Setting up goals/Activity levels for teen

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Dnjsmom
Dnjsmom Posts: 5 Member
in Getting Started
My daughter is 16, 5'1" tall, and approximately 215 lbs. She has always been active and has been a solid pear shaped healthy girl. Around 10 years old she was diagnosed with PMDD (I call it PMS on steroids), by 11 years old she was diagnosed as clinically depressed, and she has a congenital heart condition. At 12 years she had her pulmonary valve replaced, and around then she started putting on weight. Her Cardiologist wants her around 100-115 lbs, which means she needs to lose roughly 100 lbs. Today we went to the Nutritionist who was of NO help at all. Her answer really was just use MFP and follow it, with a goal of 1 lb weight loss a week. I come to all of you to ask help in setting the goals section up.

Right now she has M/W/F swim practice from 530-7 am, M-F swim practice from 315-515 pm, Wed roughly 45 minutes of Hula dancing. School goes from 8-3 so she's sedentary with the exception of between classes quick walks across campus. Weekends are definitely sedentary.

What do I set her activity level as? If I set her up as not very active she has a goal of 1,470 calories, and when you add in morning swim practice at just 90 minutes (freestyle, light to moderate effort, I think would allow it to not allow too many calories) gives her 1,023 calories more. Add in another 90 minutes (low estimate) for afternoon practice and she would then have 3,517 calories a day. To me that is absolutely insane. If you set her activity level any higher she gets even more calories a day.

We have to get her to a point where she can lose weight. You go in to the Doctor for an ingrown toenail and they want to talk about weight before they even look at the toe. Thanks for any advice you have!!

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    This site isn't appropriate for those under 18 because they have different needs -- they're still growing! If a nutritionist is suggesting that you use it to set a calorie goal for a 16-year-old with heart issues, I would suggest ditching the nutritionist and asking your doctor to help you connect with a registered dietitian.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Try Spark Teens. I know MFP is not set up for under 18, but you're in a situation where you teen NEEDS to lose weight for health reasons. Its a shame the nutritionist was no help. Any chance your daughter's doctor can refer you to someone else? Perhaps a registered dietician?

    One thing I will say is that your teen has to want this, also. You can't do it for her. Even though you can have an influence on her eating choices, at 16 she is not with you all the time. And your best efforts to help her can and will be derailed if she is snacking/binging when you're not around.
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,114 Member
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    True - this site isn't for teens.

    But as a parent, I would probably start in the middle somewhere - maybe 1,800 calories for a couple of weeks and see if she is losing.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited February 2017
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    One thing to try: estimate maintenance calories for her at an ideal weight as an 18 year old. Use one of the tdee calculators. And keep in mind that at ideal weight, she'll burn less for exercise.

    Using the Scooby TDEE calculator, 5'1" female, 18 years old, 115 pounds with 3-5 hours weekly moderate exercise: 2100 to maintain.

    This SHOULD be a safe level to consume, that does not restrict her too much, but allows her to have a caloric deficit and lose weight. Perhaps run it by her pediatrician?

    Based on my own teen girls (one is 15, one turns 17 in 2 weeks) girls typically stop getting taller by this age. Still have developmental stuff going on though, so would not want to go extreme on calorie cut.
  • Boland_D
    Boland_D Posts: 85 Member
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    I know this site isn't for teens, but I didn't change much from 16-18 (besides losing weight) . Those are the years I made my first mfp account and lost 55 lbs.
    I did it on my own through trial and error without medical help.
    Maybe find someone else who can help her if the last person you spoke to wasn't much help.
    She probably needs someone to help make a nutrition plan for her.
  • Dnjsmom
    Dnjsmom Posts: 5 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    This site isn't appropriate for those under 18 because they have different needs -- they're still growing! If a nutritionist is suggesting that you use it to set a calorie goal for a 16-year-old with heart issues, I would suggest ditching the nutritionist and asking your doctor to help you connect with a registered dietitian.

    She's not still growing, she's reached her max. One of the problems of early onset puberty. We did see a Registered Dietitian, on referral from her Pediatrician and Cardiologist.
    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    Try Spark Teens. I know MFP is not set up for under 18, but you're in a situation where you teen NEEDS to lose weight for health reasons. Its a shame the nutritionist was no help. Any chance your daughter's doctor can refer you to someone else? Perhaps a registered dietician?

    One thing I will say is that your teen has to want this, also. You can't do it for her. Even though you can have an influence on her eating choices, at 16 she is not with you all the time. And your best efforts to help her can and will be derailed if she is snacking/binging when you're not around.

    Thank you, I will try Spark Teens. It was a Registered Dietitian we saw. I'm not too worried what she's eating, it's more of making sure we get the calories right so that we can make sure she's eating enough. For the most part we eat very healthy, and we know what we need to cut out. It's just the making sure she's getting enough but not too much that I'm worried about.
    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    One thing to try: estimate maintenance calories for her at an ideal weight as an 18 year old. Use one of the tdee calculators. And keep in mind that at ideal weight, she'll burn less for exercise.

    Using the Scooby TDEE calculator, 5'1" female, 18 years old, 115 pounds with 3-5 hours weekly moderate exercise: 2100 to maintain.

    This SHOULD be a safe level to consume, that does not restrict her too much, but allows her to have a caloric deficit and lose weight. Perhaps run it by her pediatrician?

    Based on my own teen girls (one is 15, one turns 17 in 2 weeks) girls typically stop getting taller by this age. Still have developmental stuff going on though, so would not want to go extreme on calorie cut.

    Thank you for this info! The Pediatrician's answer was to send us to the Dietitian, who clearly didn't have very much in answers. I wish I'd pulled out my iPad right there and adjusted the info my daughter already had when they were using it for PE in Middle School. From my understanding girls stop growing roughly 2-3 years after their period starts. My daughter started at 9, she's now 16.5. She's not growing anymore :)

    The actual handwritten notes she made for us during the appt were: 8 glasses of water, calcium 1300 mg, take your multivitamin, problem solve eating out (which we know sometimes is an issue, not all the time however, and still under her caloric goals), order a la carte, use My Fitness Pal, consider adding weight training, and then make appts for Body Comp & Resting Metabolic Rate assessments...roughly $45 each I think. I suppose we'll just set up as lightly active and go with the calorie requirements there. She actually began using MFP in middle school during PE, they were required to use it by their PE teacher as part of their health component.

    Thank you all for your input!

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