Busting Loose

This is difficult for me to write, as I struggled with a weight problem as an adolescent.

One of my sons was getting dressed this morning in his concert clothes, which he hasn't worn in a while. White button down shirt, black slacks, tie. First thing wrong is that he hadn't tried them on, say, a week ago, to give me enough time to shop if needed. Sigh. Anyway, there was only one pair of slacks in the entire house that had fit before (size 16 husky, with the length taken up) and he couldn't find them at 6:30AM. There was also one shirt, and one shirt only, in a husky size, that fit. Once both items were located, they just about fit, but he was busting out of them in the belly area. Looks awful, of course, but at least he was able to attend the concert.

This is a kid who's plenty active, with soccer and basketball and hockey. He just loves to eat. Anything. Not only junk; he does enjoy salads and other healthy foods. For an eleven year old he's off the weight charts. Though tall for his age, he's still in the 99+ weight percentile for his height. We work with him for healthy balance of both food and portions, which he usually accepts with no complaint, but as he grows taller he continues to have the huge gut. He must be cheating somewhere but we're not (and can't be) the food police. He's getting to the age where he has to manage his own behavior.

What can a parent do? Hope the light bulb comes on someday? I ate for emotional reasons, and only stopped abusing my body when I was a college student and was tired of sticking out like a sore thumb in a sea of young shapely females. BUT...even though I have maintained my weight since age 19, apart from the three pregnancies, I still feel like there is a fat person trying to get out of my body and I have to keep her locked up carefully. This is powerful stuff. Quite unlike the alcoholic, smoker, speed freak, heroin addict, etc. who can abstain totally -- every day there is food, and we must decide what to do about it...sometimes on an hourly basis...and there is also the issue of how many calories to drink. I may die of cancer because of my aspartame consumption from diet drinks; who's to say? A balancing act all the time.

We will continue to support our son emotionally and pray that he finds a stronger motivation to get healthy, sooner rather than later. Along with many similar parental struggles. As my grandma used to say, patience and fortitude.