How can I help DD lose a little weight

[shieldmaidenofrohan]

DD9 is a little portly around the tummy area. This is starting to bother her as she is a bit bigger than the other girls in her class (there are only 5 of them so it’s quite obvious as the others are all quite skinny). I’m very conscious not to make an issue out of it and am very careful with my language and how I respond when she talks about it; my mum has a real issue with weight which has not helped me...

So I want to use the holidays to try and reset her diet to healthier options. Any suggestions ? She loves very traditional “British food” like sausages, cottage pie, roast dinners etc. She used to like fish but keeps refusing to eat it. She also loves pasta and Indian. She has a Nutella fetish 😆

So far I’ve switched from normal mince to 5%, ive tried out some chicken Italian sausages this morning which went down well. I’m replacing ice cream with sorbet and trying to gradually introduce healthier options.

She is already very active - when at school she swims daily as she is the swim squad, games lessons every day, horse riding once a week and then 2 hours gymnastics on Saturdays. So activity levels aren’t the issue haha

Here's the thing...she can't have a Nutella fetish if you don't buy it. Sausages are crap.

Whole foods are best. That's foods which haven't been altered in any way. Lean chicken and veg currys/soups are great.

Baked potatoes with salad and tuna or cheese.

Watch her drinks....no pop!

Reduce her portion sizes, and limit snacks. Her diet is fine for a growing and energetic child, there's nothing wrong with traditional British food.

No snacking

Add extra vegetables at dinner.

Lots of water

She will grow though so don’t worry about it too much.

Don’t buy Nutella.

Henry, I just finished the last jar of Nutella and won’t be replacing it for a while to try and crack the habit. She only has sausages once a week anyway. Drinks are mainly limited to water and milk, she hates fizzy drinks. Fortunately she likes veg and we have just replaced the bbq so I can introduce more meals like plain meat cooked on there with veg on the side.
I don’t want to be too restrictive because my mum was highly restrictive which led to me having serious food issues as an adult

Her dinners are fine reduce her portions stop replacing nutella have the jar for x time so it lasts, imo children shouldn't be on diets like adults especially girls or she will be on every single faddy diet all her life, cut down portions and up her activity.

Thankyou all, I think I more want to reset her diet rather than losing weight - before it becomes a significant issue.
She would eat pasta all day every day if she could get away with it lol

Will she accept quorn in things like cottage pie/Bolognese? Make sure it very low fat but I think just as tasty.

Bigger portions of veg, smaller portions of pasta etc. Cut down on sweet stuff and processed foods.

Selfridges, she might but dh defintiely won’t as he loathes quorn

Little changes might make all the difference.
What does she do for breakfast?
Does she eat sweets, crisps or biscuits.

What about juice?

How much milk does she drink?
It's great that she is so active.

We also padded out the bolognse with grated carrots and zucchini.
Big glass of water before meals so dehydration not to be confused with hunger.
Protein portion the size of her palm.
Measure the carbs and the top up with a bucket of veg or salad.
They can snack on too much fruit so air popped popcorn is a good treat.
Sausage from butcher not supermarket as less fat.
Make food from scratch so you know how much fat and sugar are in things.
Good luck

I’ve been eating the 5% mince for some time as I am doing slimming world (it’s not hard to see where the eating habits have come from) so recently when I used up all the normal mince we had in the freezer I stared using the 5% for all of us. I’m happy with that as obviously I appreciate she needs some fat in her diet

Is it portion sizes OP? Because in all honesty what you're describing isn;t THAT different to what we eat...we don't have sausages or Nutella but we do have 2 packs of biscuits a week and occasional ice cream and crisps. None of us are overweight at all

Grabby, she would previously have had Swedish waffles, pancakes or a cooked breakfast.
I’ve cut down the waffles to an occasional treat and am changing the cooked breakfast contents. As we are on holiday now the breakfasts are a bit of an issue (normally she has breakfast at school 3 days a week after swim squad). Any ideas gratefully received. I’m going to start making fruit salad, she really likes French set yoghurts and fromage frais.

What are her breakfast lunCh and snacks like? Sounds like her evening meals are fairly normal but variations between recipes can double or half calorie content. For example you can exchange your mash on top of a cottage pie for a mix of sweet potato and carrot or just mash carrot or parsnips in with the regular potato. You don’t need to add loads of butter to mash a splash of milk does the job just make sure it’s well seasoned. Then bulk the mince out with lentils or veg and serve with another side of veg.
Curry’s can vary massively so opt for tomatoes based sauces instead of creamy ones (same applies to pasta sauces) .
Serve with whole grain rice (slower release carb) with peas stirred through.
Sometimes it’s not the meal itself that’s higher calorie but the add ons (mango chutney, naan, garlic bread, cheese, condiments etc)
Crudités as a ‘starter’ can reduce chances of over eating.
Some of the fruit based ice lollies are v low calories buts still a nice treat.

We do make everything from scratch - I don’t buy ready stuff at all apart from the occasional thing like garlic bread

I tried some wholegrain rice on her last night which she liked so we’ve had a couple of wins the last couple of days

I would keep the waffles till the weekend so she /the family can have them say a saturday morning.

Henny, I do think that snacks are a bit of an issue, I’m a bit of a soft touch when it comes to that so I’ve really been trying hard to say “no” or give a healthier alternative. We’d got in the habit of ice cream after dinner which I’m trying to break

Fortunately the waffle iron blew up yesterday so that’s also off the menu with the Nutella 🤣

Portion sizes, especially with rice/potatoes/pasta.

More protein.

Check yoghurts for sugar content.

Rather than sugary processed yogurts why not try plain full fat Greek yogurt. I buy the baby fruit purée pots or pouches and have a dollop on the side sometimes. Full fat yogurt is very filling so she’ll only need a small amount.

Eggs or oats for breakfast rather than pancakes and waffles

Buy new plates with very wide rim

Then the space for food is smaller without you noticing