I Sure Hope That's It

So I was talking with a coworker last week and catching up on the happenings of him and his family. He told me that his wife and youngest daughter had started a MediFast diet earlier in the week, and jokingly mentioned that his household had been rather tense ever since then. I remembered that his daughter was young, and when I asked my friend how old she was, he told me she was 11.

It was rather difficult to get through the rest of the conversation, because this wave of emotion came over me that I hadn't really expected. Dieting with my mom was a staple of our relationship from the time I was 12 until the time I left for college. I couldn't help but wonder about my friend's daughter.

I truly hope that this is the last diet she ever decides to take on. I hope that she gets to a healthy weight and learns some healthy habits and never gives a passing thought to the number on the tag of her jeans. But from what I know, and from what I have learned from other friends and various influences, this is probably just the beginning for her. This is not the first and last diet she will start; it is only the first of many. She will probably lose some weight and it will be positively reinforced by her family, friends, and cute boys in the lunch line. I hope that she decides how to eat by listening to her body, and not to her mom or infomercials or by watching her friends subsist on diet coke and carrot sticks.

My true hope is that this doesn't lead to destructive behavior. And that she doesn't start marking important events in her life by how much or little she weighed. That when she starts dating, she doesn't question why someone would want to touch her or be with her. That she doesn't spend her days counting calories and carbohydrates and sugar content of everything she eats.

Maybe I'm just forcing my own situation on to someone else. The thought of an 11 year-old starting a diet makes me cringe, makes me relive those days of coffee-only diets. I wish I could change it for so many other 11 year-old girls who are about to repeat the same exact cycles.

I knew that to keep in touch
Would do me deep in dutch
Cuz it isn't the rush of remembering
It's just mush
And the signature thing
Is only growing harrowing
I should have no trouble now
To keep from following