[oneoftwelve]

Feathers,
More drama with my mom. . . . feel free to ignore this!

Basically, my mom let me know this morning that she feels attacked every time I ask what she made. For example, she made omelets this morning with whole-wheat bread and strawberries--fantastic breakfast. No butter, just some nonstick spray and some onions in the omelets.
The problem is not what she cooks; the problem came up when I asked how many eggs are in the omelet. She feels that my asking ANYTHING about how much/what's in it, etc. is a judgement on her cooking and on her efforts to feed our family in healthy way. She does do a good job. I don't agree with ever buying cookies or poptarts or sugar cereal, but honestly we do WAY better than most families with our plentiful fruits and vegetables, some whole-wheat bread items, and almost always low-fat meat and dairy products.
I explained to her that I log my food and ask what's in it because while some people can just kind of know when they go shopping what's in the bank and how much they can spend, I have an "over-spending" problem with food. Even if they manage to get out of debt (ie--lose the weight), they still may need to keep a very tight budget for the rest of their lives. I feel that I need to do this.
So my question is how on earth can I keep an accurate log without offending her and making her feel like I'm judging her decisions at every meal?

[thesame7lbs]

Oneoftwelve, I feel your pain, because I like to log my food and I identify 100% with your "spending" analogy (and in fact it applies to my financial spending as well as my caloric spending).

However, I also identify with your mom. I get really frustrated when my kids give anything but 100% positive feedback on what I'm putting on the table. I'm not saying that's right -- I should be able to receive their questions/comments/complaints with equanimity, I know... but as a mom, it is so hard to do all the things I do, especially when it comes to putting nutritious meals on the table every day, that I get defensive and irate about it. After all, we moms are human.

It sounds to me like you and your mom at least are communicating (in tje family I grew up in we simmered and stewed in our anger without discussing it ever). Does she listen to you and hear you when you explain your position? It sounds like your mom is a little resistant to your efforts, whether because she is worried about you or simply thinks you're perfect the way you are and you don't need to do all this change business. Do you think your explanations are finding some sort of foothold or are they falling on deaf ears?

When do you go back to school? Soon? Maybe, after you go back to school and return home, maintaining a healthy weight and obviously not wasting away or getting unhealthy, she will be more accepting of your program.

I'm sorry this has been such a challenge for you this summer. Losing weight/changing our lifestyles is hard enough with 100% support!