[MrsDomino]

This morning my 12 year old begged me to buy him a bottle of Body Solutions. I told him that all he needed to do was stop eating 3 hours before he goes to bed. AND stop eating the junk food. He said no he wants body solutions. He even offered to pay for it if I called the order in. <Sigh>

I feel bad for him, unfortuneatly he's taking after dear ole' mom. He wants a quick fix and doesn't realize that he's not going to get it.

Any suggestions...........

[chocolate]

Boy, Christine, I am in the same boat! I have a 12 y.o. daughter who is 5'4" and weighs about 160-165 (she won't tell me anymore, but that's what she weighed last time I knew). I am dying to help her but she'll only stay on the WW program for a day or two and then she goes back to her regular eating patterns because the weight "isn't coming off fast enough." I don't keep junk food in the house, other than the occasional ice cream, or pizza for supper. I only buy Fig Newtons and Nutrigrain bars for lunches and keep lots of fruit, veggies, low-fat yogurt, etc., around, but she just plain eats too much! Plus she hates to exercise and we don't have anywhere for her to bike or rollerblade. I know her weight bothers her; she's twice as big as her friends. I just don't know how to motivate her!

[MrsDomino]

Thanks for responding Chocolate. I've been through this before with him...he wants help but he don't want to help himself. <sigh> I know that the biggest advertisement of good eating for him has to be me (or his father). I'm hoping beyond all hope that he takes after his father and slims down by the time he's in his late teens (which is what his dad did apparently) but I can't just sit around and wait for that to happen and let him get bigger. He is pretty tall....I'd say 5'1" or 2"...either that or I'm shrinking.

I could just bawl when I see him struggling or see him embarrassed, yet I know that "body solutions" is NOT the way to go.

[trixiepup]

i was a chunky child too. i remember i would try all these wierd diets from books i found in thrift stores. ugh. i had a hard time with ww also, cuz i was younger, and it was all these people my parents ages there.

i don't know if this is possible, but community colleges often have an assortment of pe classes...ones that are more fun than school stuff. maybe weight lifting classes?

you might also want to enroll your child in nutrition classes, or have him or her visit a nutritionist. if you can get a child friendly one, it can help a lot. it makes the info more valid coming from someone other than mom.

and if your child really wants to do those plans, maybe give them some of those slimfast shakes, or their equivalent for lunch or breakfast. a few of those shakes would probably teach them that the quick fixes aren't very tasty or helpful. :P

good luck!

[sweet tooth]

This seems to be a very simplistic (and maybe a bit selfish) piece of advice, but you may be able to take the basics of it and customize it to your own situation.

I decided to lose weight last summer, so I plan the family meals and snacks around MY eating needs - that is to be healthy (which should be for the entire family regardless) and to lose weight. I have actually focused on the eating healthy, not the losing weight.

Like your kids, portions have always been my downfall, so I now cook only what is required for the meal...no seconds, no leftovers. The snack foods and desserts in the house are only the things that fit into the healthy eating plan - low fat, low calorie, low points. Period. One thing that I have also discovered are the flavored waters (fruit flavors), that are artificially sweetened. I use these to satisfy my sweet tooth and find, through drinking them as my water quota, I don't have cravings for sweet things.

Hubby has always been on the skinny side, but has been developing a small tummy over the past few years. Not anything noticeable, but he has had to buy a 34 waist instead of a 32. In the past 9 months he has dropped the little tummy without really even realizing that he has been "dieting," too.

Anyway, my suggestion is to put your entire family on a healthy eating plan and don't discuss it with them, just serve it. Your children may lose weight slowly if they don't realize that they are actually following a plan. They may not lose as quickly as if they were following WW, because they won't be completely true to the plan, but it will be better than nothing.

Hope this helps. I know how important it is for our children to grow up as healthy individuals. As mother, I guess we always worry about them.

[Jen]

Well I don't know much about kids as my baby is only 7 months old but I can tell you this. When I was 16 my mom told me to go to our family dr and tell him that she said that he should put me on a diet. He asked me if I thought I needed to be on a diet and I said no. I was probably about 20-30 lbs overweight at the time. He said to come back when I wanted to be on a diet.

Until the kids want to lose weight and are willing to actively participate in anything you are trying to do with them, nothing is going to motivate them.

The suggestions about setting a good example sound like the right way to go as well as making smaller portions and not having any unhealthy food in the house to tempt anyone.

I wish my mom had gotten me involved in more outdoor activities. I was the typical bookworm. I could sit and read for hours when I should have been outside playing. Limiting time spent on the computer, watching tv or video games and getting the kids to participate in exercise is what I would do. Are there teams they can join up with, like soccer or hockey?

I hope that you both are able to help your kids. We probably all know what it was like to grow up overweight. I sure do.