<![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea? - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea? - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> What good is it going to do these kids if they get home and their parents let them go right back to whatever unhealthy lifestyle was exacerbating their problem in the first place? Sure, something might work at camp, but unless mom and dad go to camp, too, when they go home it's going to be very hard to keep whatever good habits or skills they've developed. I'm not trying to blame the parents, but if there's something the kids need to learn to change their lifestyles, the parents are going to have to at least learn ABOUT it, too.

Sunflowercat

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @laurafin - You are wrong. You are making the assumption that because you personally have been able to loose 50lbs and keep it off, that everyone can. HAHAHAHA! I can sing Soprano, can you? No? Hmmmm. Maybe you aren't trying hard enough.
And the very fact that loosing the weight for you "wasn't that hard" means that you didn't have to work as hard as some others do to loose it.
Also are you telling me that 98% of people are too lazy or screwed up to follow a diet, because that's the percentage of diets that fail. I blame the diet, you blame the people, either way 98% of us can't seem to loose weight by dieting. Your in the 2% that can. Golf clap. I'm in the 20% of women that don't have HPV. Doesn't mean I go around praising myself for it.

vivelafat:That's good Synchro!

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Baby, I'm bad news.: Give me one good reason why "good ol' fashioned exercise and eating right" doesn't work in losing weight or fighting obesity?

I once met an overweight woman who told me she'd "Do anything, simply anything to lose weight!" I said to her, "Oh really? Would you give up your car to lose weight?" And she said, "Well... no." and I said, "Well, that wouldn't be anything then."

If losing weight is as important as all this gob about it might lead me to believe it is to you ladies, why is the fact that it's "not easy" keep you from doing it?

Why doesn't changing your lifestyle through diet and exercise work? It's not the diet that's not working, it's the people on it.

Over the past 8 years I've lost 50 pounds and kept it off. Wasn't that hard, hell most of the time I've had fun doing it, trying new sports, making new foods, leaving behind the attitude I had that led me to believe nothing I did could change it.

This "diets don't work" talk is all hooey. Dedication and perspective to the importance of being healthy is all people need.

laurafin

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> First of all, hi, I'm Glaven, a 36 year-old mother of one who is size 20, hypothyroid, and has PCOS. Plus exercise-induced asthma, just as a nice kicker.
I've also done three sprint-length triathlons (1999, 2003, 2004, fell pregnant while training to do 2005) and have been eating low-carb (mostly) since 2003. I have a squat rack in my garage, and I use it, and I'm posting right now from my treadmill desk while I walk 1.3 mph. So if you think I'm sitting around making whiny excuses for my weight while I suck down bonbons, you can lick my salty underside.

Regarding hypothyroidism: If you have reason to suspect a thyroid problem, please request the doctor to check:

- TSH
- Free T4
- Free T3

Most docs go with the 'normal' range that the lab provides, but for most women, TSH shouldn't be much over 2. When mine was 6 I was in unbelievably bad shape - depressed, bloated, short of breath, sleeping all the time.
T3 I could write about 17 pages about so I'll stop now.

Glaven

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Statistics say that 95 to 98% of diets fail. A full 3/4 of the people who loose more than 25lbs gain it back and then more over a period of 5 years. Do the math. And before someone starts spewing "lifestyle change", if you are changing your eating habit(which some people need to do for health reason, ie diabetics), for whatever reason, that is a diet.
There are many legitimate health problems, such as PCOS, that can make weight loss difficult, and to perpetuate the myth that fat people do nothing but eat baby flavored donuts and sit on the couch is dangerous. A person can absolutely be 500+ pounds and eat no more then anyone else.
Bad parenting has little to do with it, and genetics everything.

vivelafat:That's good Synchro!

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Klein's little comment, "It doesn't matter why I'm fat. Let's fix it" -

Um, it does matter. There is no easy fix for obesity or weight gain.. not trendy dieting, not good ol' fashioned exercise and eating right, and not medical intervention. Even bariatric surgery isn't going to "fix it" unless you start dealing with the issues that surrounding why you over-eat or make poor food choices. You can exercise 6 days a week, eat balanced meals, but still find yourself gorging on sweets in the middle of the night and then killing yourself on the treadmill the next day to make up for it.

Don't get me wrong.. I'm healthy but I've struggled with my weight too. I work out 5 times a week and have to be conscientious of making good food choices all the time, so I understand.. but it seems like Klein's aversion to "fatnalysis" is just her not wanting to be accountable for her successes/failures when it comes to her weight. If you're not willing to own up to why you're battling your weight, you're not ready to make long-term changes. And if you're not accountable for the fact that you over-eat when you're sad, or bored, or whatever your damage is - then you can always just disregard every failed attempt as, "Oh, well that's crap - no wonder it didn't work! It's the diet's/doctor's/facility's/trainer's/etc. fault, not mine!"

Baby, I'm bad news.

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katekate: Yes, BED (Binge Eating Disorder) is in the DSM IV-R

HarlemRose

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @goldengirl11: Never mind! I figured it out...see?!

Buttersemmel

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @goldengirl11: Eek! Sorry. You know, after I signed up with the name "GoldenGirl", I decided I wanted to change it in homage to my favorite Golden Girl, Dorothy Zbornak. But I couldn't figure out how to change my username! If you can help me, I'll gladly surrender the GoldenGirl name to you.

Buttersemmel

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> The quick fix approach of this place sets the kids up to fail. No one keeps off weight that they lose rapidly. If you weigh 500 lbs, your weight will be a life-long struggle, but our society and especially our medical establishment want a four month cure.

nardo218

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @theloudcorral: Yeah, this is because people think that once they lose the weight, the it's "mission accomplished," and they can go back to their old ways and everything will be a-ok. I can make an analogy to a certain war right now, but it's one AM and I am very tired.

I was at a weight watchers meeting a few months ago, and someone was joking how meetings were like AA but with food. To an extent she was wrong - you're not supposed to give up anything completely (if you want to, it's your choice, though), but maintaining after a weight loss is a continual process. It's not like I can never enjoy cheesecake or Doritos ever again, but I know that I can only enjoy them every so often: I can't go back to the habits I had before I lost weight. So for me, it's a continuous process to maintain a more healthy lifestyle. It's worked out for me thus far - but I can see that it isn't that hard to fall off the proverbial wagon...

