8-yo DS weight loss 'hit a plateau' - need suggestions/ideas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was beginning to veer into category 3. My DD was getting fat around the age of 9 and it bothered me so much. I stressed about it at night and blamed myself as a parent. To make matters worse, DD's twin brother was like a tooth pick no matter what he ate. I felt like I was in a dilemma. Let. DS eat the foods he enjoyed while at the same time limiting DDs intake. And, guess what happened? DD became a sneak eater. She would raid the fridge and pantry when I was asleep no matter how much I tried to hide things from her. I would find a pile of food and candy wrappers behind her bed. It got really crazy and depressing. Then, one day, which I can't explain, DD started getting taller and the weight became in proportion to her height. She has always been sports centered so I never had to force her to be active. I don't stress about the food anymore and DD eats what she wants in moderation. People would ask me initially how she lost the weight but I had no real answer. I don't think she lost much weight, she just got taller. I am glad. She feels good about herself and although I still find the candy wrappers, I don't stress over it. I try to focus on the positive, like how DD is a good student and athlete, is kind to others and has a good self image.

This is a normal type of growth pattern. A child gains weight, and then grows taller. Have you thought about seeing a therapist to talk about your own issues?

[Anonymous]

Does your son eat vegetables? You haven't mentioned any. And no, I don't mean potatoes. Greens, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. are a great way to fill up on healthy food with little caloric impact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was beginning to veer into category 3. My DD was getting fat around the age of 9 and it bothered me so much. I stressed about it at night and blamed myself as a parent. To make matters worse, DD's twin brother was like a tooth pick no matter what he ate. I felt like I was in a dilemma. Let. DS eat the foods he enjoyed while at the same time limiting DDs intake. And, guess what happened? DD became a sneak eater. She would raid the fridge and pantry when I was asleep no matter how much I tried to hide things from her. I would find a pile of food and candy wrappers behind her bed. It got really crazy and depressing. Then, one day, which I can't explain, DD started getting taller and the weight became in proportion to her height. She has always been sports centered so I never had to force her to be active. I don't stress about the food anymore and DD eats what she wants in moderation. People would ask me initially how she lost the weight but I had no real answer. I don't think she lost much weight, she just got taller. I am glad. She feels good about herself and although I still find the candy wrappers, I don't stress over it. I try to focus on the positive, like how DD is a good student and athlete, is kind to others and has a good self image.

This is a normal type of growth pattern. A child gains weight, and then grows taller. Have you thought about seeing a therapist to talk about your own issues?

No, have you? I let DD eat what she wants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

i just did on a calculator online to get his BMI - 21, which is 95%-tile and considered obese. and yes he's big and tall but also 'fat' with tummy sticking out and jiggles.

Huh, that is interesting.

The reason I wondered was that I have a severely underweight 13 year old. He is the same height as your 8 year old son -- 57 inches -- but only weighs 68 pounds! I thought that if he weighed 98 pounds he'd be fine!

So I checked the online BMI calculator for a 13 year old, and indeed if your child were 13, a BMI of 21 would put him in the 80th percentil, not above the 95th percentile, for BMI, and would be considered healthy.


So I guess there's a difference expected in BMI, for an 8 year old 21 is bad, but for a 13 year old, 21 is OK?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He was doing really well, had made steady progress for about 6 months, then last several weeks his weight started to fluctuate a bit, and even creeping upward. His waist has grown about .25 - .5 inches which I believe is the best telltale sign of where this is heading. We cut back his carbs intake and milk by half based on his doctor's recommendations, and it had worked wonders, until recently. His physical activities have increased since it's warmer now, but I know the more the better. I'm mostly interested in ideas and tips on the eating part as I don't want to keep cutting back what he eats if at all possible.

FWIW, he is now at around 96/97, down from as high as 105 end of last summer. He's 57inches tall and otherwise a typical healthy boy.

You seem off the rails with this. With his sport schedule, it's not like your son is not getting enough exercise. As for diet, he's bound to be pretty hungry as he's doing so many sports.

At 11, my son was 105 pounds and 61 inches tall. He was at 90 percent for height and weight. He was a bit pudgy. Now he's getting taller, and he's thinning out again. This is just how kids grow.

[Anonymous]

I thought with kids you weren't supposed to have them lose weight -- just maintain weight and have them grow taller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought with kids you weren't supposed to have them lose weight -- just maintain weight and have them grow taller.

I heard that too but OP's son was 105 pounds at the end of last summer as a SEVEN year old. My 7 year old weighs 49 pounds. It would take years to grow into that weight. The problem with being so heavy is that it is harder to stay active as compared to thinner kids. If you look at how much the in shape kids are running around at a soccer practice or at the park compared to heavy kids, the skinnier kids move more. So it is a vicious cycle of exercising less and gaining weight. OP try to find activities where your child really is moving. Swimming, soccer, and hiking, riding bikes are good. Baseball and most beginning martial arts classes are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought with kids you weren't supposed to have them lose weight -- just maintain weight and have them grow taller.

