Are You an Overweight Mom Too?

by Lisa P | More from this Blogger

16 Sep 2007 07:18 AM

Some time ago, a good friend of mine decided that she needed both accountability and support in her weight loss efforts. She decided to start blogging about what she was going through and how she was dealing with it. The title that she chose for her blog was quite simple "Diary of an Overweight Mom". What Cathy did by starting that blog was amazing. She got other mothers talking about the things we all go through. Not only did Cathy write a great series of blogs but she also spurred the creation of a forum just for us overweight moms.

Cathy is a stay-at-home Mom with two kids - something many of us can relate to. When you have pre-schoolers at home and are just trying to get through the day without tantrums, potty accidents or somebody flooding the bathroom by using their rubber duckie as a drain plug, you experience a certain kind of crazy. Unless, of course, you are one of those blessedly patient and easy-going Moms that nothing bothers and you roll with every punch like a tree in the wind. I don't know many of those women but the ones I do, I suspect are not so much working with patience and an easy-going attitude as they are just giving up the fight. So when your life consists of that sort of semi-controlled chaos that only a child can bring, what usually happens?

(Excuse me while I go get my carbohydrate laden bagel from the kitchen.)

Hey, we're Moms and we've got things to do! We are the customer service managers for the most demanding and temperamental customers there are - our kids! Every day involves some sort of crisis management. When I went through training as a Crisis Negotiator with the FBI, it was commonly accepted that people who dealt with that kind of stress would smoke and drink just as a sanity saving measure. Well, I'm a Mom now. I can't do either so I need some other coping mechanism.

Enter The Bagel, The Cookie, The Goldfish Cracker, Macaroni & Cheese...

You know, all those lovely starchy snacks we have around the house for the kids. The fact is, they are fast food and ready energy and that's what Moms get hooked on. Then we gain weight because of it and that slows us down even more so that we need more energy in the form of fast foods. It is a vicious cycle and we know it, but how do we escape it?

First, we read blogs like Cathy's so that we know we aren't alone. That is empowering. Then we read forums like Diary of an Overweight Mom so that we know there is hope and there can be support. Finally, we make the decision to fight the comfort foods and pay attention to our own health as well as our children's health.

You aren't alone. It can be done. Overweight Moms unite!

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Learn more about Lisa P

Lisa used to be a freelance writer and Community Manager for Families.com, but she has finally made the jump to novelist.

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Catherine Ipcizade (5617) 16 Sep 2007 11:19 AM

Lisa--thank you. You made me teary.

(((hugs))) Cathy

Lisa P (24013) 16 Sep 2007 11:51 AM

And you helped me find my waist again ;-) Thank YOU!

Tristi Pinkston (10839) 17 Sep 2007 12:55 AM

I'm on this forum, and I have to say, it's so much fun to have people to talk to who know what I'm going through and can help me pick my way through it. Cathy and Lisa are heros to me for all they've accomplished.

losebelly (20) 12 Sep 2009 03:53 PM

Sounds like a great blog and forum I am going to head over and check it out. I am a former overweight mom so I hope I can provide support and motivation since I have been there and done that before!