Overweight 10yo ds wants to do weight watchers

[Mummypig2020]

Ds weighed himself a few days ago. We are open about weight/healthy eating/unhealthy eating etc. We all could do with getting healthy and losing weight. Except my Dd who is naturally slim and can eat anything.

Ds is 4ft10 and weighs 7stone3. He carries a lot of weight on his belly. He walks around topless and you can really tell. I feel so sorry for him but it’s my doing.

I do ww. I had a delivery from their website today and he asked if he could do it. Iv currently lost 4 stone through it.

I don’t know what to do. He knows you get so many points a day etc but obviously he’s too young.

I don’t know what to do 😩 I started my first diet at his age and have constantly battled since. I don’t want him to have to deal with the same.

Diet by definition is a way eating, something that needs to be incorporated into lifestyle, not a 6 week sprint. Any unsustainable “diet” will come to an end and then the excess weight will return.

A very quick look on the NHS BMI calculator shows that your son is only marginally over weight. (Could he be getting ready for a growth spurt and that's why it's so noticable around his stomach?)

If he were to lose 4lb he is then of a healthy weight - losing 10lb comfortably so.

He might find this an encouraging bit of information that with small changes to his diet (as opposed to a big and scary overhaul) he would be a lot healthier. Placing emphasis on getting back outside running around ready for school so he can keep up with all his mates. Not stopping all sweets etc. but cutting down so that he enjoys them more.

Given that he'll be in high school next year where he'll have a lot more control over his own diet, moderation and sensible choices with occasional treats seem like good principles to foster in him.

My god. I’m trying. It’s a bloody learning curve for me too. I was disgusting overweight as a child and I am now. I have a medical condition though that makes it extremely hard to lose weight.

He took the hula hoops out.

I promise what Iv wrote is what we eat, he just eats big portions. I rarely buy chocolate because our youngest has a milk allergy and it’s not fair on her.

This is proven when Dd goes out with her friends and ends up spending a lot on crap food.

This is probably going to out me but this is the sort of stuff we eat. Obviously we eat too big portions 😩

More pics. My dd12 lunch box 🙈

Try and switch to eating for nutrition - what’s the premium fuel you can get in your system in your household?

When you do this you automatically dump the crisps/sugary cereal/cheap bread/biscuits/ww diet foods.

Could you engage your son by setting him a challenge to try more healthy foods or research what nutrition is in the things that he eats? An education project if you like.

Your food all looks lovely to mbe fair (though I do worry the lifespan of your tulips in that spot!)

As you know from experience, now is the time to crack this for your son, so he doesn't end up having a similar struggle to you.

As I've said, look at the serving sizes for his age, and weighing food when cooking to track calorie amounts - he'll be having more than you think!

Those eggs look amazing!

Ok, I wonder if the problem is the extras in the sense of sauces, dressings, bread ... and definitely portion sizes!

I'm chubby so don't think I am having a massive go. My issue is cakes biscuits and snacks, so my kids aren't overweight as they don't eat those. If you don't have those (?) Then it's probably hidden in the food you think is healthy

Maybe start making slimming world meals for him as these are suitable for non dieters/ all the family anyway and help him with activity- do couch to 5k etc. Weight watchers is so restrictive and likely to pile weight back on as soon as you stop anyway

Don’t let him do WW but do stop him eating so much rubbish. So hula hoops or a penguin once a day is fine (about 100 calls) but swap the rest of the junk for fruit, yoghurt etc. Stop the sugar laden cereal and give him weetabix.
He will go mad with no treats after having them for so long so don’t ban them completely but once a day is good.
Also, how much oil does your DH cook with? If you use an olive oil spray for cooking rather than free pouring oil into a pan you’d probably all lose weight.
Just try to do all this without making your DS too aware of it. I was put on diets aged 11 and I’ve been on yo yo diets ever since

We’ve tried slimming world but I can’t cope with the amount of carbs (ibs 🙈). We eat a lot of “ww” meals, just litterally anything but point it. We do eat a lot of chicken which is peeing us off, we need more meal ideas because we seem to eat the same bloody thing.

Our dualit toaster is coming today and we promised cheese toasties for tea 🙈 we normally give cucumber and carrots etc on the side.

The eggs look fabulous but one would be enough.

I couldn’t tell you how much he uses 😂🙈 but I will buy some of the spray!

How about looking into more veggie and vegan meals (preferably no cheese- as the calories in a tiny portion make me want a little cry!)

Food looks lush
Don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s hard when your child is hungry. Just give him half portions and bulk the rest up with salad/veg and get him active.

We do eat a lot of vegan cheese etc as Dd can’t have normal cheese/milk x

It’s so hard, because I don’t want them to feel rubbish about themselves but I also think it’s important to Discuss it :(

sensible diets work. The reason people regain weight is when they start to overeat again.

Exactly! If the aim of a diet is to lose weight over a six month period then they work great. But no one wants to lose weight for six months then put it all back on again! Lifestyle changes work.

Look at the free eating well recipe book from First Steps Nutrition. They generally do publications for under 5s, but this one has recipes with portion sizes for adults, 6-11, 1-5 and babies. I'd suggest you get some 25cm plates, so you know you are giving yourselves healthy portions.

The recipe book lets you both eat the same thing and know that you are all eating healthy balanced meals. I personally find you need to add a bit more spice, but otherwise they are good.

www.firststepsnutrition.org/s/Eating_well_recipe_book_july_2014.pdf

Exercise is great for overall health too, but as you probably know, diet is more important for controlling weight.

Please don't do WW or calorie counting at this age. Just focus on eating helathy meals as a family and exercising as a family. Lead by example and show that good food and exercise can be enjoyable and makes you feel great. Don't bitch about it being boring or talk about how you are being good/bad by making certain choices.

If you want ideas for healthy breakfast, lunch or snacks, look at some of their 1-5 year old publications and scale up the portions. I eat plenty of these meals myself and they are delicious!

www.firststepsnutrition.org/eating-well-early-years

I have to agree I'm drooling over the eggs! And is that a panzanella? But yes, portion size - one of those eggs for lunch. Although I can see why there were two!

Also, look at the family dynamic around food. Saying ds1 is "naturally slim" is not helpful. People are slimmer as their food intake is lower / exercise is higher. I was slim all my life until kids as I never ate big meals and walked everywhere. Now I finish the kids food, eat my dinner late with dp and walk far less as the kids are little. I am also 2 dress sizes bigger. It sounds like your ds is engaged and old enough to understand nutrition, so healthy and strong body are good aims.

OP following with interest as my DD is similar. She’s just over 4ft 8 and 6st 8ish. She eats rubbish at her dads every other weekend and I’m very overweight right now so trying to diet. I’m conscious that my mums poor attitude to food and diet clubs set me up for a life of yoyo dieting. She took me to a slimming club aged 17 at 9st 12 - my bmi would’ve been 20.5. Them letting me join reinforced that I was ‘overweight’. I’ve never been that slim since.

Basically what I’m saying is, I’m paralysed by fear around how to deal with it properly.

My 14 year olds probably eat a similar amount, but they don't drink sugary drinks and our portion sizes are reasonable.
They've also been doing couch to 5k.
I'd definitely look at portion control.

I went with my mother to WW at 16 and agree with pp this has led to a lifetime of yo yo dieting.

Slimming world do healthy eating for children, it teaches them healthy options

A lot of ww own brand foods I found v high in sugar. Sugar just turns to fat in your body unless you burn it off quickly. Be careful and compare, it’s expensive too so supermarkets own is worth a comparison twice over. Not to say ‘better’ is always’ good’ 😀