At what age did you really start thinking about food and dieting?

When I was in my teens I became more aware of my body and if I started to gain some weight I would maybe not eat as much “bad” food as I had been the couple weeks before, I wouldmlose a couple pounds, and barely thnk about it. I didn’t really start to diet until my early 30’s. Over time food thoughts are now part of my daily routine. I saw on the TV show Katie that one question a therapist asks her patients is what percentage of your day is spent thinking about food. She said most women who she sees answer 50% of the day or more.

I keep thinking how stunned I am how I went from not worrying about food and weight at all, to it being a big part of my life. It happened when I gained about 8–10 pounds over what had been my static adult weight for many years. I now weigh a little more than that, and I just lost 7 pounds.

So, my answer to the main question was around age 32. I had gained the weight a couple years before that, but I didn’t address it until then. In between then and now I have had years I didn’t worry about it again, and then went back to worrying about weight and diet again.

Note: I did consider cholesterol content of foods to some extent since my mid teens because of my high levels and heart disease in my family. I probably should have worried that a little more than I did actually.