Hi everyone,

I am becoming increasing uncomfortable about how my DH's family talks about dieting and weight loss. I'm looking for feedback if you think I'm over-reacting or if you think I should say something about it.

Basically, they are all close to normal weight people but could also probably lose 6-10kg. My MIL decided (based on how she looks) that she would like to lose weight and gathered together people in the family to go on a dieting competition. So every week when we get together there is a lot of talk about how much people weigh, how much they've lost, how they can't eat certain things because of the diet (no particular diet, they will knock back a jacket potato and have 3 glasses of wine!), who is winning the competition, how getting gastro was good for their weight loss. They talk about how each other looks and if their tummy is sticking out less. By way of example, my MIL once told me I could be beautiful if I just lost some weight....

I don't want my kids to be hearing this kind of attitude to weight loss. My philosophy is that we eat healthy food, we are physically active and that it is about health, NOT weight. It is not about how you look but how well your body works. I don't want them to become judgmental about how people look but recognize that true beauty is from the inside.

The tricky thing is that I definitely have a huge weight problem. I am by far the biggest, wearing plus sized clothes etc. I do try to eat healthily but I have a difficult relationship with food. I also am physically active (lifting heavy weights at the gym, regularly excerising). I could be more fit and I'm working on that too.

I am not part of the diet competition.

I don't know if I am over-reacting. I also don't know how I can say something without seeming like a sore loser. I also do not want to enter into a discussion about my weight!

I did try to explain the different between weight and health, but they totally did not understand.
I need an outsiders view point. Is their talk reasonable? Or would you ask them not talk about it in front of the kids?