I was like this kid, what do we do- if anything?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
I was a fat kid. I looked like this kid. We know this kid's diet isn't right for him. That amount of weight isn't good. His mental and physical health is going to fall off the rails. I know the harm it did to me. I know the anguish, the jokes, the easy target of bullies. When I see this kid I want to punch that........pizza out of his hand.
Yet, who in the hell am I to dictate to this kid? It's HIS life. And if we can interfere in his life, who is allowed to reorder my life? I surely wouldn't tolerate some"do-gooder" in charge of my life.

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Educate! Educate! Educate!
My parents made us eat properly and it became a good habit. When I was a child I used to envy my friends because they got to have junk cereal for breakfast along with fast foods. Their parents drove them to school.
Years later I was grateful my parents were so strick in this department because my friends did become obese and never lost the weight. They definitely got rediculed and made fun of as well as had major health issues stemming from their excess weight. Their children also became overweight since they weren’t good role models and their children too. It’s becoming an epidemic
 
I think I was lucky growing up because I didn't like treats. I hated Chocolate ,Ice Cream and Candy. I still got diabetes and now I love all kinds of sweets yet I have to be careful. I wonder what would have happened if I grew up eating sweets.
 

Keesha said:
Educate! Educate! Educate!
My parents made us eat properly and it became a good habit. When I was a child I used to envy my friends because they got to have junk cereal for breakfast along with fast foods. Their parents drove them to school.
Years later I was grateful my parents were so strick in this department because my friends did become obese and never lost the weight. They definitely got rediculed and made fun of as well as had major health issues stemming from their excess weight. Their children also became overweight since they weren’t good role models and their children too. It’s becoming an epidemic
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My mother also made sure we ate properly, too, and it's a habit I still have. We never had candy or sodas in the house, but she did make cakes for our birthdays, as well as the occasional pie. She cooked from scratch I'm grateful I was taught to eat a decent diet.
 
A couple of days ago, we went to one of the Great Granddaughters school to attend their Christmas show...it was kids from grades 1 through 4. It appeared that about half the kids were noticeably overweight. Then, scanning the audience, the majority of the parents were also carrying far more than normal weight. These were all younger people, and I strongly suspect that many of them will have substantial health issues as they grow older.

Life expectancy in the U.S. is starting to decline....mostly as a result of our populations bad lifestyle choices. On the other hand, medical expenses related to Obesity continue to climb, and now account for almost 1/3rd of our nations health care expenses. Apparently few people care about their overall health, anymore.
 
My kids,hubby and myself are all a bit over weight. My son more so. I always cooked healthy while they were growing up and a trip for fast food usually happened when we did a day trip. Our problem is quantity. We all seem to go back for seconds. A very hard habit to break.
 
Aunt Bea said:
IMO the couch is worse for kids than the pizza.

People were designed to move.
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Yup Gotta move

Had weight issues when sitting at a desk
Blossomed to 265 lbs
I could carry it, but felt slower
‘Diet’ is not in my vocabulary


When commencing to build the cabin, and then live out in the sticks, the weight melted off

At the beginning (265)
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Some time later (probably 230-240)
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Last spring (210)
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Now at 205
Plan to be at 180 this summer
Bottom line, if yer gonna eat like a horse, gotta work like a horse
 
Gary O, you look good!!!

My Mum was the best dessert cook ever. She spent all day Sunday cooking and baking desserts for the week. Apple pie, Trifle, Custard, Rhubarb pie, Cream puffs, Rice Pudding, Bread pudding, lemon meringue pie, mince pie, other stuff. All from scratch. She wasn't a healthy cook by any means, believed in mass quantities and our plates were always piled high. I learned later that because they lived through WWII, when everything was rationed, she overcompensated later in life, making sure there was an abundance of food for everyone to eat.

