[beautifulmess]

So, for the past few years I've always wanted to get my brother to start eating healthy and working out. He's had a weight problem his whole life. He's 11 years old. He's never been in the 'healthy weight" category...and looking at him always reminds me of myself when I was his age! I too was the same way. But I started this weight loss journey at 16 years old when I decided..enough is enough and I have to do this for myself, to live long and healthy. I decided I don't want my brother to reach 16 and find out and find out how unhealthy he is ! I want him to get there and BE healthy already.

Seeing him every day just walk behind his friends as they run around (because they're thin and have so much energy) always breaks my heart. He tires easy. He's in love with food. He also loves soda and fruit juice drinks. My mom and dad feed him out of...yeah, let me say...LOVE. It sickens me. I mean, if you love your child so much, why not give feed him healthy food to see him live a longer and healthy life? I never understand parents who give their kids whatever out of love. That to me is far from love. I don't know what it is. It's love mixed in with something else (lets just say something unhealthy)

ANyway, I've always wanted him to eat along healthy with me but my parents are always buying junk and getting him what he wants (which let me tell you is not broccolli...) therefore making my words go in one ear and out the other when he sees a bag of Cheetos.

He always tells me how gym class is hard
and some kids poke fun at him cause of his weight.
I just tell him to speak up for himself, stand his ground and forget about those losers.
But I know it's not just that.
People will ALWAYS talk whether you weigh 200 or 110.

I just want him to be HEALTHY and HAPPY.

He also just got a Fitness report from the school stating how unhealthy he is and how he needs to be physically active everyday and eat right.

His BMI was in the dangerously high category
He weighs 145 lbs.

I knew it was bad but after getting the report, it was like reality printed right infront of me. My mom saw it too and told him to start eating healthy (and yet she feeds him unhealthy things...? doesn't sound too right to me...)

So, anyway I always have long talks with him about the importance of being healthy.
The other day I told him about the importance of reading a Nutrition Facts label every time you shop and how if you don't read it, you don't know what you're putting inside your body. Like, I told him "Would you eat something while being blindfolded?" ...He answered with "No" and I answered with "Exactly. Those who don't read the labels on the backs of the foods, are basically eating something with a blindfold on. They don't know what the food contains". That got him and he agreed to start reading the labels.

I told him how bad soda was and how it can make you gain weight like crazy. ALso, told him how much sugar and artificial flavors and packed in fruit juice drinks and how you have to be careful with which kind you buy.

He's on the computer day and NIGHT playing games.
I told him he's only going to be gaining weight that way the whole summer and going back to Jr. High School (his first year) fatter and unhealthier and is that really what you want? to start off Jr. High like that? he replied with NO. So, I told him to use the summer to lose weight and go back as the hottest guy alive (hahah) where you'll be feeling good about yourself not being tired when you have to switch classes everytime the bell rings.

I told him for 2 months
to commit to what I say
listen to me or I'll go all berserk like Jillian Michaels
but only
because I want to help him. I told him to jog every morning with me, 2 miles and eat the meals that I prepare for him (like I do myself) and to not eat freakin dinner at freakin 11 pm at night! I told him I'm going to give him set times for each meal, no eating after 7:30/8:00 pm.
I told him to learn how to say NO when my mom offers him a plate of oily crap. She likes putting oil in everything and not even Extra Virgin Olive oil but like regular oil, tubs of it (what it looks like) everything is dripping in oil
I told him to wake up with determination every morning when I wake him! and not roll over and say "go away"

I spoke to him for a long time. Told him I wasn't going to force him. This was his decision. It's his life. Does he care about it. He's not a baby anymore. It's time to man up and take your life into your own hands. Does he think that he has it in him to do this.
He listened carefully
and AGREED

next morning-
We both went jogging
it was hard for him. He kept wanting to stop because it was hard on his knees, so I told him to speed walk but we jogged again. Alternated.

