Ghostwriters International

I expect many of you have already reacted with an Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! I want to encourage you to read on and see what you do really affects your children and their children.

Are you obese or overweight? Do you know what that really means and how it will affect you? If you are obese you increase your rate of dying from an illness related to your weight goes from 7% to 75%. You are also teaching your children or grandchildren the same lessons you are following which led you to be obese or overweight.

Years ago I watched a programme on Oprah about anorexia in children. It was an amazing programme which really all adults who are on a diet should be made to watch. Why? Because it had many, many lessons to teach. One of the mother’s that was on the programme had asked if she could tell her story. Her 4 year old you read that correct, her 4 year old was already an anorexic. How did it happen? The simple answer was she copied her mother.

Her mother said she hadn’t realised how much notice her daughter had been taking of what she had been saying and doing with food. It is interesting to see that the mother was overweight not anorexic. The mother said she would say I can’t eat this or I have to avoid that food. She would say if I eat too much I will get fat. She went through the stages of anger when she jumped on the scale to find she had gained a pound. These are all the things a person dieting does and thinks.

But the little girl saw it differently, if mommy can’t eat that because it makes her fat then neither can I eat it. If mommy is sad because of her weight maybe she would be sad if I gained weight. If mommy thinks she is ugly because of her weight then I will be ugly if I gain weight. If people only love mommy when she is thin then they will only love me when I am thin.

Now on the other side we were watching a program from Australia which is trying to get people to lose weight. They have people who are obese and look at their current diet (eating habits) and fitness and then give them different tasks to do.

Recently they had a mother and son on the program. Both were obese, the son was 16. Both had to keep a food diary and it was interesting to see that both ended up with 90% of the diet coming from dairy. The father had no weight problem and didn’t eat dairy very much. He also exercised whereas mother and son didn’t. They didn’t even take the dog for a walk which is a great way to get exercise done. If you have a dog then you have zero excuse for not doing exercise. You dog needs exercise and so do you. Get out and walk with the dog.

A video diary was also made of both the mother and son and it was interesting to watch what they did. The son ate secretly and did some of the thing he had watched his mother do. Drinking the milk straight out of the container was one.

When the mother was shown the video she was shocked that her son was eating and doing what she had also been doing. She thought he only ate what she gave him to eat. She had no idea he had become a secret eater.

In tears the mother said she had taught her son really well. She had taught him all the bad habits she had with food. She had taught him how to eat in secret. She had taught him to eat mainly dairy and avoid fruit and vegetables. The only vegetables they ate were a lettuce a week between them and a couple of tomatoes were the only fruit. She said she had no idea he had been watching and had copied her. Indeed he had learnt his lessons well.

They might not have been good lessons but they were lessons all the same. Both had medical problems related to their diet. The son (remember he was 16) had high cholesterol and the doctor told him it was likely he would have a heart attack within 5 years as he was already showing signs of heart disease.

The lessons were literally killing her son. And the same is true for all overweight and obese people. Their children or grandchildren will watch and learn. You might think you are doing something in secret but the reality is that you have been found out. If you have medical problems then it is likely you will pass them onto your kids.

You might say your problems are genetic, I would say it is highly unlikely. Very few medical problems related to food are genetic. What is true is if your parents had heart problems, diabetes, high cholesterol, and certain cancers which were caused through eating the wrong diet then if you are following the same diet you will “of course” have the same medical issues. Then you kids if they follow will also have the same issues. It isn’t genetic but copying the same bad habits.

What happened to this mother and son? They changed their habits and were followed for 8 weeks. They were given an eating plan which meant they didn’t eat so much dairy, they ate smaller meals. They exercised. Both lost weight. The son ended with far lower cholesterol and the signs of heart disease were already reversed. He was no longer a candidate for a heart attack and that was in an 8 week period.

You see most of the medical conditions related to health are reversible. Give yourself and your child the gift of life by making good choices and see many of your medical problems starting to be reverse.

Bev Clement 

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