That_little_attention_whore

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> When I was working as a camp counselor, I once had an extremely overweight girl in my group. She was the sweetest kid you could ever hope to meet, always played sports with the other kids when the opportunity arose, and would continually make self-deprecating comments about her weight and being "ugly". She was, like, nine.

Sure, the sedentary lifestyle most people now lead is unhealthy, and on average people weigh more than they useful, but I really believe that some people are just, well - fat. Maybe a bit fatter than they would have been without all the junk food, but still.

I'd rather see a kid learn to accept her fat body (especially when she is active, etc.) than be sent away to boot camp to lose the weight.

Doriane

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @themontmorency: Yup, because junk food and soda are the only things that get you fat. Olive oil and Camembert are fat-free.

The "fat people are fat because they eat Twinkies and guzzle soda, the heathens" thing is old, and it's all over this thread.

Meanmllemustard

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I'm a definetly plus size girl. I'm not obese, mostly its because I'm very short. I've always struggled with my weight and I've always had emotional issues as a result. When I was in 6th grade two kids wrote in my yearbook "try running this summer, fatty" and "lose weight" (well, actually he wrote 'loss wait'" For the first month of that summer I attended a camp called Camp Kingsmont. It was a not-so-pleasant experience for me. I was humiliated to even be going, I was harassed by the other girls, and felt more pressure than I ever have. Also, the campers and the counselors seemed more preoccupied with sex than with losing weight. I remember feeling like my family was rejecting me because I was too fat for them. Recently, six years later, my mother and I talked about it for the first time. She says its one of her biggest regrets and she just wanted me to escape what happened at school. I understand that coming from her side now but at the time it was much more harm than good.

ELovejoy925

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @pinkyBella: @ I am a Nutritionist and I couldn't agree more. After a certain point there are other issues than "I'm just hungry".

denises_24

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @GoldenGirl: Whoooa not cool Miss "I've been a member since May 2008"!! I mean...welcome, welcome!

I don't know why people are fat, (as in, why can't they just stop eating so much and move more) and why I can't even lose 20 pounds. I can't imagine losing hundreds. But, I would think that there might be more efficient ways to spend $6k a month, where you could do it "in home" so it seemed more like a part of life. I mean, if you had a trainer 4x a week, went to a nutritionist once a week, got food delivered as someone else mentioned, maybe saw a therapist every other week, that would be like $2000-$3000. You could spend the rest on the mortgage, or a college fund or something.

Maybe I wouldn't be practical if I had a child with serious health problems though either....

goldengirl11

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @R-Star: I'm so far from judgemental about the matter because I'm about 40 pounds overweight myself.

The reason I am overweight is because I eat too much. I am more than happy to tell people this as I stuff a chocolate eclair in my mouth. Being able to eat almost anything I want is worth the trade-off for me.

But - I can't go to work, school, a family party, or a bachelorette party without everyone blaming everything under the sun for their own weight problems.

Hott_Riot

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> as a mother i can say, it starts from the beginning. its not like once they turn 12 or 13 and get some independence to go to the mall with their friends and such they gain 100 pounds a year. these are the kids whose houses are filled with unhealthy foods and there is a lack of activity.

these parents could have prevented it a long time ago. my kids know that junk food is only for special occasions and drinking soda is about 3 times a year. once they get older, they arent suddenly going to change the eating habits theyve been taught their whole lives because their meals are not longer controlled by mom.

themontmorency

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @DalaiMama: I did this one time with a tactless doc. Feel free to use. After a particularly vicious diatribe on how all women needed antidepressants to keep them from getting angry (this is on NYC's grand UES), I looked dead at him and said, "I guess when you were in med school client-side manner was an elective?"

@NewsBunny: *nodnod*
[fathealth.wordpress.com]

@blackbirdfly: "Whatever I have isn't showing up in the standard blood tests but I thought I read somewhere that sometimes thyroid problems do not show up in bloodwork."

This is true. If you're having problems with the test, ask for a different test. (There is more than one. There is one for TSH, one for T4, one for T3 ...) If your doctor gives you snark, see another doctor.

P.S. It is because paying your cell phone bill is not necessarily hip and cool. Danz lessunz. I wantz them.

@somnambulent: "But the torture in my head never stopped, no matter what weight I was at."

I think this is what a lot of us here are trying to underscore.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @somnambulent: I didn't mean to appear unsympathetic to the needs of an anorexic or bullimic.

My point was, they tend to get more sympathy than do the overweight, who tend to get scorned and humiliated. That's been my experience.

NewsBunny

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NewsBunny: Of course, but the internal "spitting on" a severe anoretic or bulimic go through can be just as severe as the external. I have been on both ends of the spectrum (severely under and over weight), and yes, I got tortured as a teen because I was overweight. Which is probably one of the reasons I ended up extremely underweight years later. But the torture in my head never stopped, no matter what weight I was at.

And, whether it's accurate or not, going from being called a "fat bitch" to a "bulimic headcase" to a "anorexic whore" in the span of 10 years can take its toll on a person. Not everyone romanticizes the underweight. Some just plain loathe them, and don't try to hide it.

somnambulent

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> This is so utterly upsetting. Upsetting and necessary. And Upsetting because it is necessary.

Removing yourself from the habits is one key... but then so is sincere desire to make change, and the successful reintegration of the self into society.

