Dealing with an obese teen

[Deleted User 670]

Start with Doctor and changing diet.Just don't BUY the unhealthy foods anymore. No soda, no chips, etc. Replace it with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. She can't eat it if it's not in the house. If you eat out a lot try cutting back and making more meals at home and meal prepping for busy schedules so you can just toss something in the crock pot in the morning. In short the best way to help her is to have the WHOLE FAMILY start on eating healthier etc. If you've got dogs a good idea is to start walking them more.

Thank you for the advice. One thing that makes it difficult is that she buys her own food a lot. She spends a lot of her allowance on snacks and junk food after school.
The rest of the family is mostly healthy. I could lose 10 pounds maybe but DH and DS are very slim.

Then stop giving her an allowance.

[Anonymous 6]

Is this really a spinoff post?

[Traci_Momof2]

300lbs? Are you pretty confident in that estimate? Because that is a lot at only 5' 2". My DH is 5' 7" and has reached 300lbs before and he wears a size 3XL at that weight. Is that about the size your daughter is wearing?

To lose the weight she needs to lose is going to be a huge committment from her. There's no way to just sneak this on her. She has to want to do it and she has to be committed.

But you can start, like others said, by not having the junk food in the house. I know you said she buys a lot of her own, but at least you aren't enabling her if you don't provide it in the house. And then you really just need to talk to her and get her on board with a plan. No sweets except raw fruit. Lots of veggies. Minimal carbs. Exercise. Be her cheerleader and be her support, but she's going to have to want this for herself otherwise it will never work.

[Anonymous 1]

300lbs? Are you pretty confident in that estimate? Because that is a lot at only 5' 2". My DH is 5' 7" and has reached 300lbs before and he wears a size 3XL at that weight. Is that about the size your daughter is wearing?

To lose the weight she needs to lose is going to be a huge committment from her. There's no way to just sneak this on her. She has to want to do it and she has to be committed.

But you can start, like others said, by not having the junk food in the house. I know you said she buys a lot of her own, but at least you aren't enabling her if you don't provide it in the house. And then you really just need to talk to her and get her on board with a plan. No sweets except raw fruit. Lots of veggies. Minimal carbs. Exercise. Be her cheerleader and be her support, but she's going to have to want this for herself otherwise it will never work.

I think so. Last I knew she was 280 pounds, but that was nearly six months ago and she's noticeably heavier now.
Her committment is my biggest fear. I don't think she exactly likes being as heavy as she is, more that she's just entirely apathetic. I don't think I've ever once heard her complain about her weight, or try to diet, or anything. I don't think she's going to be interested in putting in all that effort.

I'm definitely going to buy less junk food. We don't keep a lot of it in the house anyway but there's enough that she's always got something to snack on, which isn't really a good thing. I'm really not sure how I'm going to get her on board with a meal or exercise plan though :-/.

[Anonymous 1]

What are her interest or hobbies? You can't eat if your you doing activities. If she doesn't have any get her into a club or group. Hunting, fishing, track, cheerleading, dance, yoga, gardening, something to get out and active. Some people eat out of boredom.

She plays a lot of video games and she does a lot of art too. Nothing active though unfortunately - she's always joked that she only goes outside in video games and never in real life if she can help it! I will try to get her interested in something but I wouldn't give it very good odds. Trying to keep her active has been the losing battle of a decade now... just getting her to walk ten minutes to school was a major victory on that front, and she still sometimes gets the bus when she's feeling lazy.

[Anonymous 1]

Does she want to lose weight?

I don't think so. I mean, if she could magically lose the weight and be skinny without putting any effort in I'm sure she'd do it, but I don't think she's bothered enough by her weight to do it the hard way.

[Anonymous 7]

Is this really a spinoff post?

It's a troll post. 300 lbs would qualify for weight loss surgery and is morbidly obese meaning she could die from weighing that much.

[Anonymous 1]

Is this really a spinoff post?

It's a troll post. 300 lbs would qualify for weight loss surgery and is morbidly obese meaning she could die from weighing that much.

That's not what morbidly obese means...
As for weight loss surgery, that's definitely not an option she or I - or her doctor for that matter - are willing to entertain any time soon. That's ridiculously overboard for dealing with an overweight teenager...

[Anonymous 1]

Is this really a spinoff post?

No? I didn't say it was.

[Anonymous 8]