Trying to Get My 10 Year Old Boy Fit too.

Have you discussed this with his doctor? I'm not sure I would concentrate on calories so much. Serve healthy meals. Let him have fun in physical activities. Let him help you set the bike level. If you make it work, he's not going to keep doing it. Be active with him, and keep it FUN!

Take him to the library....they have some great cookbooks just for kids and teens. There are ingredients in some of them that he probably hasn't ever had...but he may try it. You could also check out a few books on world cuisine (try Japanese one night, Thai another, Indian...ect, we do this once a week).
Teach him about nutrients and that in order to get them he needs to 'eat the rainbow'.
Here's a link to B&N and their kids cooking...there are dozens of options.
http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=KIDS&WRD=cook

(I see these same issues in my 10 year old brother, so I speak from sisterly experience.)

This isn't about giving him a complex. This is about teaching him nutrition and health. Make sure he realizes that, and make sure you focus your own thoughts on that.

Check with his pediatrician to ensure you know what his daily caloric intake should be. Ask the doc what deficit he should be at with calories. Sloooooow weight loss for him is probably best.

Portion control is important for us all, and we all are guilty of over-portioning. It will be eye opening for him if he has to do the math of the calories (and mathematically beneficially too!) while you cook together. He can use the measuring cups and realize what a true portion looks like, what a cup of food looks like.

Let him know this is about HEALTH and when we are overweight, HEALTH usually equates to weightloss, but that is just an added bonus.

Him riding a bike in the gym is healthy and teaches him the importance of exercise. Just monitor him so he doesn't overdo it.

You know your son the best. You will do great. :flowerforyou:

Wow! First of all, a HUGE congratulations to you for giving your son the gift of health. You have probably already heard the statistic that we are the first generation in history to raise children whose life expectancy is shorter than our own. Childhood obesity has skyrocketed in the past decade, along with type II diabetes (which used to be called adult-onset diabetes until it started turning up in kids) and fatty liver disease.

I'll get off the soapbox and tell you that I feel your pain, because 4 years ago I adopted my 8 year old nephew, 30 pounds overweight, with a host of problems from allergies to eczema attention deficit disorder (according to teachers, not medically diagnosed). He was addicted to fast food and video games. He came to us with a bag of medications, and refused to eat anything except a plain McDonalds cheeseburger with fries (and he would pick off the pointy ends of the fries). He was raised on Spaghetti O's, Mac and cheese, and fast food. It was nothing for him to sit in front of a video game box for hours with a bag of chips.

Bottom line...we took him off junk food cold turkey, he started walking with me every night (great bonding time) and I put a pedometer on him (let the arrows fly) and paid him $2 a day if he hit 10k steps. The only one who thought I was doing the right thing was his doctor. My friends generally didn't agree with me ('kids should be able to eat whatever they want' and 'how can you make him work out?' I also made him brush his teeth and take showers...all part of my responsibility to teach him to be healthy

He's now a healthy weight. He runs outside -- on his own -- every day after homework; says it's fun and he feels good. No more attention deficit issues. Honor student. He wants to compete in a kids 5K in a couple of months. No allergies, no medications, no eczema. I still have to monitor the screen time, and bug him when he's had enough ("You're done...go play outside! I sound like my mom, but when I was a kid only the 'weird' kids stayed inside.)

Skip the counting calories for now...there's an easier way.
*Go 'junk food free' in the house. Just clean it out. Lots of resources out there for kid-friendly healthy snacks...just check the 'net.
*Tell him he can eat as much as he wants, as long as its fruits, veggies, and good stuff. Have lots of it around.
*No fast food at all for awhile. He'll probably get enough of that at school anyway (unless he packs a lunch!)
*Know what you're making for dinner every day by 10 AM. 4 out of 5 Americans don't know whats for dinner by 4 PM; one reason why fast food outlets make so much $$.
*Have him do some activity every day, preferably with you. Walking after dinner is great, or riding the bike, as you said. Hike on Sunday mornings, etc.
*Get him outside as much as possible. Fresh air (and vitamin D sunshine!) is natures health supplement.
*Limit 'screen time'. TV, computer, video games to no more than an hour a day. We don't allow video games on school days at all.
*If he has a TV or computer in the bedroom, bring it out of the bedroom. We don't get to see our kids enough as it is!

