Hmm. I came here after a search about this topic because I have an overweight daughter and am concerned. I do think she may naturally slim down as she gets older, though, because I did...
I was a very chunky kid and pre-teen. In my early teens I shot up and slimmed down but then at about 16 I started getting chunky again, was overweight in college, and then something very odd happened.
You always hear that in your late 20's and into 30's the metabolism goes down and it's all downhill from there. But that didn't happen to me. It seems like it was the OPPOSITE. Around the time I turned 25 I naturally started to slim down. It was slow but I can see it in pictures. My body has slimmed and my facial features have become more angular. They were always very round and soft, making me look years younger than I was. (One time, when I was in college, I was in the mall during the day and a security guard asked me which school I went to. I told him Michigan State University...he didn't believe me until I showed him BOTH my DL and student ID...)
So anyway, now my face looks older my features are not round, and my whole body is slender. I am not overweight at all. My BMI is 23. Perfect.
I don't think my lifestyle has changed much, either. I am not super active now, although I rarely sit down. I walk a lot and am always up cleaning house (I am an at-home mom). I think the only difference is that when I started slimming down was at the time that I finished school. It could be that going from sitting in a classroom all day to cleaning my house and playing with my kids has resulted in a couple hundred calories a day, which translates into 2 dozen pounds over 8 years? I don't know...but even my pregnancies didn't trip me up. My second pregnancy, in fact, I LOST weight. I couldn't seem to eat enough to gain anything, and when she came out I had lost 2 pounds. I was healthy as a horse, though, so it was fine. I think it was just the 2 pounds I would have lost over the 9 months if I hadn't been preggo.
Hmmm...in the last year I have lost another 4 pounds, according to my doc. I don't think I will waste away, though. I look really healthy. I eat about 2,000 calories a day (my guess--I don't count). I walk my kids to and from school. I clean house all day and do yoga. I guess that is better than riding a school bus or bike on campus and sitting all day in class? It is the only logical reason this has happened to me. (BTW--I was tested for thyroid when I had my 2nd baby because of the weight loss, and my thyroid is totally normal...)
Anyway, I am hoping against hope my daughter will slim down as she gets older. She doesn't overeat (I never did, either...) and is active but none of it seems to matter...we may pursue this medically to make sure she is ok, but I also wonder if she is just going to end up with the same deal as I had...
I've had a weight problem all my life. I was a "sturdy" toddler, a fat five-year old, and continued to gain weight. I stopped growing and started puberty at 11 (probably sparked by the additional female hormones produced by being so overweight) and continued to gain weight. I weighed 170-180 pounds in senior high school.
Apart from a brief period of starving/purging in my early 20s, I continued to gain until I got serious about losing weight in my mid-40s. By then I was 220 pounds, which at my height, put me on the borderline of "morbidly obese".
I'm now 55, going through menopause and have been maintaining a 90-pound weight loss since 2003. I'm not finding menopause to be too difficult, but I think my uber-healthy lifestyle is really helping.
Quote:
Originally Posted by neurodoc
It is virtually impossible to be a heavy child/teenager and maintain a normal weight in adulthood without paying a lot of attention. You will never be "effortlessly" thin like some folks, but that doesn't mean you can't keep the weight off. It's a lifetime commitment, one day at a time. I wish I'd managed to make that decision at your age, rather than in my mid-40s.
Totally agree, and I could have written the bolded part.
I was a skinny child until about third grade. I got mono and never really recovered- I lost all my energy & it didn't come back. I was size 18 when I graduated high school in 1996. I starved the weight off when I was 20 eating one meal a day. It came back gradually over the following ten years.
I started changing my lifestyle when I was 30. I lost my goal of 107 pounds in a year and a half by regular exercise & eating very healthy, home cooked, clean diet- but not too little like the first time. My energy finally came back about a year into it. I don't remember ever being this full of energy before in my life.
I've maintained that loss and lost an additional 15 lb in the last year. I know the only way I will keep the weight off is if I keep up this lifestyle. Luckily, I love it so I don't see a problem there. Having lost it and gained it back, I'm wary but hopeful. I trust myself but I know it won't keep itself off.
If I could give my mom advice for past kid/teenage me, it would be to get me doing something active, whether it was a sport or whatever. And not to talk to me about my weight like it made me a horrible person or something. That never helped anything.
If I could give my mom advice for past kid/teenage me, it would be to get me doing something active, whether it was a sport or whatever. And not to talk to me about my weight like it made me a horrible person or something. That never helped anything.
I know this is a really old thread but I'm needing some guidance! I have 3 daughters 8, 6, and 2 and the older ones are very over weight (but tall). I saw that megan1982 had struggled as a kid and I didn't know if I could get some advice? Or from anyone for that matter...
I know this is a really old thread but I'm needing some guidance! I have 3 daughters 8, 6, and 2 and the older ones are very over weight (but tall). I saw that megan1982 had struggled as a kid and I didn't know if I could get some advice? Or from anyone for that matter...
Sadly, megan1982 isn't hanging around any longer.
My only advice is not to make them feel ashamed for being overweight. Instead, serve them healthy, lower calorie meals and encourage family activities to burn calories without it seeming like exercise. Make it fun and don't tell them they are on a diet. Keep healthy foods around for snacking.
I was an overweight kid for about 3 years. My mother worked and I was home alone after school with no monitoring 'til dinner so I snacked a lot.
Then, after being ridiculed in summer camp, I went on a series of bizzare diets that my mother had ALSO done. She struggled most of her adult life with overeating, alcohol, and really bad eating habits - coffee and cigarettes all day and then binge eating in the evening.
I started to read about healthier choices in magazines when I was in my early 20's and I also started to do a lot of exercise as I acquired a large working dog who needed an outlet. I educated myself basically while my mom clung mostly to her old habits.
I was a reasonable adult weight until menopause and now have been again since 2007 when I joined here.
I don't know much about kids but yours seem quite young. I think communication with them and setting an example yourself by eating and snacking on healthier stuff would probably make a difference. As would getting them out for exercise, even if it's just walking in the neighbourhood or at the mall.
Ame1986, are you also overweight? What about your hubby? Because environment matters a lot; kids the age of yours imitate what you do.
I was an overweight teenager who didn't slim down until my later 30s (and then regained weight after the birth of the 3rd child). When I restarted my weight loss in 2010, it was partly because my oldest DH, then 12, had become somewhat overweight, and I knew that my bad habits around food were rubbing off on him. I had to become vigilant about bringing poor food choices into the house, and our outings stopped revolving around food. I made sure that fruits and veggies were prepped at all times and on the lowest refrigerator shelf, and that the only child beverage options were milk or water (juice is a sugar bomb). We also had family exercise time as often as I could manage, with DH and I taking turns doing things like playing tag or trampolining with the kids. I totally agree with the OPs about not talking to them about "diets." The only meaning of diet to a kid should be "the stuff you eat every day."
I agree with the other posters — model good eating/exercise behaviour, keep fresh vegetables and fruit for snacking; super-healthy meals at home (and avoid eating out); and lots of joint family activities like playing with a dog, hiking, rollerblading etc.
And whatever you do, don't nag or criticise your daughters' weight!