I just saw the Dhamma Brothers film [www.dhammabrothers.com] and through the use of meditation they saw a decrease of 40% in recivitism, because they changed the way they thought about the world.
I think cooking classes, and fitness understanding, and wholistic methods may be a godsend, but I think these things are run as fat-warehouses, full of limited "results oriented" programming... instead of "health, wellbeing and good habit forming oriented programming"

haptotrope

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> As a parent, you have the opportunity from day one to teach your kid about healthy enjoyment of food (everything in moderation, fresh not processed, no weird issues about calling yourself or others "fat") and I get the feeling the parents of a 500+ pound kid might have been remiss on that for a while. It seem like the fat camp may be humiliating and is looking for a quick fix to a problem you helped create or ignored over time. If my kid is getting exercise, fresh air and a variety of healthy foods, and she's still overweight, I would hope I wouldn't shame her - there are all different body types. And I just can't picture a world in which I would let her sit in front of the TV or computer for hours on end eating junk food. Yes they have autonomy at that age, but if they were taught good habits and have healthy relationships with people and food, they'll go through their junk food rebellion but they'll eventually come back around.

teapartys_over

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @goodcheapfun: It's funny that you mentioned that. Just the other day I was looking at photos from the Met Costume Gala and I saw one of Julia Roberts and noticed how much larger she looked than all the other women there. Not fatter, that's not what I'm saying at all -- she just seemed bigger, thicker, larger, than everyone else in a dress.

Well, a few days later, I was in New York City, walking down the street, and saw this really lovely woman walking my way. She looked pretty, and normal, about MY size, actually. And then I realized...it was JULIA ROBERTS! She looked completely proportional and normal, not emaciated, just normal. Which made me think, how TINY must those other women in the photos have been to make Julia Roberts seem BIG in comparison? And THAT'S what I'm trying to attain? I don't know if that's humanly possible...

Buttersemmel

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NewsBunny: Thanks. Whatever I have isn't showing up in the standard blood tests but I thought I read somewhere that sometimes thyroid problems do not show up in bloodwork. That's why I was asking.

@Rooo sez BISH PLZ: Hell yes. "Miss You Much" is the one I remember the best. Can't remember to pay my cell phone bill, but can remember a dance I taught myself in 1992.

blackbirdfly

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @GoldenGirl: "Doesn't every woman have some part of their body they'd like to change? Or is that just my warped idea of womanhood?"

Yes, but it's fueled by a youth/skinny obsessed culture. It's certainly not healthy. I think that being morbidly obese is most likely due to food addiction and being overweight generally due to poor habits but we are not given many "role models" in the media who are "average" (i.e. not perfectly skinny). I am bigger then you and I have lost weight since gaining weight after baby #2. I know I would like to weigh 140 (pre-baby weight). If I could run 4 miles a day I would be thrilled (just to actually have the time to do it).

goodcheapfun

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I was an overweight teenager and what kicked me into changing my lifestyle and losing the weight and keeping it off was the shame I felt when a doctor told me I'd caused myself to become overweight.

I changed countries and put myself entirely out of my environment and learned that there's more to life than the shit I shove down my gullet.

Those kids could learn more heading off to a third world country than to an overpriced fat camp. Weight loss is a pleasant side effect in learning about the world outside the comfort foods of home.

laurafin

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @clevernamehere: I'm going to take the quiz right now.

And, while this doesn't make the fast any more of a reasonable thing to do, I didn't do it to lose weight...I did it as a stupid detox thing with my European roommate when I was studying abroad in college. Although I have to admit I was of course pleasantly surprised when I lost the 10 pounds.

Buttersemmel

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @DalaiMama: I also have a funny story like that. My friend and I were planning to go backpacking in Spain one summer in college; I probably weighted 140 at the time and she was a bit heavier than I was. We went to REI and started looking at the backpacks designed for women. But then the piece of shit salesman swooped down on us and steered us over to the men's backpack section, his reason being that we were "big girls" and didn't need the packs designed for women.

What the hell?! We were both stunned. I felt like crying. We made a joke out of it (and still do, years later), but I know that it REALLY stung us both.

Buttersemmel

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @GoldenGirl: Did you take the quiz I posted?

Yes, every woman (and man) has some body part(s) they'd like to change, but not everyone feels "When I'm retaining water or sense that I'm gaining weight, I feel out of control and miserable: I feel unlovable!" That's really, really unhealthy. I'd love to lose 5-10 pounds, but it would never occur to me to fast for a week to do it.

clevernamehere

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @R-Star: fair enough.

SmallbutMighty

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @DalaiMama: I'm SPEECHLESS.

NewsBunny

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NewsBunny:
Oh, that fink MD! Why are there so many asshats in medicine?
When I was 12, and probably totally normal looking for a girl entering puberty, I nervously told my (male) doc during a physical I wanted to go on a diet. He should have acted astonished and said "Diet? What for?" Instead, he handed me a 1200 calorie a day diet outline and said "Well, you can try this, but you're always going to have chunky thighs."
I still think about hunting him down.

DalaiMama

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Rooo sez BISH PLZ: Yeah, no kidding. It's just frustrating to reach that "goal" (however warped it may be), only to recognize that it can only be maintained through STARVATION.

Buttersemmel

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @GoldenGirl:
that sounds like a normal weight/height ratio to me. if you can run that far, you probably have great muscle tone. don't get so down on yourself.

distractionfaction

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @clevernamehere: @rednrowdy: Yeah, I know, my pattern of thinking isn't exactly healthy. I know that technically my weight is normal, but I think I have some kind of body dysmorphic disorder as a holdover from when I was younger and I WAS overweight (about 160 pounds -- not morbidly obese, but yes, still overweight). I see pictures of myself as chubby kid and teenager and can't seem to understand that I don't weigh that much anymore.

Doesn't every woman have some part of their body they'd like to change? Or is that just my warped idea of womanhood?

Buttersemmel

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Pristine: ... and Sisyphus laughed...

Sukie in the Graveyard

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @DalaiMama:
Hah - looking at my two juxtaposed posts - apparently I am hypnotized after all.
Screw it. I look beautiful just as I am.

DalaiMama

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Okay parents, when you have an overweight toddler when do you think it's time to fucking step in and change what is in your fridge BEFORE these shitty habits become addictions? Why bankrupt yourself when you can be a good example for your kid, keep them active and keep the shitty food to a minimum from the get go?

goodcheapfun

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @DalaiMama: You're right; I wrote that very, very, very badly.

I'll see your bad medical pro, and up you one: The first endocrinologist I saw, after I presented him with my exercise and food charts going back three months, told me he didn't even have to look at them and all I needed to do was go on the 'eat half' diet and eat half of whatever was on my plate.

