Sad and Encouraging at the Same Time

John Hanson said:

It's encouraging because of what the kid did. It's sad because so
many kids are fat today. When I was in elementary school, a class
would have about 30 kids in it and there would always be one fat boy
and one fat girl but usually no more. You were really in trouble if
you had two fat kids of the same sex (I remember that happening one
year). Nowadays, most of them are too fat.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/10993783.htm

Posted on Mon, Feb. 28, 2005

Husky boy learned to change his habits

BY RHODA [censored]

Pioneer Press

Last Halloween, Joe Miller of Maplewood decided to do something about
his weight. At 4-foot-7, he weighed 115½ pounds. He wore size-14 husky
pants and extra-large shirts. He was 10. With the help of his mom, Joe
began to change his eating and exercise habits. Now, people don't
recognize him.

"Before, the only exercise I really got was in the summer when I
played outside and in gym at school. I had gym just two days a week.

"I started doing the treadmill six days a week at home. I would do
elevation. I would have speed changes. I would do it either in the
morning (before school) or at night if I didn't get it in.

"At first, it was hard. I had done it before, but it was still new to
me. As I went on, I didn't get tired as much.

"After Thanksgiving, I started doing BOSU, water fitness, volleyball
and a fun fitness cardio class at the YMCA in Woodbury. I did
basketball at the Maplewood Community Center and at my school.

"Before, I had big snacks at bedtime, a lot of chips at lunch, cookies
and stuff like french fries, chicken nuggets.

"Then, I started to change. I started having grilled chicken breasts,
sandwiches, fruit at restaurants. I started having Subway sandwiches
and half the fries. That used to be my worst fast-food restaurant.
Now, it's my favorite.

"When I first started, it was hard, but now those other foods are
enemies to me.

"At my Valentine's Day party at school, I had only two pieces of
candy. I gave away the rest. I kept a sucker-type thing, not
chocolate.

"I miss some of the foods I used to eat, but most of them I don't
really like now. I miss cake because my mom used to bake that a lot.
She does cakes only on birthdays now. Angel-food cake is really the
only cake my mom bakes now.

"What I do now is when my mom lays out little treats during the
holidays, I have one of those each day - Tootsie Rolls, gingersnap
cookies.

"I have lost 19 pounds, one pound away from my goal.

"Before I lost weight, some of my friends would tease me. When I went
to sleepovers, I wouldn't want to take off my shirt. I didn't want to
show how fat I was.

"The other kids have noticed a lot. People think I've grown, but
really I've just gotten skinnier.

"At baseball, I only used to make it to first and second. This year, I
think I'll be able to make it to third, if I have a good hit. In golf,
I'd have to let my mom and dad take my bag and take a cart most of the
time. Now, I carry my own bag.

"My dad says that I used to be chunky. Now, I'm hunky. My grandma and
grandpa say that when they see me, 'I'll be dust in the wind.

"I feel better. I feel healthier. I have more energy to do stuff."

Cool story. On the "sad" side, it makes you wonder what all those obese
kids will be like as adults. Like you, when I went to school, there were
very few fat kids. And yet, look at the obesity in our age group now. What
will today's youth look like in 30-40 years?
--
-Larry

Larry Hodges said:

Cool story. On the "sad" side, it makes you wonder what all those obese
kids will be like as adults. Like you, when I went to school, there were
very few fat kids. And yet, look at the obesity in our age group now. What
will today's youth look like in 30-40 years?

Skeletons.

--
Jock

Larry Hodges said:

Cool story. On the "sad" side, it makes you wonder what all those

obese

Quoted message said:

kids will be like as adults. Like you, when I went to school, there

were

Quoted message said:

very few fat kids. And yet, look at the obesity in our age group

now. What

Quoted message said:

will today's youth look like in 30-40 years?

There is some hope. I was not the REALLY fat kid in class, but the
definitely overweight one. People don't believe that I could ever be
fat now, and they don't believe that I could be wimpy.

L

In article <[email hidden]>,

John Hanson said:

It's encouraging because of what the kid did. It's sad because so
many kids are fat today. When I was in elementary school, a class
would have about 30 kids in it and there would always be one fat boy
and one fat girl

And she was always named Wendy.