-Afterwards we came home and did 20 jumping jacks, marched in place for a whole song of (The Ants Go Marching..hah we both actually sang it while marching in place and as the number of ants in the song increased our marching increased and by the end of the song we both were jogging in place like two lunatics)
-10 situps (this will increase)
-10 pushups (He only did about 3, and those were wrong) so I told him to do them on the wall instead where it would be easier
-Some yoga stuff where we stretched and all
-Lunges

He was sweating. I was smiling (and sweating too)

I think I may have overdid the first day for him
pushed him a little too hard
but I just wanted to see how far he could go without having to stop.
He stuck it out!

We got through day 1.
I told him if he keeps going at this rate he can lose his goal of 20 lbs. He can do it.

I just hope and pray that he doesn't get lazy (laziness if his best friend)
and melt when he sees a pizza!
I told him he could eat these things, but in moderation. I told him about metabolism and how if you eat every 3/4 hours your metabolism speeds up, therefore causing you to lose weight. So, I got him eating that way now. Snacking throughout the day on healthy stuff like myself.

I've been telling him for years to eat healthy and telling my parents to watch what he eats and stop buying trash. No one listened.

So, I figured if I don't do something myself...what kind of sister would I be? I freakin love my lil bro and want to see him smiling all the time. I still see him as a 1 year old who's diaper I have to change (goes to show why I had him singing The Ants go Marching song...even when he thought it was silly, he still sang it with me). I'm the only one in this house that eats healthy. The rest of my family unfortunately doesn't care. I figured, I have to do something now or never for my little bro. I want him to be healthy and happy and everything else that's awesome.

I just hope it works! I believe that he'll stick to it! but still I really hope it works. I told him to set small goals first.
I also hope to lose weight alongside him since I myself have been slacking off.
But HE is my biggest concern right now.

I just wanted to share this with all of you.
Sorry for making it so long.
When I start writing....my fingers catch fire and I can never get myself to stop lol

[JulieJ08]

To me at that age, to be honest, that would have been a long, painful talk that made me resentful and feel worse about myself. So I'm really glad it's going well.

[beautifulmess]

Yeah. But I think him being ridiculed and being out of breath after every step of stairs would make him feel 'worst about himself" then me filling his head with knowledge about improving his life. That's my take on it, anyway.

[beerab]

You say you keep talking to him- but I THINK it's time to talk to mom and dad too and say "hey mom, dad, food isn't love, little bro is upset cuz he can't keep up in gym class, he can't keep up with his friends, and so on. We all love him very much- so let's show him how much we love him by having ALL of use turn our lives around and eat healthier- in the future when he's a healthy person he'll thank us for it."

It's great you care- keep up the workouts with him! Start cooking healthier meals or have your mom/dad cook healthier meals that you all can enjoy- I'm sure once he sees the weight come off he'll be more encouraged- and no matter what after each workout praise him!

[beautifulmess]

Maybe you didn't read the whole post (I don't blame you..lol) but I have talked to my parents about it COUNTLESS times. They don't get it, at all. They say he'll just grow out of it.

[WormwoodDoll]

I can completely relate. When I was younger, my mother always picked at my for my weight. She didn't want to me get overweight. She'd say nasty things, so I became a closet binge eater. Once I hit puberty, though, I gained tons of weight and got up to 206 when I was only 13. When I was 14 I moved in with my grandparents and slowly gained weight there. After a couple of years I got up to around 260. All I ate was junk food and such. Once I moved out, I still ate crappy because I was broke and would just by convenient foods. I moved to the city about a year ago, DF&I sold our car, and I got a full-time job. I started walking everyday and I had extra money to buy more food. That's how I've been losing the weight. I make my own meals and such.