A patient should not leave a doctor's office crying.

My Levoxyl is up to 225, and we're still not at a good metabolism level. Other issues have been ruled out -- it's Ms. Thyroid at work here. My new doctor, who is also a researcher, got this look of 'oooh! A living experiment!' in his eyes. He's very excited.

NewsBunny

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @GoldenGirl:
I so empathize with what you're saying - do we share DNA? I'm a few inches shorter than you, at a totally normal and healthy weight for my height, but at 43 my metabolism has downshifted and I put on about five pounds a year now, for the last two years. I'm very active and eat well. I'm ridiculously attached to how tight my waistband feels. I've given up the scale for that reason. Bet you dollars to doughnuts 12 months from now all I'll want is to get BACK to the weight I am right now.

DalaiMama

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NewsBunny:
I thought I was told that hypothyroidism (which I have) is not always accompanied by Hashimoto's, though mine is.
Once I went to a regular doctor (instead of an endo) for a blood test. The nurse came in, looked at my chart, said "you're hypothyroid? why aren't you fat?" then essentially said something like "well you aren't now, but you will be."
Way to hypnotize a poor 20-something girl into believing hypothyroidism automatically means unavoidable weight gain. I'm 43 now, keeping on the synthroid, at a normal weight.

DalaiMama

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: MD? Ah. Operating under the assumptions that
1) the medical establishment knows all and is never wrong, and
2) the medical establishment shares everything it knows with its clients/patients.

If I've learned anything from going to doctors (allopathic orientation), it's that they are so afraid of their malpractice rates going up that if you don't ask EXACTLY the right questions using PRECISELY the right terminology, you will NEVER be able to fix what is wrong with you based on the information they offer you.

Never.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @GoldenGirl: You are at a perfectly healthy weight. I really doubt your inability to lose 5-10 pounds has anythi8ng to do with a slow metabolism.

Someone with a slow metabolism eats perfectly and exercises, but can't get below 200 at 5'5".

I am not trying to be a bitch, but if your happiness hinges on a weight fluctuation of 5-10 pounds you need therapy. I used to do intake calls at an ED clinic and that's what lots of people used to call in and say.

I think it would be a good idea for you to take this quiz and regardless of what is says, consider therapy.
[www.something-fishy.org]

clevernamehere

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @GoldenGirl: "I DID lose those glorious ten pounds once, and that was after FASTING for a week. Obviously that can't be sustained. So gain the weight back, I did!"

Girlfriend.

I am NOT snarking. (Unduly.)

But what do you think this is telling you?

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @GoldenGirl: your second paragraph speaks volumes about how self-image and weight are marketed to women in our society. let me be the first to say that as much as i try to stay positive about the way i look and take pride in my appearance, i have dreams about what it would be like to weigh 135 pounds...even if it's just for a day. and to be able to run 4 to 6 miles a day?! that's another fantasy for me, too.

rednrowdy

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @MaeHemm: That's what I hate though. Don't see me as a person for umpteen years and then go O HAI I MUST PAW U NAO

Can. Not. Stand.

Push them off, though? Then you're the b*tch.

Grrrrr ....

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katekate: It's already there as binge eating disorder: [www.edreferral.com]

magic1

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I also have a maddeningly slow metabolism. I run anywhere between 4 and 6 miles a day, and, while I don't count calories, I don't eat shitty junk or fast food. I cook for myself and eat reasonably. But I cannot lose weight. Granted, I'm not obese...I'm 5'5" and weight about 135, but I've always wanted to lose 5 or 10 pounds and simply cannot do it. Actually, I take that back...I DID lose those glorious ten pounds once, and that was after FASTING for a week. Obviously that can't be sustained. So gain the weight back, I did!

The other thing that bugs me - and now I'm going off on a tangent - is that my happiness truly hinges on losing these 5 or 10 pounds. If I "feel lighter" one morning, or if my pants feel looser, I feel absolutely triumphant, happy, invincible. When I'm retaining water or sense that I'm gaining weight, I feel out of control and miserable: I feel unlovable! I've never been anorexic or bulimic, but I can understand how their lives become chaotic when they're unable to manage their food intake. Eating - or not eating - is truly a way to reward and punish ourselves. Reward and punish for what, I don't know...

Buttersemmel

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Rooo sez BISH PLZ: LOL.

I try to be philosophical about it. Everyone has different tastes. Some people are attracted to fat women, some aren't.

Most people who actually knew me were always nice. The only diffence is that they just now realized I'm a woman.."OH heyyyyy, you have boobs!"

MaeHemm

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Pristine:
The joke u r doin it wrong.

redheadedstepchild

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @blackbirdfly:

It is a simple blood test.

But go a good endocrinologist find the best hospital in your area, and see if they have a thyroid center.

I've been through five endocrinologists in five years. Seriously. None of them believed that I'm eating well, exercising, and STILL having terrible trouble losing weight. And sleeping 12 hours a day. And experiencing foggy throught processes. And...oh, the naughty thyroid's sense of trouble goes on and on.

My current one is awesome, and only does underactive thyroids.

But Look hard, and research harder. If you're thyroid is messed up, it's a big deal.

And for google purposes: An UNDERactive thyroid is usually caused by Hashimoto's Disease; OVERactive is GRAVE'S Disease.

NewsBunny

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @blackbirdfly: Squee! Can we start with "Miss You Much"? I always get the hands wrong and end up smacking myself in the face.

Or maybe "Scream"! Can that be done without dislocated knees if you were not born a Jackson?

"Someday, people, this knowledge is going to come in handy. Mark my words."

Well that was the whole point of Rhythm Nation. All People, Dancing As One. Janet has always been ahead of her time.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Anyone else reminded of the South Park episode where Cartman goes to Fat Camp?

joellevand

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Rooo sez BISH PLZ: See it. It is very, very awesome. Co-written by Judd Apatow. One of his better movies to my notion. :)

[www.imdb.com]

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NewsBunny: You are rockstarre. I toss you beeg keess.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Rooo sez BISH PLZ: Okay, I actually know almost all of the dances from the Rhythm Nation videos because I recorded them and rewound and played for weeks until I taught them to myself.

