From John, Child's Age 10 - 11/26/02 - IP#: 64.213.175.xxx  Click here to reply  
I know it's been over a month, but I wanted to reply to what some kids had asked about Amanda after I shared about her progress.First, Tyler noticed that 300 lbs is too much for a 10 year old. He's absolutely right. It's not something that happens overnight. As a parent you want your child to be as happy as possible and Amanda was happiest when she was eating. But the time came when Amanda saw for herself that she was too big so when she told me it became important to me that I help her.Ray Ray and sammy asked how Amanda lost 20 lbs. Well first, that wasn't overnight either. It took over 6 months to get her down to 280. It wasn't straight downhill either. Sometimes she didn't lose any weight for a couple days and sometimes she gained some (like after a day of really bad teasing at school). The main thing is to not think you failed just because you aren't losing weight all the time.The two things to lose weight are eat less/better and exercise more. I tell Amanda when she is eating too much and when she eats the wrong things. Food and drink with alot of sugar aren't good. I try to make sure she gets meat, vegetables and some fruit.Exercise is really important too. Probably the most important. Amanda doesn't like to play outside so normally she doesn't get any exercise. And with her weight it is very hard to do things like sports or other exercises. So I help her with her exercises.Even if your parents aren't helping you, there are always things you can do no matter how heavy you are. You can sit in a chair and just lift your legs and arms until they are tired. If you always exercise just a little bit past when you are tired then you will keep getting stronger and be able to do more every time.It's been a month now and Amanda is still at 280. But this isn't bad and I make sure sure knows she isn't failing just because she's not losing weight. She hasn't gained any weight back and that's the most important thing. But even if she does gain weight back, it won't make her a failure. Losing weight can be very hard. The important thing is to keep at it. It's not all about weight. It's about health.