I Need Help Helping my Son Lose Weight

♥xenawarriorprincess♥

Hey everyone, Help! I am trying to lose weight with my son...he is a big guy and the thing is he has been following a lower calorie diet, but with lots of fruit and possibly too many carbs and sodium...he gained rather than lost weight even though he stayed within his calorie limits...We are incorporating more exercise into his plan...30 minutes of bike riding a day to see if that helps..but any suggestions are very welcome, so please look at his diary and let me know what you think!!!

killagb

I would say for one, drink more water!

killagb

Also...where's his diary? I assume it's not yours...?

cobaltis

Hard to say, assuming his calorie counting was spot on then perhaps that calorie limit is off... would need to see calorie limits and stats to give much info...

ACook42

I would say from the get go....the sodium is pretty high. Are the nuts/or almond crackers salted? Sodium will retain water and that may be part of the problem.

lugovelb

Hello. I will like to congratulate you for being a good mom and caring much for your son. I think that the first step will be him to get involve here. Also no matter what you eat if you over eat it is not a good thing. It will be good that he have a profile that he can track his own and monitoring his progress. Remmeber that if his intake is greater than his burning most likely he will not loose weight. You and him are more than welcome to add me. That way we can keep motivating him

ritaadkins2002

i really don't no how many calories he is on ...maybe recheck to see if he is on track with that.....specially if he already lost weight. drink lots of water....keep track of everything, that way he can look back on weeks to see why he is gaining or losing.

Jade_Butterfly

I concur with the water. .. 1/2 your weight in ounces is the recommended. . It helps to reduce water retension as well as flush out fat and other toxins from your body. . . Watch really closely on the sodium as well. . I would say eat as raw as possible. ..Lean meats and protein. .. such as protein shakes. ..

fresh fruit is great but I would stay away from canned or fruit juices as they have a tendency to be high in sugar. . . and or have preservatives that are not good for the body either. .. .

measuring cups, spoons, and a food scale will be your best friend. . . He can do this. . . Make sure that the exercise is getting him within his target heart zone. .. That is where you will burn the most calories. . . Hope this helps. . .Good luck. .. :bigsmile:

watcherII

hi! so glad to hear you and your son are getting healthier together! i'm doing the same with my daughter, it makes it easier. in reading your post, the thing that jumps out most is that he's eating a lot of fruit. usually, this is a good thing, it's healthier than processed sweets, and high in fiber. but with my family history of type II diabetes, i'm just wondering if he has been checked out by a doc. i may be completely offbase, but the high natural sugar content in most fruits could be the culprit. it's just a thought. he could try substituting more vegies for the fruit. and the exercise is a wonderful idea, it should help as well. also, is he getting enough protein? and i would schedule a check up with his doc. in the past, i didn't bother doing this, but i did this time, and it helps to know what your body is up to. again, this is just my thoughts, i hope it helps. good luck!

wickedcricket

I would say the caloric intake is different for a teenage boy than for an adult woman. If you wean him off fried foods, refined carbohydrates & 'empty' calories (sugary drinks, chips etc) and if he exercises 30 mins 4 or more days a week, the weight will probably drop off.
My son was a little chunky at 11 & 12 - he got into weights and has been healthy weight ever since. Maybe look into a set of weights for your son? boys seem to like that & it gives them the definition men seem to need
does he play sports? I HIGHLY recommend organized sports - soccer is fantastic! sports is good for kids all around

good luck!

PlanetVelma

Does he have a myfitnesspal account? If he's under the age of 18 - I would suggest to talk to his doctor about weight loss. My son was in the "risk of being obese" category and my dr told me NOT to put him on a diet (because he's still growing), but to cut out processed foods, increase his outdoor/physical activity and (of course) drink more water. What I started doing is having salads for dinner during the week (grilled chicken salad; in & out salad; etc...). Sorry I couldn't be of more help....

Also, my son's dr did talk to me about not putting pressure on him to lose weight (even though he does need to lose a few lbs) - he cautioned me that teens can get their feelings hurt, etc... and to really just focus on the nutrition and exercise part of it. So he doesn't count calories, but we do talk about making wise food choices, exercise that he enjoys....stuff like that.

adamcf

I started working with my son to get into shape too; my daughter also. What I found, is that boys really need a man's perspective on exercise and diet. They need more than an example, they need to know what they are doing that is in line with being a man. They need permission, so to speak. They need to know that it's ok to be aggressive, competitive and to push themselves. working out and eating is always in conflict with our emotions. But boys need to deal with those emotions from a purely intellectual perspective. A man's mindset is to conquer negative emotions and build solid good emotions.

I also realized the my daughter needed her mom to motivate her. Now my wife is running and motivating our daughter to run.

dfborders

Keep in mind that depending on what day he weighed in he could have water or sodium weight. Also, double check the amount of calories he should be taking in - perhaps they are too low or too high. Do you always use the same scale? Different scales fluctuate. Also, I had a friend that gained 3.5 pounds one week and lost 4.5 pounds the next week. Tell your son not to get discouraged - he can do it.

sethmoye

I've lost 35 lbs since February
3 things that have worked well for me:
-Eat fewer calories with higher protein intake
-Workout more - Cardio 3x per week Strength training 3x per week (workout 1st thing in morning if possible)
-Burns fat and increases metabolism
-Eat 4-6 smaller meals per day (drink more water helps to curb appetite)
- Increases metabolism

ljmeep

My biggest help so far has been increasing my water intake.. in only a few days (I'm just starting out) I've lost 1 lb and half an inch in my waist. I've also found that I can use lemon pepper seasoning in place of salt... I too have an issue with my sodium intake. It's been a real challenge finding things to use in place of it. I now cook with more lemon juice and lemon pepper than salt. This site has been a major help as well. I've never been big on calory counting, but i seems easy here.

