overweight family trying to force feed me!

Renae_Nae
Renae_Nae Posts: 935 Member
edited September 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Ok...I only have about 6-7 more pounds til I hit my goal weight. I'm JUST in the "healthy" range now but I want to be to closer to the middle of the range. My family is FREAKING out because my husband told them about my counting calories and exercising so they think I'm "obsessed" with my weight and need help.

Well...the last time I wasn't "obsessed" I gained 17 pounds in less than a year! I know I'm going to get so many comments when I go home for Christmas too :grumble: At 5'4 and 130 pounds my grandpa thought I was to skinny!

I know most of it is the fact that majority of my family is severely overweight (my cousin is the same age and about the same height and is an easy 200 pounds) So how do I deal with them trying to force feed me because they think I'm "underweight"?

Thankfully I only have to deal with them for two weeks...but its starting to feel like it's going to be two weeks of hell!

Replies

  • Renae_Nae
    Renae_Nae Posts: 935 Member
    Ok...I only have about 6-7 more pounds til I hit my goal weight. I'm JUST in the "healthy" range now but I want to be to closer to the middle of the range. My family is FREAKING out because my husband told them about my counting calories and exercising so they think I'm "obsessed" with my weight and need help.

    Well...the last time I wasn't "obsessed" I gained 17 pounds in less than a year! I know I'm going to get so many comments when I go home for Christmas too :grumble: At 5'4 and 130 pounds my grandpa thought I was to skinny!

    I know most of it is the fact that majority of my family is severely overweight (my cousin is the same age and about the same height and is an easy 200 pounds) So how do I deal with them trying to force feed me because they think I'm "underweight"?

    Thankfully I only have to deal with them for two weeks...but its starting to feel like it's going to be two weeks of hell!
  • smsmithart
    smsmithart Posts: 26 Member
    IM RIGHT THERE WITH YOU MY FAMILY COME IN TOMORROW AND THEY THINK IM STARVING I GAVE UP MEAT AND ITS REALLY HELPED ME TO SLIM DOWN AND THEY THINK IVE LOST MY MIND...I JUST DRINK ALOT WHEN THEY COME AROUND AND TELL THEM IM SICK TO MY STOMACH
  • pete
    pete Posts: 76 Member
    I have developed a few strategies to deal with family meals.

    When people try to make me take second servings at family events I say that everything was just delicious. I am stuffed and unable to eat another bite.

    or i say that i am trying to save some room for dessert.

    Another trick is to try to eat really slowly so your plate is not empty. Like that it is less likely that someone offers you second servings.
  • My family is the same way, exept that I am the only one that struggles with weight issues. But they tell me how God gave me this body for a reason and scold me for trying to "alter" the apperance that God gave me. Then I get the famous lectures from the Bible. I always end up eating just to shut them up...this year will be different.
  • Great tips! I am by far the biggest woman in my family and they are all still very concerned with how much I eat. They eat like horses and never gain an ounce. I smell cake and have to unbutton my pants. I have just started being very honest with them... Yes, I ate. I ate a very reasonable sized serving. Yes, it was very good. No, I am not going to have seconds. Why? because I am twice your size and tired of everyone telling me I am built to birth. Seriously it isn't a compliment. :explode: :cry:
  • 3babybeans
    3babybeans Posts: 8,268 Member
    IM RIGHT THERE WITH YOU MY FAMILY COME IN TOMORROW AND THEY THINK IM STARVING I GAVE UP MEAT AND ITS REALLY HELPED ME TO SLIM DOWN AND THEY THINK IVE LOST MY MIND...I JUST DRINK ALOT WHEN THEY COME AROUND AND TELL THEM IM SICK TO MY STOMACH

    I drink a lot around my family, too. :drinker: But, I think you mean water....:bigsmile:

    I eat around them, but smaller portions. My g.ma basically told me I look anorexic & that was 10 pounds ago. I'm not looking forward to what she has to say on Christmas. She's always had weight problems & it is bugging her that I'm being SUCCESSFUL with mine. Wish it wasn't true, but it is.

    Try to expalin to them that you're doing something for yourself & you are doing it in a healthy manner & to please respect that. You're a big girl now & can make your own decisions. If they don't have anything nice or supportive to say, ask them to keep their comments to themselves. Oh, yeah. Give dh a big "THANKS" for spilling the beans, too! :grumble:

    Crazybigchick - i nearly lmbo when i read "i smell cake & have to unbotton my pants" Hilarious! I'm the same way with "goodies". And "built to birth"...SERIOUSLY! That's such a strange thing to say! I've always been told I have "birthing hips" but "built to birth" takes it to a new level. :noway:
  • LightenUp_Caro
    LightenUp_Caro Posts: 572 Member
    OH I'm here now!!!!

    my family isn't overweight, but I attended my parents christmas cocktail party last night and I recieved comments along the lines of "you look emaciated...do you throw up"....all freaking night


    I have to go back to my apartment soon, I can't handle this.
  • Fitness_Chick
    Fitness_Chick Posts: 6,648 Member
    I have developed a few strategies to deal with family meals.