--
Will Brink @ http://www.brinkzone.com/

Will Brink said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

John Hanson said:

It's encouraging because of what the kid did. It's sad because so
many kids are fat today. When I was in elementary school, a class
would have about 30 kids in it and there would always be one fat boy
and one fat girl

And she was always named Wendy.

Stuff her, she can fight her own battles!!

"Larry Hodges" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Cool story. On the "sad" side, it makes you wonder what all those obese
kids will be like as adults. Like you, when I went to school, there were
very few fat kids. And yet, look at the obesity in our age group now.
What will today's youth look like in 30-40 years?
--
-Larry

We have a kid who my wife and I have been mentoring since he was about 8 or
9, and he's 15 now. Basically, no father figure, mom who can barely speak
English struggling to make ends meet, older brother in and out of jail, 17
year old sister with 2 kids. He's a real good kid, he wants to do well, and
we help him out as best we can. He comes and visits us for the weekend about
once a month and spends a lot of time with us in the summer. He's got some
medical problems and the medication he was on had kept him thin. They
changed him up and all his bad eating habits from home have caught up with
him. A couple summers ago he was about 100lbs. Last summer he was about
150lbs. Now he's close to 200lbs and is just over 5' tall. My son jokes that
if he wrestled they'd be in the same weight class yet they are a foot
different in height. He always says how he wants to lift and get in shape,
but never does it. He normally would lift with my son and I, but this last
time, he didn't do anything, just watched. And even doing that only when he
visits isn't doing anything for him. I keep telling him, he's setting
himself up for bad health, diabetes, etc, and he said thats exactly what his
doctor told him. He does nothing but watch TV, eat junk, and play video
games at home- the classic TV generation kid. When he's here, thats all he
wants to do too and we don't let him. I don't force him to exercise but we
ride him pretty good about it. He eats like every meal is his last one, yet,
they are not wanting for food at home, even if it is a lot of beans and rice
and other staples. I feel bad that we can't do more for him and make him
live a healthier lifestyle, but he has to want to make the change himself.
We keep using our son as an example, someone who motivated themself to lose
almost 60lbs to wrestle as a lighter weight, even though at 6' 260, he
(along with the other wrestlers) was in far better shape than any other kid
in his school. Hopefully he'll see the light before it's too late. All we
can do is try and motivate him but without him here every day its hard.

"DanL" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

"Larry Hodges" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Cool story. On the "sad" side, it makes you wonder what all those
obese kids will be like as adults. Like you, when I went to school,
there were very few fat kids. And yet, look at the obesity in our age
group now. What will today's youth look like in 30-40 years?
--
-Larry

We have a kid who my wife and I have been mentoring since he was about 8
or 9, and he's 15 now. Basically, no father figure, mom who can barely
speak English struggling to make ends meet, older brother in and out of
jail, 17 year old sister with 2 kids. He's a real good kid, he wants to
do well, and we help him out as best we can. He comes and visits us for
the weekend about once a month and spends a lot of time with us in the
summer. He's got some medical problems and the medication he was on had
kept him thin. They changed him up and all his bad eating habits from
home have caught up with him. A couple summers ago he was about 100lbs.
Last summer he was about 150lbs. Now he's close to 200lbs and is just
over 5' tall. My son jokes that if he wrestled they'd be in the same
weight class yet they are a foot different in height. He always says how
he wants to lift and get in shape, but never does it. He normally would
lift with my son and I, but this last time, he didn't do anything, just
watched. And even doing that only when he visits isn't doing anything
for him. I keep telling him, he's setting himself up for bad health,
diabetes, etc, and he said thats exactly what his doctor told him. He
does nothing but watch TV, eat junk, and play video games at home- the
classic TV generation kid. When he's here, thats all he wants to do too
and we don't let him. I don't force him to exercise but we ride him
pretty good about it. He eats like every meal is his last one, yet, they
are not wanting for food at home, even if it is a lot of beans and rice
and other staples. I feel bad that we can't do more for him and make him
live a healthier lifestyle, but he has to want to make the change
himself. We keep using our son as an example, someone who motivated
themself to lose almost 60lbs to wrestle as a lighter weight, even
though at 6' 260, he (along with the other wrestlers) was in far better
shape than any other kid in his school. Hopefully he'll see the light
before it's too late. All we can do is try and motivate him but without
him here every day its hard.

