My daughter began gaining weight. I had been a bit chubby when young, briefly, and grown out of it, so I thought she would. I didn't have much but LC in the house except a few things.

She was unhappy, but she went on. And she kept gaining.

What you need to understand is that people with healthy metabolisms do not gain a lot of bodyfat. Their body automatically gives them that extra energy, even if they eat a lot, for energy. When it starts keeping it stored and building on stores, instead of making them more energetic, that means they already have a significant problem. It is unlikely to get better magically.

My daughter finally said she wanted to lose weight. I had not brought it up, I was always nothing but supportive, because I've had friends whose mothers forced them to diet and it really screwed them up. So I had avoided that.

But she didn't want to stay on, still ate crap for school lunch, would get sick of LC and insist on something else for dinner, whatever. I'd get sick of fighting a drama battle over every meal and finally say fine and let her buy what she wanted. Often this would end up with me offplan too.

By the time she got really serious about it she was 5'4 and weighed 235 pounds. Her misery was ridiculous. Her available energy was very low. Her self esteem was in the trashcan.

In retrospect I wish I had done it differently. I wish I had insisted she take LC meals to school -- I don't care if she doesn't want to take a lunch because it isn't cool. I should have insisted she EAT before going to school -- if she's not hungry when getting up she should have to get up earlier so she can eat first. Otherwise she's more prone to spaceyness and memory issues in class, and eating badly at lunch, then more of the mental stuff after a rotten lunch, and more emotional drama with her drama queen friends, bad nutrition even on a daily basis snowballs. I should have insisted she eat with me at dinner -- now she does and I make her HELP me make dinner every night or she will go without food. We've had more time together and she's learned more about food and cooking and is more comfortable in the kitchen now. I should have insisted that everything that is a known "trigger" food -- starting with everything containing gluten and milk -- simply be out of the house period.

Had I known what the future held I feel that I could have said, "This is such a serious medical and social issue that I don't CARE if someone else in the house wants bread and milk, they can eat it elsewhere."

Every bit of extra fat is a little more damage, IMO. Every bit of extra fat is that many more horrible stretch marks that have marred her sweet body before she ever even GOT to have a body she was old enough to show a man. Every bit of continued bad eating was just that much more metabolic damage.

Don't wait.