Are there any other parents of ovverweight children

[Dina]

HI. I have been low carbing since last October, with some success, some ups and downs. I also have three children. A 21 year old son who is not my biological child . He has no weight problem and is your classic "eat what ever you want , and never gain weight" kind of kid. My second son , 14, is a tad over weight, but keeps it under control with sports. He also has no food hangups. That brings me to my little girl who is 10. She is very over weight. Last year when my husband and I were both low carbing she did lose some weight. We still have no sugary treats in the house, but I still allow bread for lunch sandwiches and fruit. She is still over weight. I can't sometimes deal with the guilt. I see myself in her. I constantly worry. I am always watching what she eats. She has so many food hangups. I feel that My weight problem has ruined her life. I should have had myself under control so long ago. I have fought my weight for so long. sometimes taking drastic measures. I am so guilty and sorry that my battle has become hers. I almost wish that it was one of my sons instead of her with the problem. It is so hard for a girl to be overweight. Is any one else dealing with this problem. I could use someone to talk about all these feelings. I have been on a diet since 3rd grade. I have so many hangups that I won't even eat in public. I still hide eating like when I was a child. I said I would never put my child on a diet. And here I am reliving a cirlcle.

Please help :(

[freydis]

My mother had a lot of hangups about weight. She weighed 103 lbs when she married and ballooned well past 200 a few years after my middle brother was born. By the time I was five, at a normal weight, she was putting ME on diets because she was so concerned about HER body image and didn't want to see the same thing happen to me, etc. Plus, I had an aunt and uncle who were ultra-skinny and encouraged her to "prevent me from ever getting fat." (No kids of their own, but experts on how to raise everyone else's.)

First, you need to make sure that it is your DAUGHTER who has the hangups. SHE may not be feeling as bad as all that, but sees you wringing your hands over HER (YOUR) situation, stressing out over it, and it may affect her worse than her weight actually does.

If it really is your daughter who is concerned, how concerned is she? Does SHE really want to do something about it? If not, check your own psyche once again. If SHE is sincere, then it's time to get serious enough to cut out that bread and other high carb products in the house. Even people who don't need to lose weight will benefit from better food choices. It isn't just about weight; it's about health.

I'm sorry if all this sounds a bit accusatory. It's just that my mother was SO damaging to my health, size and body image. I stopped wearing shorts when I was 17 because of a comment from her that I was too big to wear them - and I weighed about 165 at the time. It wasn't ME who was too big to wear them. It wasn't ME who had a problem with my size - although, by then, I did - thanks to her pushing HER problem off on me. If she had just had the strength to deal with her own problem and leave my body image alone, my life would have been vastly improved.

I see some of the same crap happening with my brother and his teen son. The teen is a bit bulky for his age, but hasn't even hit his growth spurt yet. My brother is SO critical of anyone's weight problems that I know he is damaging my nephew. My nephew has told me some of the things that get said. It's AWFUL! He's still more interested in video games than girls. I wish I could get my brother to just let him be himself. Eventually, he will grow up and WANT to improve his own lot. Thankfully, he has seen our results and knows how to do it if he ever wants to. But, in the meantime, he has to put up with all those NASTY comments, hurtful statements and cruel jibes from his own father .

I hope you're not doing either of these things.

[liz175]

Originally posted by freydis
It's just that my mother was SO damaging to my health, size and body image. I stopped wearing shorts when I was 17 because of a comment from her that I was too big to wear them - and I weighed about 165 at the time. It wasn't ME who was too big to wear them. It wasn't ME who had a problem with my size - although, by then, I did - thanks to her pushing HER problem off on me. If she had just had the strength to deal with her own problem and leave my body image alone, my life would have been vastly improved.

My mother did not have a weight problem, but aside from that I could have written Freydis' posting word-for-word. My mother and my grandmother made my life miserable when I was a child by focusing on my weight and putting me on diets. When I was 6 I wanted shorts like the other kids, and my mother wouldn't buy them for me because she thought I was too fat to wear shorts (at age 6!). I learned to sneak around to get food and I learned that I would never make them happy. To this day (I am 45 years old), I have a difficult, distance relationship with my mother. She considers it the failure of her life that she raised a fat child (my other siblings do not have weight problems). The fact that I have been happily married for twenty years, have two wonderful children, caring friends, a graduate degree, and a fulfilling job mean almost nothing to her. All that matters is that I am fat.

