Undisciplined

Scott Hardie | February 7, 2015
Were you inadvertently taught any bad habits by your well-intentioned parents?

Steve West | February 7, 2015
Dad was big on not going to the doctor until your condition was emergency room level. Can't miss work, you know. I've had illnesses later in life that were semi-devastating that could have been cured quickly with a prescribed antibiotic.

Steve West | February 7, 2015
My mom would have eggs for breakfast. Not scrambled - Cadbury's.

Scott Hardie | February 22, 2015
I know plenty of people like your dad, Steve. My parents both saw close relatives go through medical crises and made up their minds to treat any illnesses aggressively and swiftly. I'm not quite as on top of it as them but I try mostly to follow their example.

My parents were born at the tail end of the Great Depression, and their childhoods were strongly influenced by the scarcity of food: They were taught never, ever, ever to waste food, not even a bite. I was raised the same way, especially by my father and grandmother, even though I grew up in a time of bountiful food for all. I was harshly chastised for throwing any food in the garbage, leaving any food on my plate at the end of a meal, or allowing food to spoil in its packaging. It has been a major contributor to my weight problem over the years, because I overestimate how much I need when preparing a meal, and then force myself to finish it all. (Ironically, putting food away as leftovers instead of finishing it leads to less food waste in the long run.) I feel anxiety when Kelly leaves unfinished food on the stove after dinner because it might spoil and that must never happen, and I have to take a moment to brace my nerves in order to throw away food that my diet won't even let me eat anyway. I guess my father meant well when training me to be such a well-behaved member of the clean plate club, but it's hard to argue any case for that training in light of what it's done to my body over the years. Science backs me up on this.