10 of them...She must lose

[Renee']

10 pounds.
When you say it out loud it sounds easy.
However, I have attempted weight loss with her and it is almost impossible! She has a pot belly!
The doctor said she needs to drop 10 pounds, like now.

The nutritionist is no help. She said wheat pancakes and pasta. Ummm, sorry but my kid is smart. She won't eat.

Any suggestions?

Her feet hurt so she won't exercise.
10 pounds.


*sigh*

[Emilysmom]

Renee,
I have never tried to help a child lose weight, and I'm sorry to hear you are in that position right now! But, I have tried (and succeeded at times!) to lose weight myself..........over and over and over. I've learned some great things by going to Weight Watchers meetings, and I'll see if I can remember some of them for you. I think the WW program is a great/healthy way to lose weight. It focuses on cutting calories and fat and adding fiber. When I have stuck to it, I've lost weight!!!!

A few of the things I've learned from WW:

1. The more water you drink, the better! It fills you up, and it flushes you out!
2. Fiber, fiber, fiber. Check out labels and choose stuff with lots of fiber. You can find lots of different low fat/high fiber/low cal breads for sandwiches. One of my favorite things to eat is peanut butter sandwiches.........if you toast the bread first, just a tiny bit of peanut butter will cover up a whole piece of bread! That, along with a small amount of low sugar jam makes a goood sandwich!
3. If you use a smaller plate, it looks like there is more food on it. Maybe you could get a really cool smaller plate just for Lauren?
4. I've made some really good pizzas by using flat bread or pita bread...........less calories than pizza crust. There are also fewer calories in a tomato sauce with herbs than in the pizza sauces in jars.
5. Eat slowwwwly...........maybe find a way to make a game out of how slowly each person can eat?
6. No caffienated drinks. Steer clear of any diet sodas too. (I struggle with this one!)
7. How about swimming? That can be a great way to burn some calories. Or DANCING??? I'll bet she could burn a few calories if you played some HSM songs! Or.......my doc just recently suggested a recumbent bicycle. It burns calories, but doesn't put pressure on the knees or feet.

Ok, that's just a few. I'm thinking gooood weight loss thoughts for Lauren! Please let us know how it goes.

Susan

[Chris too]

Renee, the braces will help her feet feel better - or they should. And they should give her enough support that she'll be able to stay on her feet much longer. Meanwhile she can do lots of exercise that doesn't require her to be on her feet. You can get on the floor with her and do stretches like the ballerinas do, have a game of tag on hands and knees (cat tag), have a rousing game of tickle (laughing is great exercise).

And if the nutritionist wants you to add fiber to her diet, and she hates it, try Fiber Sure - it completely dissolves in liquids. You can add it to foods too as long as they are moist - yogurt, applesauce, etc. And cut out any and all juice and sodas - even the 100% juice ones are pure, liquid sugar.

I just know you will get this thing done I look forward to your celebration posts as she drops the pounds. You have checked her thyroid, right?

Chris too

[Renee']

Oh yea, she has Hypothyroid. I think we are going to get her a handcycled bike. My husband has one and she loves it. I am going to print out the list. I need to step away from the diet cokes myself.

[matthewsmom97]

Losing weight, ugh, can't think of anything harder to do, much less wanting to do. At least you know the 'why' part. hypothyroidism... Has your dr. initiated treatment yet? Keep us posted...

[Chris too]

I just remembered chocolate pancakes. You can get your kids to eat buckwheat or wholewheat pancakes if you add about 1/3 cup of baking cocoa (unsweetened). Just tell them they're chocolate pancakes - they are very chocolaty with just a little syrup - and they will never know they're getting the extra fiber.

I also have a great recipe for oatmeal hotcakes that taste fantastic and are actually good for you. Let me know if you want the recipe.

Unfortunately there is no cure for whole wheat pasta Some people just like it.

