DD eating too much, have had a chat with her

[SecondhandRose]

DD 13 is getting a bit overweight, nothing terrible it is just starting to be noticeable. I didnt want to have to talk to her about it for fear of it triggering a problem.

Last night both kids had an ice cream after school, she then insisted on eating a whole pizza for dinner (would not consider less). At 10pm (when she should have been in bed) she took a meringue and a bowl of Coco Pops up to her room. Just the after school food was nearly 1200 calories.

Tonight I found her in the sweet shop with a packet of Polos a friend had bought her. I talked her into swapping them for sugar free gum for the sake of her teeth.

Just wondered if anyone has had a similar experience and what wise words you have for me. I have struggled with my weight since having the children and I desperately dont want her to be an overweight teen.

I have suggested she keep to 1500 calories a day for a while with as much fruit as she wants. She seemed ok with this but I dont know if she will stick to it. She says she is eating because she is bored.

Just encourage a healthy lifestyle for the whole family

Why is she bored? Can you not all as a family go for an evening stroll through park/ beach/ woods

Or every all go for a bike ride for an hour. The weather is perfect ATM, maybe a walk/ cycle somewhere followed by a picnic tea then head home

Would dream of buying 90% of what you mentioned. Breakfast is porridge with banana/ raisens/ honey, or weetabix/ shreeddies etc.. Or toast/ eggs blah blah

Buying meragines even though one point defeats te point, it's not that they are 1 point or less of whatever, they aren't healthy at all and the wrong direction to head.

Low fat yogurts are also a con. Just eat full sugar/ fat but moderately

Get teens to help every few days buy chopping up a load of raw veg in one pot and fruit salad in the other, great way to snack as already prepared

Nutritious 3 meals a day should mean snacking isn't really needed.

If they are bored in my house I'm sure I can find chores :) don't stay bored for long!

• wouldn't dream ^^

Thank you all for your messages, I am going to stop reading them now. Some very helpful but some very hurtful ones too. I have taken some of your tips on board.

Can I just pick up on what Flow4 said. We rarely had sweets, biscuits in our house when I was achild. This made me mad for them when I got older, and I recognise a lot of what she said about concealing/secret eating. It is still a problem 30 years later.

I don't agree with an outright ban, because it can lead to exactly the problems raised above

Why don't you both take up some activity like zumba so that you can both keep fit and have a laugh with each other at the same time!

Seriously, I have a teenage niece and she eats like a pig, it's just because teenagers have a higher metabolism than us 'older ones' I don't think it's anything to worry about.

She'll soon realise that her own weight is getting out of hand and she'll handle it then.

SecondhandRose I think a lot of comments on here are from parents without teens and it's different. Of course you can control what a toddler eats but when they are older you have to work on helping them to make the right choices.
I have a DS1 who can eat crap til the cows come home and is 6'2 and 10.5 stone.
Unfortunately his younger brother is made differently and is prone to weight gain. I have never put him on a diet but I have talked about choosing "healthier" snacks and I keep his portions down. I also encourage him to take more exercise. It seems so unfair that he has to do this when his brother doesn't (nor do his parents. Both DH and I have never been overweight).

as a now overweight adult i've always had problems with my weight, and remember as a child (around 5) always thinking i was fat looking at photos i wasn't at all i was quite normal sized, i carried extra weight at 13 then grew and was quite a healthy size 12, but due to the family not eating healthy with large portion sizes ect i gained weight quickly always hated myself and i sneaked food, i still do even now when i live alone, i sneak food and hate eating infront of people, don't make a fuss yet, after a growth spurt if she starts gaining weight then act but DO NOT MENTION SHE IS FAT i was told so much as a teen i was too fat, even at the age of about 10 i was told i was really fat, which made me comfort eat so now i'm battling with the comfort eating, student lifestyle and boredom (and a takeaway thats 2 secs down the road doesn't help) have healthy snacks in the house, don't give massive portions and do the 'if your still hungry have a banana' (or in my case sweetcorn, a carrot, pepper) basicly a healthy option. encorage more physical activity, she should be having around 1800 calories, don't make her aware of calorie counting thats a slippery slope but as others have said, you are gatekeeper to the kitchen, make sure she's not hungry, but she should ask before she has, i hope you get through it ok :)

Tell your children you think you saw a mouse run from one of their rooms into the other. You couldn't be certain, but it certainly looked like one. Hold your hands up to show them the size (but make it more the size of a rat.) Tell them to get in there and clear out any food and vacuum thoroughly. I don't think you'll have a problem with food in there again.