This is Not Your Mothers Weight Loss Plan
Mothers seem to have the innate ability to tell us things when we are growing up that at the time we get annoyed by, but we realize later in our lives, they were right...
Our mothers told us that if we washed our hands,
ate our vegetables and spent more time playing outdoors that we would grow up to be healthy and happy adults someday. But did we always listen?
For many people, being concerned about losing weight started somewhere in our teen years as we put a few extra pounds on while going through puberty and trying to fit in with our peers. We wished we could lose weight to be part of the popular crowd and get invited to more parties. We wanted to find a date for the prom and we wanted to be considered “normal”. But it was a struggle because we didn’t want to listen to our mother when she told us it wasn’t a good idea to go back for seconds at mealtimes.
Today, there is so much more information about weight loss and what to do about it. While our mothers had the right intentions for us, they often had no understanding about what to do when a child became obese. They felt it was their fault for being a bad parent and this guilt often ended up being carried by the overweight child, which only added to their weight problems when they became adults.
Weight issues have become a national obsession so much that there are loud commercials on television that promise weight loss miracles and cures that just don’t work. Everywhere you look, the media is promoting a new product or surgery that guarantees weight loss, but at a high personal and financial cost to those who suffer from obesity. People are told how they should look and if they don’t then they just couldn’t possibly have a good life or be happy in their oversized bodies. The world has become less tolerant of “imperfect” people it seems.
What does cause weight loss is eating a healthy diet, eating in moderation and getting plenty of regular exercise. A healthy diet means eating lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, balanced meals that include all the food groups, and not skipping meals. Then getting enough exercise so that the body is burning off more calories then it is taking in. Being able to take responsibility of our lives is part of being an adult. Sometimes it just takes time for grown ups to realize that they can lose the weight once they lose the guilt and start doing something about it.
So, if you think about it, this is not your mother’s diet plan, but she was right about so many things.
