Pork Belly Tacos with a Side of Anxiety

<p>In <i>Pork Belly Tacos with a Side of Anxiety</i> Yvonne Castañeda shares vibrant stories of her childhood growing up in Miami as the daughter of humble immigrants from Mexico and Cuba . . . and how she came to develop an unhealthy relationship with food.</p><p>To help ease her mami's <i>nervios</i> Yvonne becomes a perfectionist from a young age achieving high grades at school and mastering the piano. But as her Cuban family members openly make comments about her awkward <i>desarrollo</i> or puberty Yvonne enters a new phase of self-consciousness that begins her obsession with weight.</p><p>She abandons the piano for the high school cheerleading team and reinvents herself becoming both skinny and popular. However as a first-generation adolescent born in the United States Yvonne wrestles with the conflict between the cultural norms of her Hispanic/Latino heritage and American societal expectations.</p> <p>Plagued by doubt and low self-esteem Yvonne begins a vicious cycle of weight gain and loss as she battles Bulimia Nervosa. Beleaguered by feelings of guilt shame and inferiority she develops anxiety depression and a reliance on dangerous coping mechanisms.</p><p>Ultimately sage advice from her dear abuela in Guadalajara Mexico guides Yvonne to a realization that shifts her perspective of herself and the purpose of her life providing a foundation for inner peace and <i>la solución</i> to her past struggles.</p>