, I stretched and lost weight, and by that time we no longer lived with my grandmother, the routine at school and high school that I always had the afternoon shift, did not allow me to enjoy lunch and I always ran or did not eat,
the family diet changed a little, less proteins, more rice, salads and grains, and arepa for breakfast and dinner.
I kept my weight (68 kilos /149.9 pounds) until I got married, another change of culture and diet, my husband with an active metabolism has never put on weight, and has always liked to eat full protein, chicken, meat, fish, eggs, fried foods and carbohydrates, so much so that once when I wanted to make a vegan diet he was so upset that he told me I do not want a "vegetarian wife", as if it was a betrayal, then came the three children and by the time 15 years had passed, I was already obese (93 kilos/205. 03 pounds)
By that time I was diagnosed with hypertension, a friend offered me a nutrition based on meringues and tea, in one month I lost weight (10 kilos/ 22.04 pounds), unfortunately at a high cost and I did not learn to eat healthy, when the money ran out the nutrition ran out.
Then came the time of scarcity, food was no longer found in supermarkets, we fell into a socio-economic deterioration in the country, at that time decreased cases of diabetes hypertension and heart attacks , to my surprise, this helped me personally, because I did not eat refined sugar, no carbohydrates, What my family found to eat was pumpkin, yucca, green plantain and sardines, which allowed me to reduce my weight to (74 kilos / 163 pounds), many lost up to four sizes, between (15 and 20 kilos / 33 to 44 pounds) it was surprising and sad to see family and friends so thin.
At the beginning of the year, a normal day and without feeling symptoms, my blood pressure went up to 220/140, and my leg and arm felt heavy, on the verge of a heart attack or stroke, the neighbors attended me quickly and my blood pressure normalized, it was a moment of great impact for my husband, my children and for me, it was time for the decision and the determination to change.
happily I came across this community of @naturalmedicine, and I have learned a lot about food and excellent examples of nutrition and lifestyles, such as @nainaztengra who has delighted us with his publication for this proposal, as well as the detox contest of @miriannalis, ( thousand apologies that I could not participate) excellent entries and proposals for detoxification, all this comes like a ring to my finger, at the right time, thank you very much for the support.
Now I am focused on changing lifestyle and food I am gradually replacing coffee with malojillo tea and other herbs, without sugar, sometimes I combine it with ginger, and also drink warm water with lemon, breakfast with oatmeal and fruit, if I eat arepa, I prepare salad or avocado, I do not use butter, for lunch I prepare vegetables with cheese or fish, with rice or pasta, if I have a lot of anxiety for lack of sugar as fruits or carrots and light dinner with vegetables or oatmeal without milk until 8:00 pm.
I try not to be too strict, so as not to relapse, and I am learning to cook the most flavorful and delicious vegetables, with ingenuity and the full support of my family, including my husband.
The result is that I am less bloated, I feel lighter, I can sleep more pleasantly and I do not get insomnia, my blood pressure has remained normal.
I recognize that I still have a lot to learn, but I need to be healthy to continue to enjoy life, my family and the pleasure of eating healthy.
Thank you for reading
photos are taken with my Sky Elite B5 cell phone, and from the Family Album, edited in Canva.
thanks to @eve66 for Text Dividers
English is not my mother tongue, I use deep translator.