I think my interest was started with my mother. She was always interested in nutrition. She was a serious reader, and a librarian at the University of Chicago. 

When she made mashed potatoes she used the peel of the potato and garnished with parsley. Upon presenting  the family with the bowl of pummeled spud she told us what those gray things  in the mash were and that they would provide vitamins and mineral and that the parsley would provide iron and vitamin A. "You will get energy and feel good, eat up."

I found this very interesting as a kid. That the food had powers. 

I also was transplanted from Chicago to West Palm Beach for high school and became aware of the fact I was gaining weight. I was always thin at ages 10-15. Then I gained weight in high school. I didn't weigh myself, but i was aware of my clothes getting bigger because I sewed them. I had to go up in a size, and I also was being excluded from the click. I'm not sure because I was an outsider, or that I was heavy.

I remember eating two brownies and a milk for lunch (25 cents). Because of the weight, I became interested in calories, nutrition, and exercise. When I went off to college I walked so much that I lost the weight.

I can relate and I hope my clients will know that I do understand the challenges of weight loss. It is not only about food issues.