I vowed that I would never do this to my own children and I did not. I have made other mistakes, but this is one I did not make. When my daughter was ten, her weight ballooned and I had to start buying her half-size children's clothes (Sears has them). I never said a word to her. I told her we needed to buy clothes that were bigger in the waist and I treated that as normal -- everyone has a different shape, after all. We did discuss nutrition, but it was in terms of what a healthy, growing child needs to eat, not in terms of weight control. Over the next few years, she shot up in height and now, at 5'6", she weighs 120 pounds and wears a size 5 juniors. (She weighed 130 pounds when she was 10 and under 5' tall.) She has never dieted. She has a bowl of chocolate ice cream every day after school.

I am convinced that if I had tried to put my daughter on a diet when she was 10, she would have ruined her metabolism and developed eating disorders, as I did when I was that age. Even if she had not slimmed down, she would have been immeasureably better off by not being put on a diet as she went through adolescence. It would have given her a chance to try to control her own weight when she was old enough to do it for her own reasons, rather than making her not do it in order to rebel against her mother. Adolescents rebell -- don't give your daughter an opening to rebell against you by sneaking around to eat forbidden foods.

Please focus on what is positive about your daughter. Does she do well in school? Is she a good athlete? Is she helpful to you and the rest of the family? Does she have a good sense of humor? You daughter is about to enter a difficult period in her life -- adolescence. She needs to trust you and feel that you will support her. She doesn't need you to criticize her. Society sends over-weight kids enough negative messages; they don't need them reinforced at home.

[Dina]

Liz and Fredyis,

Thankyou so much for your replies. I had tears in my eyes as I read them. So much of my self worth is tied up in my weight, I pray that I never do that to my little girl. Liz , I also have a wonderful husband and children. I own a successful summer camp and preschool in my community . Yet even in college, no matter how well I did in school or no matter what my accomplishments, they were always tarnished in my mind because of my weight. It was the one thing that always beat me.

I do focus on Mindy's accomplishments and talents. I have never limited her because of her weight or made her feel non attractive. She is a beautiful little girl. It just breaks my heart that she gets upset because of her weight. But the one thing I do do is watch what she eats. I know it makes her self concious. After your honest words of advice, I will just try to keep healthy choices in the house and leave her alone until she is ready to make up her own mind. Thankyou for your sincerity and advice. Dina

[freydis]

I'm so glad you're NOT like my mom was. Mindy is a lucky kid.

[Lessara]

My daughter is 15 and weighes 180lbs. I feel guilty that she inherited my gene pool. But in the last year, Jenna has stopped gaining weight, in fact she lost one pound. Now you may think that isn't much. The fact is we figured out how to stop her weight gain. Jenna lowcarbs naturally. She would typically eat her meat on her plate and then she would give her brother the veggies and starch. I remember years ago making her eat all her food. Last year I started leaving celery, cucumber and carrots in the fridge as snacks as well as some fruit. No junk food in house. However remember she is a teenager and with money she'll buy Smart food popcorn or a bag of blowpops. For lunch she eats at school, she usually eats a bagel and cream cheese.
I feel if Jenna was more physically active she would lose more weight. But one thing at the time, her doctor said, stop gaining for her first goal and she has done that. Next is adding more exercise, I get her dancing with me at night and I'm hoping the new scooter she got this winter will get her outside.

[Dina]

Thanks for the reply Lessara. I also feel guilty about the "gene pool." Today it all seemed to come into perspective. A woman I work with had a grandchild about the same time as I had Mindy. Her grandaughter is autistic. Today she was talking about all the trials and problems that her daughter goes through daily. Here I am worrying that my daughter may never make cheerleading or won't get asked to a dance because of her weight problem. And my friend's daughter is wondering if she will even be able to care for her daughter anymore if things get much worse. Kinda of puts it into perspective . I should be thankful. Yes I have a chubby gene pool. But I am thankful for the gifts that my daughter and I have been given. I will try to remember all of this when I Am feeling sorry for myself. I have eased up on my "food patrol" and things seemed a little more relaxed today. thanks for your imput .
Dina

[liz175]

My daughter (who is 13) has always had a relatively easy time with life. She's cute, she's popular, she gets straight A's in school -- everything you dream of in a child. My son (who is 17) has always had a hard time with life -- he has some learning disabilities, he has multiple allergies, he inherited the family tendency toward depression, and he has a hard time making friends. By some miracle, he did inherit his father's body build (not mine) and is naturally thin. Although I wish life were easier for my son, I realize that in many ways the difficulties he has gone through have helped make him into a fuller human being. He is wonderfully nurturing with small children and animals and he has a very spiritual side, while my daughter is impatient with all religion, perhaps because she has less need for it.

