My 15 year old has struggled with her weight for the last couple of years (since high school and phones) and the problem seems to be getting worse. It’s as though she’s addicted to sugar and food in general. She overheard someone comment on her weight at the beach then someone else called her fat in front of some kids she had just started being friends with on holidays and she was humiliated.
According to a health thing she did at the chemist one day she needs to loose 18kg to be at in a healthy weight range. She keeps asking for quick fix solutions and will sometimes change her eating habits for a couple of days but then stops. I can not get her to exercise. If I say anything about what or how much she’s eating she throws a tantrum. We were recently out to lunch and she ate hers (which was the largest meal at the table) and started on the leftovers on everyone else’s plate! When I told her to stop she got upset and said she was still hungry and never feels full.
I’m really concerned where this is heading. She talks often about how she hates being overweight and how she is so big compared to her friends and how I don’t understand what it’s like being the fat teen. I hate saying something and knowing she will be upset but I can’t say nothing and see her health and mental health continue to decline. She asked to go to the doctors about it and he just told her to stop eating so much junk food and exercise. She was upset he wouldn’t prescribe her some sort of weight loss pill. I really don’t know how to help her. Has anyone dealt with weight loss for teenagers successfully?
Teen weight loss help
Teen weight loss help
Posted in:
Teenagers, Tips and Advice
9 Replies
Do you offer to go for walks with her?
Do you buy soft drinks for the house? Junk Food? Do you contribute to her ability to eat unhealthily.
At 13 I was a size 8, I walked everywhere I managed to play sport and I in general was a healthy kid.
However my mum didn’t believe in leaving food on plates if you were full. She would buy junk food all the time and sit there and eat it and then expect me to eat an apple (but wouldn’t eat an apple herself) would put massive portions on my plate and expect it to be finished. Would buy soft drinks and cordial and even now she will only drink soft drinks/cordials/fruit juices/coffees she balks at the idea of plain water as a drink. She hates that my kids only get water/milk on a daily basis and only get soft drinks/fruit juices etc as treats when we go out and that I don’t keep those things for guests in my house. I only drink water through the day and 2 coffees all day.
I’ve had weight issues for years, a pill like Duramine is not appropriate for a 15 year old girl. However leading by example is the best way to help her.
Getting her to eat something like fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, a green apple for a snack (it has less sugar than a red apple) it can be any piece of fruit really though. A good solid lunch of a wrap with meat and salad or a sandwich and more fruit or a small serve of cheese and crackers etc and then for dinner meat and veg or meat and salad. If you give her red meat for lunch and white meat for dinner you’ll be helping her. Sometimes a protein replacement like lentils is good too. However you need to be prepared to lead the way.
A half an hour walk after dinner is a great thing to do. Explore new places and if you have a dog take them too.
You can buy digestive enzymes and a metabolism boosting supplement to help her too. But in the long run she has to want to implement these changes herself. Not get disheartened by the time it’s taking and she still needs to be able to enjoy going out occasionally too. Does she know the signs of her stomach being full? That has always been one of my biggest issues and I’m am learning to work it out myself. But at her age loosing weight will be easier for her than it is for someone who is almost 40
Shakes and microwave weight watchers meals. Its not perfect but it is easy and filling for hungry, food orientated teens. Three meals and three shakes a day which is not how it's meant to be done but for big eaters it works. Fruit or crackers for snacks.
She needs to understand if there was a quick easy fix we'd all be fit and healthy.
See a different doctor, one who is more helpful with what she can do to lose weight, rather than stop eating junk and exercise. A mental health care plan and referral to a psychologist who specialises in teens and eating disorders. A referral to a dietitian who can help her with a meal plan that will help her feel full for longer, but without the excess calories. Take a family walk everyday for 30-60 minutes. Make everyone participate so she doesn’t feel singled out.
She’s probably going to need therapy. I didn’t start loosing weight until I got a psychologist, who could help me deal with my emotions.
Yes she is probably always hungry, if she eats all the time, but she also probably misinterprets her feelings as hunger. She needs emotional help and support from someone who isn’t as close to the situation.
It’s rarely as simple as just a change of diet, and for lots of people a sudden change of diet sets her up to fail. A slow gradual change will be easier for her to adjust to.
You can’t take a quick fix! You have to try to put in some of the hard yards like diet and exercise. Get her to join the gym or get our everyday for a walk. The more she exercises the less she will feel like eating crap.get her to find some local groups or others that want to lose weight too. At her age pills aren’t the quick fix. You need to cut out any junk food coming into the house and soft drink. Don’t feel bad be tough on the junk food stand. It’s for her own good.
Take her to a nutritionist or dietitician (I don’t know which one) but she wants to see a doctor for a fix - and possibly you need some education, and you both need a plan, and stick to it. Healthy food frequently so she feels full and start moving. She doesn’t have to like exercise, but she needs to move her body. Whether it’s 10km walks daily or some yoga stretching, scooting, skating, think of it as finding her active hobby. It really does all come down to lifestyle changes. You’re never going to get her to not binge eat one time when nothing else has changed.
Can you enrol her into a sport of some sort, or dancing, swimming. Maybe if you start doing stuff as a family like going for walks or bike rides. Maybe you could say you've decided the whole family won't buy any junk food or sweets, just fruit and healthy options in the fridge and cupboard. I find if there is no junk in the house, I eat a lot healthier.
Make it about the family, don't make it about her. Just say you all are going to cut out the junk.
Try saxenda. Its an injectable medication that stops your appetite. The only thing that stopped me feeling hungry and craving sugar.