"my plate"

mygrl4meee

I took my son to a dietitian due to his eating habits being out of control and basically to get advice on the foods to offer him that will fill him up. She gave us the my plate thing. I remember how the food pyramid used to be the thing to do. She didn't suggest counting calories but aiming to feed him off the my plate thing
I find it a little confusing myself. Has anyone any experience using this system to track food you consume? And I am confused on how much protein she said he should have. He is 13. She gave some helpful tips but I felt like she didn't pay enough attention to the fact that some people overeat and its a problem. She said to let him decide when he is hungry. She did agree if he refused carrots or fruits then he isn't really hungry. What I believe I am going to have the most trouble with is adding it all up thru out the day especially when little bits of dairy ect could be in the meals. She thought we are giving him good portion sizes but suggested milk with each meal and more veggies and exercises. Mostly venting. She wouldn't even tell me how many calories he should eat.

WendyTerry420

My plate never looks anything like the FDA's "My Plate." I find their recommendations to be retarded.

cuinboston2014

It's amazing that kids even at a younger age need the same amount of calories as adults as they are growing and should be active. He needs about 1800 calories a day.

You use the my plate just like hte pyramid - just a different format. You need to find what serving sizes are and then check them off a list. Has he had 3-4 servings of fruit today, etc? Once you work through there, he should essentially be getting all the protein, vitamins, carbs, and healthy fats he needs. Look up what portion sizes are for various foods that you tend to have in your house a lot.

Check out the link below. My daughter would eat all day if I let her. Literally all day. I don't count what I give her. I don't check it off a list. I do, however, prepare healthy meals. Give her healthy snacks like string cheese, and limit sweets. When she is asking for snacks before dinner she can have cucumbers, carrots, or apples which she likes. If she refuses them - then she isn't hungry and won't be eating a snack.

How much protein did she say he should have? Is there a reason you didn't ask more questions while you were there? Did she tell you to actually track what he's eating? I'm in school for Dietetics and not only would I have a hard time telling a parent to actually track calories for a kid unless they are extremely obese or very overweight, but my own daughter's pediatrician told me NOT to worry about the calorie intake. You dont' want him to get obsesesive over it or feel like he is out of place, either.

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Dietary-Recommendations-for-Healthy-Children_UCM_303886_Article.jsp#

mom2kpr

I recently had a similar conversation with my daughter's doctor. He also suggested to use "My Plate". She is 12, 5'2, 120lbs & at the very high end of normal weight (1 more pound & she would've been considered overweight). Awhile back I had entered her information in a calorie website to see how much she needs to eat to maintain her weight. It came out to 1800 - 2000 a day, which is about what I need to lose 1 - 1.5 lbs a week. When I mentioned that to her doctor, he agreed that it sounded like an appropriate amount of calories. You didn't mention if he needs to lose a lot, a little or just maintain. Maybe enter his information in one of the calorie sites & see what you get. Remember he is still growing, so if he his is just slightly overweight, you can look at just maintaining his weight for now & as he grows he will thin out. Good luck.

mygrl4meee

My son is 5'5 1/2 and 160lbs. She said he is slightly overweight and if we started hitting all the nutrition on my plate and got him off so many sweets its possible he would lose weight. My son is using his allowance for candy. We are not going to allow that anymore. I am going to pay him biweekly so its enough at the dollar store for a little something that's not food. I didn't ask about how many servings of protein cause she was writing all the rest down so u didn't catch it. He has a school trip to Washington d.c. And they will do tons of walking so I would like to see him more fit so he isn't miserable due to feet and back hurting. I have recently started one night a week he goes to the YMCA with me and he has been swimming. He picked up quite a few lbs since school started in August.oh. She didn't come right out and say count the food but did say maybe he should measure some if his portions including veggies to see he is getting enough.

bcattoes

I would check this out.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate-vs-usda-myplate/

gmthisfeller

She didn't come right out and say count the food but did say maybe he should measure some if his portions including veggies to see he is getting enough.