I can teach you!

Oh, the dance in the "Thriller" video too.

Someday, people, this knowledge is going to come in handy. Mark my words.

blackbirdfly

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @MaeHemm: "I'm constantly amazed at how nice people are to me."

Haaaaaaate those people. HAAAAAAAAATE them.

Might you have any advice for the boys who pounce upon you in droves but couldn't be bothered to say "boo" 30 pounds ago when you all were in high school/early college? Other than stabbity stabbity stab?

Because that's just antisocial, and I've been struggling for YEARS to come up with another response.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Can Jezebel invite Kate from Shapely Prose for a guest post? Like the Racialicious crossover. Jezebel is pretty bad when it comes to fat acceptance discourse.

thew

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @angryblackgurl: Delicate Question time: I have some friends who are larger, and they complain that people bump into them all the time. I tried to explain it may not be because folks are just being "mean to the fatties" (their words, not mine) and that I sometimes might bump into someone who's larger because I underestimate how much room I might need to pass. It's not mean. I don't do it on purpose. I'm just the kind of chick who walks into door jambs for goodness sakes!

So don't you think sometimes, it's just an accident?

ceejeemcbeegee

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @blackbirdfly: It's a simple blood test after fasting. They can let you know the results in a couple of days.

AllanaSmithee

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @blackbirdfly: Heh. Self Control Nation 1814.

Is there a dance that goes with that? I'm still trying to learn to run over my chair via "Pleasure Principle".

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Hott_Riot: Eh, I don't entirely blame my genetics for my big fat butt, but it definitely plays a part. There's GOT to be a reason that my skinny-minnie rail of a sister can eat whatever and not really worry about gaining weight, while I usually nosh less than 1,500 cals a day, exercise more than she does, and still weigh well over 200 lb.

Not to mention that there's GOT to be a reason that my normal weighted friends can eat healthfully like I do but maybe have a few beers and a couple hot dogs at a ball game on the weekend and NOT gain 5 lb overnight, but that is what would happen to me if I did the same. It's not just about lounging in front of the TV, body chemistry is complicated. :)

The reason gastric bypass is "poof" you're thin, is that it physically forces the body to starve. GB recipients need to take supplements to keep their nourishment up, it's not a natural state. It saves some people's lives, I'm not against it, but a normal person could not eat as little as GB patients eat.

RedBeansAndRiceDidMissHer

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @sheistolerable: Yes, I saw that too and I was totally confused. I honestly think they posted the wrong pictures or something because according to the caption it was supposed to be her as a child and as an adult, and she looked to be the same age in both pictures. And she looked thin in both pictures.

layladylan

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Hott_Riot: Gastric bypass isn't just about shrinking the stomach, it also involves shortening the intestines, which means that calories aren't absorbed the same way that they are in a normal body. If you are absorbing substantially fewer calories, you will lose weight, even if you have metabolism issues. Gastric bypass patients have to take loads of vitamin supplements as well, for the same reason.
I've never known anyone who has said that they are simply big boned, and that causes their morbid obesity, although medication could certainly be an issue. It could be, however, that maybe the people you know who are morbidly obese have chosen not to talk to you about the real reason they have a weight problem, as you come across as a bit judgmental about the issue. When you're fat, you're constantly caught in a trap...you don't want anyone to talk about your size, but if someone is going to, you want to bring it up first. I realized I lost weight when people were willing to make fat jokes in front of me. Pretty sick.

R-Star

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katekate: NO! Sorry. I'm a little dark cloud of negativity today.

To be honest, a lot of it was probably the self-hate that I projected that people responded to. I'm a lot happier now.

MaeHemm

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Pristine: I was going to say something about that, but I thought it was some reference to satire in a movie I hadn't seen and I was therefore both unhip and humorless.

Sisyphicarus.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @blackbirdfly: They can, but sometimes standardized tests aren't sufficiently sensitive. Plus they're mucking around with the standards all the time. (I think "optimal" blood sugar, for example, was lowered from 26 to somewhere around 22 mg/dll, sometime in the 90s, and how they're messing around with hb1Ac standars.)

Maybe go see Dr. Weil.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @MaeHemm: Now I'm all, "People hate me and I just don't know it!"

katekate is squared isn't scared of you, Walnuts

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @MaeHemm: I guess I just don't think about how it affects how people perceive me. If I did, I am pretty sure I'd go fucking crazy (or maybe lose weight?).

katekate is squared isn't scared of you, Walnuts

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @ceejeemcbeegee (AKA!): It's the new Janet Jackson album!

blackbirdfly

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @DalaiMama: Thanks. Yes, those are my symptoms. Also, sweating. A LOT of sweating. I'm hot all the damn time. It's driving me nuts.

blackbirdfly

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @paintedglasshouse: "maybe I'm oversimplfying it in thinking that's what they need."

Yeah.

Maybe.

There's this new thing, high fructose corn syrup. It apparently affects metabolism adversely. Scientists are still researching the variants by gene. Maybe you've heard of it.

Metabolism, I mean.

*sigh*

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katekate: The thing is, with the exception of street harrassment and blatant name-calling, I never thought any other negativity was due to my weight. It was only after I lost the weight that I realized how badly people treated me.

I'm constantly amazed at how nice people are to me.

MaeHemm

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @blackbirdfly:
It's a simple bloodtest. I think the level they test for is called TSH. I'm hypothyroid (underactive thyroid), have been for 15 years, and get tested every year to have my thyroxin dose adjusted. Hyperthyroid is overactive - the symptons are weight loss, hair loss, racing heart, and sometimes hair loss. Hypothyroid symptoms are weight gain and sluggishness.

DalaiMama

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @fifilaru: "Gastric bypass is the only weight loss method that has long term success."

So you're not familiar with Randy Jackson, judge on American Idol.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @sheistolerable: I saw those. I was very confused.

