Watch your weight, sure, but don't get crazy

This morning, my son decided he was going to skip breakfast.

He intended to skip lunch, too.

This, apparently, is what wrestlers do on match days. And he's got a playoff match tonight.

Look, I've made no secret of the fact that wrestling makes me squeamish. I appreciate all the positive things the sport offers and I have a great deal of respect for the kids who wrestle. They are all in great physical condition, they develop great mental strength, and they enjoy a wonderful team camaraderie with one another. Overall, it's a positive experience for most kids, and my son enjoys it, which is all that really matters. My wife and I support him wholeheartedly, and we go to the matches and cheer for him, and for all the kids on the team.

But honestly, it's hard to watch sometimes. We were powerless to do anything at a recent match, when an opponent looked like he was going to pull our son's arm out of its socket; and even when he wins a match -- when he pins the other kid, I end up feeling kind of bad for his opponent.

On top of all that, there's the weight thing, which makes us uneasy, too.

As a freshman, he's been content to wrestle his actual weight, or near it, even though that meant he had to start the season on J.V. He did have to lose two pounds to get to the nearest weight limit, but that wasn't a big deal, considering that other kids have had to lose a lot more than that to find an available spot they can fill in the varsity lineup. One of his teammates told me he had lost 20 pounds since the summer. It was the only way for him to earn a regular varsity spot.

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday, and with a playoff match tonight, my son and his teammates couldn't afford to go hog wild on Buffalo Wings and bleu cheese dip like most of the rest of America. He actually went running earlier in the day to burn off some calories and give himself room to have a wing or two and maybe some chips and a soda. This morning he woke up right at his weight limit, so all was good -- except he didn't want to take a chance that eating breakfast might push him over the limit.

Now, believe me, I understand that in the real world, there are many children who don't eat breakfast because there's no food in their house. And that's absolutely heartbreaking to think about. Thankfully, that is not my son's situation. Instead, he chooses to skip the most important meal of the day because of his commitment to a sport, which sounds very much like a First World problem. My wife and I were able to convince him to have an apple this morning, but he wouldn't even drink a glass of water with it, afraid that might push him over the weight limit. He made himself a fruit smoothie and packed a few snacks for after the weigh-in.

Weight management is just part of the sport, and I get that. And fortunately, our son isn't doing anything crazy -- at least not yet. But he likes the sport, and at this point intends to do it again next year and to continue doing it throughout high school. So there could come a point, over the next few years, where he will feel the need to lose a massive amount of weight -- either for his own benefit, or for the team's. 

I'm hoping that never happens.