Being overweight and wanting to adopt anyone willing to share their experiences, please?

[Italiangreyhound]

Hi, we are looking into adoption and maybe fostering too. My hubby and daughter are fit and slim/normal size. I am overweight. I am worried my weight (even though I provide healthy meals at home for family) will hamper me. Is anyone willing to share their experiences of this side of things, e.g. their BMI and whether weight was an issue and/or what they were told? I am happy for people to ignore this if it is too personal or to PM privately. I am not sure if this area has got more 'strict' or less of late.

Thanks in advance to any brave people!

PS I should say I am trying to lose weight and for years have tried to lose weight and get/fit healthy but have found it harder to do than you might think and despite previous weight loss I often end up back where I started!

Oh dear, no one thinking about this subject, scarily makes me wonder if I am the only one looking into adoption who is overweight!

In my NHS weight loss and Life style class we did an interesting exercise, a letter to ourselves for 6 months time, two versions, one where we had lost a pound a week (recommended ONLY 1 or 2 pounds per week to keep it off) and one where we had not lost it. Very interesting! Certaily being fit for adoption is a good incentive but losing weight seems quite difficult at times. Would love to know of any one else's experiences! I know I could post in the weight loss section but am thinking specificaly of weight in relation to adoption.

I'm sorry Italian, I can't help with weight loss. I was an average weight when I adopted, and rather underweight after a year of running round after DD1 I think losing weight is often very difficult though, so try not get discouraged. BMI only tends to be a problem if you are very overweight or obese. I do know quite a few overweight adopters. But I think it will be dependent on your LA/VA what they think of your weight

Italiangreyhound, there are some adoption posters who dealt with this, I remember from previous threads. Hold tight and I'm sure they'll be along soon

Hi
I am not yet approved but am 3/4 through my homestudy and have a panel date for end of July and I have a bmi of 36!! I started dieting 2 years ago and have lost 5 stones so you can imagine my bmi prior! Sw has said that this will probably come up at panel but as long as I could show that I have now adopted a healthy lifestyle and am active it shouldnt be a problem. They want to be reassurred that you will live and be healthy while you have a small child in your care. You will of course have to have a medical and any medical conditions will come up on it and if you can show you have lost a bit of weight and can get your doctor to write on it that you are trying to lose weight that will help. I believe certain L.A's do have a cut off point in bmi so worth while asking but recent legislation says you cannot be discriminated against over weight. What is your current BMI?
I know its such a worry I've been there and got the t-shirt and have spent many a day worrying I will be rejected on these grounds but I doubt they would have let me continue all the homestudy if they throught there would be a problem.
Best wishes

Funnychic thanks so much for your kind words and to all who replied and PMed me. SOOOOO kind.

I am currently 34. something in BMI and my weight has been the same for a long time. In the past I have lost weight and put it on, classic yoyo dieting. My current NHS weight loss and lifte style class is helpful and i really do want to tackle this. It's only really in the last year I have identified all the habit forms of eating and looking at the bad habits and how to get out of them.

Thanks again for your concern and advice.

funnychic forgot to ask, how did you lose 5 stones, please? You clever lady!

I followed a calorie controlled plan. I did It on my own I didnt go to a club or anything and it was bloody hard work! 1300 cals per day predominately low fat food and when I hit a plateau I lowered my carbs and ate more protein and that kick started me again, Ive still got lots to lose but unfortunatley my motivation has got up and gone at the moment so trying to maintain.
Best of luck

Thanks funnychick and best and best of luck with further weight loss.

Kindly people are pming me, feel free to do it, if you can shed any light on this thorny topic, please, I know it is very personal one and am so grateful or every and each reply.

THANKS

From memory I think my BMI was probably around 38/39ish when I adopted and the only person who had a problem with it was my GP! Not for any reason she could put her finger on (in truth she was against single adopters but couldn't say that on the medical). My social worker had no issues and particularly if you already have a child who you are quite competently keeping up with I doubt it will be a serious problem.

You need to cover the bases that they might be concenred about:

1 - life expectancy - cut all other vices to a minimum, smoking drinking (risky sex in public places...) etc and up all the healthy stuff, exercise, fruit and veg. Parents and grandparents who have lived to a good healthy old age would be very helpful too (but renting actors for this is generally frowned on if caught)
2 - feeding your child. An understanding if child nutrition, and not using food as rewards.
3 - educating your child - leading by example, not overeating in fron tof children and joining them in exercise (bike riding walking etc)

This should all work in your favour.

NHS weight management centres are excellent in my experience and will also look good to a panle IF they are concerned.

Thanks kew that is very helpful ... so note to self cut out all the risky sex in public places and the boozing and I should be OK with the odd biscuit!

My daughter is very fit and normal size, and can run faster than me! She even avoided an Easter egg hunt because she had enough chocolate eggs at home!

Sadly, i can't booze at all these days, one glass of wine and I fall asleep!

Oh re-reading that it looks like the house is full of chocolate Easter eggs!