Starting WW (Weight Watchers) for 16-yo Son Per His Request - What Do We Need to Know?

[Anonymous]

other than info on its website what other suggestions/word of caution could you share? we know about the Dr referral and will be scheduling a visit shortly.

he's obese and has been increasingly frustrated with his weight/body image recently so we agreed to give WW (Weight Watchers) a try. he's also been a heave/overweight kid but the weight gain has been out of control the last few years and it really starts to bother him now it seems. This would be a first weight loss program for him and for us as a family too so we really want it to be successful.

[Anonymous]

I wish you guys the best of luck. Hopefully, at his age, the weight comes off easily.

My only other (unsolicited) .02 cents.

If WW doesn't, try going in the complete other direction. And sign him up for a small boutique bootcamp studio or a CrossFit gym.

I know CF has a bad reputation but in the suburbs, its not what you think. He'll learn great exercise techniques, the environment is incredibly welcoming, and watching himself get stronger will be great motivation to change his diet as well.

Again, I really hope WW works for him. But as a 16yo, he may also want to celebrate having a functioning strong body. and CF is a great way to do that

[Anonymous]

Combine it with exercise and have everyone change their diet in the house. Stop buying snacks, junk food, watch the carb and sugar content in the food you buy. That worked best when we had to get my spouse on a pre-diabeties diet. He was snacking a lot so I stopped buying the good snacks (and hid stuff for the kids).

[Anonymous]

We did WW and I think it's a great program. It really teaches you to think about the "value" of the food that you're eating and is in some ways analogous to money. You get those points for the day and if you're actually tracking what you eat it will shift your behavior and how you eat. We made a few modifications that are really minor at the end of the day and we both lost weight.

I do agree with the post above mine that if you reduce carbs and stop buying junk food and drink water that should get you most of the way there.

[Anonymous]

If you really want him to succeed, you should do it with him. Become familiar with the point values for things so you can help him make good choices, but also never saying things like "are you sure you can eat that."

[Anonymous]

I'm on WW and so you know, the entire program is changing on 11/11. I would wait until then to start and in the meantime, focus on healthy eating.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure the program is different, but I also did weight watchers at age 16. I only needed to lose 10 pounds, and it took me 4 months, but I learned a ton of healthy habits. I still weigh closer to my ending than starting weight 30
Years later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:other than info on its website what other suggestions/word of caution could you share? we know about the Dr referral and will be scheduling a visit shortly.

he's obese and has been increasingly frustrated with his weight/body image recently so we agreed to give WW (Weight Watchers) a try. he's also been a heave/overweight kid but the weight gain has been out of control the last few years and it really starts to bother him now it seems. This would be a first weight loss program for him and for us as a family too so we really want it to be successful.

We had incredible success with the Keto diet. DS dropped a lot of weight within weeks and that motivated him to stick with it for months. Once he was done 25lbs or so, we worked on a modified diet with smaller portion control and smart choices. Some weight came back on but overall he is in a much better place and exercises everyday.

[Anonymous]

Make sure to have lots of options in the fridge/pantry for him. If it is easy to access healthy choices he will learn to choose those over the easier less healthy ones. Remind him that it is a marathon not a sprint - it’s not a diet. He needs to change his relationship with food. I’m rooting for him!

[Anonymous]

I think you should do it with him for 3 months. He can send you a referral and you get the 1st month free.

Learn what healthy food have high points and don’t buy them.

For example healthy cereal, avocado and nuts, who knew?

The 1st week or 2 track points but don’t worry about staying in the points.

Notice which points send him over and adjust your shopping.

Throw out high points foods. Don’t serve food he can’t eat.

Walk every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you really want him to succeed, you should do it with him. Become familiar with the point values for things so you can help him make good choices, but also never saying things like "are you sure you can eat that."

