We’re always thinking up new ways to make your experience on ObesityHelp.com the best it can be, so we’re pleased to announce that the latest of the great tools we offer is launching now! Meet the new Weight Tracker, a simple-to-use tool that will allow you to see your weight and BMI changes over time in an easy-to-read graph.   

Weight Tracker is not just for people who are currently losing weight; it’s also a great tool for those of us who are trying to maintain a healthy weight. It’s easy for a pound (or five or fifteen) to creep back on. Weight Tracker will help you see those subtle changes happen so you can know when you may need to renew your efforts to get back on track!   

This is a cross post from the duodenal switch board.   Just found this forum. ------------------ I took my son to the dr for a stomach virus he had.  We spent most of the appointment addressing his weight instead of the virus.  She went through the whole diet, exercise, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc and every other disease that obesity causes.  He just turned 9 in July and weighs 184 pounds.  He should weigh about 89 pounds.  He weighed 175 5 months ago.   Believe me, I have dealt with this since he was about 3 years old.  Every doctor tells me the same thing over and over and over again.  He's been to the Texas Children's Hospital to visit the clinic for obesity and we met with a dietitian and exercise person and a counselor.  Even his dermatologist went through the whole scenario with me last year.  I have heard this for years and doing the diet and exercise with a 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and now 9 year old is the hardest thing in the world.  It is hard enough for an adult to comply and be self-disciplined, much less a child!  You can't rationalize with them because they don't have the ability to understand the consequences of their weight.  He is so sensitive about his weight.  If I mention anything about weight or eating "healthy" he starts crying and tells me that I am mean because he says I don't care that I'm hurting his feelings.  When we met with a gastrointerologist during the summer, my son cried during the whole appointment because we were talking about his weight.  I know there are geniune concerns and I am in no way minimizing any of this, but sometimes I just feel like it's my fault.  I can't begin to tell you the struggles we've gone through.  Now he's gotten to the point where he sneaks food and buries his evidence deep in the trash because he knows I will say something to him.  It's gotten to the point where I dread taking him to any doctor.  I just want to tell them, don't you think I know my son is fat and that I could teach a course on diet and nutrition and be the first example of what obesity does to your health??   But you know, there was just something different about today's visit.  When the pediatrician told me that my son was 100 pounds overweight it took everything to keep from crying.  I have seen him get bigger and bigger and I do worry for his future and his health to no end, but when you see it everyday it's hard to comprehend the gravity of it all.  It hit me hard today.  Part of me wants to protect him even more because he reminds me of the childhood I had.   When I see him play with his friends I have to remind myself that they are the sizes he should be.  He just seems so much older than all of them yet he's just a little kid and acts just as silly as they do. I guess this is sitting heavy with me today which is why I'm writing about it.  I just feel so helpless.  Why did he have to take after me???  We have a long road ahead.  Years even.  I have a nephew who weighed 300 pounds at 15.  That was my biggest fear for my son when his weight was sky rocketing as a toddler.  I was sure he was suffering from that illness where people just don't feel the sensation of fullness.  That's him.  Seeing a child going through the struggles of obesity has been an eye opening experience.  It makes me hate the disease even more.  It has attacked me and my family, and now my child.  We've done nothing to deserve this, especially my son. Thanks for listening, Melissa DS - 7/3/06 227/157 - 5'