Good morning: I hope I can access some creative ideas here, because I am stumped.
My lovely son, 16, is a kind, funny, thoughtful, intelligent, engaged ( in politics) young man.
But…..he is physically very inactive. He has a gym membership that rarely gets used, we have a dog we walk together sometimes. He eats far too much. I don’t have sugary things or high fat things at home often so he will take himself out and eat fast food. Alone, then come home and go to bed. Given the choice, he will literally spend days on his phone in bed.
He has gained a lot of weight and I struggle with this issue as well. I try to be a good role model and I am acutely aware of making too much of this issue, because of the impact it can have. On the other hand, I am starting to get worried especially for his adult life.
Lately people at his school have started to bully him by sending him images of overweight people. I have spoken with the school and organised a psychologist for my son, as perhaps someone who is not me might be easier for him to talk to. He gets really down about it, but any simple practical ideas I have ( let’s go swimming, eat fruit rather than biscuits, let’s go for a walk) are met with horrible resistance which leads to conflict. This in turn, triggers me, because it’s very similar to my living situation with his Dad before I left him. Yes, sometimes there are packets of biscuits which I should curtail, I know ☺️
I have suggested anti-depressants but he doesn’t want them.
He has a friend who does karate and I have suggested I will pay for him to join their classes, but he just mumbles and then there’s no traction. Nothing is met with any enthusiasm. Maybe I’m a bit scared of him? Who knows? But I want him to be healthy and happy.
Impossible situation? Am I trying to change someone who doesn’t want to change? Like I tried to with his Dad?
apologies for long post. And thank you.
Whitty