I'm not sure exactly what I am trying to say here -- something about how we always want everything to be easy for our children and want their lives to be perfect, but when our children have difficulties (whether it is their weight or a learning disability) that sometimes gives them opportunities to grow in a way that they might not otherwise. Given a choice, I would make my son's difficulties go away, just as you would make your daughter's weight problems go away. However, I know that the influence his difficulties have had on his life has not been all negative, although sometimes that is difficult to see. They have contributed to making him the warm, nurturing person he is today.

[zima]

Hello,
I've been reading this thread and found myself compelled to share my experiences with my daughter.
I have been blessed with a fairly high metabolism and haven't had "real" trouble with my weight. My sister, on the other hand, has had a weight problem all her life. My mother was obsessed with Kandy's weight and had "us" on every diet you could think of from scarsdale to cambridge to hypnosis. My sister found bolimia was the best way for her to controll her weight. I remember watching as she would emerge from the bathroom with broken blood vessels in her eyes and all over her face from wretching so hard to get the food out.
This brings me to my beautiful daughter Chelsee(13). Chelsee has a weight problem, she weighed in at 180 lbs last august. She also suffers from depression and mood swings. She really identifies with my sister and they have a wonderful bond, but...(isn't there always a but) last year my sister had the stomach reduction surgery and has lost a whole person (about 120 lbs). I am so happy for her and after the bolimia this seemed so much better.

However you can now see my dilemma. Chelsee so wants to be thin like mom, identifies with heavy Aunt and now Auntie had surgery and all is better for her. Whats my Chelsee to think. I don't want her to think that problems in life are solved with the flick of a knife. She became so depressed that it was hard to sit in the same room with her let alone have a conversation. I battled with this all last summer. Do I allow her to continue being depressed over her weight by not trying to help in some way or do I "put her on a diet" which I knew was so damaging to my sister. I finally came to one conclusion. The pattern she was on was dangerous, and I will not stand by and watch her destroy her life with self-hate! I figured that if Chelsee needs to go theropy because I made her exercise then so be it. I had to do something.
We started going to Curves together, three times a week. Just exercising elivated her mood conciderably, and once she started feeling better because of all the exercise she was getting, she started lcing with me and the DH (does that mean dear husband?).
She lost 10lbs and 8.5 inches the first weigh in and is still going strong. She's had some stalls and is afraid to weigh in again but she still goes with me and we have a great time together. It has been a battle and I second guess myself all the time. But I know that she's better now the she was and we are taking it one day at a time. Thanks for the ear, :wave: Zima

[liz175]

Zima,

In my opinion, it sounds like you have come up with a great plan. You're working with your daughter, not directing her and telling her what to do. I don't think it is wrong for a parent to help a child diet and lose weight, I just think that parents shouldn't push it unless the initiative comes from the child. I think that the fact that you are exercising with your child means that she will see it as something shared, that you want to do even though you don't need to lose weight, not as something you are imposing on her because she is inadequate.

Even if your daughter didn't have a weigh problem, exercise is so important for anyone suffering from depression. I've always exercised regularly (mostly lap swimming and some walking), even though it didn't help me control my weight, because it is the best way I know to fight my own tendencies toward depression and anxiety.

[zima]

Thank you for the reply Liz,

I need all the possitive affirmation I can get. Like I said, its a battle. Wish they came out with a manual. Or that it was easier to determine what to use from your upbringing and what you shouldn't. Just the ability to forget the bad stuff and not have it lingering in our subconsious waiting to spring unexpectedly out of our mouths would make it easier. Ever since they were babies I have told them that I am far from perfect and that I will make mistakes, but their best interest is always my intent.