    When people try to make me take second servings at family events I say that everything was just delicious. I am stuffed and unable to eat another bite.

    or i say that i am trying to save some room for dessert.

    Another trick is to try to eat really slowly so your plate is not empty. Like that it is less likely that someone offers you second servings.
    some good tricks there....I especially like the last one!:wink:
  • may_marie
    may_marie Posts: 667 Member
    my family is the same !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    im on an other continent .. so its not so bad now ,, but i letted slip on the phone to mom that i feel dizzy when i stand up lately ,, i know why ,, im a vegetarian,, need more iron !!!!!!!!! i try to eat my broccoli and peas,, i promise,, anyways . its not a big deal and its getting better but my mom told everybody, and now i get phone calls from people begging me to stop doing what im doing (even though they have no idea what im doing ) because its unhealthy and its making me sick !!!!! now that stole my whole pride away .. because now instead of telling me how proud they are of my work... they look at me with sorry eyes... like its sad that i have to make myself sick just beucase i want to loose weight..

    they tend to forget that i would be sicker being 75 lbs overweight with 35 where obese...

    (btw,, i do take my vits, and it doesnt happen to so often anymore,,,, so you guys dont freak out !! lol)
  • renae5
    renae5 Posts: 393 Member
    Ok...I only have about 6-7 more pounds til I hit my goal weight. I'm JUST in the "healthy" range now but I want to be to closer to the middle of the range. My family is FREAKING out because my husband told them about my counting calories and exercising so they think I'm "obsessed" with my weight and need help.

    Well...the last time I wasn't "obsessed" I gained 17 pounds in less than a year! I know I'm going to get so many comments when I go home for Christmas too :grumble: At 5'4 and 130 pounds my grandpa thought I was to skinny!

    I know most of it is the fact that majority of my family is severely overweight (my cousin is the same age and about the same height and is an easy 200 pounds) So how do I deal with them trying to force feed me because they think I'm "underweight"?

    Thankfully I only have to deal with them for two weeks...but its starting to feel like it's going to be two weeks of hell!

    Just tell them you're not obsessed with your weight at all, in fact you don't give a crap about how much you weigh... The fact is you are obsessed with being healthy, feeling GREAT and living long enough to take advantage of your great-great grandchildren!!!!
  • isadoraworkman
    isadoraworkman Posts: 205 Member
    I've had this problem before...my strategy was to tell them it was doctor recommended (It was, I had high cholesterol at the time). Usually that ends the discussion and we move on.
    I agree with the eating slowly strategy...it usually tricks folks into believing that you had more on your plate to begin with.
    Good luck, I hope you are able to have a relaxing vacation. Maybe if you have access to a computer when visiting, you can log on to myfitnesspal and get some encouragement when you are feeling stressed out by the fam...
  • MalFTW
    MalFTW Posts: 4 Member
    I've had problems with my family since I was a little girl. Before puberty I was really thin, and as soon as I turned 13 I ballooned into a full blown woman. It is hard because my weight steadily climbs every year since then and my family on my mother's side is so thin and they don't seem to understand it. But my father's side are all very obese and they give me the impression that they are ashamed that I've become like them. I get no support from either side, no matter how hard I try to lose weight they tell me I'm "big boned", have "child bearing hips", a "slow metabolism'. The holidays are just depressing for me and always have been...
  • Phoenixflame
    Phoenixflame Posts: 560 Member
    Yup, my mom's side is a house full of fatties. Whole milk, butter, ice cream, and talented cooks (my mom & stepdad).

    I think back over the years--we'd often have Dairy Queen runs where I'd wolf down a Blizzard or Moolatte. IHop was a treat, as was takeout Chinese. Some mornings we'd have a big country breakfast with eggs, bacon, pancakes, and juice. Common family time was curling up on the couch with ice cream and an On Demand movie. All cooking was done for taste, not health.

    Yeah...those times tasted good, but totally unhealthy. I especially miss the Blizzards :happy: .

    Thanksgiving was hard, to say the least. The actual dinner I was reconciled with to eat whatever (in moderate portions). The next day I wake up to my mom sweetly ushering me into the kitchen, to a big breakfast of buttered toast, eggs, sausage and bacon. I had two strips of bacon, at the white part of the eggs, and had a few bites of toast, washed down with coffee. By the end of breakfast, I was officially trying to starve myself down to a smaller size and must be in terrible health.

    In the end, I think they realized I wasn't starving myself. But I know that this Christmas break is going to be hard. I hope for the best.
  • I have the kind of family that likes to give you "treats" if they think im mad at them. My Mom is really bad about that. When I was younger food made me happy and they think it still does.:noway: Now I just tell them NO!:mad: They leave me alone once my face gets like that!!:laugh:
  • Start blabbing out some facts about health using terms you know they won't understand in your poshest voice possible and through in some random foreign words just to ensure they get confused, that way they won't think your an weight obsessed human. And then instead of doing family activities based around food, do something different and active, start up a Polo team, Or a Crocay course in the back garden, Take them to the ski slopes, take them all to a nightclub yadda yadda have fun.x
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