Shrinking Sisters

My lean preteen: A work in progress

My son is 12, and so far he's winning the battle of the bulge.

But then again, the kid's been brainwashed since birth on healthy food and exercise. When he was a toddler, he would eat the smelliest, greenest baby food -- stuff that would make me gag from the smell. That was the chicken and broccoli baby food. Chicken and broccoli makes a fine meal but somehow when you puree it, eh, not so much.

He grew up loving tofu, broccoli, yogurt, cucumbers and exotic stuff like pickled ginger and calamari.

As I wheeled him through the grocery store, I pointed out the different fruits and veggies, told him the kids' yogurt had "paint" in it and made plain Cheerios sound like the coolest cereal in the store.

He's totally not a picky eater, save for the bitter broccoli rabe encounter where he pronounced that there was "something awful" in his pasta dish.

All that brainwashing? He completely bought into it.

He still eats healthfully, and if he wants ice cream or chips, he'll measure out a serving on the food scale.

Compared with some of his schoolmates, he's taller and leaner than a lot of them. But compared with the guys on his baseball team he's right in line, which seems to show that kids who have some sort of sports in their life have fewer weight issues.

There's no "bad food" or "good food" in our house (for the most part). There are only bad and good choices.

In "decriminalizing" food, I'm trying to not send him down the road that I've been traveling lo these many decades.

 

Looking at the gym from a kid's perspective

Hey -- I've been away from the blog a bit but that doesn't mean I was on my duff with the bonbons.

Oh no, fitness pals -- I've been chugging away at my Cleveland Clinic Non-Surgical Weight Loss Program and doing smashingly well. I haven't weighed in this week but in the first few weeks I'm down around 6 pounds, averaging an astounding (for me) 2 pounds a week. Just with diet and exercise -- no medical interventions needed.

I've been trying really hard to stick to the 1,200-calorie 30ish-30ish-30ish meal plan but I'm probably averaging closer to 1,300-1,400 calories.

I've been stepping up the exercise and am at at least three days a week of intense (sweaty) exercise but that needs to improve, too. As does my nighttime fridge foraging. Carrot and celery sticks are OK but not when they're enrobed in too much hummus.

But I have a new workout partner -- my 12-year-old son. He's finally old enough to join the gym so last week he had his first training session. I signed him up for three sessions because he might as well start things off on the right foot. I also signed up for three sessions with a trainer so we could work out side by side.

Here's the interesting thing I noticed about his gym experience: While many adults look at exercise as a necessary evil, he still looks at it as a fun activity. After our training session, we cooled down on the recumbent bikes. I set my bike on manual and pedaled along at a comfortable clip. He started that way but said to me "Hey, what's this hill climbing program?" and proceeded to push that button and push his limits.

Different mindset.

While I'm happy to cycle down to 100 bpm, he's cranking away at 135 bpm, bless his fit little heart. And the training room was no different. While he dutifully did his lunges and bicep curls on the resistance ball without a peep or grimace, I was on the other side of the room freaking out my trainer. "Are you OK?" she asked with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I just make funny faces and squeal when I work out."

Maybe it's because my son still has to answer to baseball coaches and P.E. teachers that he silently and dutifully worked out while I looked and sounded like Biggest Loser week one.

We're heading to the gym this afternoon, and my goal is to be as good an exerciser as my kid.

Burger King and 'Food Inc.' in the same day? Bad mommy!

My son had his first Little League game of the season, and while his team didn't win, they looked solid. My husband was umpiring another game so I told Little Slugger that we'd go to lunch after the game and that it was his choice.

He's 11 -- he chose Burger King.

Fine, whatever. We don't do fast food very often -- perhaps half a dozen times a year. So after our Whopper Jrs and fries (small), we got home and fired up iTunes because I wanted to rent the documentary Food, Inc. After 20 minutes my son was on the floor sobbing.

"I don't like animal cruelty!" he cried. Then he left the room.

I admit, the juxtaposition of a meaty burger and crispy fries with scenes of potato factories and "downer cows" was pretty jarring. It's certainly not the humorous activism of Super Size Me. But kids need to know how the sausage is made, literally and figuratively. He needs to know why I cringe and say no to cheap fast food (at least most of the time).

But will we never idle through a drive-through window again? Nope.

That's what got me into my big-butt predicament. There was a lot of finger pointing and "should you be eating that?" going on during my childhood, making the verboten seem all the sweeter and crispier and meatier. 

True story: I once came home to an after-school snack of thawed frozen rhubarb doused in Sweet 'n' Low.

(Try not to gag -- I did.)

My mom meant well -- she was only following doctor's orders. Those horrible, doctor-prescribed "reducing diets" would make anyone hate and resent food. And some of those genius snacks came from early copies of Weight Watchers magazine. Oven-baked canned mushrooms were "peanuts." White bread spread with boiled-down tomato juice and rubbery cheese was "pizza." Pureed green beans was "guacamole."

That wasn't food -- it was performance art. But it was the opposite end of the spectrum from the factory-farmed and produced garbage that we bought through the car window today.

Don't get me wrong, my son is not a slave to Madison Avenue. I've had healthy eating drilled into his brain since he was a Stonyfield Farm YoBaby-slurping tot. I told him the other yogurts had "paint" in them. He regularly reaches for fresh fruit and other whole, healthy foods.

I don't want him to ever eat a bowl of artificially sweetened rhubarb as long as he lives.

If wiper fluid looks like Kool-Aid, kids shouldn't be drinking either one

Just read an awful story about a daycare operator in Arkansas who surrendered her state license after 10 children in her care mistakenly drank windshield wiper fluid, thinking it was Kool-Aid.

According to The Associated Press story, only one child remained hospitalized Friday morning, after blood samples showed "measurable levels" of methanol, a highly toxic alcohol that can induce comas and cause blindness, officials said. The day care also provided the fluid for testing.

The wiper fluid was purchased at the same time as other supplies for the daycare center. The worker thought the brightly colored liquid was Kool-Aid and put the container in the refrigerator.

Bottom line: Serving a bunch of little kids bright blue or blue-green liquid, whether it be Kool-Aid or wiper fluid, is bad news. What's wrong with 100 percent juice or plain old water? Yes, Juicy Juice probably costs more than "blue drink" but you can water it down, which is what most pediatricians advise anyway. There's no reason to serve that sugary junk to our kids.

Fun & Fit as a Family is coming to Miami

South Beach Wine & Food Festival photo

If you live in South Florida, or plan to be in February, Fun & Fit as a Family at Jungle Island looks like it'll be a fun and educational healthy-living event for the whole gang.

The event, Feb. 21 and 22 at Jungle Island in Miami, is a mini-festival within the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. The kiddie fest is designed to show parents and children on how to adopt healthy eating habits and combat childhood obesity.

Among the big foodie names at the festival: Rachael Ray, Tyler Florence, Paula Deen and Guy Fieri, who will be working with kids and showing them how to make healthier food fun. Also on hand -- educational exhibits, healthy snacks, obstacle courses with prizes and exercise classes for parents and kids.

The cost is $20 per person per day. If you're interested, click HERE for more info.