Diet mad mums - who get their daughters in on their routines - Mirror.co.uk
On her 10th sit-up of the day, Kayshia Binch feels contented because she knows her morning routine, which also includes a set of press-ups, will stop her getting fat.
And she doesn't eat chocolate either, because that will mean all the exercise she's done will go to waste.
That might sound just like the mantra of your typical image-conscious woman, but Kayshia is just six years old.
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Her mum Jayde is terrified of getting fat and maintains a strict diet and fitness regime to keep in shape – and her obsession has rubbed off on her daughter.
"I became weight-conscious when I had Kayshia because my body changed a lot," explains Jayde, who got pregnant at 15.
"I'd put on a stone and couldn't exercise so I would get really frustrated. I'd look in magazines where everyone's skinny and although my body's OK, I was conscious that it wasn't as good as other people's.
"I used to ask my friends: 'Do you think I'm fat?' and worry that I'd put weight on."
As Kayshia got older, she started asking her mum if she was fat, too.
Jayde recalls: "I used to weigh myself in front of her and she would see me getting anxious.
"Then she'd weigh herself, too, and say: 'I've put weight on, Mummy, do you think I'm fat?'
"That was a big wake-up call and made me realise I had to sort myself out and not say it in front of her.
"I still weigh myself every week and still worry about putting on weight, just not while she's there.
"I had my second girl six months ago and want to get back to 7st."
But while Jayde goes to the gym four times a week, Kayshia has been doing gymnastics, dancing and swimming classes every week from the age of three.
They both do sit-ups and push-ups each and every morning and also compete on their Wii and Xbox Kinect every day, with kickboxing and Zumba routines.
Jayde, from Nottinghamshire, says Kayshia usually gets better scores. The pair rarely have sweets, chocolates or crisps. Any meal has to comply with the diet book the single mum sticks to religiously.
"It tells you how many carbs you're meant to have on a daily basis," she explains.
"It breaks things in to sections like dairy, protein and the different carbohydrates in fruit as well as the more complex ones in rice, pasta and bread.
"I try not to have too many carbs, but always have my five a day of fruit and veg.
"Kayshia and I have the same meals and in an average day, we'll have muesli for breakfast with natural yoghurt, honey and blackberries or raspberries.
"At lunch it's a sandwich or salad and then we'll have something bigger at teatime like chicken, rice and vegetables.
"Then we'll snack on Nutri-Grain bars or fruit.
"I don't keep crisps or sweet stuff in the house. It's not that I ban them, but Kayshia doesn't want them because she's never had them.
"I don't stop her having things like that if she goes to other people's houses though."
Being so healthy can backfire on Jayde when she craves a sweet treat herself.
"Sometimes when we go shopping, I might fancy chocolate and Kayshia will say no!
"She can be more into being healthy than me, which can be a bit of a nightmare if I do fancy a bit of chocolate, as I'm not allowed it.
"I have to have some when she goes to bed! Kayshia's very aware of what's good for her and what's not.
"I'll give her fruit in her school lunchbox, while her friends have chocolate bars and she's told me that she's better than them because she's healthy.
"She's aware of bigger people too and she'll say: 'Look how fat she is, Mummy', and I'll try to explain to her that everybody's different."
Kayshia also does some modelling for catalogues and Jayde says it's helped her with her confidence.
"She knows that by looking better and taking care of yourself, you can get somewhere in life.
"I'll be the same with my younger daughter, because I think being healthy gets you places.
"I'd rather my children were doing exercise than watching TV, eating crisps and getting fat.
"I know some kids go the other way if they're told not to do something but I don't think that Kayshia will rebel in the future."
Mum-of-two Leila Marar, 47, also believes teaching her daughters to live healthily will set them up for life.
Although she's always been very active and strict about her diet, Leila panicked when she turned 45 and put on almost two stone. She weighs herself daily and although she says she tries not to allow her obsession to influence her girls, they worry about putting on weight.
Desperate to be thin again, this summer Leila embarked on a weight loss programme and Sophia, 15, and Olivia, 13, have joined her.
"I used to be 7st and a size 6 but I reached 8st 11llbs and a size 10 earlier this year," explains Leila, who lives near Orpington, Kent. "I got quite depressed about not fitting in my clothes so I started a no-fat, high-protein diet and a lot of exercise to get down to a size 8.
"The girls followed as they're keen to lose a few pounds and tone up.
"We've always eaten healthily as I wanted to give the girls a good start. I never gave them sugar as toddlers.
"They'd never have the kids' menu in restaurants as it's invariably smiley faces and fish fingers.
"Instead they'd share a healthy meal from theadult's menu.
"We're being even healthier this summer – eating brown rice instead of white, we don't have potatoes and only wheat-free pasta, and we don't have any sweets or crisps in the house.
"Once a month, we might treat ourselves and the girls and I will have some biscuits or cake.
"I drink a lot of mint and chamomile tea and don't drink alcohol. Fizzy drinks are banned too – I've never bought them as I didn't want the girls growing up on them."
Leila spends an hour on her running machine before the girls are even out of bed.
During the summer they've spent most days at the stables where they'll ride and do intensive labouring work in the yard. Once home, they do half an hour of circuits with their running and step machines and working out on a fitness ball.
The girls have been doing dance classes and team sports since they were young and Leila encourages them to be as active as possible.
She believes success and popularity is centred upon how you look and explains: "As far as I'm concerned the girls are a really healthy weight.
"They're 5'10" and weigh 10st so all I say is they need to keep toned.
"They're always looking at magazines and saying they wish they had different people's figures but I make them realise that those people have millions for personal trainers and chefs – it's not normal life.
"I tell them they're eating a good diet and just need to do more core exercise. So that's what we do in the evenings and we really enjoy it.
"I know they don't have any eating disorders. They have friends who are six stone and think they're fat.
"My girls are not like that and not trying to get a stick-like figure.
"Overall they're very comfortable with themselves but we've enjoyed seeing the effects of our new regime.
"We've all lost about seven pounds and seen a change – our legs and stomachs are getting firmer every day."
Leila's husband is pleased with the effects too, even though she's reluctant to stay in shape for him.
"My husband really likes thin women," she says.
"When he saw me putting on the extra weight he said: 'If you carry on you're going to be enormous'.
"He told me I had an enormous bum, which was hurtful. But I said he's been married to me for 19 years, I've had two children and I'm still under 9st – I'm not doing bad!
"He still criticises and it puts pressure on me but I don't lose weight for him, I do it to make myself feel better."
But the girls will turn to their father if they do fancy something a bit sweet.
Sophia admits they have sneaky biscuits with him without their mum knowing. But they'll also be strict with themselves and her – just as Kayshia is with Jayde.
"We encourage each other not to eat sweets," admits Leila.
"We often walk around the supermarket together and I'll pick up a chocolate bar and the girls will put it back.
"I do the same with them and we laugh about it. We all say we don't need it and it's true – we don't."
05 Sep, 2011
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEqN68NjUuxzV5NuDK826Meu4fRoA&url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/09/05/diet-mad-mums-who-get-their-daughters-in-on-their-routines-115875-23396389/
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