+1 - although I might word it a little differently than this I think support for him would be huge, but let him lead the way. When I used Weight Watchers I found three things to be absolutely true and required for me:

1) weigh and measure the things you need to weigh and measure for the plan and be totally honest with what you're eating. Grilled chicken breast and rotisserie chicken breast are different points for a reason;

2) plan and prepare - I had the best results when I planned pretty much all my meals for the week and prepped them the day before, including snacks.

3) the above two things work! So keep doing them.

Kind of a spin off of number one, but where are all of you (as a family) coming from/starting from as far as knowledge about nutrition? At one point when we were dating my spouse was pretty overweight. I was a community health major so things like lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, portion size, etc. were well known concepts to me (and even then I still had to work at it as far as watching my weight) but my husband had quite literally never been introduced to any of those concepts. I am not talking about fad diets, woo, etc., just the general idea that a grilled chicken breast is a better protein choice than a cheeseburger, or steamed green beans are better than ones boiled in butter, things like white rice, french fries should not be eaten every day and in moderate amounts because they don't have much nutritional value.

Wishing your son the absolute best. I hope he will also find some exercise he likes. I have never felt stronger than when I did weight training.

[Anonymous]

Help him by keeping good food around and not reminding him how many points things are.

I agree that you should find a fitness component for him - cross fit, orange theory or some sessions with a personal trainer (preferably a male)

[Anonymous]

I hope he’s going to in person meetings. He’ll be the darling of the group.

It’s a great program and everyone in his meeting will be pulling for him to succeed.

Pick a meeting on Mondays. Friday meetings/weigh-ins lead to weekend overeating. Knowing he’s going to get weighed on Monday will help keep him on plan.

Vegetables are unlimited on WW. Have lots of trimmed, washed veggies ready in the fridge.

[Anonymous]

You should try a local nutritionist or dietician. WW is good but it’s also difficult to manage with the points counting and their yearly program change. I’ve been doing the program on and off for about 20 years (lose/gain/lose/gain). I obviously have a self control issue. Unless you think he can keep the weight off with the program, he may be stuck in a yo-yo dieting situation that long term is unhealthy and messes up metabolism. I hate to sound like a Debbie downer. Overeating is an emotional trigger. You may want to get to the underlying reason why he overeats as that will help change his behavior. Also with WW, you can still eat junk within your points and that can continue the bad eating habits. I applaud your son for taking action to help himself and really wish him success. Jim sharing my personal struggles as additional information to help with the process rather than being discouraging. I was very thin as a child/teenager and been struggling with my weight and eating habits since college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should try a local nutritionist or dietician. WW is good but it’s also difficult to manage with the points counting and their yearly program change. I’ve been doing the program on and off for about 20 years (lose/gain/lose/gain). I obviously have a self control issue. Unless you think he can keep the weight off with the program, he may be stuck in a yo-yo dieting situation that long term is unhealthy and messes up metabolism. I hate to sound like a Debbie downer. Overeating is an emotional trigger. You may want to get to the underlying reason why he overeats as that will help change his behavior. Also with WW, you can still eat junk within your points and that can continue the bad eating habits. I applaud your son for taking action to help himself and really wish him success. Jim sharing my personal struggles as additional information to help with the process rather than being discouraging. I was very thin as a child/teenager and been struggling with my weight and eating habits since college

Agree, well said. The path to long term success is to build his skills in eating intuitively, loving his current self and reducing his issues around food. Highly recommend you all read Intuitive Eating and have a discussion on how he can achieve success in connecting with his hunger and eating cues vs embarking on a lifetime of restrictive eating governed by external definitions of what he “should” eat vs fixing his ability to listen to his own body. If the whole family is encouraging him to diet then that’s just reinforcing that his body is a problem.

I say this because I did ww relatively early (19) and it took me many years to unlearn their definitions of what foods and portions are ok. It set me back years in learning how to prepare healthy complete meals based on my appetite and needs rather than gaming my points for the week. Please make sure you are learning about the harms of diet culture so you can be a good support for your child.