Hate to tell ya, but *with* him there, every day would probably be just as
hard. You can't change who people are, and you can't make that light bulb
go on.

Hugh

--
Run like hell and let the clowns deal with the bull.

"Hugh Beyer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hate to tell ya, but *with* him there, every day would probably be just as
hard. You can't change who people are, and you can't make that light bulb
go on.

Hugh

Thats probably true cause I know how he is when he's here, but I think if he
was exposed to a more positive environment and having a little peer pressure
applied he could make some changes. He says he wants to, but I know the
motivation is the factor he's missing when no one at his home cares what he
does.

Larry Hodges said:

John Hanson said:

It's encouraging because of what the kid did. It's sad because so
many kids are fat today. When I was in elementary school, a class
would have about 30 kids in it and there would always be one fat boy
and one fat girl but usually no more. You were really in trouble if
you had two fat kids of the same sex (I remember that happening one
year). Nowadays, most of them are too fat.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/10993783.htm

Posted on Mon, Feb. 28, 2005

Husky boy learned to change his habits

BY RHODA [censored]

Pioneer Press

Last Halloween, Joe Miller of Maplewood decided to do something about
his weight. At 4-foot-7, he weighed 115½ pounds. He wore size-14 husky
pants and extra-large shirts. He was 10. With the help of his mom, Joe
began to change his eating and exercise habits. Now, people don't
recognize him.

"Before, the only exercise I really got was in the summer when I
played outside and in gym at school. I had gym just two days a week.

"I started doing the treadmill six days a week at home. I would do
elevation. I would have speed changes. I would do it either in the
morning (before school) or at night if I didn't get it in.

"At first, it was hard. I had done it before, but it was still new to
me. As I went on, I didn't get tired as much.

"After Thanksgiving, I started doing BOSU, water fitness, volleyball
and a fun fitness cardio class at the YMCA in Woodbury. I did
basketball at the Maplewood Community Center and at my school.

"Before, I had big snacks at bedtime, a lot of chips at lunch, cookies
and stuff like french fries, chicken nuggets.

"Then, I started to change. I started having grilled chicken breasts,
sandwiches, fruit at restaurants. I started having Subway sandwiches
and half the fries. That used to be my worst fast-food restaurant.
Now, it's my favorite.

"When I first started, it was hard, but now those other foods are
enemies to me.

"At my Valentine's Day party at school, I had only two pieces of
candy. I gave away the rest. I kept a sucker-type thing, not
chocolate.

"I miss some of the foods I used to eat, but most of them I don't
really like now. I miss cake because my mom used to bake that a lot.
She does cakes only on birthdays now. Angel-food cake is really the
only cake my mom bakes now.

"What I do now is when my mom lays out little treats during the
holidays, I have one of those each day - Tootsie Rolls, gingersnap
cookies.

"I have lost 19 pounds, one pound away from my goal.

"Before I lost weight, some of my friends would tease me. When I went
to sleepovers, I wouldn't want to take off my shirt. I didn't want to
show how fat I was.

"The other kids have noticed a lot. People think I've grown, but
really I've just gotten skinnier.

"At baseball, I only used to make it to first and second. This year, I
think I'll be able to make it to third, if I have a good hit. In golf,
I'd have to let my mom and dad take my bag and take a cart most of the
time. Now, I carry my own bag.

"My dad says that I used to be chunky. Now, I'm hunky. My grandma and
grandpa say that when they see me, 'I'll be dust in the wind.

"I feel better. I feel healthier. I have more energy to do stuff."

Cool story. On the "sad" side, it makes you wonder what all those obese
kids will be like as adults. Like you, when I went to school, there were
very few fat kids. And yet, look at the obesity in our age group now. What
will today's youth look like in 30-40 years?

What even adds to the problem is that all the interventions that have
been tried over the last 25 years have been failures at the population
level. Sure there are exceptions and successes with individuals but they
are so few that the population prevalence of overweight or obesity is
unaffected. We now know that the "system" is that pervasive that obesity
trajectories are evident in pre-schoolers. As stated in an Editorial in
the British Medical Journal "it is hard to imagine a world better
constructed to bring about obesity than the one we now live in", at
least in the first and second world. Maybe when 30 years olds in the
future start to have legs amputated due to diabetes the system might
take notice, but I doubt it. There is too much money at stake making
people fat and then getting the poor suckers (I was one) to spend more
to lose weight. For the population to benefit, as compared to an
individual, radical change is needed.