Thanks again for the encouraging words, Zima

[Dina]

Dear Liz, thankyou for your insights. Many of the things you have expressed, I have told myself. However, sometimes , especially where your children are involved , your heart can not see what your head is telling you. Funny that you should mention the fact that you believe that your son's struggles has helped him grow as a person. I just had this discussion with my daughter . She was bemoaning the fact that her brother could eat what he wanted and she just kept gaining weight. I told her that people are all born with different struggles. Some struggles you can not physically see, such as depression or diabetes. I told her that one of our struggles was weight. And that that was our struggle that God gave us to make us stronger and to help us grow as people. I know that she is a wonderful person. I do not want her weight to make her feel inadequate or to define her as a person. Yet it has defined me for so long, at least in my own mind, that I pray my feelings do not unknowingly affect her. I have appreciated all of your responses. You are a compassionate . kind, deep person. If you feel that your childhood and your many struggles have made you the person you are, then even though they must have been terrible for you, your children and your husband and the people whose lives you have touched are very fortunate for the person that you are. ps. thanks for visiting my journal.

Dear Zima,
wow . When I read your story, I felt like your sister had lived my life. I have a sister who is two years older than myself. She has nerver had a weight problem. In high school she was a star athelete, valvictorian, and yes prom queen. I always had a weight problem . My parents had me on a diet since the third grade. I began to sneak food. To this day if I am not on program,and am eating something I shouldn't , my husband will say " Your dad is here", just to see me jump. He can't believe that at 42 I still worry about what my father would think. Well I digress. Anyway by the time I was 24, I was tired of hearing " You have such a pretty face, if only you could lose weight" . I was sick of diets, of my parents well meaning focus on my weight. I was sick of my weight being such an issue. I had traveled the world as an exchange student, graduated suma cum laude, played varsity sports, loved to sing and was basically a happy kind person. Yet none of this mattered, I still felt less because of my weight. It wasn't just me. People make you feel that way. Everyone would comment on my success if I happened to have lost weight . It seemed to be the measure of who you are. Well I had my stomach stapled not once but twice. That was 20 years ago. I weighed 240 when I had it done. I never got below 200 pounds. Last year I weighed close to 286. Even though I constantly throw up ( And by the way it is a terrible way to live) , I never lost weight. Stomache stapling does not work for everyone. Ice cream , soda, high carbohydrate processed foods go down easily. It is things like whole fruit and meat and fiber that are hard to hold down. To this day I regret risking my life to have that done. I get angry at the high profile that this procedure has had. I would like to see a study of how many people who had it done acutally have kept it off. I do not know the awnser to my daughter's problem. Although I now realize that my parents didn't mean to harm me. they must have been so saddened by my depression . They were doing , just like we are trying to do what we feel is best for our children. I also exercise a lot with Mindy. She does three hours off dance a week. Last year we even did Tae Kwon Do together. We bike, and also go to and indoor pool to swim. Yet I am more concerned now with her emotional well being. She is so obsessed with food. Every meal time ends in tears as she is so concerned what everyone else is eating. Always looking to see if someone has a fraction of a portion more than her. She is always worried about portions and always wants more. It is so heartbreaking. I am crying now just thinking about it. She does not eat just when she is hungry. If I try to limit her it makes it worse. Yet if I don't she will not stop. After starting this thread I decided to take the advice of some people and let her just be until she decides she wants to do something. But that does not seem to work . I just can't sit there and say nothing as she keeps eating, and eating. Yet If I say something she becomes more and more obsessed. I am at a loss. Anyway I think it is great that you go to curves with Chelsea. I do enjoy the mother daughter time that we spend together. As for letting her staple her stomache, All I can say is from personal experience. I regret it everyday. I have had much more success on Atkins. Thanks for your insights. Dina

[liz175]

Dina,

I feel like I am getting in a little over my head trying to answer your post. If you haven't already, you should probably speak to someone who is an expert on children and eating disorders. I certainly am not. I do think the story of our struggle with my son has similarities to your struggle with Mindy, although our struggle was not over food and eating, so I will write a little more about that.

My 17 year old son, who I wrote about in an earlier post, has various learning and psychological difficulties that work together to make things difficult for him. However, despite his various learning and psychological difficulties, he is incredibly smart and is particularly talented in mathematics (his learning disabilities are in the area of language/speaking and writing). He basically taught himself much of what there is to know about arithmetic before starting kindergarten.

He got through the early years of school on brains. He always had social difficulties, and I dreaded the calls from the principal telling me about another fight or another problem, but he was way more advanced than the other kids when it came to reasoning and analytical thinking. He did have trouble learning to read, but he finally learned at the age of eight. However, once he learned to read, he was fine in that area. I recently ran into one of his elementary school teachers and she told me that he was one of the brightest kids she ever had in her classroom.