I always cooked healthily for the kids, when I could. Given the deadbeat that my husband was, we were often poor and so I just had to make the best choices I could in order to feed the family, often opting for quantity over quality. I had 4 growing boys, we'd easily go through a gallon of milk a day, two loaves of bread, and when I made meatloaf, even adding in oatmeal (instead of crackers..better consistency) to make it stretch farther, it took 5 pound of ground beef to feed everyone, and there were seldom leftovers! None of my kids are obese. One is somewhat overweight, Grayson is the addict in recovery now for 4 years, and he's compensated a bit with food. His life expectancy is still far greater now at 40 pounds overweight than he was in active addiction, so I'll take it!!!! But he's begun focusing on his health/weight now that he's solidly in recovery, dealt with all his legal issues and has a job that pays well with good future prospects. Other than him though, none of the other 4 kids are heavy.
 
My mother never put any desserts on the table. I grew up that way; dessert was not a way of life. My poor father had a sweet tooth however, but the lady next door baked and would send portions over for him. We never had soda in the house.

Once I started getting an allowance, I'd go with the other kids to the store for cokes, devil dogs and candies! Later, I did forget about sugar and had a treat just once in awhile.
 
Yes, right, he is a kid that is making bad choices. His parents are supposed to be teaching him not only how to eat better, but also how to make good choices. After all, life is all about making good choices.
 
Don't be a bully to a fat person. Unfortunitially some eating disorders are rooted in abuse. It could have nothing to do with what is fed to the kid or what is available. I remember watching an episode of My 600 Pound Life. The woman had an alcholic abusive father. Her only solice was sneaking into the kitchen to eat. She described her childhood as a "constant state of panic" This isn't survivable fully intact. There is a good Youtube video about the effects on the body of contant childhood abuse. The presenter states it as a repeated state of flight or flight which is a huge stressor on the body, mind psyche and soul.
 
This kid was me for most of my life. So, I have first hand experience living with a crummy self image. To say that being obese screwed up my life is not an exaggeration. Would I have been happier without all the weight? I dunno. Would my health be better NOW, without all that weight-damn right. Yet, I would have screamed bloody murder, if some do-gooder tried to interfere with me. So, how can I do that to someone else?
 
I started off about average sized.

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But then about age 8 I decided that I wanted to be fat. I guess it was an attention getting thing. But the kind of attention I got wasn't all that great. By the end of the 6th grade I was at about 160 lbs and getting tired of being called things like Fatso, and Tubby, etc. I think what really did it for me was in the 6th grade when we had to draw names and send people in our class Valentines. Mary Jo Howdeshell apparently got stuck with me. So she sent me this Valentine with a picture of an Elephant on it that read "I want you TUB be my Valentine." That was cold. She was a platinum blonde but she was really only average looking, but she was rich and thought she was hot stuff. Anyway here I am at about that time.

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So after that I decided to reinvent myself. After the 6th grade I would be going on the a new school. The Junior High. So there would be a lot of kids from other schools that didn't know me. So for that whole summer between the 6th and 7th grade I dieted like crazy and dropped 30 lbs. I also went through a growth spurt and gained about and inch or more in height. By the time I got well into junior high I had some new nicknames. One of them was " Skinny Man" another was " toothpick" which the hot high school girl that lived next door to us called me. That's me with her in this picture.

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Later on I filled out some. This is me at 185 lbs when I was in the Air Force stationed at Cam Rahn Bay.

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And this is me, about 7 years ago, at my current 215 lbs.

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Trade said:
Dayum Dude, that's some serious arm muscle you're sportin in that picture with the sledge hammer! :cool:
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Might be shading
I got enamored with a site called PhotoMania
Most everthing I had went into their paintbrush que
Thought some pics, mostly landscapes, looked kinda cool

Think I can find originals? Sheeesh

Anyway, here’s you in their paintbrush
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heh, yer shins now have the appearance you've been gardening on all fours

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When I see morbidly obese moms hauling their morbidly obese four and five year olds around the grocery store, with a cart full of junk food, the kids drinking cans of soda, I want to make a citizen's arrest. Yeah, I do think it's ok to get involved with correcting the ignorant actions of parents who are setting their kids up for a lifetime of poor health. I'm still in the minority, unfortunately, for those kids.
 
What an inspiring story Trade. I’m impressed that you had that much disapline to make those kinds of changes at that age. Good for you. It’ all starts with a decision and you made it.
Staying active is key. I can’t relate at all to a couch potato lifestyle. Life’s far too exciting to waste it away and staying fit gives prime opportunity to enjoy it all.
 
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