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

I eat differently to a lot as low fat has never worked for me. I have full fat Greek yoghurt, milk etc but just smaller portions. I have berries instead of other fruit as they are lower GI. So I avoid processed as much as possible, switched to wholegrain and bought smaller plates. The fat and protein keeps me full so stops me snacking and I have a treat a week as otherwise I would struggle. So far I have lost 4 stone.

My point is not to stick to any particular diet idea rigidly but in general focus on whole foods that haven't been processed as much in slightly smaller portions. You could maybe add a fast walk after dinner too for a bit of extra daily activity. You could throw some marinated chicken on the bbq or grill, steam some veggies and that is a really quick meal.

You sound like you have a healthy approach and it could just be she is due a growth spurt, but good to take some action where you can

If she likes Indian food then she could be losing a lot of weight but you need to make it yourself instead of getting takeaways. You also need to be careful with portions - I am Indian and when I’m having a full on Indian meal (rice, dahl, naan / roti, 2 curries, and a dessert) I eat minimally for the rest of the day - so it’s just a cup of tea for breakfast and a raw, leafy tossed salad for lunch.

Could you buy the Pinch of Nom recipe book? She could go through it and put a post it on recipes she wants to try. Lots of great ideas in it and perfect if you’re doing slimming world

If she likes nutella and ice cream she’d like the Breyer’s non-dairy chocolate hazelnut ice cream (tesco have it). It’s very low cal and high protein yet really, really nice

Frozen grapes with sugar free jelly crystals are amazing!

I find eating a small apple before a meal if i’m especially hungry stops me inhaling it and then needing to eat loads afterwards out of sheer hunger

Big into Greek yoghurt here at the moment. We either blend raspberries and strawberries into it or just add a mix of fruit on top of it.

Teddybear, I absolutely love making Indian food so yes, the dishes are always homemade. She loves korma and I recently experimented with swapping the coconut milk for alpro coconut drink which was really successful and she didn’t notice the difference. I make “onion bhajis” baked in a muffin tin and we usually have something like marinated chicken kebabs as a starter. I used to make my own naan when they sold the premix you cooked under the grill, I was very sad when they stopped selling it. Now I make chappatis instead

Cattoddler I’ve been eyeing that, I’m a big fan of their Facebook group and my menu plan for dinners is heavily based around their recipes

Smoothy, great tip, I’ll put it on the shopping list

Ah okay, the korma is probably why the Indian food isn’t helping. You need to give her proper Indian home-made food - tomato / water based curries, lentils. Roti flour need to be weighed - if you use 40-50g flour per person then only 2 rotis should be served; 100g flour then only 1.

I think the alpro version will be much better for her, the difference is quite astonishing :
Reduced fat coconut milk - 73 cal per 100ml and 7g fat
Alpro - 20 calories and 0.9g fat

If you make a big vegetable or chicken based curry (this one’s good) then freeze it I need batches, perfect just to chuck in the microwave with a sachet of frozen whole grain rice you can have a healthy meal on the table in minutes.

Could do similar with a batch of five bean or veggie chilli, then alternate sides, rice, jacket, wraps etc.

I really recommend the book Chetna’s Healthy Indian, by Chetna Makan (from Bake Off). Easy recipes with a reasonable number of ingredients, and all the ones I’ve tried so far have been lovely.

If you’re on insta follow the college nutritionist for ideas. all her plates follow a formula, 2 cups veg, x oz of fat and x oz of protein. There is another that’s I follow,
I’ll see if it pops up soon and let you know what it is. She reframes thinking about food so we lose negative words/thoughts around it.

I would big up the veg and fruit in your family diet. I wouldn't be reducing the fat on anything especially mince but I would reduce carbs and eliminate simple carbs completely.

@GirlRaisedInTheSouth

What???

Her diet sounds very unhealthy. As she likes pasta, why don't you buy chickpea pasta? Just don't tell her, she probably won't notice. Sausages give you cancer so ditch those. Milk is also bad for you and fattening, so ditch that as well. Fruit isn't a good idea, lots of sugar which you don't need. Puddings are a bad habit to get into. And don't get me started on the Nutella!

There's nothing wrong with pasta, or sausages, occasionally - they don't 'give you cancer'.
The milk / fruit stuff is just utterly false.

I'm wondering if you are just taking the piss & I missed it?

From what I read, it's not the meals that are a problem, it's the sugar-rich snacks & portion size I'd say.

Her diet sounds very unhealthy. As she likes pasta, why don't you buy chickpea pasta? Just don't tell her, she probably won't notice. Sausages give you cancer so ditch those. Milk is also bad for you and fattening, so ditch that as well. Fruit isn't a good idea, lots of sugar which you don't need. Puddings are a bad habit to get into. And don't get me started on the Nutella

What do you eat? Dust?

If you want to give your dd an eating disorder op then take this ^ advice. If not ignore it because its bollocks.

Everything in moderation. Smaller portions. Sounds like the "moving more" bit is covered.

What I do find confusing about these threads is the amount of discussion around finding "thin" versions of favourite foods.

There's no need. Eat the right stuff in proper amounts and there won't be an issue.

Things like yogurt aren't good...unless you're having a tablespoon of natural greek on your breakfast? Don't add white chocolate flavour drops to it!

Same with all this talk of Allpro....milk's fine in moderation!

Non dairy icecream? Yuk! Just have it on Sundays! In smaller portions and without loads of stuff on top...no "lite" whipped cream...real cream...but rarely! I could go on. So many of these replacements are highly processed.

Chickpea pasta is actually part of an Indian dish that involves slipping in squares of home made pasta (wholewheat flour, chickpea flour, spices, oil, water) into any lentils. Really high in protein and one bowl will often fill you up. Has more calories than Italian pasta but you do use less of it (90-100g would cover 2-3 people).

Did OP ever say how old the DD is?
I got when OP said the other 4 girls in her class (tiny school or what?) were skinny. Skinny is unusual at DD's school above yr4 or so.

@lljkk

Literally the first word in the OP tells you how old she is.

Gotcha, fair enough!

Apart from the Nutella (ewk, I can't stand the stuff!) and ice-cream, I think it's probably all to do with portion size. Make the proportion of vegetables greater and cut down on the sausages, pasta, pizza etc.

On the subject of sausages, a pp said that they "cause cancer". There is actually more than a grain of truth in that. If you want to eat sausages, make sure that they are high quality ones with the highest meat content and avoid any that contain nitrites.