Measuring, and logging are important to do. Knowing what you eat, and how much you eat are the first steps to knowing how to eat well.

It is hard for parents to refrain from the constant commentary about eating especially if said parents have food issues of their own. How about making this a good learning experience for the both of you. You eat well, and enlist your son in helping you log and stay on track. It might reciprocate.

Beckboo0912

I had this with my brother... They gave us a sheet with what a portion of thing would be. So like 3oz of chicken is a deck of cards. Looks at. Healthyeating.webmd.com

Confuzzled4ever

my child is 6ft 2in, 175lbs of skinny, muscle budding boy. He eats and I mean eats. lol. I used to be more strict and still am surrounding treats. He's allowed to eat fruit and veggies whenever he wants. He has to ask for everything else. I let him pack his own lunch from the foods I supply him and there must be 1 fruit and 1 veggie everyday in his lunch box and 1 snack only. the rest is up to him. Breakfast I let him pick from a selection of low sugar cereals and he'll pick dark chocolate granola more often then not. I get him protein bars and beef jerky and cheese sticks and yogurt. I let him make protein shakes if he wants them instead of chocolate milk and have even tried the instant breakfast stuff (but he says they are too sweet so I don't get them anymore)

I do agree that if he says he's hungry, but refused to eat something healthy that was offered, i'd assume he's not really hungry. It's our job to teach our kids healthy eating and to recognize when they are hungry and when they are just bored.

My son tends to get a small belly right before a growth spurt. I think that is normal as his intake increases dramatically the week prior to one. Then he grows and poof gone. My son is also getting into lifting and joined the football team, so he is growing in all directions right now and it's impossible to keep up with his appetite. I just cook high protein hi fiber veggie stocked meals, provide him with healthy snacks for the majority of his eating and don't worry too much about it if he eats a whole bag of chips in one sitting. I'm so proud when he opts for the apple though. Makes my heart happy

I also talk to him a lot about food, what it does, how it works, why we eat, why we need it and why unhealthy food is not a good first choice. Trying to help him make the right decision.. because really we've got precious few years left before they are on their own.. and a ton to teach.

BTW: If you are exercising and eating healthy, he will likely be mroe interested in it then if you are just pretending to do so and not really doing it. Not saying you are.. but our kids really do look up to us and really do follow in our footsteps eventhough they try to make it seem like they are not and they don't want to. I've over heard my son bragging to his friends about the dinners I cook him, even though he complains about them at the dinner table. lol. I've also heard him bragging about me, that I lift and i can run 5ks and stuff and that he will be just like me one day. That right there is all the motivation I need to keep at it.

Strangest thing though? We were at the grocery store the other day and my son was telling me not to buy things because there was too much sugar in them or they were fried or it was an unhealthy food. I am super proud of this, but shocked as I never thought I hear that type of talk from the mouth of a teenager. lol

he also like my mock eggplant pizza.. the boy who "hates eggplant" lol go figure.

I didn't' actually answer your question lol. I've seen the myplate thing and I don't like it. I think for people who have a really terrible diet it's an easy guide to follow to get them back on track. I'd find what works for your child and go with that.. but if it's tough or he's resisting, myplate is a decent place to start. I'd increase the protein and veggie portion of it personally and decrease the grains and dairy portion. I'd also limit fruits to 2 a day.. as it's really easy to fill up on fruit and miss out on all the other nutrients you need. if he's really active cardio wise, i'd probably increase the carbs and decrease the protein. My son lifts every day so I try to give him a protein heavy diet. if yours does not he might need more carbs for the energy they provide. You have to tailor it to him.

