13 /14 year old girl. Is hflc diet suitable for this age group ? What diet better ?

[freeway15]

Hi I joined this and have been following the hflc diet with some success As lost half a stone but after 3 months of this I had expected more. I know I am perimenstral and it’s hard to lose so trying to remain positive. But last night my daughter came to me in floods of tears as she put her age/weight into a bmi calculator and it came up as 98% so heavily overweight. I know it’s puppy fat because she takes after me and I was heavy as a child but went super skinny when a teenager. She is comparing herself to all the other girls in her class who are tiny but many of them started periods 2-3 years ago and others are naturally small. She has only just started her period. Is hflc suitable for her ?

I will start walking / running with her to try and get her metabolism going and look at swimming for her. Also enquiring about local classes like Zumba which might be more fun for her ? She rows at school but it appears that the coaches are only interested in the main squad and leaves the other girls to fend for themselves.

What do you advise ?

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Hi freeway15,

Remember that we aren't qualified to offer dietary advice for a young teenager, so you would be better asking her GP.

For what it's worth, my thoughts would be to aim for fresh, natural food and always cook from scratch. Avoid processed foods, snacking and 'diet' foods.

Being regularly active will help too. You can't go wrong at any age with that.

Good luck to both of you

[freeway15 in reply to moreless]

Thank you. I did go to the doctor about her weight some time ago and doctors told me not to worry about it - but when your child crying, it’s hard not to. I will go again and ask.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone in reply to freeway15]

You might like to log your own menus on the daily diary too, to see if we can offer useful advice for you

[freeway15 in reply to moreless]

Ok will do

[S11m]

Hi, freeway15

It sounds as though she is motivated to lose weight.

Try not doing anything drastic:

does she eat (much) grains, Potatoes and Sugar?

does she snack all day?

does she eat refined carbs?

[freeway15 in reply to S11m]

She does like pasta but I have been cutting down on that and now buying whole wheat pasta. I try not to have lots of sugar in the house but she does snack more than I think. I am trying her on more protein based meals to fill her up as she does get hungry often and think she eats based on time of day, rather than if she hungry. Have arranged a doctors call and to meet a Cambridge diet consultant who claims his brother lost 4 stone on that diet when 14

[S11m in reply to freeway15]

Eating plenty of good food (including fat) at mealtimes can reduce the desire to snack in between meals.