calories in beverages

catlover

The site says you have to be 18 to join and my daughter is only 14, so she technically can't be here. I did use the format to track her caloire intake for the past couple of weeks, without asking her to modify anything, just eat and let me know what she had. I discovered, to my complete surprise, that about half of her calories come not from food, but from beverages. She actually consumes about 1300 healthy calories from whole grain breads and cereals, fruits and begetables, and then some dairy and meat. Since she does not like fruit and beggies, she's the picky eater type, I've been letting her supplement with juice. DANG...what a mistake. Between milk, juice, hot chocolate, Dutch Bros coffee drinks, dairy queen moolatte, and flavored water, she easily takes in another 1000 calories or more a day. She never gets all of that on one day, but you get my point.

A lot of you read my post about not wanting to instill an eating disorder but wanting her to be healthier so last night we talked about it. She confessed that unless I make her do it, she never drinks plain water, ever, and she occassionally has soda or power drinks at school. I explained the benefits of water and pretty much had to play the mom card and say, "No more." Last night we decided on two goals, one nutrition related and one fitness related. She agreed, today she's home sick, so she gets off on the fitness one since it's cardio.

Kids are different than adults in that sometimes adults CAN control the actions of kids when it comes to things like this. She's going to be allowed to continue with her normal eating but she's cutting out about 7000 calories from high calorie drinks. She could easily drop the little bit she's overweight just from doing that one thing and at her age, she could do it before summer.

I would love the thoughts of other teens who are here or mothers of teens who have had to go through this. Thanks.

catlover

The site says you have to be 18 to join and my daughter is only 14, so she technically can't be here. I did use the format to track her caloire intake for the past couple of weeks, without asking her to modify anything, just eat and let me know what she had. I discovered, to my complete surprise, that about half of her calories come not from food, but from beverages. She actually consumes about 1300 healthy calories from whole grain breads and cereals, fruits and begetables, and then some dairy and meat. Since she does not like fruit and beggies, she's the picky eater type, I've been letting her supplement with juice. DANG...what a mistake. Between milk, juice, hot chocolate, Dutch Bros coffee drinks, dairy queen moolatte, and flavored water, she easily takes in another 1000 calories or more a day. She never gets all of that on one day, but you get my point.

A lot of you read my post about not wanting to instill an eating disorder but wanting her to be healthier so last night we talked about it. She confessed that unless I make her do it, she never drinks plain water, ever, and she occassionally has soda or power drinks at school. I explained the benefits of water and pretty much had to play the mom card and say, "No more." Last night we decided on two goals, one nutrition related and one fitness related. She agreed, today she's home sick, so she gets off on the fitness one since it's cardio.

Kids are different than adults in that sometimes adults CAN control the actions of kids when it comes to things like this. She's going to be allowed to continue with her normal eating but she's cutting out about 7000 calories from high calorie drinks. She could easily drop the little bit she's overweight just from doing that one thing and at her age, she could do it before summer.

I would love the thoughts of other teens who are here or mothers of teens who have had to go through this. Thanks.

Eve23

Have you tried the Twist Organics my personal favorite is the Pomegranate Blueberry. It is water with just a small bit of flavor and agave nectar in it. For 1 bottle it is only 25 calories.

My daughter doesn't drink many of the sodas and limits her own bread intake since it bothers her but she has gone from a size 12 to a 9 since the beginning of the school year. We also like the Vitamin Waters. They are more calories but very flavorful.

abetterme

I don't have a teenage daughter yet my one and only daughter will be 2 next week and that is a lot of why I am doing this..... I don't want to be overweight still when she is a teenager. I want her to have healthy eating habbits.... This being said I think what you are doing is a wonderfull thing for your daughter, keep up the awesome job:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

dogwdots

When my dauhter was a teen she didn't like to drink water either, so we added a just a little apple juice to give it a bit of flavor and that worked. she stopped drinking sodas. we also used cystal light to perk up the water.

I also got my daughter involved in meal planning and cooking. She started eating healthier right away. It helped her to see how much food costs ( especially junk food) . we set up a reward system for eating healthy and it helped all of us.

