How to lose weight as a family

[Lucyhughes101]

Family of four. Two adults, kids 3 and 5. We all love carbs and normally can exercise our way out of it but not any more! Weight is going up already. Typical day is cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and pasta/curry for tea. Where do we start to make changes?

I would just start to reduce the amount. I am weighing out pasta and rice now, and using about half the amount of meat I would have done before. Loads more green veg, less potato.

It's calories in v calories out, so have a drink of water instead of a snack, do Joe Wicks PE every day?

DH and I started losing some weight from the beginning of the year, one of the main changes was simply having a lot more green veg with dinner instead of carbs.

Whether that would go down well with kids is another matter!

Paul Mackenna (I Can Make You Thin) is your friend (though the title is silly, I wanted to be slim not thin ! and it worked!) , there are apps etc. he makes us all think about WHY we eat WHERE we eat HOW we eat and it works because like small children we should always eat when we're hungry and STOP when we're full. (not eating by the clock), this is done by eating slowly , really tasting and enjoying the food.

He does say we should eat healthily of course. But it's good because it's a new way to eat ,not a calorie counting or weighing your food type of diet.

kids age 3 and 5 shouldn't be 'dieting' - they need a balanced intake including carbs and fat for healthy growth, and only have fairly small stomachs so can't get enough energy from eating the kinds of high-veg, low fat, low carb foods that adults trying to lose weight will need to focus on. if they have too much body fat they need to exercise more, not eat less.

so there need to be elements of each meal that the kids have and the adults don't.

Running or walking or dancing up the stairs or hall/sitting room etc. will help a lot, make it into a game before each meal, put on some nice bouncy music !!!

Eat less. You're moving less so need fewer calories.
Your diet sounds very wheat based. Do you need as much carbs if you are fairly sedentary?

Set a good example for your children. They should not be dieting.

That's true Mike I don't eat wheat at all and feel much less tired for it also DH is much less anxious and grumpy when he's not eating ANY wheat

They could be exercising to the telly\internet etc. and put a bowl of fruit on the table so you all snack on fruit when hungry. Before meals. You need to keep your immune systems.

We all love carbs and normally can exercise our way out

I would have thought the solution to be very simple then? Juts eat less of them.

Children that age do not need to be put on any sort of weight loss program because they have been in the house a few weeks though. That's really unhealthy. Let them be. It will work itself out.