A concerned mom who put both of her twin daughters on a diet despite only one of them needing to lose weight has turned to the internet for advice.
The woman posted in an ‘Am I The A*****e’ forum on Reddit, explaining the predicament with her 14-year-old identical twin daughters Megan and Alana.
The twins are both five feet tall, but Megan weighs over 150 pounds while Alana weighs 95 pounds.
She claimed Megan is obese and she put the whole family on a diet, but Alana feels it it is unfair the whole family has to change their lifestyle.
‘I tried putting emphasis on staying healthy instead of losing weight. However, Alana guessed that the real reason for this new diet is because I want Megan to lose weight,’ the mother said.
A mother put both of her identical twin daughters on a diet because one of them is obese
‘She started complaining that it’s not fair that she also has to diet because her sister’s fat.
‘I told [Alana] that I didn’t want Megan to feel singled out and feel as though she’s the only one being punished for her weight.’
She said the twins used to be the same weight until they were about seven years old then Megan started putting on the pounds.
By the time the girls were 11 years old, Megan was considered medically overweight and the mother took them to a doctor for advice.
‘I went to a doctor for advice, and he said that I shouldn’t worry too much since a lot of kids gain weight right before puberty, and then “balance out” after their growth spurt,’ she said.
However, the twins went through a growth spurt last year and Megan’s weight continues to increase, so the mother decided to implement a health diet for the whole family.
‘I slowly started to cut back on sugar, junk food, and unhealthy snacks. I cook them high volume, low calorie meals full of vegetables and protein so that they still feel full after eating,’ she said.
‘Neither of the twins are very athletic, so I’ve also tried encouraging them to engage in physical activities, like swimming, bike riding, trampolining, etc.’
Now that Alana has called out her mother for forcing the whole family to diet despite Megan being the only one that needs to lose weight, the woman is questioning if she did the right thing.
Readers slammed the mother for her decision and claimed that she took the wrong approach to dieting.
‘You have almost committed to this idea, that health is valuable for everyone and isn’t a punishment, but then you don’t seem to really believe it,’ one person said.
‘This “we’re pretending to do this so that my fat kid doesn’t figure out that we secretly just want a skinny kid” thing you pull at the end… I think you need to figure out your own relationship with health a little before trying to do a family overhaul.’
The woman said neither of her twins are very athletic so she encourages them to get physical activity by jumping on the trampoline
‘If you’re trying to trick your daughter into being thin by pretending to value health, you’re just going to foster an unhealthy relationship with food and her body. The more you lie the more confused and messed up she’ll get.’
‘Your last sentence is very telling. You don’t want just one to feel that she is being punished for her weight,’ said another.
‘Nobody should feel like they are being punished for their weight, much less by the one person who is supposed to give them unconditional love.’
‘You’re putting Alana on a diet because you don’t want to have a conversation with your other daughter about her unhealthy weight,’ said a third person.
‘Alana is not her sister’s keeper, you need to step up and do better as the parent.’