Anyone watch Too Fat for Fifteen?
 

I just discovered it, and I really love it! I'm nowhere near 15, but watching those young people learn about living healthy, watching their disappointments and triumphs, is really inspiring to me!

I am almost 40 years old, but watching them, I feel like I was acting like a spoiled 12 year old about food/exercise for the past 30 years. It's refreshing to watch them start to learn to make grown-up decisions, and it makes me want to stay on plan and keep being a grown up, too! Suck it up, do what I gotta do to be healthy! ;)

I think I've seen 4 episodes now, not sure if I caught the first one or if I started in the middle of the season. There is a thread about it in General Chatter too. I really enjoy the show and am so glad these kids are getting help NOW. I wish I'd been able to go when I was in my teens, I'd never have hit 200lbs! Watching Tanisha (the girl who started at 510) makes me cry just about every time-lol In General Chatter, someone posted a video of Scotty and Tanisha on some morning show, Tanisha looks SO good!

I love it. At first Tanisha broke my heart, and she still does, but she is such a fighter! She is a true inspiration for the way she pushes herself, ie: wanting to do the 5K. I truly wish her the best, I feel she has the determination to go the distance then stay there.

i found this thread the other night, found the show on youtube, and now I'm hooked! what a great show!

I haven't seen it but there was a Joy Baurer segment that really inspired me. This girl was in high school when her mother died :(. It was so sad. :( She said how she started counting calories online. Wow so young and so much heartache :(..it really humbled and inspired me. I started using an online calorie counter that day.

I am most heartbroken by the attitude most of the kids have of "I can't do that..." The weight is bad enough, but that attitude is so much worse. And as a parent myself, I hate to admit it, but I find myself blaming the parents a lot. I know I shouldn't, but I do...especially Tanisha. I know it's wrong to judge people without knowing the full story, but I can't help it.

I feel bad about doing that, too. But really, the fact of the matter is that kids do what they learn, and I don't think there's much question that most very obese kids have learned to be that way from their role models. The sad thing is that most of the time, the parents don't realize what they are doing because it's what THEY learned, etc. Hopefully these kids will be able to break the cycle in their families and go on to be able to teach their kids what they are learning. Heck, maybe some of them will even be successful at teaching their parents and other family members healthier habits now!

I am a mom, too. My daughter is right around the corner from puberty, and that's the age where most of the girls in my family start to "plump up". As much as it breaks my heart, if my daughter starts to gain a lot of weight in the next few years, I will have no choice but to look in the mirror and ask myself what I have taught her. I am doing better now, and I'm hoping my example (the healthy meals I'm preparing, being more active as a family, etc) will nip it in the bud. I ask myself every day if it's going to be too little too late. But I'm hopeful!

Shannon, I feel the same way about my son. He is only 4 so I hope I can teach him good habits now...but if not, I will feel as if it is my fault. The best we can do is be a good example to our children, and you are setting a good example for your daughter now. Maybe if her weight does become a problem, she will remember the success you had and know you understand what she is going through and will reach out to you for help and guidance.