We are in the midst of a new parenting dilemma over here. My oldest son is on a diet. This is not because he is overweight. Far from it, in fact. He was three pounds over the upper weight limit for his football team. Three pounds.
That doesn’t seem like a lot to lose, but when you are an adolescent boy who lives for eating carbs, it is torture. And a torture that you must share with every member of your family.
We gave him the choice. He could do nothing and not be able to play in any of the games, which makes all of the practices seem like a big waste of time if you ask me. Or he could cut back on some of the junk he eats and up his exercise. Either way we let him know that it was his decision.
It has been very eye opening for him. This morning our contractor who is working on our house brought over a box of Munchkins for the kids. My son, like most normal children, loves donuts. He had his hand digging into the box when I stopped him and asked if he knew how many calories those munchkins have and in turn how many miles he would have to run to burn them off.
We looked it up and 4 Munchkins have 300 calories. I then asked him if he felt like running three miles to burn off those Munchkins. On top of the two miles he is already running daily. Is it worth it?
He decided that it wasn’t worth it. But not before a whole lot of moaning and complaining. He has big plans to catch up on his junk food eating once football season is over.
My husband was in high school wrestling, and they would practically kill themselves to get into the next lower weight class – stuff like jogging, all wrapped up in plastic, on 100 degree days to sweat off a ton of water weight. Then just gain it all back immediately after weigh-in, of course. I hope your son has never heard of those dangerous weight-loss techniques!
Comment by Brigitte — August 27, 2008 @ 7:18 am
It’s amazing how society is today. We live in a culture of “super-size” it and “dying to be thin.” It sounds as if this young man is faced with a situation that many choose to ignore … that today’s society is more than likely overweight and feel it’s the norm. Luckily this young man is learning to make wise food choices early in life to break the cycle.
I personally need to lose 10-15 lbs to stave of the diabetes that runs in my family. The problem is … I’m met with constant comments that I shouldn’t be “dieting” by friends and family. I’m 4′10″ and 140 lbs. This doesn’t sound (and look) like much of a weight problem. But if you look at my BMI … I’m on the brink of obese. These guidelines are not the fault of over zealous medical system … but the fault of a county that refuses to see that they eat too much of the wrong foods. Most of the people who tell me I don’t need to diet, do so because acknowledging that I might be obese … means they would have to acknowlede that they and their kids are MORBIDLY OBESE.
When I decided to eat healthier, I decided my entire family would too. Be reading a few books, shopping for whole wheat and fresh foods … I’m working on getting to the ideal weight for my health. My young girls are getting a good lesson on how to eat healthy … so that in the future they wont’ have to worry about their weight. They know that by eating healthy their body will take care of the rest.
I’ll never be a svelt size 4 … but I will be happier and healthier. And so will my family.
Comment by Mommyof3 — August 27, 2008 @ 11:02 am
A few months ago, my wife and I picked up a six pack of the old fashioned Coca-Cola Bottles. We were sitting at the table and I had a 24-ounze pepsi that was sitting on the table right next to one of the coke bottles and something dawned on me.
We have been conditioned to think that guzzling down a 24-ounce soda is a normal thing. When those coke bottles were being sold in coke machines around the country, that little ity bity bottle (8 ounces I do believe) was the typical serving size of soda. Soda was once treated as a treat and not as something to gulp down to quench your thirst.
I think that growing up in the world of 2 and even 3 liter bottles of soda, I’m part of the generation that was first conditioned into believing that soda quenches your thirst and therefore replaces water.
This would be like the candy industry convincing us that a giant chocolate bar is a more desirable substitute to meat and potatoes for dinner. The soda industry just figured out how to do this gradually over generations of time until it was socially acceptable. Marketing in any form is rarely, if ever, in the best interests of the consumer.
Comment by Fred — August 29, 2008 @ 2:34 pm
I do feel that 3 lbs is not a big deal and while it hurts his pride to not play, what is the long term outomes for yur son? Nutrition is imortant but if your son is doing well, whats the problem? Whatever happened to letting kids be kids? Society is making our children grow up and worry about everything.
Comment by sweet momma — September 5, 2008 @ 8:11 pm