You have probably already heard the statistic that we are the first generation in history to raise children whose life expectancy is shorter than our own. Childhood obesity has skyrocketed in the past decade, along with type II diabetes (which used to be called adult-onset diabetes until it started turning up in kids) and fatty liver disease.

I had not heard this before.
It sent shivers down my spine.

No allergies, no medications, no eczema.

I experienced this in my own body, once I lost enough weight. The human body is AMAZING. If we treat it right, it will treat us well!

Skip the counting calories for now...there's an easier way.
*Go 'junk food free' in the house. Just clean it out. Lots of resources out there for kid-friendly healthy snacks...just check the 'net.
*Tell him he can eat as much as he wants, as long as its fruits, veggies, and good stuff. Have lots of it around.

I only disagree slightly with this because my brother will eat fruit.... too much fruit. And his portion control is non-existent. He eats twice what I do. And I feel that if they can visualize what a portion looks like and how many calories are in that portion, they are more easily able to understand how important it is.

*Know what you're making for dinner every day by 10 AM. 4 out of 5 Americans don't know whats for dinner by 4 PM; one reason why fast food outlets make so much $$.

I feel like you are talking about me here!! I rarely ever know what is for dinner. I know what is in the fridge, but not what exactly we are eating. However, I use to be good to plan a week of dinners, which helps with the grocery list! I am trying to get back to that.

*Have him do some activity every day, preferably with you. Walking after dinner is great, or riding the bike, as you said. Hike on Sunday mornings, etc.
*Get him outside as much as possible. Fresh air (and vitamin D sunshine!) is natures health supplement.

Oh I wish spring were here already!!!!

*If he has a TV or computer in the bedroom, bring it out of the bedroom. We don't get to see our kids enough as it is!

I've always agreed with this statement! It seems that kids with tvs in their rooms don't spend nearly enough time with their parents. At least watch tv in the family where, where the 'rents can harass you!!! (And monitor what you watch too!)


GREAT POST!!!

Try some funky fruits and veg...star fruit, figs, quince, blood orange, guava, lychee, papaya, daikon radish, pattypan squash, Jicama, taro, cassava, and seaweeds. These are all very tasty and weird looking. Take him to a farmers market or Whole Foods (if there's one close to you) and have him pick out one thing he's never eaten and try it.

what a great mama you are!

one little piece of advice i have is have him make the salad and he might start eating it out of pride because he 'made' it. both my boys 'hate' tomatos, but i knew i was making rachael ray's tomato, bacon and leek spagetti for supper so i had my 8-year-old in the kitchen, chopping the leeks and rinsing them, pouring in the can of italian tomatos, etc and both boys ate their spagetti and wanted more. if *i* would have made it and set it on the table, there would have been tons of complaints and a struggle to even get them to try it.

if he already will eat broccoli, try making a salad with broccoli and include another vegetable he doesn't like as much with it. for example:
1 head of broccoli, cut off the stalk
1 head of cauliflower, cut off the stalk
1 small can sliced black olives
1 bottle zesty italian dressing
combine.

or since he likes apple, start adding apple chunks or sliced apples to your lettuce salad, then move on to pears, etc. 'hide' as many vegetables in your food as you can. you can grate carrots, zucchini, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, etc into anything that has a sauce (sloppy joes, pizza sauce, spagetti, taco meat, meatloaf, etc.)

it takes at least 10 times of tasting a foreign food for our taste buds to become used to it. keep putting it on the plate.

My advice to you is to put him in sports activities and introduce him to healthy foods. I tried this with my 9 year old who is still a little overweight but has lost 7 lbs. since he last checked in with the Doctor. The Doctor was very happy and just told me that if he stays at his current weight that he will grow out of it...so I'm just trying to stick with healthier options and sports activities...Good Luck

I still have to monitor the screen time, and bug him when he's had enough ("You're done...go play outside! I sound like my mom, but when I was a kid only the 'weird' kids stayed inside.)

Balance9 - I was one of the weird kids who stayed inside... but not anymore!!! What a great post! When I read what you said about our children's life expectancy is so shocking! There are so many parents out there that need to know that!