Chris too

[MB]

I would contact your local gym and ask if a group of personal trainers would agree to see her on a pro bono (free) basis. You want to ask a group because they make their money charging by the hour and she should be seen 4 times a week. If one of them is also a physical therapist, then the program can be worked around the hurting feet.

I would cut off school lunch and have her take a lowfat lunch of turkey sandwich, baked chips, apple etc... A protein filled breakfast would be very important for her. It will probably take a whole family lifestyle change to make this happen.

No eating after dinner, period. T.V. is turned off except for an hour after dinner. Trips to parks and playgrounds become a daily ritual.

Our guy's weight was ballooning last year. He went to regular camp for a week and dropped an amazing amount of weight - probably a good 5-7 pounds. He was active all day, was given no choice of favorite foods and had no opportunity to snack. Therefore, he was eating to live not living to eat. So now we have a trainer. We have limited his access to cafeteria food and are sending him outside far more often with his friends to do anything besides stare at a screen.

Hope this helps.

mb

[violettesmom]

you might want to look at Weight Watcher's Core program. I lost 40 pounds on it (before I had this baby, lol, I've got to get 34 back off of me, darn it).

The nice thing about core is that you can eat anything on "the list" to satisfaction. The trick is finding the foods you like best on the list and then making sure you have them around. I need to go shopping for Core foods to get back on track. It curbs the sugar cravings and actually helps suppress your appetite.

[Chris]

I agree with Susan about the fiber. I know I load up on high fiber foods because it helps me stay full longer and I feel more satisfied after I eat.

The Barilla Plus pasta is very tasty and high in fiber. I think the Fiber One bars are great! It is like eating a candy bar. I know I like to snack at night so I allow myself to eat a mini bag of the 94% fat free popcorn.

I have also switched to fat free dairy products. If you are using 2% milk, just gradually get down to skim. Really 1% milk isn't that bad. I eat the Weight Watchers yogurt since it has added fiber. It is also fat free.

I use two slices of double fiber bread for breakfast. I toast it and put a 1.5 teaspoons of peanut butter and a teaspoon of all fruit jam on each slice. I stay full until lunch.

Don't think of this as a diet but a healthier lifestyle. It will be good for the entire family.

Chris

[Jackie]

Well for what its worth...I think lots of young kids with ds have pot bellies and it is most likely due to lack of exercise...as it is in kids without ds.

Everyone here knows the challenge Em has with weight and my thoughts on getting it off NOW and keeping it off rather than doing it the hard way like she is as an obese adult.

I can now say with certainty after watching Em lose the past few months that the KEY for her has been that dreaded word EXERCISE!!!! She is now almost an addict to walking...going from total couch potato to wanting to walk at least an hour a day. Never ever thought I would see that happen...LOL.

I would do everything you could to get her into something fun that was also exercise...swimming, special olympics, gynnastics, jazz dancing...just anything to keep her moving most of the time she is not in school. Eliminating tv and video games is the beginning. Buy her new tennis shoes that dont make her feet hurt (and yes there ARE some...LOL)

There is really no easy fix with diet but looking back at my mistakes I would suggest you get rid of everything cept healthy snacks and that you start NOW with her reminding her of what a healthy portion size is...and what healthy food groups are. It is really never too early to do this. And the one thing ...no one of us today wants to hear....stop eating fast food.

Our kids with ds really are more prone to obesity and a lot of it really is life style. When they are young we have so many other things on our minds like...walking, communicating, IEPs..etc that nutrition just seems a nothing. If she eats lunch at school you can even work with the school to provide her non starchy healthful foods. In HS I spoke to the cafeteria head and found out that she made french fries every day but only "fried" them on Fridays. The rest of the week she baked them and they were actually one of the more healthy things on the menu. Together we worked out a plan that Emily agreed to and it helped some.

It isn't easy and I grant you explaining the concept of healthy diet to a younger child is not as easy as a teen or an adult...but great time to get a wake up call and forge ahead. Lots of other good ideas on this post ahead of me too.

Lots of Luck in this....

Jackie