My Vegman now wants to weigh in every day because he sees us doing it.... Realizing this isn't a good habit as it can create other issues later in adult hood, we agreed to let him. But this is why!
When he started to have stomach troubles a couple years ago, he was loosing too much weight. So every few days we had to weigh him, and make sure he was doing OK.
We'd Celebrate when he gained a couple pounds.... Fast forward to now... I have to be careful because this is the age where he can become obsessed with weight for the rest of his life, and I don't want that. I want him feeling Healthy... not worried about the scale.
So we had a conversation.... It had items like this on the topic list:
We've never forced food. He eats when he is hungry and stops when he is full. He eats what he likes, and not what he doesn't. It actually amazes me, I wish I had learned to feel what my body needs. He has truly learned to trust what his body feels. The child will still turn down the best dessert of all time if he isn't hungry.
He'll eat 1/2 and put the rest away for later if he isn't hungry enough to finish it. If he feels the need for more protein he will ask for foods with that in it. Sometimes he will just grab fruits or veggies. When out to eat, he always orders what he is "feeling" like and not just what looks good. He AMAZES ME.... and I told him so!
He'll devour everything in site when he is hungry... But because almost all the food he eats is good food without any chemicals, preservatives, little processing and little refined sugar, also only lean proteins and good fats... His body is getting all it needs. And when he is in a growth spurt, it needs a lot... I let him eat what ever he wants, because what he chooses is all good.
He has engineered him self to run on the best fuel, and his body knows nothing less. It doesn't have to figure out how to remove that plastic derivative, or that man made dye, or how to turn all the fake sugars and other items in to fat because it doesn't know how to process them...
His body doesn't need to figure out how to process dairy that is made for a 4 stomach cow, when he only has one stomach. He doesn't have to DETOX ever, because he is totally detoxed and running efficiently. His bones have never been depleted of calcium from red meat. His body doesn't have to figure out how to remove the cancer causing agents in pesticides, hot dogs, and other processed foods. (and yes I know there are environmental toxins, but I'm just talking about the ones he can control)
So after discussing those things, I told him that the reason me and his Dad are now looking at the scale so much is because we had YEARS of filling our bodies with junk. The bad stuff that our bodies didn't know what to do with all turned to fat over time. And now that we have learned better, we are doing better.
With that, our bodies are thanking us and changing each day to a better running machine, making us healthier every day... They are becoming more efficient and our food is turning to energy instead of fat. We like to watch our progress via the scale or pant sizes. But he is already that way... he doesn't need to check progress.
If he wants to look at the scale he can, but we told him it should only be for curiosity, because he knows he doesn't want to loose weight. And gaining weight for him right now as he grows is a good thing. But not worth worrying or stressing over.
I explained that if he continues down this path of good food choices, that he shouldn't ever have to worry about the scale numbers, in his entire life. He will always be feeding his body what is required to run efficiently. And that he won't have any Yuck to get rid of, because he doesn't have any of it in his body.
So I'm not sure if he will stay this way once leaving the nest, but at least he has a foundation of what being healthy feels like. Maybe the scale will be his friend in life instead of Foe! He thanked me for the discussion and said he learned a lot :-) And didn't ask to check the scale tonight.... Think we are on the right track with that boy... Maybe just Maybe!!
I am so happy he understood ... very important as we know.
Posted by: NEE NEE | February 05, 2010 at 05:28 PM