Twitter Question of the Week

Fridays at Secrets of a Former Fat Girl is Twitter Question of the Week day, and I want to hear from YOU! There is so much we can learn from one another, and this is a great place to show us your sparkle!

Want to join in? Just follow me on Twitter, and watch for the Twitter Question of the Week (posted by 8am CST on the previous Wednesday). All replies received via Twitter or Facebook by 10am on Friday will get posted with a link back to you!

Childhood Obesity - who's at fault? How do we fix it?

  • Tigerlilly says: Society... and parents, of course. Turn off t.v.'s, teach them how to eat healthy and get them out to do activities! DUH!!

  • Melissa says: In the words of Jillian Michael's...We all need to cop to our own Sh-t and get the job done. Yes it is our own faults...There yes are many factors, schools, fast food etc etc etc...Those also though are all EXCUSES that CAN be overcome. If we teach and our guide our children in the right direction then we can give them a good foundation on which to live and grow.

  • Betsy says: Parents for not being proactive in their children's health, buying unhealthy food, and letting their kids sit in front of the tv for hours instead of being active. Even schools need to provide healthier school lunches and require physical education. Parents need to step up and set good examples. Quit buying fast food and junk food. Sign the ... Read Morefamily up for a gym membership at a local gym. Or get their kids involved in extra curricular activities. If the parents are committed to taking care of themselves, naturally the children will follow.

  • Jim says: Parents, for allowing their kids to get sucked into society. After 18, it's each person's responsibility.

  • Amanda says: I think parents are at fault. I think we need more education to on fitness and diet for young and old to solve the problem

  • Lauren says: personally I think the parent is, until the kid reaches an age of bring able to purchae their own food. A Parent is a teacher


Seems like a common theme is that parents need to do more to teach their children healthy habits. Here's my answer:

  • I agree with everyone here - up until a child is able to fend for themselves, it is their parents' responsibility to teach them a healthy lifestyle. Much of that can be by setting an example for them to follow. Parents, be active, eat a diet in moderation, and avoid excess.

    Now - at what point, though, does "childhood" end and the person becomes responsible for themselves? I for one, was overweight (vs obese) as a child. My parents, immigrants to the US) did everything they could to teach us what they knew. My mom kept an eye on my weight, and my dad coached my soccer team for many years in order to get me more active and lose weight "naturally".

    However, I learned at an early age to turn to food for comfort and eat food in secret. I'm sure some can say my parents were tied into that, but I don't blame them for that. I do hold them at fault for holding me to an almost impossibly high standard of success & excellence (being the first person in both sides of my family to be born in the US). But I chose to turn to food, my parents didn't force me to do that.

    We could probably debate this forever, but all I know is that I will do everything in my power to teach my children how to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. Just as I teach them our family values and morals, teach them about finances and saving money, teach them about responsibility and integrity ... I will teach them that they are strong enough to face whatever challenges that come before them, without the aid of food (or alcohol or drugs), they have everything they need deep inside them to overcome it and succeed.




Well, this week has been an absolute whirlwind. I joined Weight Watchers with my BFF on Tuesday night, and was absolute correct about my nutrition - I am not eating enough, not even taking my activity points or weekly allowance into consideration. It feels like I'm eating a TON of food now, we'll see how it affects my weigh-in next week!

My legs stopped aching on Wednesday, and I went back to my personal training workouts on Thursday.

Thursday's workout was pretty brutal, but soooo good:

5 min warm-up on elliptical

A1: Wall squats with stability ball and 15 lb dumbbell
A2: Overhead lats while lying down on bench with 12 lb dumbells
A3: Captain chair crunches
A4: Leg curl and hip up combo
* Repeat this circuit 3 times

B1: Pushups
B2: Upright rows on cable machine, 45 lbs
B3: Crunches on dyna disc
B4: Lunges and overhead shoulder press on functional trainer
* Repeat this circuit 3 times

Today's (Friday) workout with TrainerGirl was a yoga workout and it was exactly what I needed to get rid of the rest of the tightness in my muscles.

Other than that, things have been intensely busy - things at work are absolutely insane (even more so than usual) and my stress level is through the roof. My energy level has also been low, but duh - I did run a half-marathon less than a week ago :)

And thank you all so much for your kind words on my half-marathon post-race report! I'm officially registered for the 2010 Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half-Marathon, and am 99% sure I'll attempt the Banco Popular Chicago Half-Marathon next month with my friend Megan. She's a major runner though, so I'm worried about holding her back (she promised to stick with me for the course). The course is completely different too, but I do love downtown Chicago, so that will fun ...

Anyway ... I hope everyone is doing well! I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on!

xo,


"Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children, than the unlived lives of the parents." Carl Jung

2 comments:

Marcelle said...

I never had a weight problem till later in my life, as a kid I danced and played sport at school so was very active...my children did the same, played sport and my girls danced, so none have struggled with their weight so far.
I have no idea why some kids do and some dont...I think each situation is very different.

Cant wait to see what happens to you now that you are on WW...

iampalegreen said...

I obviously agree with the parents since I told you that, but I was overweight as a child too and my parents did everything they could to help me. Not to say I'm an exception to the rule, but I was overweight due to medical reasons. I think when there is one child out of several that is obese there are probably underlying reasons. If the parents themselves are obese as well as the kids, well then...there you have it. Ok..enough.

Woo Hoo for Weight Watchers! I can't wait to see how you do. Already my first week I lost 3.6 pounds. Go me! Portion control was a major issue for me, so hopefully I'll be knocking off those pounds in no time.

Copyright © 2009 - Secrets of a Former Fat Girl - is proudly powered by Blogger