People always complain that they regain all of the weight they lost while dieting after the diet is over. This is a very common problem. Most people don’t understand why they regain the weight. The answer, as usual, is very simple. They stopped. They stopped watching what they ate. They stopped paying attention to calorie content and portion size. And, they stopped exercising.
People assume there is an ‘end’ to the diet. Most people think that once they reach their goal weight, the diet is over. They believe they can now resume their normal eating and exercise habits and keep their new body. But the normal eating and exercise habits are what resulted in the extra weight in the first place. If you repeat habits that created a problem, the problem will reappear.
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Having a child who is overweight can be an emotional matter. You may fear for your child’s health. You may fear for your child’s social acceptance. You may also fear for your child’s self acceptance. These are all issues with which an overweight child may struggle. You want to help your child reach a healthy weight. But you don’t want your child to incorrectly assume your interest in his/her weight is based on appearance as opposed to health reasons. Perhaps you wonder if you could cause your child to develop an unhealthy body image or eating disorder by addressing his/her weight. So how do you help your child without hurting your child’s emotional wellbeing?
Weight is a sensitive matter for adults. How could we expect it to be any less sensitive of an issue in our children who are just developing a sense of who they are? Because of the sensitive nature of the issue, you should handle it in a caring and compassionate manner.
· Be careful of how you address the issue to your child. Be aware of the wording you use when discussing weight. Avoid using words that you would find offensive or hurtful if addressed to you. Try using phrases like ‘healthy diet’, ‘healthy eating’, and ’healthy lifestyle’.
· Do not single out your overweight child. Provide the same snack or meal to each person you are serving. When you are serving more than one person you do not want to single out an overweight child by serving them a separate ‘healthier’ snack or meal. Junk food is unhealthy for all children and adults regardless of weight so feed them all the same food.
· Do not feed your child fast foods or high calorie drinks like soda. These foods have no nutritional value and instill terrible diet habits in your child. A child who is fed a healthy diet from a young age will be more likely to maintain a healthy diet as an adult. Fast food will only worsen your child’s weight issues.
· Physical activity is extremely important. It is important to help children develop healthy life habits as early as possible. Everyone needs physical activity to become or remain healthy. Encourage physical activities. You do not even have to reference the child’s weight. As with the food, all people regardless of weight need physical activity to be healthy. Try doing something physical with your child, like bike riding, hiking, or even playing a few games of tag.
Losing weight doesn’t have to be the priority with an overweight child. Just preventing additional weight gain could eventually lead to your child growing into his/her weight. By teaching your child to eat health and stay active you will be giving your child the tools he/she needs to live a health life at any weight.
Lawmakers in some states are considering drafting legislation to prevent children under the age of 18 from drinking energy drinks. Since some companies selling energy drinks are targeting children with their advertisements, legislators have become increasingly concerned over the adverse health effects of the energy drinks on children. The health concerns include insomnia, addiction to caffeine, and the impact on the child’s future habits.
Caffeine causes insomnia and disrupts sleep. It takes at least six hours to burn off the caffeine in half a cup of coffee. Drinking an energy drink is equivalent to drinking one or more cups of coffee. Children drinking an energy drink later in the day will have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Sleep is essential for healthy children and for building healthy habits.
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Everything important in life that you hope to accomplish requires you to set goals. Goals provide the motivation to develop a plan and stimulate action. Once you know what it is you hope to achieve you are then able to figure out what it will take for you to get there. To be successful in reaching your goals you must make sure you set realistic, viable goals. Setting goals beyond your capabilities will only lead to disappointment and self recrimination.
Setting realistic and viable goals is the only way you can hope to achieve success. If you set a goal that is impossible for you to accomplish then you are wasting your own time and setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Take for example a situation where a person has an upcoming high school reunion a mere four weeks away. This person decides she wants to lose 60 pounds before the reunion to impress everyone. Losing 60lbs in four weeks is an impractical goal. Even with ideal circumstances, the possibility would be grim that she could lose this amount of weight in such a short period.
Instead of choosing a goal that would require herculean efforts, choose a goal that is more realistic for your circumstances. Using the example above, that person should break down the amount of weight loss per week that is feasible. If she doesn’t work and can (and will) dedicate two hours a day to exercise, then perhaps fifteen pounds per week isn’t unattainable. But if she works or has other time consuming responsibilities that would interfere with an exercise schedule that grueling, then she should set a more realistic goal. Five to seven pounds a week is an ambitious undertaking. But it is feasible with dedication.
To lose five pounds each week, a person would need to burn more than 17,500 calories each week. High intensity cardio workouts every day, weight lifting at least twice a week and a strict nutritional eating schedule would be necessary. With dedication (and time) this is possible. If you cannot adhere to this type of schedule, than adjust your goals according to a schedule you know you are capable of following. A more modest goal could increase your likelihood of success and prevent disappointment. Failure to attain a goal sometimes leads to self-esteem issues. Setting a realistic goal will prevent you from blaming yourself for failing to accomplish something that just wasn’t feasible within your constraints of time and resources.
