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

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

Some ‘thin’ versions are nicer than the fat versions though. I prefer some low calorie ice creams and I much prefer low fat sausages. I find regular ones too greasy.

One tip with spaghetti Bol, apart from extra veg, is to do half mince 5% and half soy mince. My family don't notice the difference. Favourite veg in it are small carrot chunks, celery, onion, tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms.

fat is caused by overactive knife and fork or fat parent

Your daughters diet seems extremely unhealthy.
If she really is having waffles or pancakes with Nutella for breakfast most days then that will definitely be the main problem. Alongside the after dinner I’ve cream every evening. Cut those out and replace with a proper breakfast and I reckon that’s already a good 400 calorie deficit a day which is well enough for her to drop the puppy fat.
Also portion sizes seem quite large OP. Someone mentioned cooking from scratch and you went on to say that you make your own curries with low cal coconut drink which is fantastic. But if you’re having kebabs for starter along with onion bhajis and naan bread, even though these components aren’t unhealthy it seems like a lot for one dinner so too many cals.
You seem determined thought so best of luck!

Have you ever heard of HENRY? It’s a healthy eating charity but offers fantastic free advice. I’m a CM and recently attended a course and I was actually quite alarmed at what they told us. I thought I knew a lot about providing nutritious meals but actually I have still got a lot to learn.
This is the website;
www.henry.org.uk/

One of the biggest take aways for me was that our stomachs are not as half as big as we would imagine. Your Dd’s stomach is the size of her clenched fist. Therefore her portions should also be no bigger than her first. Also it’s a myth that we need to snack every 3hrs. Often children (and adults-myself included) think we are hungry when it’s actually thirst.

Also don’t be fooled by low fat options. Children need good fats otherwise they will feel continuously hungry. Cows milk is fine. Soya, Almond, Oat milk and so on is no better for children in terms of nutritional content, so don’t feel as if they need to be changed.

Also fresh fruit is essential. Dried fruit not so much. My daughter loves it when I do her overnight oats for breakfast. I saved an old jam jar, put some natural yoghurt in, whatever fresh fruit we have in bowl, a portion of oats, maybe some cashews and leave in the fridge overnight. That with a glass of water keeps her going through until lunch!

@BarryBarryTaylor are you seriously saying that the food on a child's plate at mealtime should be no more than the size of their fist? Sorry but that is ridiculous. How on earth would you fit all the components of the meal into that size?! What about if you are piling on loads of veg? We've just had a really healthy home made cooked from scratch chicken stir fry, my 10 year old ate a pasta bowl full, probably around 3 of his fists, it was healthy and tasty and no way was it too much for him.

According to the HENRY training, yes.

This image explains it much better

Well sorry but that would be so few calories I just cannot see that it is correct. Especially for an active child. I did look at the website and the recipes look great but that piece of advise seems crackers.

advice

And that’s the size of their fist/hands, not an adults

Oh cross post that poster explains it better, the fist is for each element of the meal?

It still doesn't seem much, I wouldn't want to be limiting things like carrots for example

@EarringsandLipstick The OP said her DD ate a lot of pasta and she is overweight. Switching to a non-wheat version would help with weightloss.

Also processed meat has been classified as a Class 1 Carcinogen by the World Health Organisation.

And no-one over toddler age NEEDS milk. They can switch to coconut milk or almond milk, for instance. Much better for you and again will help with weightloss.

Yes so they should have 4 fist sizes of bread,pasta, rice, potatoes a day. Up to three palms of beans, pulses, eggs, protein. 5 portions of fruit and veg. Two tips of fingers worth of milk and diary. And less than a tip of the thumb if sweet stuff. Bearing in mind it’s their fist not yours. So it’s still considerably less than I was giving my daughter and my minded children.

Apologies for my awful post, reading it back it was so badly articulated!!!

That's ok it makes a bit more sense now! I still think my boys would starve

I think my four year old would if I followed that guide down to the letter. But it did make me reevaluate portion sizes for us as a whole family. I cook everything from scratch and don’t use salt or sugar in my DDs food, but she definitely has more dairy than that per day. And if I were to give her chips she would want more than 6, and she would definitely have more than two tsbp of ice cream!

As I said earlier, everything in moderation

Here’s the other I follow

GirlRaisedInTheSouth

The OP said her DD ate a lot of pasta and she is overweight. Switching to a non-wheat version would help with weightloss.

Also processed meat has been classified as a Class 1 Carcinogen by the World Health Organisation.

And no-one over toddler age NEEDS milk. They can switch to coconut milk or almond milk, for instance. Much better for you and again will help with weightloss.

Seriously?

I can absolutely guarantee OP's daughter is not overweight from eating pasta.

As other posters have said, the key issues are portion size, snacking & over-processed food. Eating normally, including normal portion size, is all that's needed.

Demonising food types / groups of food - including fruit, ffs! - is really unhelpful.

Eating sausages will NOT give you cancer, in the absolute way you state it. Yes, it has been classified as carcinogenic but why don't you read the facts on what that means here www.who.int/features/qa/cancer-red-meat/en/

Processed / red meat should be eaten in moderation, no more than a couple of times a week. Almost everything we do contains benefits as well as risks - there are known health benefits to eating red meat, but clearly some risks too.

Again - moderation.

Regarding milk, it's not NEEDED, yes, but it remains a valuable source of protein, calcium and essential fats & minerals - one particularly of note for women is iodine, which matters especially in pregnancy. Sure, you can find these from another source but it's harder.

I really really struggle with people who can't grasp basic facts about nutrition & throw out nonsense as if it's a truth.

@EarringsandLipstick I hardly think the WHO are throwing out nonsense . Whether you like it or not, processed meat has been classified as a Class 1 Carcinogen alongside tobacco and asbestos. Rates of cancer in this country are skyrocketing. Childhood cancers in the UK have increased 40% since the 1990's. And this has been directly attributed to diet.

Some of you are completely bonkers.

Mumsnet at it’s worst.

Exactly @GirlRaisedInTheSouth that's why u linked you to the actual WHO report with full, y'know, FACTS.

Honestly, why didn't you just actually read my post? The nonsense comes from you, I'm afraid, not the WHO. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Honestly, change her breakfast and she’ll probably be fine. Nutella is delicious but a calorie bomb - 80 calories in just one teaspoon! And it is easy to eat straight from jar.

Pancakes or waffles with nutella and cream should be a rare treat, not an everyday breakfast. Just ditching nutella on its own may sort everything out.