Being the Fat kid in 1998 vs 2018
Heavy Day//
Back Squat
1 or 3-3-3-3
Growing up, I was the fat kid (and a fat adult). I was easily the heaviest kid either in my grade or in the entire school for all 12 years. Luckily I had an awesome home life, great parents, awesome sister, I was nice and made friends easily. Wearing that extra layer of chub though, was not fun. I remember in either 3rd or 4th grade, we had swim lessons for PE at school. I could already swim and I just really dreaded the thought of going to the pool and taking my shirt off in front of my peers so I tried to get out of it somehow. No luck. I decided I would just wear my shirt anyway. I don't recall his name or if we were friends or not, but I can still remember a classmate saying to me and in front of some other kids, "Why are you wearing that shirt? You're not hiding anything. We already know you're fat."
That would have been in 1993 or '94. What is different about 2018? All the kids are fat. (obviously not all of them) Obese children are more common than healthy sized kids. If you talk to 10 different people, you'll get 10 different answers as to why. "It's the video games." "It's soda and carbs." "It's economic." It's actually probably all of those things, and my childhood and my generation maybe marked the beginning of what we're dealing with now. The major difference between the 90's and 2018 though is that children and teenagers are much less likely to even attempt losing weight either through their eating habits, exercise, or both because fat is now normal.
Most certainly, none of us condone fat shaming or the like, but how do we reconcile those things? It's unhealthy for our society to accept obesity as a norm, but I don't want any kid to avoid the pool or beach because they don't want to be seen in their bathing suit either.
I think we know enough and care enough to try changing the culture around us starting at home. And starting with food. A lot of parents don't want to be that weird mom or dad who doesn't let their kids have sugar or junk food. First of all, processed sugar is as addictive as a drug, and your kid is already likely an addict. Those little crack heads are going to find it whether you give it to them or not. My mom wasn't feeding me Coke after Coke and hand-fulls of cookies and chips. I was a food sneaking ninja!
You're not weird if you don't have sugar and junk at home, you're a reasonable and fit adult in 2018 who understands how processed foods won't fill you up and are void of nutritional value. If you keep la croix and fruit on hand to snack on, they'll be just fine. And if they don't like la croix or fruit, or other whole foods for that matter, they'll get hungry enough eventually. And Sometimes that fear of being the weird parent is exasperated when our kids' friends come over. Sleep over time?! Pizza soda and video games all nIght baby!! Think about how much you don't like other people's kids anyway. Why do you care if they like you or not? I remember so many times my sister would all of a sudden start liking a food and my mom would be like, "since when do you like peas?" "oh I had them at Suzy's house!" Your house could be a healthy food oasis where your kids and their friends get to eat real food!
Whole foods are just too important to give up on. "My kid is picky." "My kid won't eat that." "My spouse refuses to eat well." And we're quick to give them a pass. You made yourself a healthy dinner, but your husband is eating a bowl of cereal and the kids are having a juice box and a handful of pretzels. I think you're tougher than that and you care more. Get creative and keep trying! I’m not sure what that looks like, but if you’re capable of CrossFit, you’re not going to let your kids push you around.