I (F52) live with my husband (M55) and our two kids: daughter (F15) and son (M17).My daughter has always been on the chubbier side, and honestly, our whole family is overweight. However, since she started high school, her weight gain became extreme. In the span of just a few months, she went from being somewhat chubby to weighing over 300 pounds at only 15 years old.Obviously, this worried us a lot. We later realized the weight gain was a symptom of deeper issues. High school has been very hard for her, and she was being bullied. She started stress eating, and since we all gain weight easily, things escalated quickly. We are addressing the emotional side of this with a therapist and working with the school, but we also can’t ignore the physical weight gain.I took her to a nutritionist, who gave her a structured meal plan to help her lose weight in a healthy way. She started the plan last week. I decided that our entire family would follow the same meal plan.
Here’s why:
- I’m not cooking two separate meals every day. It’s much easier and more realistic for me to cook one meal for everyone.
- We are all overweight. None of us are in as alarming a situation as my daughter, but losing some weight would benefit everyone.
- I think it will be much easier for my daughter to stick to the plan if she’s not watching the rest of us eat differently or keep junk food in the house.
- I honestly don’t see a downside to our family learning how to eat healthier together.
To be clear, I’m not starving anyone. I adjust portion sizes based on each person’s needs.
My husband and son are upset. They feel it’s unfair that just because my daughter gained a lot of weight, everyone has to “go on a diet.” They say I’m punishing them for her problem and that I should just cook separate meals, one for my daughter (and me, if I want) and one for them.I don’t think I’m being unreasonable, but they’re acting like I am.
So, AITA?
EDIT: Okay, I get it, point taken about the word *“*diet.” I’m on the older side, and that’s just what we’ve always called intentional changes in eating. I genuinely appreciate the feedback, and if changing my language helps my family accept this better, I’m happy to do that. That said, I’d appreciate judgments focusing on my actions rather than getting stuck on word choice.
