My Daughter Needs To Diet

[Meg888]

... She's 16, and getting quite overweight. She's to be a bridesmaid in 6 weeks and the dress is 'just' fitting - it was bought a while ago, so we cannot have it taken back/out - it's got to fit! I reckon she needs to lose 7-10lbs to safely fit in it, though she could do with losing about 21 lbs. Trouble is I've no idea what sort of food to give her; she doesn't like salad/fish - she's a real carb baby - pasta, rice, bread & junk! She had a brace fitted 3 months ago and I thought she'd lose some weight then as she had to cut out full sugar pop/sweets/crisps - she has done this, or certainly cut down a lot but she seems to be putting the weight on? Probably sneaking it in behind my back, which won't help if I try to put her on a diet also?

[Zacs-Master]

Show her this.....
http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4661018

[woofgang]

Your daughter is sixteen...strikes me its about time you stopped having views about her weight and let her sort herself out

[woofgang]

nasty Zac's Master....very nasty

[EcclesCake]

I know this is going to sound really harsh, but......

Would the humiliation of not fitting the dress motivate her into getting her eating into check? She's no longer a child and under your watchful eye and can easily access highly calorific foods that are not going to help her figure.

If not fitting into the dress isn't a sufficient motivating factor then I really don't know what would be.

To be invited to be a bridesmaid is a an honour and a privilege, why would anyone want to let down the bride???

[Meg888]

And not much better @ woofgang. If I leave her to her own devices, she will just eat and eat - she has learning difficulties, so she's not the 'average' teen, so she does need encouragment/prompting with some of the more basic things in life.

[ChillDoubt]

She'd be better combining it with exercise if possible. Doesn't have to be running, cycling just as good and less impact on joints. Try and change her bread to wholemeal too if you can. Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.
Plenty of salads (she'll have to at least give them a go) with low fat salad cream etc, carrot sticks for snacking/grazing.

Bar that, it's a shoe horn and a tub of grease!

[woofgang]

flatbread or wraps have the same calories as bread!

[Zacs-Master]

Wasn't meant to be nasty. Just thought it might give her some inspiration to diet. Or exercise.

[woofgang]

does she really crave carbs? sometimes it can be a medical condition rather than just needing to diet, have you discussed this with a doctor? It sounds to me as though the weight gain might be a new(ish) thing? Has anything changed?

[Zacs-Master]

It might have been pertinent to state that your daughter has learning difficulties in the OP.

[ChillDoubt]

As Zacs says, the added info is very relevant. Maybe your GP can give you some better guidance.

[pixie373]

I agree, if she's able to exercise, encourage that as much as possible. Even just a fast walk, along with a healthy diet.

[woofgang]

only the foolish ones triggerhippy

[Mamyalynne]

Without knowing the extent of the learning difficulties it is hard to say, perhaps try to learn together about the food groups and what the body needs and make a colour coded chart to follow - you can join in too. Plus of course encourage more activity along the way.

[Scarlett]

It has to come from her. At the moment her hunger signals are messed up- she doesn't really know is she is properly hungry or not. She is probably eating out of routine, boredom, or emotional reasons, such as she feels bad about herself as her Mum thinks she's fat. I think having a kind chat with her about how she sees herself, whether she wants to lose weight or not, whether she feels real hunger before eating, what she would like to wear instead of her bridesmaid's dress, all things that put the ball in her court. Re. food, download www.myfitnesspal.com You can eat whatever you want but mustn't go over your calorie limit. Typing everything in you soon learn what has a lot of calories and what doesn't. If she agrees and truly wants to lose weight, why not go with her to Slimming World- where you CAN eat unlimited amounts of carbs but there are other rules alongside. It works for many many people. It's great if you can't handle hunger. Whatever you do, don't make her feel bad for her shape. Many people struggle their whole lives with weight and it is rarely because they simply like eating pies. It's a complex issue.

[woofgang]

trig you might actually find, because bread has holes in it and flatbread doesn't, that size for size, you can have more ordinary bread than you can flat bread. Weight for weight, i bet there's not much difference.

[Sqad]

We both know that she is not going to diet over the next 6 weeks and any attempt is going to lead to anger frustration and antagonism.

Go to see your GP, come clean and ask him if he would suggest a short course of appetite suppressants.