But my sister lives in FL with my mom. She never had weight problems. She was a little twig! They moved to FL four years ago. I recently saw them last August and my sister was....big. She gained A LOT of weight. I was so surprised! My mom lets her eat whatever and doesn't watch her snacks and stuff. She was so tough on me - she was really mean. She is the total opposite to myself. I felt terrible. She is 11 years old and she weighs more than I did at that age. She is at, I believe, 130-140? and I was 99lbs! I tried to talk to my mom about it. I was made fun of so much during middle and high school for my weight. I wasn't confident. I hated myself. I don't want this for my sister. She doesn't deserve it! After I started losing weight, I told my mom some healthy ways to pass on for my sister. *BTW, my mom weighs 115lbs*. I don't know how to get it through to her.

[Cate426]

There comes a point in time when you just need to take of it yourself. So if you've tried to talk to your parents, and they dont listen, then i think youre absolutely doing the right thing. Its better to try and talk to him now, then wait until it's completely out of control. Kids can be ruthless, and somehow I escaped all the ridicule because no one ever said a word to me when i was young and overweight (which I think was only because of my looks) but keep up the good work. He will thank you one day and honestly.... so will your parents.

[Iconised Ghost]

I think its cool that you talked to him and that he actually agreed to give it a go. I agree, if someone had said all that to me before i was ready i would have totally rejected it but it looks like you got the timing just dead on. I would say also get him into some games that he likes- maybe speed walk to a basketball court and play a game or something, just to keep his interest

[Tracy]

It is going to be hard w/bad food in the house,especially for a 10 yr. old. But as long as you keep exercising w/him,it should help some.

[Talina]

Good job with helping him make a change now! I wish someone had done that for me when I was young. I wasn't obese as a child, but I was always overweight enough to be bigger than most of my peers.

[stellarosa27]

I think you should be commended for what you're doing for your brother.

Not to be insensitive, but are your parents overweight ? Maybe you could even cook with your mom so the whole family eats healthier - if she's up for it?

Again, you're doing something awesome. I hope it continues to go well.

[beautifulmess]

Stellarosa- my mom is overweight but not my dad.
Yeah, I always tell her to eat healthy too but she complains about being stressed from work and blah blah blah. Hopefully when my brother gets results, he'll inspire her to do it too.

[angelanicole23]

Beautifulmess...I think its awesome what you're doing for your brother. Hopefully when he begins to see results he will want to continue with this new lifestyle...and hopefully it will encourage your parents to jump on the bandwagon.

I work in a Preschool and I've seen some children who are extremely overweight and wonder what in the **** do these parents think they're accomplishing? It really angers me to see parents reward and bribe children with food...when all they're doing is creating more problems for later on in life.

Sorry didn't mean to turn this into a mini rant..but I can assure you that if this healthy lifestyle continues for your brother he will one day be so thankful for all you've done for him.

[Civakas]

BeautifulMess, I think what you're doing is wonderful. Please let him know that it's not always a straight path. We fall off the wagon often, but it's about getting back on and sticking to the plan as much as we can.

During my previous weight loss efforts I erroneously believed that it was an all-or-nothing approach. I would stick to something for a week and as soon as I did one thing wrong I felt I had failed and gave up.

And keep us updated!

[Jelbb]

I think it's great that you're doing this honey! Sometimes people just need a bit of a push in the right direction. The fact that you're working WITH your brother, and emphasizing that it's his choice... totally negates any arguments that you could be overstepping your bounds in my mind. I think what you're doing is fabulous. And great that your brother's agreed to try things your way.

The only problem I foresee is keeping him interested in exercising if he's never really wanted to do it before. You said he's into video games... have you guys ever considered getting him DDR? Or have you yourself ever played DDR? Do you guys have a playstation, or an Xbox, or anything? ...if you have a playstation, I'll send you my old DDR mat for your little brother. I may even have the game lying around still...
DDR was something that kept me a lot more active than I otherwise would've been when I was about 12-13.
If you've never seen anyone play it, here's a youtube vid (of a kid playing it on a SUPER hard mode).

Keep at it, honey! Your brother will appreciate what you're doing for him in the future more than he'll ever be able to express.