Message Replying To

From Shannon, Age 12

Ht. 5'1", Wt. 146 - Hey everyone! I haven't been on in awhile, but I thought I would get on and tell everyone what I'm doing. Ok, so today I went to the doctor's for a physical. The nurse told me to take my shoes off so she could get my height and weight. I sat there eagerly waiting for her answer on my height. 5'1! Yes, I thought to myself, I grew an inch! Then came the weighing. I slowly got onto the scale, and looked down at my feet as she weighed me. 146. I had gained 4 pounds since my last physical. Then, I went into the exam room and waited for my doctor to come in. When she came in, a few mintues later, we started talking about my height and weight. She told I was 5th percintile in height, and 96th percintile in weight. She then asked me an unexpected question. "Do you care about your weight?" I just looked at her with my mouth open. "Of course I do. It's just..well nothing EVER works. I lose weight, then it comes right back. After awhile...you just get hopeless." Then she told that she knew it could be struggling, but think of the payoff. Then we started talking about how I should lose weight and all that stuff. And she said, I should have a lot of fiber. She recommended strawberries, bananas, and celery. Then she told me I should cut the sandwich I have at lunch in half and save the other hald for the next day. Also, she said to drink plenty of water. (which I already do) Well, then I just kind of snapped. This is what I said, "IT'S NOT FAIR! Here I am, always working my butt off, just to lose a pound or two, and then I see my friends eating 2 slices of pizza, a pretzel, and a can of soda everyday for lunch and they're still skinny! WHY ME?!" My doctor calmed me down and told me that their metabolism must be as fast as a cheetah. (which made me laugh a little) Then I told her I wanted to weigh 125lb. by the time school ended in June, that way, when I went to the beach in July, I could look good in my bathing suit. Then she told me, that the way my body is, I could probably lose 2-3lb. a month. So, that means that my weight goal would be realistic, so I got all excited. But then she surprised me by saying, even if I didn't lose a lot of weight, but maintained it, I could still look good, because I'm growing a lot and she said that within the next few months I'll probably grow AT LEAST 4 in. (so I would be 5'5) So with that in my mind, I went home and thought about what to do. And I came up with the perfect solution. Ok, well my 13th birthday is on New Year's Eve (which I love!), so I decided I would give myself a little present. See, my New Year's resolution/ present is: 1. To try to lose weight. and 2. Have fun TRYING and to be happy with myself even if I don't lose weight. So, I'm going to try it out, and if I lose weight, then great! But if I don't, I won't run myself down! I'll just have to remember, I'm still growing! - Shannon