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10 y/o needs some encouragement


Riya

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My oldest daughter (24) and I started the Whole 30 on Friday.  The next day my 10 y/o daughter decided to join us, so she's on day 3.  (I guess I'm doing a Whole31, lol).  Saturday & Sunday weren't bad, but today was a killer for her.  She was in the all day childcare due to school being closed for parent/teacher meetings.  I spoke to the daycare teacher about what she was doing and why and she was very supportive.  However, the other kids really weren't. 

 

When I picked her up a little bit after 5:00, she was almost in tears.  First of all, she was ravenous.  I could tell it wasn't the boredom hunger she's always hollering about.  And of course the kids made of point of eating crap in front of her.  "Are you sure you don't want just one bite?" or "Oh, this cookie tastes so good, too bad you can't have one."  Little jerks. It's hard enough for an adult dealing with a food pusher, but a kid?  That's just hell.

 

But she held firm.  By a thread, but she did it.  I told her how proud I was of her.  That it was a big deal to make a committment to herself and keep to it, when the easy thing would be to quit.  That seemed to make her feel a bit better (as did having dinner), but I was hoping maybe those of you more experienced had some words of wisdom I could share with her to help keep her going.

 

One other thing.  I did speak with her teachers today to let them know what she was doing, and asked that they not give her candy during the 30.  They did let me know that there are several birthdays coming up, and she would need to be prepared for that.  But they will also encourage her to stick to her plan.

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I can't comment on crappy things kids do to each other. But for a kid, we really do not abide by the "three meals a day no snacks" recommendations that we give out for adults. She needs to eat more food, she should never be ravenous.

Make her good sized meals (maybe larger than she thinks she needs...easier to not eat it all than to conjure up non existent food when you're still hungry). She also needs snacks. Each snack should ideally be a mini-meal of protein, fat and veggies....and if not all three, at least two of those three.

Finally, any Whole30 eating that she does is fantastic for her health and nutrition. But it's not the end of the world if she has a cookie or a mini-cupcake during a birthday party. She needs to know this too. It's just as relevant for her to say "no thanks" when she truly feels the item isn't worth it as it is for her to partake when she wants to. Teaching her balance along with the Whole30 foods is just as important.

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Thank you for that.  You're right, I definitely need to send more/better snacks.  I did send one today, but thinking about it, it wasn't near enough.  I can remedy that tomorrow. 

 

And you're right about the balance.  Part of this might be a little bit of competition with big sissy, which I can understand.  And part of it is that she knows she has a huge sugar dragon, and it's affecting things she wants to do.  I keep trying to focus on being healthy and the rest will fall into place.  Maybe helping her understand the difference between when she feels it's worth it vs. it's there so I have to have it will help.

 

Thank you so much for the insight!

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