I hope that you and your son can find success!

cobaltis

Without knowing more, I fluctuate 5 pounds regularily, at 5'11 and 185 pounds (that is my low, I was 188 yesterday for example) I weigh every day and only record lows. As said before, fruit juices and canned fruits are not as good as natural fruits. A growing boy especially needs protein etc but I would keep it consistant at a calorie range for a month and see how he does. If he continues to gain over a few weeks lower calories. I truly believe it all comes down to calories in the end. I used to eat "clean" so to speak, basically veggies chicken and whole wheat bread/brown rice but I now eat whatever I want once I get 200g of protein in a day as long as it fits into my calorie goal and I am losing weight still just as fast as ever as I am now in the low teens for %BF. I eat cake, sausage, chips cookies alcohol etc. I use veggies to feel full when I consume higher calorie foods and need to make up for it. I also tend to come in near maintenance or slightly over 1 weekend day or so a week.

For a younger boy find a sport he loves and it will probably fix itself in no time, limit tv and video games and out of boredom he will do stuff

I also drink at least a gallon of "water" a day, I do count diet coke towards that but

Patience is the key and ACCURATELY counting calories. Use food scales and measuring cups etc if you can.

It would be helpfull to know his Age, Weight, Height to be able to help more and what his current calorie goals are.

killagb

I also drink at least a gallon of "water" a day, I do count diet coke towards that but

It's probably not a great idea to count diet coke as water intake, because it contains some sodium and is a diuretic from the caffiene(unless you're getting caffiene free), 2 reasons it will actually increase the amount of water you should drink in a day.

lissarv68

How old is your son?

♥xenawarriorprincess♥

Sorry I opened his diary now please look at it and tell me what we need to do differently

lissarv68

Our 8 year old was getting dangerously close to becoming obese. During his last physical, his doctor did a blood work up because she was concerned and when it came back borderline diabetic? Well it scared me enough that I made it my mission to get my boy fit.

Now he is 14 lbs lighter (which is more than 10% of his body weight to put that into perspective) and he will tell you “I’d rather have the fruit, it’s a healthier choice.”

What I did was I sort of tricked him. I made him think it was all about me and my weight loss. That he was helping mom get healthy (we never use diet or fat around him because I’m scared of creating an eating disorder. It’s about getting healthy).

At first, I had him out there with his scooter trying to keep up with dad when he went for his runs. Then I had him going on walks with me to keep me company (3 miles x 3 a week). Now, we are training for our first 3K together. We will keep going on up till finally (and when we feel he is old enough) he can start running marathons with dad.

He gets to make choices. He is allowed one snack a day, he gets to decide what he wants and when. If he really wants that treat, is he willing to give this other thing up? Also, he swims, does fencing, and takes Gracie jiu jitsu (with his dad).

Basically, I started out with tricking him into doing it and as the weight started coming off he became more and more interested. He now can tell you what a good choice is and what isn’t. He can discuss the trade off for choosing to eat ice cream at school or waiting till he gets home and eating a better snack (he usually picks home because he says the ice cream is cheap and store bought and he’d rather have something that tastes better).

This spring, he planted a garden and now he is enjoying working his garden and getting to eat the things he is growing (corn, tomatoes, peppers, black berries, and various herbs this year).

We make our own trail mix for him, divide it up into 100 calorie amounts in those snack bags and he grabs one of those when he wants a snack. He isn’t completely denied, he is a kid after all, there are 100 calorie ice cream bars for him and chips divided up into 100 calorie snack bags. He knows if he does really well on exercising then he can have a “special” snack that day.

We are teaching him that things like that are just for special times and not to be eaten every day.

I don’t know if any of that can help you, your son sounds older, but I think doing the snack bags and not buying the things that are giving him problems might help. I don’t know if you can get a teen to just pick up a sport. How about doing what we are doing and seeing if he will train with you for a run? If you go ahead and pay the entry fees, that is a good motivation to get there.

Or maybe see if there is something he'd like to volunteer in? The fencing that our son does, they use volunteers. Also there are all sorts of places like the dojo that we use. Karate can be really fun and there are so many different types. Our son likes grappling and throwing people lol so we picked one that did that.

killagb

Sorry I opened his diary now please look at it and tell me what we need to do differently

Now we'd need to know who your son is...

♥xenawarriorprincess♥

My sons ID is kingboy65 please friend him he needs male encouragement thanks

killagb

My sons ID is kingboy65 please friend him he needs male encouragement thanks

I've added him! My daily goal is around his, encourage him to get some ideas from my diary.

Halothane

Looks like he's eating mostly fruit and fruit only with an occasional sandwich! Where are the good proteins? The chicken breasts, grilled fish, ground turkey, occasional beef? I don't see many vegetables there either. Looks like he has the fruit part down pat but I tend to think he might be eating too much fruit and not enough proteins and other nutrients from other sources. Nuts, cheese, carrots, broccoli, salads, whole wheat pasta, eggs, oatmeal, etc. Where are these things in his nutrition? I see them RARELY. I am seeing 4 slices of bread on some days....seems a bit excessive to me...maybe not. Seems like most days have a minimum of 2 sugar free puddings plus whipped topping and some days has 3 servings of this.

just some ideas.