--
Bob Volkmer
rev@IRC

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

"Larry Hodges" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Cool story. On the "sad" side, it makes you wonder what all those obese
kids will be like as adults. Like you, when I went to school, there were
very few fat kids. And yet, look at the obesity in our age group now.
What will today's youth look like in 30-40 years?
--
-Larry

We have a kid who my wife and I have been mentoring since he was about 8 or
9, and he's 15 now. Basically, no father figure, mom who can barely speak
English struggling to make ends meet, older brother in and out of jail, 17
year old sister with 2 kids. He's a real good kid, he wants to do well, and
we help him out as best we can. He comes and visits us for the weekend about
once a month and spends a lot of time with us in the summer. He's got some
medical problems and the medication he was on had kept him thin. They
changed him up and all his bad eating habits from home have caught up with
him. A couple summers ago he was about 100lbs. Last summer he was about
150lbs. Now he's close to 200lbs and is just over 5' tall. My son jokes that
if he wrestled they'd be in the same weight class yet they are a foot
different in height. He always says how he wants to lift and get in shape,
but never does it. He normally would lift with my son and I, but this last
time, he didn't do anything, just watched. And even doing that only when he
visits isn't doing anything for him. I keep telling him, he's setting
himself up for bad health, diabetes, etc, and he said thats exactly what his
doctor told him. He does nothing but watch TV, eat junk, and play video
games at home- the classic TV generation kid. When he's here, thats all he
wants to do too and we don't let him. I don't force him to exercise but we
ride him pretty good about it. He eats like every meal is his last one, yet,
they are not wanting for food at home, even if it is a lot of beans and rice
and other staples. I feel bad that we can't do more for him and make him
live a healthier lifestyle, but he has to want to make the change himself.
We keep using our son as an example, someone who motivated themself to lose
almost 60lbs to wrestle as a lighter weight, even though at 6' 260, he
(along with the other wrestlers) was in far better shape than any other kid
in his school. Hopefully he'll see the light before it's too late. All we
can do is try and motivate him but without him here every day its hard.

Explain to him that from this point on in his life he will be extremely
interested in the opposite sex. Being way out of shape greatly affects
the number and the attractiveness of the girls and women he will be able
to date. I think whether people admit it or not, for most people who
work out regularly, attractiveness to the opposite sex is the number one
motivation for doing so -- even above health motivations. Am I wrong?

John Black

John Black

John Black said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

"Larry Hodges" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Cool story. On the "sad" side, it makes you wonder what all

those obese

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

kids will be like as adults. Like you, when I went to school,

there were

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

very few fat kids. And yet, look at the obesity in our age group

now.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What will today's youth look like in 30-40 years?
--
-Larry

We have a kid who my wife and I have been mentoring since he was

about 8 or

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

9, and he's 15 now. Basically, no father figure, mom who can barely

speak

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

English struggling to make ends meet, older brother in and out of

jail, 17

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

year old sister with 2 kids. He's a real good kid, he wants to do

well, and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

we help him out as best we can. He comes and visits us for the

weekend about

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

once a month and spends a lot of time with us in the summer. He's

got some

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

medical problems and the medication he was on had kept him thin.

They

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

changed him up and all his bad eating habits from home have caught

up with

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

him. A couple summers ago he was about 100lbs. Last summer he was

about

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

150lbs. Now he's close to 200lbs and is just over 5' tall. My son

jokes that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

if he wrestled they'd be in the same weight class yet they are a

foot

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

different in height. He always says how he wants to lift and get in

shape,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

but never does it. He normally would lift with my son and I, but

this last

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

time, he didn't do anything, just watched. And even doing that only

when he

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

visits isn't doing anything for him. I keep telling him, he's

setting

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

himself up for bad health, diabetes, etc, and he said thats exactly

what his

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

doctor told him. He does nothing but watch TV, eat junk, and play

video

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

games at home- the classic TV generation kid. When he's here, thats

all he

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

wants to do too and we don't let him. I don't force him to exercise

but we

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ride him pretty good about it. He eats like every meal is his last

one, yet,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

they are not wanting for food at home, even if it is a lot of beans

and rice

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and other staples. I feel bad that we can't do more for him and

make him

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

live a healthier lifestyle, but he has to want to make the change

himself.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

We keep using our son as an example, someone who motivated themself

to lose

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

almost 60lbs to wrestle as a lighter weight, even though at 6' 260,

he

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

(along with the other wrestlers) was in far better shape than any

other kid

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in his school. Hopefully he'll see the light before it's too late.

