That's no joke! I wasn't sure if I should allow Ellie to eat one of her favorite meals - the school lunch. Loaded with calories, many coming from fat, and lots of sodium - school lunches are not the healthiest thing on the menu. They are unfortunately a necessity for 50% of her classmates who rely on reduced or free school lunches to make it through the day. That's part of the reason for the high calorie meals. Kids in poor families may not have access to good nutrition at home and need to have at least enough calories to make through the day. I still don't understand why healthy food is so expensive but that's for another post.
I watched Ellie's weight creep up a little bit throughout the week, with some trepidation. She had a low of 54.8 lbs on 9/6/10, the day before school started. Through the week her weight rose to 55.2 lbs on Saturday 9/11/10. However my dear spouse reminded me that unlike us who just get fatter when our weight rises - Ellie is still getting taller. He wondered if she had grown any taller since I last measured her height. Low and behold he is a smart bugger! Ellie had grown a 1/2 inch since August 24!! This brought her BMI down on 9/11/10 to 22.6 from a high of 23.2 on 9/5/10 (her weight that day was 55.4lbs).
She gets to celebrate her hard work and success by enjoying another week of school lunches. Personally I'd rather have chocolate!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Hooray 2 1/2 weeks in, 2.8 lbs down & she grew 1/2 inch!
So today I was castigated for 'fixating' on the weight, but it paid off! It's amazing how much poop can weigh, by the way. And there's a lesson for me to re-learn, and pass on to you in this post.
So being a Saturday morning, we slept in a little bit. Ellie and I headed downstairs at 7:30am. I had to rush out the door to get the recyclables to the curb before the recycling truck headed by. Then I made breakfast and ate outside on the deck. Gorgeous weather and a relaxing Saturday morning are a perfect combination! After a breakfast of hummus, whole grain pita chips, skim milk and red grapes I finally got around to weighing Ellie. Big mistake - she was heavier by quite a bit (56.8 lbs). I also checked her height and she has grown 1/2 an inch since August 24 when I began tracking her height and weight. Yea!
As I was getting ready to give her a bath, she pooped - so I took the opportunity to weigh her again. Low and behold, poop weighs 1.5 pounds! She was now down to 55.2 lbs and with her height now at 3ft 5.5inches she has a new BMI of 22.6. Still in the possibly obese category, but a big drop from August when her BMI was 24.3. I've been watching Ellie's weight slowly creep up this week from a low last week of 54.8 lbs (before school started). Seeing Ellie grow 1/2 an inch and this BMI adjustment was great encouragement that overall she is improving.
The lesson I re-learned and wish to share today is to always weigh yourself at the same time (in order of events) each day. If you always weigh yourself after you get up and pee, and before you eat, then do that. Don't eat first and then weigh yourself - if you do that make sure you give your body time to process that meal (quality bathroom time!) before you weigh yourself. I drink 3 cups of coffee and have a bowl of cereal with milk and fruit each morning. After several trips for quality bathroom time - Surprise, surprise that weighs 2.5 lbs!
So being a Saturday morning, we slept in a little bit. Ellie and I headed downstairs at 7:30am. I had to rush out the door to get the recyclables to the curb before the recycling truck headed by. Then I made breakfast and ate outside on the deck. Gorgeous weather and a relaxing Saturday morning are a perfect combination! After a breakfast of hummus, whole grain pita chips, skim milk and red grapes I finally got around to weighing Ellie. Big mistake - she was heavier by quite a bit (56.8 lbs). I also checked her height and she has grown 1/2 an inch since August 24 when I began tracking her height and weight. Yea!
As I was getting ready to give her a bath, she pooped - so I took the opportunity to weigh her again. Low and behold, poop weighs 1.5 pounds! She was now down to 55.2 lbs and with her height now at 3ft 5.5inches she has a new BMI of 22.6. Still in the possibly obese category, but a big drop from August when her BMI was 24.3. I've been watching Ellie's weight slowly creep up this week from a low last week of 54.8 lbs (before school started). Seeing Ellie grow 1/2 an inch and this BMI adjustment was great encouragement that overall she is improving.
The lesson I re-learned and wish to share today is to always weigh yourself at the same time (in order of events) each day. If you always weigh yourself after you get up and pee, and before you eat, then do that. Don't eat first and then weigh yourself - if you do that make sure you give your body time to process that meal (quality bathroom time!) before you weigh yourself. I drink 3 cups of coffee and have a bowl of cereal with milk and fruit each morning. After several trips for quality bathroom time - Surprise, surprise that weighs 2.5 lbs!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)