I don't know why I never realized this before...and I almost feel like a complete idiot. My children have not been listening to me. They have been watching me. They have been watching me as I tell them to choose water and then I have a diet coke. They have been watching me when I tell them to choose a fruit and I grab a bag of chips. They are a silent witness when I insist they have the apples with their happy meal and I get fries. They then in turn do what I have been doing. My daughter sneaking food into her room. I give her $2.00 to take on a field trip and she buys candy bars. At the end of the week she gets her allowance and it turns into a knock down dragout because she wants to buy a bag of linder chocolates and not the art supplies she originally wanted. I have been a giant hypocrite and confusing the **** out of them.

At the tender age of 5 & 8 they want to do what I do. They want to be who I am. This is my time to lay a strong foundation for them. I do not want them to struggle with weight as I have. I do not want them to treat their bodies as I have done. I want them to have a healthy relationship with food. I want them to plug into life and live it and not skit around the outside of it as I have...because of my self-esteem and lack of confidence due to my weight.

Over the past 3 weeks I have lost 17lbs on a medically supervised liquid shake fast. I have been drinking water and exercising. Without saying anything my daughter has been choosing water and wanting to exercise with me.

If you have young ones it is now or never! Be a good role model for your kids. Realize that you can tell them what they should do show them every pie chart on the planet but in the end they will do as you do. I have let my children down when it comes to being a healthy role model. I'm going to change that! I'm going to give them the gift of life!

I've been blogging my weightloss journey. If you would like to read first hand my struggles, what it is like to be on a liquid fast, and even the few weeks before I was scheduled to start the fast...my reason for starting it...etc. Check out my blog. fatmeltchallenge.blogspot.com

Good for You! Your children are young enough to develop these good habits.

My son is 19 months and it really amazes me who he copies EVERYTHING he sees us doing. I yelled at our cat one day and my son started waving his finger and yelling, too! It is just incredible how closely kids watch you.

The last few mornings, my sone has wanted chocolate with his breakfast. I bought him those little chocolate coins. I give him two and that is it. I don't want to make sweats "forbidden", but I also don't want him eating just chocolate for dinner!!

That reminds me I need to buy him more peas... he seems to like peas. (yuck!) Lol!

This is a interesting issue. I do think that kids tend to get their eating habits from their parents and we need to set a good example for them. On the other hand, I vividly recall all the diets my mom would try growing up. It seemed that all of my friends' moms were on diets too. I don't think that helped me to be healthy or develop better habits (with one exception). Instead I saw yo-yo'ing and believed that was normal. The exception was exercise - seeing my mom exercise did encourage me and often I would join her on walks (on my bike, when I was younger).

For my youngest child's 1st birthday a week ago, my gift to him was that I would lose weight. I want both of my children to have good eating habits and be active. But the bigger incentive, is that I want to be sure I'm around to see them grow up. My weight has started affecting my health beyond just being sluggish. My doctors are watching me for diabetes and hypertension and my liver is "fatty." The ideal thing is to get the weight off and keep it off.

I wish you the best! Our kids deserve our best. We can do it!

Kudos to you for being able to recognize that AND change it. Children are quite fascinating and WAY smarter and WAY more observant than we give them credit for sometimes.

If parents of today would start feeding their little ones when they first eat food, good healthy food, the children really do grow up to prefer it. My grandson is now 10 and his mother has always fed him veggies, good meats, lots of fish and seafood and if you take him to a restaurant it is not cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese or hot dogs he orders, but usually talapia and broccoli. He takes the popular "bento" boxes to lunch with veggies, a few shrimp, some rice, etc instead of twinkies, chips and sugary drinks. She does allow him treats, his favorite is Chilis chocolate cake thingy which he devours, but the bulk of his food is very healthy. Unfortunately, we don't put in the effort when they are toddlers and their patterns are formed so it is doubly hard to get them to eat that apple instead of a bag of chips.

I applaud you recognizing that you "slipped" up and are making changes to be a good example to your children. Good luck to you on your weight losses!

I've saw this as well in my own daughter who is only a few months away from being the "terrible 2 year old". I started drinking water and no pop and now she wants to drink water all the time although I do allow her to have juice she prefers water. I also have started doing Hip Hop Abs (even though I have no abs yet it burns calories =D ) and she sees me doing it and she jumps right in beside me doing most of the steps she sees on the tv. I hope I can keep this weight loss going not only for myself and my health but for her to grow up healthy too.

Maurene's comment really struck me. In addition to children learning eating habits from their parents, they also learn about their relationship to food and their bodies. When I was growing up, my mother was constantly talking about her weight, restraining herself from eating and "punishing" herself for eating by going to the gym. It wasn't until recently that I fully understood how low her self-esteem is and how poor her body image is. It makes me sad and angry because I have struggled with low self-esteem my entire life and I think things would have been different if I had a better role model. I am 28 and I am planning to wait to have children with my husband until my relationship to food and my feelings about my body are healthier. I believe that it doesn't matter how much you try to teach your child self-confidence and healthy habits; they will learn from your relationship to food and weight. I want to raise happy, confident, healthy children, but I think I need to get there myself before I can successfully do that.

DS will yell "get" at the dogs when they are doing something they shouldn't be

My son is 16m and his Dad has him addicted to chips, sugary cereal, and junk. It really depresses me. DH thinks it's cute that he puts his hand in an empty bag, then pretends to lick his fingers off How is that cute! It's sad and disturbing. DH is porking up with all the junk he has been eating. He will realize it soon, but will have it all back off in a week. I secretly can't wait until we are a little older and his metabolism doesn't allow him to eat like this anymore.

My children are a big reason behind my weight loss. I need to be a good role model for them, with healthy eating and active living. I don't want them to be overweight/obese their whole lives like I was. I also want to keep up with them, and at 230 pounds, it is not easy to keep up with an active 2 year old...or sit on the floor and play. But I've already noticed a change, and I can't wait for more changes!