PS: my son is 14

mamma_nee

@ 13 yrs old - I would just make sure his plate at home ( all meals)has some protein - big portion veggies( rotate them daily so he does not get bored) - a fresh fruit - sm portion carbs (pc bread - scoop of rice- pasta - pita chips - bagel- potatoe etc)

snacking - fresh cheeses - carrot sticks - celerry sticks - hummis or peanutbutter to dip in if he likes - greek yogurt the high protein ones - will keep him full longer) - peanut butter - fresh fruits (very filling)


- if hungry allow him 3 to 5 fruits per day
- serve only unsweetened fruit juices (1 serving of juice = 1 fruit )
- avoid having junk in the house like chips and sweets - this will help in him not having to really count calories
- 1 - 2 glasses milk per day - even choc milk is okay

My 12 year old has lost 20 lbs in 6 months following the above guidelines -
he stayed away from the bread,rice,pasta potato,at dinner time - he enjoyed them for breakfast and lunch

GingerLolita

If you're looking for more information about myplate, go to myplate.gov. I actually use some of these guidelines (and Harvard's, which someone else posted the link to) to create balanced meals for myself. For myself, myplate recommends 5-6 ounces of grains, 2-2.5 cups of vegetables, 1.5-2 cups of fruit, and 5-5.5 ounces of protein, which has been working for me. If you enter his information, you can get a breakdown of how many servings of each food group he should have. One of Harvard's major criticism is the overemphasis on milk as a drink because water is better, so Harvard recommends just 1-2 servings of dairy per day.

Also, unless he's concerned about weight, don't start counting his calories or anything like that. She wants you to measure to make sure he's getting the right amount of nutrients, but you could do some serious damage by overemphasizing caloric intake now.

jess1992uga

She probably didn't talk calories because having a child count calories can lead to eating disorders...I am speaking from experience. I have fought binge eating disorder and then anorexia nervosa since age 6 thanks to my mom's calorie counting education for me. Anyway, my plate really is great and used interactively by the parents I nanny for. It is the same thing as food pyramid just gives a better visual of what the plate should look at. Look at myplate.gov

They even have a supertracker and daily food plans on there which may help.

A family I nannied for used to break down how much of each food group the kids needed per day and then they got to check it off on their chart and it became kind of part of their chores. Just an idea.

mygrl4meee

Hi. I wanted to thank everyone for the helpful comments. I really do appreciate all the websites and I will check them out.

I asked for an calorie amount just as a guideline not so much so I could put all the counting in his face. A few weeks ago, I started cooking him breakfast instead of the junky sugary cereals. I am mixing it up.. doing egg sandwiches, burritos, omettles, toast, peanut butterr, fruit, yogurt.. Not all on the same day. haha I am not much of a morning person so keeping it simple. It's pretty easy to count the calories without actually putting them on paper or in his face.

Basically, I was question myself wondering if I was even feeding him enough.

Dinner isn't as easy to guess what it is but I could probably come within a couple hundred calories. I don't want to give him issues but at the same time I don't want to pretend his excessive wanting to eat all the time is just a boy thing and he will then out. He may but we do know that people come here weighing 300,400, 500 and up needing to lose weight to gain their life back. I don't want this for my son.

I have been active for almost two years since I got started on here and often times my was going to the Y with me but all he would do was sit on the computer. Damn. them for putting computers in the lobby. My son recently started going to after school program so most of my workouts have been when he isn't with me.

Before it got cold, he was riding his bike while I ran 4 miles but between school and winter it's tough. We are on our 3rd tuesday of making it our Y night where we just push dinner and bedtime back so he can get to the Y. I have been devoting time to get him active either by swimming which he is into and tonight we walked on the treadmill. He wants to do this program called activtrax that the Y offers. It's weight training.

I am hoping that with a diet overall and some activity that he could drop a few pounds and get stronger. My son has the beer belly and what guys would call man boops. We would never say that. My children's father have them and my oldest son had them until recently when he moaved away from home and i believe went thru a stage of not eating much and using his bike as transportation to get back and forth from work.

Thanks again for all the replies. Hope I can find the right balance to continue to educate him about healthy foods and being active without giving him a complex. Doing nothing isn't an option.

I checked out his bmi on one of the websites. It says he is obese. the dietitian said overweight. Big difference.