To get her to exercise more, we took turns picking out fun activities such as hiking, roller skateing, dancing classes. Her involvement in the choices made things work well.

I would also have dinner conversation about things I read on the internet relating to all those topics. Kids identify with the internet so that helped too. I also left notes for her on her pillow or door telling her that I loved her and to be careful what she eats, does, associates with because she was important to me.

She is now 20 and loves too cook. She is healthy and exercies regularly now.

Nich0le

My daughter is 14 too, fortunately she is built like her dad...for now. She is really active, she does after school sports and rip stiks after school for at least an hour a day not to mention the bike riding. In other words, she is growing, her body is changing and her body requires different nutrients than that of her mother. I personally give my kids healthy choices and only buy "treats" like soda or chips for burger nights or something like that. It is actually good for teenage girls to have a few extra lbs on their frame, it helps with bones, hormones, their now expanding brains (yes, her brain is in the process of actually getting larger and maturing). I have found that if the only choices are water and milk my kids will go 50/50. I also keep oj in the house, my son loves it.

I think what I am trying to say to you is whether you realize it or not you are passing on your negative body images to your daughter, women do this, usually without realizing that "helping" is sending the opposite message to their kids. If you truly think your daughter needs to be on a diet you really need to consult her pediatrician or family doctor, and it is a good idea to find out if your daughter even thinks there is a weight issue and if she has a desire to drop a few lbs then you really really need to put her into the hands of a professional. You are not growing anymore, our needs as adults are different than those of a growing, changing child.

WillPillageYourVillageForFood

My daughter is 17 and I had to fudge her age to add her to this. Unfortunately, she has the exact opposite problem as most of us on here. She is 5'4" tall and weighs 85 pounds. I started using this site for her to see if she was not eating as much as she should be. She too gets way too many calories from junk drinks such as powerade and hi-c. The food diary has been a great eye opener for both her and I as we are able to see that although she consumes tons of food, the majority of it is not exactly healthy. She plays varsity soccer and burns an incredible amount of calories each day through practice and games. The one thing we plan to change for her is to incorporate more healthy choices for beverages and snacks. We are fortunate in that she is exceptionally healthy (I can't remember the last time she went to the doctor for an illness), but at some point in her life her poor eating habits will catch up with her, if not in a weight gain than in other health issues, so I feel that now is a great time to instill some good eating habits before she goes to college.

rheston

I think I would fudge her age like SharonB's daughter and you should monitor her efforts on line and her progress as a whole.

christahollis

She could easily drop the little bit she's overweight just from doing that one thing and at her age, she could do it before summer.

I think it's terrific that you're taking a healthy and proactive move to support your daughter's health. That's exciting. But, one thing you may want to be careful about is placing aggressive weight loss or fitness goals on her. She'll lose similarly to an adult, with plateaus, backsliding, and stumbling blocks. This is normal, so placing a timetable expectation on it could be a little more pressure than is really necessary (respectfully).
I work with a non-profit foundation called Competing For Life, and combatting childhood and adolescent obesity is what we do. Believe me, you are in a serious minority! Most parents couldn't care less...workshops with my foundation are a real eye opener...no wonder we're well over 30% of children overweight or obese, with more than 66% of adults!

lotusfromthemud

I wish that this is something my mother had taken an interest in. My Mom did the opposite, equating keeping me fat with keeping me happy. Kids need help with limits.

My one bit of advice is to keep the focus on health, and not on a size issue.:flowerforyou:

catlover

That's where I know I walk a fine line between encouraging better choices and making an issue of the weight. I've never said to her, you need to lose 20 pounds by this summer, I've never said you need to lose any weight. I've only encouraged us all to be healthier by better eating choices. Her nutrition goal for the next two weeks--drink water, plain and simple--I didn't even say she couldn't have the other things, I'm just not buying them anymore. Her fitness goal--turn off the computer and tv and do some form of physical activity for 30 minutes a day, dancing or the elliptical or taking a walk, she can decide. Why does parenting have to be so blasted hard??

catlover

I think I would fudge her age like SharonB's daughter and you should monitor her efforts on line and her progress as a whole.

