Looking at protein and diet as objectively as possible. Tonight, I checked my daughter's BMI: it's 39.8. Much better than how I had guesstimated it, but still pretty shocking, especially for such a young girl. She and I have agreed that she can continue a vegetarian diet, but will be held accountable for increasing protein intake. We will be finding more tofu recipes that she enjoys, finding ways to jazz up our soft tacos at home, she is going to try one of my favorite combos - pineapple and cottage cheese. She will continue to have a protein shake for breakfast in the morning, and we will work on her bringing lunch from home. When she doesn't, she will have the yogurt/cheese stick/muffin lunch combo on most days.
We are both going to work on keeping a food diary. Hers will be so I can track her protein intake and double-check that she is taking her vitamins. After my low iron level scare, I became pretty vigilant about her taking a daily multi-vitamin with iron. It's hard to stay on top of that every day (harder still because I am so awful at remembering to take medications and supplements, myself).
I'm feeling less stressed about it this evening, but definitely feeling an urgent need to get this family on track. Being a single parent is so darn difficult sometimes. I've got great kids, but there are three of them, and they are young, and my boys have been particularly time consuming with their own issues lately. I feel like I'm struggling to keep everything moving forward. I'll continue to work on my organization and family schedules to try to lighten the demand on myself.
It's so great to get your daughter on the right track now. Don't we all want to prevent them from making the same mistakes we've made? Good for you!
ReplyDeleteIt's such a struggle, isn't it? I relate to so much of what you write about! Sounds like you're doing a great job of learning to be a healthier you!
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