You moms are an inspiration to me! I can't wait to be a Mom and hopefully make great choices for my children's eating habits. It can't be easy! I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day without having a family. The way I ate as a child has lead me straight into the path of the unhealthy life I've been living. I don't want to blame my parents, they didn't know any better really.

At the gym I work out at there is an interactive bike with a screen showing a biking trail - that would be great for a child who is somewhat new to exercising!

Good luck!!!! Sounds like you are more than on the right track!

It almost makes me cry to think about it now, but I can remember as a kid eating like and entire package of cookies or an entire bag of chips for an entire box of Little Debbie cakes IN ONE SITTING.

Oh my gosh! Makes me want to cry too! I once ate a whole easter basket full in one sitting and was sick for days! Wow! and my mom still wants to give me easter candy! I just keep saying "mom, I'm on a diet"


Shanerylee- You should keep us posted! I'd like to know if he learns to like some new veggies! I could learn to like more myself!

I wonder how much he is overweight?? Because until kids finish growing you don't know if it'll stay or even out as they grow taller?

Quite frankly, *NO*. When I was a child, noone seemed to worry so much about me being overweight (except peers teasing me). I wasn't incredibly overweight and I must've heard that I"ll "grow out of it" a gazillion times. And when I hit a growth spurt and hit puberty, I did slim down a little... but then I continued to gain weight.... Until I was 270 pounds at 5'4" tall.

**My being a fat kid wasn't the problem. My eating and exercise habits were the problem.**
I can understand where you're coming from, but this wonderful mother doesn't sound so concerned about her child being chubby -- What I got from her post is that she's concerned about his eating and exercise habits and educating him about those subjects. That shouldn't be worrisome. It's proactive and commendable.

There's a big difference between wanting to focus on education and implementation of a healthy lifestyle at an early age and ridiculing a child for being fat.

You expressed your opinion and I expressed mine. There's no need to defend yourself. :flowerforyou:
I don't think there's anything wrong with teaching a child about nutrition. Calories are part of nutrition. It could be a big eye opener for a kid to think "Okay, I should be eating around 2000 calories a day... but this candy bar has 300 calories... and I eat one every day!" Or "Okay, this soda has 300 calories for one glass -- and I drink 3 glasses a day -- that's almost half of my calories!"

But then again, I'm one who loves to know how stuff works. Instead of just being told what I should and should not do, I need to know WHY I should and should not do it. The explanation would've definitely helped me as a child.

The situation doesn't sound nearly as extreme as you're trying to make it is all. Again, a huge difference between teaching and forcing or teaching and ridiculing.

You expressed your opinion and I expressed mine. There's no need to defend yourself. :flowerforyou:
I don't think there's anything wrong with teaching a child about nutrition. Calories are part of nutrition. It could be a big eye opener for a kid to think "Okay, I should be eating around 2000 calories a day... but this candy bar has 300 calories... and I eat one every day!" Or "Okay, this soda has 300 calories for one glass -- and I drink 3 glasses a day -- that's almost half of my calories!"

But then again, I'm one who loves to know how stuff works. Instead of just being told what I should and should not do, I need to know WHY I should and should not do it. The explanation would've definitely helped me as a child.

The situation doesn't sound nearly as extreme as you're trying to make it is all. Again, a huge difference between teaching and forcing or teaching and ridiculing.

I agree with this. My daughter is only 6 but she has learned how to fuel her body properly. That doesn't mean that she counts cals yet...she knows to eat the rainbow and enjoy trying new grains. She helps with the shopping and the gardening (we grow as much of our food as possible). She knows about excersize and enjoys it...she takes ballet, does yoga with me, and takes walks with me and our 3 dogs. That doesn't mean that she doesn't enjoy junk food every once in a while. We made oatmeal cookies with reese pieces last night (she had 3 cookies) and she drink one cup of coke at her Nanny's house every weekend (we don't keep it in the house but if she's over there then I'm not going to deny her-she usually asks for water). Teaching kids about nutrition and excersize is one thing but forcing them to do something that they don't want to do is entirely different...so is calling them chubby (I highly doubt that this mom calls her son fat).