SHHHHHHHHHHHH don't tell anyone I did that.

peej76

My 13 year old goes on binges especially when he's around this one friend he hangs out with. His friend will bring over a can of cake frosting, or a carton of ice cream. The one day I was in my sons room found a chip bag (the big bag), chocolate bar wrappers and pop cans. From lack of knowing what else to do I've decided to not let him or his friend up in his bedroom unless I'm absolutely sure they're not sneaking food up there. I don't mind if he snacks sometimes but this has gone to the extreme. I even have started blaming myself because I don't really keep junk food on hand so I always wonder if he's eating like that because he has to sneak it? I always wonder if I should keep some treats on hand for the kids so they are getting a taste now and then?

banks1850

I'm not a parent. Take that for what it's worth, but my wife grew up with a mother that put her through the "diet" paces from a young age (about 13 or so) and she is permanently scarred from it. It has taken her years, and some very hard life lessons to realize what really matters, and she still has bad days sometimes (that's what I'm for right?).

That being said, I think there is a fine line between teaching a child, especially a teen, about healthy lifestyle choices, and pressuring them about their weight/eating habits. My main thought on the subject is, phrase everything as a suggestion, make sure you talk sincerely with them about how they feel about your influence, and try to make sure they are as informed as possible so that when they do have to make choices, they can make good ones. And most of all, support and guide them when they do start comming to you, let them know that it's ok for them to screw up sometimes without fear. Teens have enough people telling them how to act and dress and learn...etc, in this one respect, I think they need a gentle guide instead.
Just my Humble opinion.

WillPillageYourVillageForFood

My 13 year old goes on binges especially when he's around this one friend he hangs out with. His friend will bring over a can of cake frosting, or a carton of ice cream. The one day I was in my sons room found a chip bag (the big bag), chocolate bar wrappers and pop cans. From lack of knowing what else to do I've decided to not let him or his friend up in his bedroom unless I'm absolutely sure they're not sneaking food up there. I don't mind if he snacks sometimes but this has gone to the extreme. I even have started blaming myself because I don't really keep junk food on hand so I always wonder if he's eating like that because he has to sneak it? I always wonder if I should keep some treats on hand for the kids so they are getting a taste now and then?

Many many years ago at Halloween & Easter I would limit my kids to how much candy they could have and found out that the 3 of them were hiding it from me and stuffing themselves with it because it was forbidden. I used reverse psychology and told them that they could eat as much candy as they wanted with just two conditions.....first no whining when their stomachs hurt and second no missing school the next day because of the aforementioned stomachache. It only took about 2 days for the novelty to wear off and they decided on their own that they really didnt need to eat all that candy at once. Sometimes the forbidden food tastes so much better just because it is forbidden. Sometimes the best we can do is guide our kids to the proper foods and choices and just sit back and hope that they see the light. I let my kids know that I enjoy treats now and then, but also know that I cannot have it every day and neither should they.

catlover

I give my daughter much, much, much support and freedom to choose. She has several body piercings and a small tattoo. No one can accuse me of not letting her be who she is. She shops at Hot Topic and she can spend her allowance on pretty much anything she feels she wants. I do draw the line at certain behavior: there will be no smoking, no drinking, and no drugs. We've been through a couple of really serious issues, mostly over peer pressure, but I had to stand my ground and I hope it doesn't bite me in the butt later. I earnestly believe in the theory behind logical and natural consequences, but it's hard for me to sit and watch her make bad choices. Thanks for everyone who wrote. I will take the advice about getting her a physical this year because she never gets sick and it's been two years since she's seen a doctor and she never saw them more than once every three years since she's been born. If she does have something brewing, I'd like to know now.

graypink0130

Try giving her water with a fresh squeezed lemon or lime in it. Remind her that changing a habit often requires aquiring a new habit. Most things she may not like, but unless she forces herself to drink water she will never develope a taste for it.
Also there is a water beverage out there called "HINT" which is water with a hint of flavors such as "strawberry kiwi" etc... It might be something she can try in order to make the transformation to drinking water.