Tricia,

Looking back at it, I can't believe they took me either! I guess they just wanted the money. Sad thing is, I did not have any problem with body image up until then. All of my family except for one cousin has weight problems. I think if my mother had left me alone, I would have been fine-it would have saved me YEARS of hating myself about my weight...sigh..such wasted energy and time! I really wonder if I would be of a somewhat normal weight....


I was so worried about passing food issues along to children. I have one son, who is almost eight. He weighed over ten pounds at birth (and I only gained 17 lbs while pregnant). Well, now he is tall, athletic and slim! We know where the height came from (my husband is tall, too) but I guess the build comes from my mother in law-she's very slim. My dh struggles with weight like I do, so we were both really afraid our son would inherit the trait. I really hope he stays active and a healthy weight.

Sherry

You know I was reading all your posts and realised that I have the same problem as other people in the sense that I think I'm A LOT thinner than I am. Lol I think i'm the opposite of Anorexic - like when I look in the mirror i'm like "i'm not that fat" and when I look at how I could look at 140pounds or something I just think i'm going to look icky. Other people look amazing at 140... I just don't think i will. I know this sounds big-headed but I almost feel my charm is in me being at least SLIGHTLY chubby. I dunno - maybe i'm just scared to lose the weight... When I go to stores I always get a size that my mirror tells me I am... and then I see that I'm a size or two bigger than the size i've chosen. Lol... I'm a funny one.

sherry - I have those same fears about making my kids fat! I try so hard to teach them healthy living without placing a big emphasis on weight. My son is 12 and my daughter is 9. I have recently showed them food labels...not the fat and calories parts....but the SERVING SIZE! I want them to at least start seeing what a serving looks like right now. Also, when I give them dinner I put a spoon of each thing on their plate. If it's something they really like they want me to put another spoon. I say, sure, if you're hungry when you finish that of course you can have more. I made plenty! That way they don't feel like they have to "horde" it if they like it so that no one else will eat it. I hope I'm not creating problems....I hope I'm instilling healthy ideas. They are both sized perfectly for their age at this point.

I was a fairly chubby child (and all my peers made sure I was aware of this.) Then puberty hit and I guess I just naturally slimmed up (yay for growth spurts.) Although I probably could have stood to lose 5-10lbs in HS I thought I was huge! Now I'd just like to be back to that weight (155) or a little below. It's funny how our perceptions change over time.

I did lose weight after HS. I was able to get down to 130-ish and I stayed there a whole 5 mins. Lol. My DH looks at those pictures and says I have bobble head syndrome. I agree, I did not look healthy at that weight.

Of course, emotional eating got me to my high weight (which was actually 230, not the 212 I started at recently.)

My family never told me I was fat, but they didn't pass on very good eating habits. I remember my father having 3 or 4 large helpings every night, and even though we always had salad we also always had bread with dinner (on top of other starches.) My sister and I have both struggled with overhauling our eating habits. It's been a long hard process, but I think we're winning the battle. I'm concerned about passing bad habits on to children as well (when I get around to having children...)

Oh, my! If I could only be as fat as I thought I was in High School! The funny thing is that my family made all of those little (and big) "fat" comments until I actually WAS fat! Go figure.

Sherry and Trisha: I, too, have had the same concerns for my kids. When my 15 year old daugter was about 6 or 7 she asked constantly "Will this make me fat?" and we were super concerned...talked to her about healthy eating and showed her healthy portions and all of that. Well, one day she picked up a can of peanuts (at the store) and asked her favorite question. We must have said something along the lines of they can if you eat too much...something like that...well, she looks from us to the can and says, "Well, I will just be fat then!" It was really funny, of course, but a little concerning as well. Now she is a healthy, althletic 15 year old who watches what she eats but to no extreme. My boys, however, need a little more encouragement to stay away from the junk food! (It doesn't help that my 16 yo works at McDonalds!)