All we

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

can do is try and motivate him but without him here every day its

hard.

Quoted message said:

Explain to him that from this point on in his life he will be

extremely

Quoted message said:

interested in the opposite sex. Being way out of shape greatly

affects

Quoted message said:

the number and the attractiveness of the girls and women he will be

able

Quoted message said:

to date. I think whether people admit it or not, for most people who

Quoted message said:

work out regularly, attractiveness to the opposite sex is the number

one

Quoted message said:

motivation for doing so -- even above health motivations. Am I

wrong?

Quoted message said:

Oh, I don't think that's my number one reason. Of course, I'm fat
though.

John Black said:

Explain to him that from this point on in his life he will be
extremely interested in the opposite sex. Being way out of shape
greatly affects the number and the attractiveness of the girls and
women he will be able to date. I think whether people admit it or
not, for most people who work out regularly, attractiveness to the
opposite sex is the number one motivation for doing so -- even above
health motivations. Am I wrong?

John Black

Are there really kids out there that don't realize that being fit will
make them more attractive to the opposite sex? I find that hard to
believe. Heck, even in Kindergarten I remember wanting to be "more
popular" and "better at sports." Back then being "faster" or
"stronger" didn't have anything to do with girls, but I still knew
that I didn't want to be fat.

I think that the real change is that now it's not social suicide to be
overweight.

Jason

On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 19:28:00 -0700, Jason Earl <[email hidden]>
wrote in misc.fitness.weights:

Quoted message said:

Are there really kids out there that don't realize that being fit will
make them more attractive to the opposite sex? I find that hard to
believe. Heck, even in Kindergarten I remember wanting to be "more
popular" and "better at sports." Back then being "faster" or
"stronger" didn't have anything to do with girls, but I still knew
that I didn't want to be fat.

I like chicks even in kindergarten. I got busted kissing a cute
blonde girl by the name of Shawn. She wasn't fat either and neither
was I.

John Hanson said:

On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 19:28:00 -0700, Jason Earl <[email hidden]>
wrote in misc.fitness.weights:

Quoted message said:

Are there really kids out there that don't realize that being fit
will make them more attractive to the opposite sex? I find that
hard to believe. Heck, even in Kindergarten I remember wanting to
be "more popular" and "better at sports." Back then being "faster"
or "stronger" didn't have anything to do with girls, but I still knew
that I didn't want to be fat.

I like chicks even in kindergarten. I got busted kissing a cute
blonde girl by the name of Shawn. She wasn't fat either and neither
was I.

Shouldn't that be "liked chicks in kindergarten"?? Don't know about you
Hanson...
--
-Larry

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 23:01:55 -0800, "Larry Hodges"
<[email hidden]> wrote in misc.fitness.weights:

Quoted message said:

John Hanson said:

On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 19:28:00 -0700, Jason Earl <[email hidden]>
wrote in misc.fitness.weights:

Quoted message said:

Are there really kids out there that don't realize that being fit
will make them more attractive to the opposite sex? I find that
hard to believe. Heck, even in Kindergarten I remember wanting to
be "more popular" and "better at sports." Back then being "faster"
or "stronger" didn't have anything to do with girls, but I still knew
that I didn't want to be fat.

I like chicks even in kindergarten. I got busted kissing a cute
blonde girl by the name of Shawn. She wasn't fat either and neither
was I.

Shouldn't that be "liked chicks in kindergarten"?? Don't know about you
Hanson...

Eww...that was a nasty typo. Yes, you are correct, sir...liked.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I think that the real change is that now it's not social suicide to be
overweight.

I don't know. Since there are more overweight boys and girls, doesn't
that just mean an overweight guy will likely date an overweight girl.
If he wants to *improve* his chances of dating the girls he finds
hotest, he should be in shape.

John Black