I heard that too but OP's son was 105 pounds at the end of last summer as a SEVEN year old.

Well, but it sounds as if he was also pretty tall, too. I mean, I get that OP's son was overweight, but OK, now he has lost 10 pounds, I wouldn't try to make the kid lose any more weight. Just focus on keeping him as active as possible and making good food choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought with kids you weren't supposed to have them lose weight -- just maintain weight and have them grow taller.

I heard that too but OP's son was 105 pounds at the end of last summer as a SEVEN year old. My 7 year old weighs 49 pounds. It would take years to grow into that weight. The problem with being so heavy is that it is harder to stay active as compared to thinner kids. If you look at how much the in shape kids are running around at a soccer practice or at the park compared to heavy kids, the skinnier kids move more. So it is a vicious cycle of exercising less and gaining weight. OP try to find activities where your child really is moving. Swimming, soccer, and hiking, riding bikes are good. Baseball and most beginning martial arts classes are not.

Maybe, maybe not. My overweight kid just ran a 5K and she smoked a bunch of skinny kids. Yes, the very fastest kids were lean and crazy fast. But children can be overweight and healthfully active. One of the reasons not to focus as much on weight loss is because if the child did gain weight because the child was sedentary or eating poorly, fixing those things may lead to some weight loss - many children pick up and extra couple pounds over the winter and shed them quickly as the good weather comes about. No one's focusing on "weight loss" for those children. And if her son is overweight because his body tends to hold on to weight, focusing on weight loss can be depressing because he's likely to lose slowly, or plateau often. Much better to focus on increased health - "in the past month we've gone from not even being able to jog 1/4 of the track to being able to jog the whole way around!"

Making healthier life choices is what's important to focus on, not the number on the scale. That way lies madness.

[Anonymous]

NP here; haven't read other replies, but wanted to say, that a few years ago I went with my SIL to a class to keep her license current. One thing I learned is that fat cells have a memory of about 3 months. So they will lose weight, then hang on to weight--I think they start hanging on at 10% loss. They hang on for the three months, then they "reset" and the current weight becomes the base weight and they lose again.

I might not be explaining it very well, but bottom line is, this is why people plateau, and if you expect and tolerate the plateaus, then you can keep going with the weight loss. The trick is to wait them out! If the caloric consumption, the excersise level, and sleep levels are right, it will be just a matter of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here; haven't read other replies, but wanted to say, that a few years ago I went with my SIL to a class to keep her license current. One thing I learned is that fat cells have a memory of about 3 months. So they will lose weight, then hang on to weight--I think they start hanging on at 10% loss. They hang on for the three months, then they "reset" and the current weight becomes the base weight and they lose again.

I might not be explaining it very well, but bottom line is, this is why people plateau, and if you expect and tolerate the plateaus, then you can keep going with the weight loss. The trick is to wait them out! If the caloric consumption, the excersise level, and sleep levels are right, it will be just a matter of time.

Is this what they told you at the DMV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here; haven't read other replies, but wanted to say, that a few years ago I went with my SIL to a class to keep her license current. One thing I learned is that fat cells have a memory of about 3 months. So they will lose weight, then hang on to weight--I think they start hanging on at 10% loss. They hang on for the three months, then they "reset" and the current weight becomes the base weight and they lose again.

I might not be explaining it very well, but bottom line is, this is why people plateau, and if you expect and tolerate the plateaus, then you can keep going with the weight loss. The trick is to wait them out! If the caloric consumption, the excersise level, and sleep levels are right, it will be just a matter of time.

Is this what they told you at the DMV?

Yeah, that made no sense without saying what kind of class and license.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of physical activities is best. What sports does he do? Right now mine does
soccer practice 1x week
Soccer game 1x week
Baseball practice 2x week
Baseball game 1x week
Karate 2 x per week
Swimming 2x per week

How does your 8 yo have time to do all this?

How does he fit all this in his schedule and how old is he? I am genuinely interested.

[Anonymous]

You are being ridiculous. He's not really all that heavy for his weight and the stop in loss, and gain around the waste, could indicate a growth spurt.

If you are going to give him one glass of milk a day you are better giving him whole milk. Once you remove the fat from milk you are left with nothing but sugars and that will actually make anyone gain weight more than the fat in the milk will.

A low fat diet really isn't all it's cracked up to be if you are removing the fat from where it is naturally occurring. It's one thing to trim a steak and another to remove it from milk. Also foods like coconut and avocado are high in fats but really good for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are being ridiculous. He's not really all that heavy for his weight and the stop in loss, and gain around the waste, could indicate a growth spurt.

If you are going to give him one glass of milk a day you are better giving him whole milk. Once you remove the fat from milk you are left with nothing but sugars and that will actually make anyone gain weight more than the fat in the milk will.

A low fat diet really isn't all it's cracked up to be if you are removing the fat from where it is naturally occurring. It's one thing to trim a steak and another to remove it from milk. Also foods like coconut and avocado are high in fats but really good for you.

I'm pretty sure that there's protein in skim milk.