EVERYONE CALLS HER CHUBBY

Dear Jellybean,

Everyone calls me chubby...ever since from my dad, to my aunts & uncles, and my godsister. At my brother's party one of these guys said "HEY YOUR GODBROTHER CALLED U CHUBBY ON THE PHONE YESTERDAY!" and one time we were playing football and one of my godbrothers said that "she's hard to tackle" and the other guy said "Thats because she's chubby." I feel really insecure and i`m tired of getting my feelings hurt. I don't know what to do and i`ve been trying to lose the weight....but i can't. i'm not SUPER huge but I just wanna lose a couple of pounds because i'm 11 and i weigh over 160....I take Dance class (ever since I was 4) but i never see RESULTS. do u have ne suggestions? and what do i tell everyone when they call me chubby?
-Elle

Dear Elle,

There are two issues here - your weight, and the way you feel about yourself as a person. Yes, you could lose weight and it would make you healthier and probably happier and more energetic. But don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re less than totally amazing NOW. Losing weight won’t make you a better person, and it won’t protect you from being called names ever again. There is always some idiot who teases people for any stupid reason they can think of. Just look at some of the other letters in the Teasing advice section of my website, and you’ll see what I mean.

It’s good that you want to lose weight, but do it for the right reasons, for YOURSELF, not for other people who don’t even deserve your attention anyway. To get started, get your mom to take you to the family doctor, and talk to the doctor about getting on a nutritional and exercise program that will help you lose weight and get in more athletic, healthy shape for your age. Your doctor may come up with something right then, or they may refer you a professional nutritionist.

Good luck, and I know you can do anything you set your mind to. In the meanitme, stand up to those jerks with the big mouths! You can tell them, "Don't call me names," or simply say, "Grow up, only babies call other people names!" You could even say, "I think I'm amazing, and I don't care what you think." You’ve got to show them that you love yourself and you won’t stand for being put down.