R-Star

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @paintedglasshouse: Yeah, you are oversimplifying it.

katekate is squared isn't scared of you, Walnuts

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Hott_Riot: No one I know blames glands, bones, or medication. Not many people I know who are overweight make excuses about it, but they constantly are made to defend themselves.

boring diatribes

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @somnambulent: @somnambulent:

Here's the difference. Extreme thinness is romantacized, even looked up to our society.

The fat kids are spit on. In many cases, literally. It's not the same. There's a big difference, at least emotionally.

NewsBunny

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @paintedglasshouse: You "exercised some self control"? Is that a new workout video?

ceejeemcbeegee

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @somnambulent: @kai1984: Yes, it sounds very similar to the ED unit that I was put in for medical reasons. Lining up in a hospital gown twice a day getting weighed with your back to your scale, living in a room with the door open, and being observed for an hour after meals. It was horrifying.

And, obviously, underweight people are treated differently than overweight people, which is why no one would hesitate to throw an anorexic teenager into treatment, or be afraid to judge someone for being too skinny. It's all an ED to me.

ladyD

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I've never understood how people can blame being morbidly obese on their glands, their bones, their medication, etc. and then go get gastric bypass surgery and - poof! - they get thin.

Doesn't that blow the whole "gland problem/big boned/medication" thing right out of the water?

If shrinking your stomach down to nothing makes you lose all the weight, then overeating really WAS the problem. I think the only way to lose weight and keep it off IS to find out why you're overeating.

Hott_Riot

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Did anyone peep the pictures of Stephanie Klein on Newsweek, when she was allegedly "an overweight child" and "a healthy adult?"

Wearing the same bikini in both, she looks EXACTLY THE SAME, and beautiful and healthy in both. Wait five years for the memoir of body dysmorphic disorder . . .

sheistolerable

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @MaeHemm: It's a weird thing... I have been very overweight my whole life, but have rarely felt anyone was being nasty to me because of it. I gather I'm extremely lucky.

katekate is squared isn't scared of you, Walnuts

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Something else I thought of on my rain-soaked bike ride home (grumble):

I know I've heard (forgive me that I can't cite where) that low-income kids and teens are more likely to have problems with their weight because of the cost of healthy food vs. the cost of processed, bad-for-you stuff.

So in that way, it just doesn't seem like something like this is a feasible step to make a real difference.

katekate is squared isn't scared of you, Walnuts

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> What is it with people speculating about how commenters would react to a posting on the opposite problem all the damn time? Who cares what people would say if the question was about sending too-skinnies away instead of too-fats? Are we so desperate to appear the victims of injustice that we're starting to make shit up to be offended by?

I really enjoyed Klein's quote where she says she doesn't give a shit why she's fat, she wants to learn how to change her habits. It's true that knowledge of self can only take you so far, in your FACE Socrates. Sometimes understanding the underlying reasons does nothing but make you aware of your underlying reasons.

lisas

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @MaeHemm: I am amazed at how people can be so cruel, getting on the subway and taking up almost two seats was humilating. Even though this country is "supposedly" getting bigger size wise, I do not see any more compassion being trickled down to those with weight problems. Look at the reactions to Whitney winning ANTM, sad society we live when it comes to being overweight, or underweight.

angryblackgurl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Ok i understand genetics and how SOMETIMES they play a role in weight but I truly believe it is how they are raised now adays. Why is America so DAMN FAT? I'm a mom of 3 kids, 11, 12 and 13. They wonder why I do not let them sit for hours in front of a tv or computer. They get desserts a couple times of week at most after dinner.

I do not force them to exercise or force athletic sports on them, but I do expect them just to DO SOMETHING. I do not calorie count to them or let them calorie count to themselves, but try to teach them what is good to eat and that desserts or sweets are ok now and then.

p.s. I myself am about 40#over weight but was skin and bones as a kid

Officeholic

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: Awe thanks, however, I can't have either of those things, how about some grilled zucchini instead?

katieb: in charge of the war on the poor.

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: Hahahahahhahaa...you don't have to do that. This is just a touchy subject for me.

Also, your avatar always makes me laugh.

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Cutting Makes You Sexy: really? Colfax? I'm assuming you mean the area closer to Aurora and not near my beloved alma mater, ci?

THE hoi polloi

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> This would work fantastically for me. After 1 month of paying 6K I would then be too poor to buy gas for my car or anything but dry lentils and rice for the rest of the year. It's the poverty weight loss plan!

femalemathmajor

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @blackbirdfly: My doctor has always done a blood test.

NOLA girl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> As much as I feel for these kids, I have to look at the criticisms logically. For starters, MOST camps have some type of gate around the grounds. Having attended an overnight camp every summer since I was 7 all around Southern California, I cannot recall one that didn't have a fence at least around the areas that lead to roads or other places with easy outside access. Fences don't just keep people IN: they keep folks OUT, too. I'm sure they've had instances where people would try to sneak IN food to their kids.

Secondly, if one weighs over 300 lbs, a standard bathroom scale or even a hospital scale won't measure the weight accurately, because most of them don't go that high. A meat scale would be an appropriate alternative. They use one on the Biggest Loser.

Now for the bad: Are they being weighed in front of the other campers? Because THAT'S the humiliating part. However, if you are at "fat camp" the fact that you are overweight isn't a big secret.

I am all for these kinds of camps IF they tackle the underlying issues regarding the weight gain. A child doesn't gain 500 lbs just because he's greedy or lazy or because he has bad parents. Something else is going on. Just like anorexia and bulimia, overeating is merely the symptom of a greater psychological/emotional issue.

Now about the parents: What would yall suggest they should have done? How do you teach the importance of healthy eating without being focused on "not being fat". Having taught state-approved "healthy eating" units to my students, it is damn hard to help kids distinguish from the two, esp. since we equate "health" with "weight" in this country. Not that they don't have a correlation. I'm talking about our belief that someone like Queen Latifah, who will never be skinny, can also never be healthy.

ceejeemcbeegee

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Pristine: Dude. I was quoting Heavy Weights.

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Lady Skittlehattington: I'm totally sticking to the political posts from now on!

