A concerned mother who put her two twin daughters on a diet, even though only one of them wanted to lose weight, turned to the Internet for advice.
The woman posted in an ‘Am I The A*****e’ forum on Reddit, explaining the situation with her 14-year-old identical twin daughters Megan and Alana.
The twins are both 5 feet 10 inches tall, but Megan weighs just over 150 pounds, while Alana weighs 90 pounds.
She claims that Megan is overweight and that she has put the whole family on a diet, but Alana thinks it is unfair that the whole family has to change their lifestyle.
“I tried to focus on staying healthy rather than losing weight. However, Alana suspected that the real reason for this new diet was because I wanted Megan to lose weight,” the mother said.
A mother has put her two identical twin daughters on a diet because one of them is obese
The woman has reduced her intake of sugar, junk food and unhealthy snacks, but her other daughter thinks it is unfair that the whole family has to change their lifestyle
‘She started complaining that it wasn’t fair that she had to go on a diet too because her sister was fat.
‘I said [Alana] that I didn’t want Megan to feel left out and like she was the only one being punished for her weight.’
She said the twins were the same weight until they were about seven years old, but then Megan gained a significant amount of weight.
When the girls were 11 years old, Megan was medically diagnosed as overweight and her mother took them to a doctor for advice.
“I went to a doctor for advice and he said I shouldn’t worry too much because many children gain weight just before puberty and then gain it back after their growth spurt,” she said.
Last year, the twins experienced a growth spurt and Megan continues to gain weight, so the mother decided to implement a healthy diet for the whole family.
“I slowly started cutting back on sugar, junk food and unhealthy snacks. I cook them high volume, low calorie meals full of vegetables and protein so they still feel full after eating,” she said.
‘Neither twin is very athletic, so I’ve tried to encourage them to participate in physical activities such as swimming, biking, trampoline jumping, etc.’
Now that Alana is confronting her mother about putting the entire family on a diet when Megan is the only one who needs to lose weight, the woman is wondering if she made the right decision.
Readers criticized the mother for her decision, claiming she was taking the wrong approach to dieting.
“You’re almost convinced that health is valuable to everyone and not a punishment, but you don’t really seem to believe it yourself,” someone said.
“That ‘we’re pretending to do this so my fat kid won’t find out we secretly want a skinny kid’ thing you do at the end… I think you need to figure out your own relationship with health a little bit before you try to reform your family.”
The woman said neither of her twins are very athletic, so she encourages them to be physically active by jumping on the trampoline
“If you try to make your daughter thin by pretending to care about her health, you’re just creating an unhealthy relationship with food and her body. The more you lie, the more confused and confused she’ll become.”
“Your last sentence is telling. You don’t want just one person to feel like they’re being punished for their weight,” said another.
“No one should feel like they are being punished for their weight, let alone by the person who is supposed to give them unconditional love.”
“You put Alana on a diet because you don’t want to have a conversation with your other daughter about her unhealthy weight,” a third person said.
‘Alana is not her sister’s keeper, you need to take responsibility and do a better job as a parent.’