The problem came with homework assignments, particularly assignments that involved writing. He could not or would not do them on his own and we starting sitting with him, "helping" him do them and forcing him through them. This got worse and worse every year as the assignments got more difficult. In third grade, I dreaded Tuesday nights (I still remember the night) when he had to use each of his spelling words in a sentence. It was a two or three hour ordeal to get him to write 10 or 12 sentences. In fourth grade, book reports became week long battles. By seventh grade, our relationship with him was defined by our effort to get him to do his homework and do as well in school as we knew he could do. We saw his future riding on how he did in school and we wanted the best for him. To me, it sounds something like your battles with your daughter over food.

In the middle of seventh grade, we got a call from the school saying that he was talking about suicide. I have been through few things as awful in my life as thinking that my child might take his own life. Even my husband's bout with cancer was not that bad. We immediately took him in for a psychological evaluation. He had been evaluated several times previously and had been in counseling for a while when he was younger, but at that point he was not seeing anyone.

Counseling with a child generally involves the entire family because the child's issues are almost always tied up with the family's issues. The first thing the counselor told us was to get totally uninvolved in his homework. He told us that our son needed his parents to be people he could trust and talk to, and that was much more important than any grades in school. He needed to realize we loved him for who he was. We had to focus on him as a person, not him as a student. We pulled back and he started failing his classes. The counselor told us to stay out and we stayed out. He failed most of the second half of seventh grade and then several classes in eighth grde. He was given a social promotion to ninth grade, because he had failed so many classes in eighth grade that he could not get a regular promotion. We talked the school out of holding him back because his test scores were so high that it was clear he knew the content, even though he was failing the classes.

We moved him to private school for ninth grade, where at least they were more emotionally supportive than the public school (who kept blaming us because the homework was not done), but he continued to fail about half his classes, and we continued to follow the advice of the psychologist and stay out of it. When he turned 16, toward the end of 10th grade, my brilliant son dropped out of school. He took the GED (high school equivalency test) and without studying at all, scored in the 99th percentile on three of the five subtests and above the 90th percentile on the other two. His failing grades clearly had nothing to do with his ability.

Last September, at the age of 16, he started at the local community college (admission is automatic with a GED), and only signed up for the classes he really wanted to take -- all in computer science. Miracle of miracles, he passed everything he took in the fall. He got B's and C's, and he volunteered the information to us that he would have had A's and B's if he had done all the assignments, but at least he did enough to pass and get credit. He sounds as though he really wants to raise his grades this semester, and we are trying to be supportive of that while simultaneously not pressuring him to do so (not easy, believe me). It's the first time in years he has ever shown any interest in his own grades. He also started a computer business and is actually making some money.

If anyone had told, back when he was 12 years old and suicidal, that we were starting on a journey that still would not be resolved 5 years later, I think I would have been in total despair. However, we've been taking it one day at a time and I guess we will just need to continue taking it one day at a time.

The reason I went through that whole lengthy story is that I think there are probably some parallels between our experience with him and what you will go through to work out your daughter's eating difficulties. These things do not resolve themselves overnight. You stopped nagging her about her eating for a few days and the eating problems did not immediately go away; we stopped nagging our son about his homework and that problem also did not immediately go away. However, we have stopped the battles in our house and we do have a good relationship with our son now (considering the fact that he is 17). We hope that he will choose to realize his own potential, but we know that we cannot force him to do so.

Sorry for going on so long. Raising children is so much more difficult than I realized when I started out 17 years ago. All we can do sometimes is fumble our way through and hope we are doing the right thing. I know that some family members think that our son just needs more discipline. They advocated sending him to military school for ninth grade. Perhaps they were right, we will never know, all we can do is what our instinct and the experts we choose to consult tell us is right. I can tell you, that sitting there and doing nothing while he failed his classes, was more difficult than you can possibly imagine.

I have no idea if sitting there and doing nothing while your daughter eats is the right thing to do. As I said at the beginning of this post, I think you should consult an expert on childhood eating disorders. However, if it turns out to be what you need to do, then you will just have to do it.

[zima]

.........its what's eating her.