NOLA girl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> This is sort of a threadjack, and I apologize, but I have a question regarding thyroid issues for those of you who've been tested for that. Can a blood test detect thyroid problems or are there other tests specifically for that? I think I might have hyperthyroidism. Anyone know anything about the testing? Thanks.

blackbirdfly

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I actually don't think the cost is crazy if they are supervised by medical staff (exercise physiologist, nurse practitioner, nutritionist). That stuff adds up, as well it should. And no, this kind of treatment, even if done in a clinic on an out-patient basis, is rarely covered by insurance.

At 500 pounds, something needs to be done. This kind of environment can allow kids to practice the skills they need to manage their weight while still protecting their self-esteem. For example, kids may think they're eating healthy because they're eating a salad, but they'll eat it with an entire box of croutons. In this environment, they can practice making healthy choices without the teasing.

But you're all right; it's almost always related to a family issue. They're testing out the effectiveness of whole family-interventions now.

HappyHappyJoyJoy

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Lady Skittlehattington: Regarding the Icarus reference...Icarus flew too close to the sun despite the warnings from his father and the wax wings he was using to fly melted. Sisyphus constantly rolls the ball up the hill, only to have it roll back down.

The only reason I really know this is because I reference the latter all. the. time.

Pristine

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katieb: No worries. Would you like some of my yummy dried fruit or maybe some homemade pita chips? :)

NOLA girl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: No worries. You just have no idea how many times this issue has come up on Jezebel, and how many times people respond, "Eat less, exercise more." And I always have to come in and say, "Now just a minute here..." because I work my butt off. And I'm actually kind of fine with my body at this point. But it still needs to be said that everyone is different.

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> ***Here's a question: Anyone can lose weight when they're taken out of their usual environment. How can you be sure a camp or "therapeutic school" is going to work long term? And is it worth bankruptcy to find out?***

The exact same thing and question can be posed of rehab. As many people have stated, it will not work unless the person GENUINELY wants to and is READY, emotionally, mentally and otherwise, to make the change.

LaComtesse

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: We're cool, I also apologize for being all jumpy(I was going to make a joke about how I'm cranky b/c I'm hungry, but those are just as bad as the 'you must be PMSing jokes').

katieb: in charge of the war on the poor.

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: @Lady Skittlehattington:

Yup.

I have a low metabolism. I don't lose weight unless I starve myself.

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @angryblackgurl: I went through the same damn thing. It really messed with my head.

When I was really big (350lbs+) people were so nasty to me. I thought "That's just how people are...they suck". Now that I'm an average weight it's shocking to notice the difference. If I smile at somebody on the street, THEY SMILE BACK!!! I still can't get over it.

I'm trying not to be bitter.

MaeHemm

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @boring diatribes: Keep up the hard work, your insides are better, and that's the important part!

katieb: in charge of the war on the poor.

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katieb: The "eat less, move more" quote came from my former MD father-in-law, but point taken. And again, I apologize.

NOLA girl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @SmallbutMighty: Shit happens, and you make excuses. I had some terrible things happen to me, and I dealt with it by eating. I never weighed myself, and if I was weighed at the doctor the nurse just quietly wrote down the number. If I saw it, I convinced myself later that I had read it incorrectly. The last weight I remember seeing was 278 lbs, but I was probably at 300 at some point. I knew I was fat, but no one ever said anything to me or talked to me about my health or how I was coping with everything that had gone wrong in my life. I made excuses for myself, and just kept buying bigger clothing. I know it seems absurd, but it's amazing all the ways you can delude yourself. Now, over 100 pounds lighter, I can acknowledge the difference in pictures, but when I look in the mirror I see the same body from before. Again, it's all about delusion.

R-Star

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Lady Skittlehattington: @katieb: I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to offend and my comment was poorly stated. Have y'all had your thyroid levels tested?

NOLA girl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Lady Skittlehattington: Thank you, unless you're a doctor - shut it.

katieb: in charge of the war on the poor.

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> The show that Shaq did last year was a great example of the parents' role in their child's weight loss. As I remember it, the kid who had the most success had parents who stayed on him to exercise and follow the rules, and followed the dietician's advice for making their family meals healthier. The kids who did not succeed had parents who continued to buy junk food for themselves and the rest of the family and gave in when the kid wanted to quit.

Parents willing to go the route of this boarding school must feel truly helpless, either because they cannot change themselves/their own habits enough to make the kid's life healthier, or because nothing they have done has worked.

Thunderpants

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: It's actually not as tough as I remembered it being. I enjoy the feeling of eating healthy and exercising (rather than not eating which was a solution I dabbled in during my youth), but it sucks when you don't see the results based on all the changes. It makes me feel like my body is just inevitably going to be this way which is sooo depressing. Metabolism be damned.

boring diatribes

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @paintedglasshouse: No, you're NOT an expert, and yes, you ARE oversimplifying. You =/= the universe.

nellicat

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I also want to add that by 15 I had a regular job (albeit illegally). Before that I worked as a babysitter or doing odd jobs around the neighborhood.

MaeHemm

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: Mine too. My doctor is constantly testing my thyroid.

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> ever so ofter i remember how last summer, for an amazing month or so, i weighed about 118 pounds. (i'm 5'6). glorious, right? well, here's why: i spent a month in africa (great diet tip, girls: go to a developing country!) and climbed mount kilimanjaro. every time i get down on myself on how i've gained fifteen pounds since then, i just remember how much serious work it was and look at my body much more realistically.

southernbitch

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: Nope, weight loss is different for everybody. I'll spend a month never going a drop over 1300 calories and walking 3 miles a day and I won't lose a pound. That just doesn't work for me.
I'm lucky that I found a diet I could stick with, I'm unlucky in that I hit a wall and what I was doing doesn't work anymore. I haven't gained anything but I still have a lot to lose and now it just got even harder.

katieb: in charge of the war on the poor.

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I was put on my first diet at age 4. I was always a fat kid. The few times I managed to diet down to a normal weight I was constantly reminded "be careful! You don't want to get fat again!" I always got fat again.

My allowance at fifteen was about $10 a week. You can buy a lot of candy with $10, but that's besides the point. I got fat on healthy food. My mother cooked everything. If there were cookies or sweets in the house (rarely) they were homemade. I always found a way to eat more than I should have.

