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.

I totally disagree with the person upthread who recommends no cakes/fruit/yoghurts, virtually no snacks and concentrate on vegetables.

Me too. A recipe for a lifetime of food issues and yo yo weight loss/ gan, that is.

On the eggs. Or perhaps it is hollandaise. Either way it is highly calorific.

The food looks wonderful quality but portions are way too big!

Your stomach is meant to be the size of your fist right? get him to make a fist and just really look at the size and think about that for portion sizes

He will feel hungry at first, in all likelihood his stomach has stretched and will take time to adjust

It's hard and don't feel bad - feel positive that you are addressing it.
Op you haven't said what he drinks?
We have only ever given water, milk and sometimes diluted apple and black current no added sugar.
My DS is eating healthy in the week and relaxing it at weekends - he is older than your son and is very interested in this topic.
Examples of his own healthy eating:
Porridge with small spoon of local honey (for his hay fever).
Omelet with a little bit of ham and glass of milk.
Natural no fat yogurt with milled flax and chia seeds (could replace these with blueberries).
Banana
Apple or grapes or strawberries
Crunchy salad with cucumber, tomatoes and sweetcorn.
Oven baked cod and rice (can be whole meal) with tomotoe Passata if not already had tomotoe in salad,
Oven Chicken flavoured with spices and rice and veg
Spaghetti bolognaise with 5% mince
Oven chicken with mash and lots of veg and Yorkshire's (not sure how healthy Yorkshire's but we love them).
Cheese
He has always had a massive appetite, although all of above is not all in one day 😂!
Lots of lean protein and cook with olive oil.
They need certain things (good fats) to fill them up and they need certain types of food to help them grow.

We only have water, they aren’t allowed anything fizzy or sugar. Dd has braces and they have never been allowed it anyway.

Have you looked at slimming world? They have a plan for kids and it's much more about healthy eating than points counting so might be better 😊 Don't think there is anything wrong with allowing him to try and lose weight as long as it's done sensibly and he doesn't feel restricted. Xxxxxx

Is that a bread roll in the lunch box under the 7 sausages?

You counted the cocktail sausages given to a 12 year old? Jesus...

OP, there are a lot of Mumsnetters with food issues/orthorexia and these threads will never provide someone like you with sensible, reasonable advice and feedback. You will be ripped to shreds and snippy comments like the one above are perfect examples of that.

Yes I did count the sausages as that lunch looks a lot. However her dd obviously uses the calories. And yes, I used to have an eating disorder and the anorexic thinking remains so I notice things like this. Also autistic and notice numbers and patterns. Cocktail sausages, a pasta salad, banana muffin, cheese, grapes, cucumber and whatever is in the pot is a big lunch to most I would think. Certainly for a child but then it depends on what else they eat in the day. Our perception of portions and what classes as overweight is very warped these days. Mumsnet is full of posters who think we should live on air and water. My dc eat loads including snacks daily and are all very slender. If I cut their high fat snacks they'd be even thinner.

Op please do not think that you can't do anything right and please try to love yourself for who you are rather than the number in your clothes and on the scales

I didnt say no fruit, yogurt, or treats.

I said small amounts

Huge difference

Op, stop buying the chocolate bars and crisps. Just don’t have them in the house.

If he’s hungry, give him extra chicken or veg. What does he drink?

He drinks water, we don’t allow sugary drinks in the house or fizzy pop.
I have an addiction to Pepsi Max so I’m very strict about it lol

It was ditching Pepsi Max that meant my DH list weight and massively improved his arthritis. No more craving sugary crap or so exhausted at 4pm he would need a lie down....

He wishes he had down it years ago now!

I think you need to be so careful so he doesn’t go down the route of obsessive eating. I think I would just up the exercise with a step tracker and work on him not increasing his weight further. Then when he has a growth spurt, he will stretch out.
I have a 10&12 year old, the 10yr old does eat (and weigh) more than the 12 year old and wants to sit all day. After a few weeks of lockdown I suggested that we reduce treats if she doesn’t get off her backside and exercise - it’s worked as an incentive!

I do an exercise video (like Jo Wicks) most days plus try to go for a 30 min walk on dry days - or walk for an hour if I don’t do a video. I encourage the kids to join me as much as I can - I’m not always successful but I try!

I’m so bloody proud of him.

He’s swapped his snacks to fruit. He’s been aware on what he’s eating, he help me write the shopping list and has came up with healthy lunch ideas etc. He’s even got back into running. He’s been in such a good mood.

Sounds great! I need to follow him now!!