I'm a firm believer in this line of thought. My daughter has little to no contact with her father and I believe that this has a lot to do with her self-esteem and her food adictions. My husband has stepped up to the plate and has been "dad" since she was 2 1/2 years old, but I know that the absense of her real dad is an issue. I am looking into some councelling for her, she is more receptive to it now. I wonder if our parents spent as much time second guessing everything they did?
If our daughters were sitting on the couch shooting heroin we could say "stop that! Your killing yourself." Is it any different with food? Do we have the freedom to do nothing? After loosing my father at 52 yrs old to a heart attach , and with diabetes and heart disease on both sides of our family, I don't think I have much choice. Its just how I say it and what actions I take that makes the difference now. Its a fine line, and I'm wallking the tight rope.

zima

[Dina]

Liz after reading your post , I believe that stepping back is a good idea. It took an amazing amount of courage and faith for you to do what you did with your son. I realize that this is going to take more than a few days of me not bugging her about what she eats. I have made sure that there are basically only good choices in the house. Yet the amount she wants to eat amazes me. I think there should be some point that I step iin and say that it enough. I know I would wiith my sons. And Zima also has a point in her last post. If it was another substance that our daughters were abusing , wouldn't we step in and try to stop them. I am very torn at what to do. I am going to ty continuing to remain calm even though this is breaking my heart. If I do not see some posititve change by summer, I think I will take your advece and see a counselor. Have a great week . Dina.

[pianokat73]

Dina,

I read your story and I can so relate to what you are saying about how you are living through your daughter.

I remember all the times I was teased and told things in school that I dont want her to get hurt the same way. SHe told me the other day that she literally feels like a whale walking to school. She compares herself to all the skinny can eat anything and everything girls and wants to be like them.

Her father is 6'3 and I am 5'8 we both have big bones. Her father when she sees him constantly calls her his Big Girl and she has such a problem with that. I have to be so careful and not say gosh I cant believe hoe big you are getting, even though it is not what she think it is. She really is not obese, she is about 20 pounds overweight. She is tall for 12 and I think she is still learning what to do with all those leggs and hdight you know.

she has developed to a c cup so far and has such a porblem with that. If I have to pee or something while she is in the shower or whatever she makes sure the curtain is so closed that not even a chance of and accidental peek is there. I also notice that she closes the mirror it s a trifold so that she cant see herself and then she puts a towel on it so there is no sight of herself naked.

I know what you are going through., my mom has a weight problem but she never made me feel bad for myself, for that I am lucky. I havent always been oeverweight. I was chunky before puberty but once that was over I had boobs and hips that I would kill for now, it is after babies and divorce that I have gotten this way. Thank God I have a wonderful husband now that loves me for me not the weight I am. He is very supportive.

Well God bless in you troubles with her and try to think positively. I know easier said than done.

Love
:wave:

[liz175]

At dinner tonigh my son volunteered, "I am really trying to keep up with all the work in my classes this semester." There has been such a change in his attitude since he started at the community college. I think there is hope, even for problems that seem unsolvable while we are in the midst of them. I think I may even finally be resolving my own eating problems at the age of 45!

[Further]

Wow..when I'm reading all of this, it all seems so familiar
I do not have children but I would like to have one within the next five years. I was wondering how I was going to handle my future child's weight.

Both my husband and I were extreemly overweight as teens and our early 20s. We both lost 100 pounds each. For me, it was changing my diet and lifestyle. For him, it was switching from coke to diet coke. (lucky man!)Anyway, we both went through a hard time because we were so heavy. I wouldn't want my future child to go though that so part of me imagins myself as a food czar.

On the other hand, I remember all the battles with my georgous(125pound) mother, who although loves me with everything she has, totaly screwed me up when it came to my weight. Now that i'm at an acceptable weight, my relationship with my mom is really good....but shallow because it took my weightloss to get her to be cool with me again.

[MsKatt]

My six year old daughter is overweight. She is built just like my younger sister. Hannah is very tall, she is as tall as the 4th graders in her school (she's a kindergartner).

I have tried SO hard to not make an issue about her weight. She was a ten pound baby and has been "chubby" her entire life. This past year she seems to have really gained weight. I have also noticed a change in her eating habits. I slowly incorporated a lc way of eating for her and it has helped tremendously!

I love my daughter with all of my heart and I don't want her to suffer needless health problems or cruel teasing. I guess I've done a good job not making her weight an issue because she sees no reason why she shouldn't wear a two-piece swimsuit again this summer, like her toothpick cousin! :D

I exercise regularly and I told her that only "grown-up" girls get to exercise, but if she behaved very well, I *might* take her with me....that was all it took! She jumps on a mini-trampoline while I do the treadmill and we do yoga together. It's a fun mother-daughter thing...it also give my husband and son some time together!
Well, enough rambling,
Michelle