Success stories for overweight children?

[Isolde41]

On 5/1/2017 at 2:01 PM, EmmieXstrom said:

I am am on pins and needles following your thread. I am doing this with my 12 year old daughter. I'm on day 14 and she's on day 1; having decided to join me in this. She doesn't sleep well, she's moody, lethargic and not happy with how she feels over all. She also suffers from ADD. I hope I get to see how this turned out for you daughter, Thanks for posting all of this. I hope I can show her motivational stuff from all of this. 

If you look above in the thread I posted how she did - just great! A year later she is 12 and we are going through full-blown pre-growth spurt body changes though, and I admit sometimes we are white-knuckling through the dance of keeping healthy while not creating an environment for eating disorders. We are extremely careful not to focus on weight, only healthy habits. She still dances several hours a week but we've added a fun weight-lifting class and mom/daughter run/walks as weather permits. We've never really kept junk food in the house, so that's not an issue, but we concentrate on making most of our meals around whole foods. EVERYTHING I have read says that "dieting" in adolescence leads to a higher weight as a teen than if the person had never tried to lose the weight, so I think it's important not to do that. Everything we do is about making the best choices, having occasional "treats", and most importantly getting enough to eat. We will see in a couple of years how it turns out! 

[cassiemarie10]

I love reading this thread.  Thanks for sharing your store @Isolde41.  My family is preparing to start our Whole30 on May 1st.  My 11 year old son has always been big (not just weight, super tall too).  He's 5'9" and 200lbs.  At his last check up his doctor brought up his weight and told me that my son is showing early warning signs of diabetes.  He doesn't want him to lose weight, just stop gaining.  At the rate he's growing it will work itself out if he stops gaining.  He grew 6 inches in the last 6 months!  I was surprised that for the first time a doctor recommended staying away from the low-fat, low-calorie diets we've been fed for so long and suggested we avoid carbs and sugars.  In the next month I just happened to talk to 3 different people that are seeing amazing health results from the Whole30 so I decided that is what my family will do. 

Hopefully I'll check back in a couple of months with another success story!

[CaseyD]

I just wanted to add to this thread because I have seen paleo work firsthand for a kid. My daughter's friend, who is 9, was obese and diabetic (type 2), and last year was put on a paleo diet with moderated fruit and starches (so she can't just constantly snack on these). She lost 70 pounds and is no longer diabetic. She is now a healthy, happy, normal weight 9 year old. Totally different kid, honestly! No measuring, no counting calories or carbs. They moderated the fruit by only buying a set amount each week and telling her upfront that this is all she has for the week. She learned quickly to moderate her fruit on her own! I don't know how necessary that is for kids, but they were dealing with some scary health issues and this is what their doctor recommended. She does have paleo treats from time to time (they didn't do a Whole30), but she's been eating this way for close to a year now. So, it works and is sustainable for kids. 

Also, I saw mentioned in this older thread a desire to improve ADHD symptoms. My daughter is ADHD and mildly autistic. We've had her do the Whole30, and then we've tried to do mostly paleo with a little bit of added in things like corn tortillas, cheese, and sometimes sweets like ice cream (no gluten and no food dyes ever). There is a big difference (not to be confused with complete remission) when she is 100% on the program. It doesn't take much "off plan" for her symptoms to come spiraling back.