I never bought the "we're just worried about your health" b.s. because I was healthy. Never had any health problems and in fact got sick the least of all my siblings.

There were definately emotional issues that helped me get to over 300 pounds by the time I left for college at 18. My parents and my family were the main cause of those issues. I lost 70 pounds freshman year, without even trying.

I've recently lost a lot of weight as an adult. I dread going home to visit (I moved far, far away). Partly because I know I'll gain at least 5 pounds, and partly because my family cares way too much about my weight.

MaeHemm

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Kilotwat: I hope you don't end up with a worstie for that, because it was hilarious.

kelsium

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katieb: Exactly! Preach it, sister!

People need to stop generalizing and START listening and understanding that food, food addiction, and weight is a different situation for everyone.

Why is it so easy for people to understand that some people can eat anything and metabolize it? And so difficult to understand that some people can't?

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Lady Skittlehattington: My metabolism sucks too. Thyroid issues run in the family. I knew I wasn't going to state what I meant clearly. I meant to say that the theory is simple (and all the weight loss gimmicks are bunk) but that reality is anything but simple.
Trust. I'm counting every calorie and exercising at the moment and it is TOUGH!

NOLA girl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @fifilaru: Diets don't work, but changing the way you live can. I think it's dangerous to look at gastric bypass as the default for permanent weight loss. First of all, it doesn't necessarily lead to permanent weight loss. I worked with a woman who had gastric bypass surgery, but I didn't realize it because she'd gained almost all the weight back. Different doctors handle the surgery in different ways, and some require therapy and meetings with a dietitian. But others don't, and old habits die hard, and stomachs stretch. However, gastric bypass is also dangerous. It's a major surgery, and I had a close family friend who died as a result of complications. Any surgery on someone who is morbidly obese has increased risk for complications, so I think it's a mistake to look to gastric bypass as the only possible solution. That's especially true when we're talking about children who perhaps don't have habits as deeply ingrained as adults.

R-Star

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @somnambulent: Exactly. Especially when you consider how/why so many people develop their destructive eating behaviors in the first place...a 538 lb teenager Probably wasn't raised by extremely health conscious parents. I hate to generalize b/c I personally had trouble "blaming" anyone for my anorexia and bulimia (my doctors sometimes seemed desperate for a logical connection between my family life and my ED...maybe b/c that would make it easier for them to "figure me out")...but SO many girls had such horrendous family lives that taking them away from that environment and really focusing on treatment free from other stresses was key. It's obviously not an optimal way of spending your teenage summers/vacations/school yrs but if the disorder is that serious, it's absolutely necessary IMO.

kai1984

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @NOLAgirl: NOT if you have a low metabolism. Like I do. I exercise every morning and eat healthy. And yet my weight yo-yos constantly because of my metabolism.

Lady Skittlehattington

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katieb: Yeah I feel ya. I've always been overweight as well. It's hard now that I'm trying to change my lifestyle, knowing that it just doesn't come off when I want to. I can eat perfectly and exercise every day (which I have been doing for months now), and still, my body clings to what it's used to. Mostly, though, I wish everyone would stop characterizing what it means when you're fat--the vast generalizations annoy me most. Everyone has a combination of reasons why their bodies are the way they are and the assumptions that are made about me every day because of my size are often dismissed by my friends, but I'm not paranoid--most people have one idea about what it means when someone is fat.

boring diatribes

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I'm not any expert on weightloss or anything, but when I was sick of being fat, I just exercised some self control, maybe I'm oversimplfying it in thinking that's what they need.

paintedglasshouse

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> I don't believe people should go into debt to send their children away to fat camp theuropeutic boarding schools but no one can tell me that it's healthy for a 15 year old to be that heavy. If it isn't related to a medical condition I don't see why it wouldn't be helpful to send them to a place where they could learn about why they need to eat a certain junk food everyday. I think it could open their eyes to see that maybe some of them channel emotions through eating when there are other ways. I think the author had a bad experience and of course so did other people but I think there are others who were helped by places like these so to completely discredit their methods is pointless.

Also if your weight is such that you can't stand at a normal scale, you need to know that before it begins to affect your health. I didn't like being weighed in ms/hs either because everyone thought I was anorexic and would try to see what size clothes I wore and ask me about my weight as well as pick me up, mind you these weren't my friends. Every spectrum of weight has humiliating aspects. I also agree that if this was an ED like anorexia or bulemia, sending them to a place where they delved into feelings about why these people dono't eat would not be set in such a negative light.

dummyfakeroller

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katieb: I think the thing is that the way to lose weight IS easy. Eat less, move more. The problem, of course, is that executing those two steps can be VERY, VERY hard.

NOLA girl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> Parents need to stop thinking they're so helpless and can't control things like this. When I was 10 and couldn't control how much sugar I had, mom literally did not ever let me eat sugar for two years. She cooked healthy Italian/Greek/Cuban food, and if anyone didn't like it, that's their problem and they gotta learn to cook for themselves.

We're sort of having a similar problem with my brother, except he's very lanky and needs to stop eating shit food so he can start gaining muscle. It's extremely hard, for either case, but it's your child and if you have the money, you control what they eat. End of story.

TheGarlicSong

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Kajj: It's probably not the right approach to take with everyone. But I know a lot of people get accused of being "anorexic", when they are simply underweight, or have disordered eating. Since Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa have pretty strict clinical definitions (and treatment can be covered by insurance), the screening process for ED treatment centers are much more rigorous than for a facility like this. Since this seems to be an out-of-pocket expense, I'm sure that some kids (with over-worried parents) get in there who don't have an issue with their weight (in a psychological sense).

somnambulent

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @Kilotwat: OMG! You are so right on.

"My self-hate. Let me show u it."

ForeverBlueGirl

]]> <![CDATA[Is Sending A Fat Teenager Away From Home A Good Idea?]]> @katekate: I totally agree, as a fat teen, and a fat adult not one person can imagine the humilation that you must endure from the non fat world. I had the gastric bypass after being nearly 400lbs 5 years ago, and immediately switched addictions(that is an entirely different story). But what hur