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Teen daughter new to Whole30


DebraR

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I wonder if there are other teen girls (mine is 17) who are trying Whole30 that may like to connect with my daughter. She is having a hard time but determined to complete the 30 days.  The hardest part is that she has been grain free, carb free, paleo for a while but suddenly (over 4 months) gained a significant amount of weight with no explanation.  She feels deprived as it is so taking dairy away too is hard for her.

I wonder if anyone has suggestions to make it through a 4th of July get together, any special things we can make and have for her so she doesn't feel as if she is being punished. Also, any recipes for lunches we can try. I have looked through books and online and am overwhelmed. Any specific things that your kids/teens like while on Whole30?

Thank you! Debra

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My first thought....have her thyroid checked.  If it's not that, I'd visit your health care provider.  How much weight are we talking?

As far as July 4th...I find summer holidays to be the easiest when it comes to parties.  You can easily grill just about any meat.  If you want to keep it simple and not worry about marinades or seasoning just do a burger or compliant sausage or hot dog.  Potato salad and broccoli salad can easily be made with compliant ingredients.  Fresh raw veggies with a compliant dip or guacamole and fresh fruit (watermelon slices!) are good options too.  If you want to get creative, you could try ribs with a sugar-free rub and sugar-free bbq sauce.

For lunches these are my favorites (I'm not a teen, but I have 2 of them and they eat all of these):

Salmon cakes.  http://meljoulwan.com/2014/11/10/oven-fried-salmon-cakes/  They freeze beautifully so I always make a double batch.  Extra special good with Awesome sauce (recipe is at bottom of page here: http://meljoulwan.com/2014/03/10/bacon-jalapeno-burger-balls/)

Tuna salad, chicken salad or egg salad are all good lunch options with a side salad or raw veggies.

Deviled eggs with prosciutto or compliant deli meat with a side salad or raw veggies.

Dinner leftovers!

Taco salad with ground meat, onion, seasonings served over lettuce with pico de gallo, avocado or guac and compliant dressing (Tessemae's chipotle ranch is my fav)

Good luck.

 

 

 

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Its approximately 40 pounds over the past 4-5 months or so. We've had all her labs done.  There are slight issues but nothing that can explain a sudden excessive weight gain.  She has been on an anti depressent for about 2 years and the psychiatrist feels its possible it could be that though its confusing as the weight just came on recently.  We're weaning her off the medication now and she is doing a 6 week bootcamp.  Exercise 30 minutes a day for 6 days a week, 6 weeks.

She started Whole30 about a week ago and the toughest parts I am finding is breakfast and snacks. Lunch is leftover protein and spinich usually, dinner is protein and veggies.  The hard thing for her is to be off dairy, though she doesn't have it often, she does like a little in her coffee and sometimes a little cheese in her salad.  She wont eat eggs unfortunately, so that makes it even harder.

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Thyroid disorders can be very hard to diagnose. Most doctors don't run a complete lab and miss it as a result. 

You said she was carb free. So, is she doing low carb or keto? If so, try upping her carbs (but make sure if her fat intake is significantly high that it comes back down to Whole30 recommended levels). Some don't do well with very low carb, and typically it is women who have more trouble with it. 

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My 15 year old won't eat eggs, either. 

I made a compliant pumpkin banana apple bake I found on Pinterest. (I might have "forgotten" to tell her it has eggs in it.) It has a custard-like consistency and she really likes it for breakfast. 

Yesterday, I made fruit pops as a 4th of July treat. I pureed strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple and froze them. She loved it.

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Thank you all for your insight.  She gained 40 pounds seemingly overnight.  The only thyroid test we didn't do was the Free 3?  I can't remember.  I am going to redo her bloodwork as it was done in November, before the weight gain.  She is now weaned off the anti depresents so we will see how it goes.  She is doing Keto, and grain free on top of it.  We probably are going to have her allergy tested too as certain things cause her stomach aches.  Also, she gets daily headaches.  I know something is going on but just havent been able to find someone who can narrow it down. 

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Is there a reason for the keto? Ie. was it recommended to her for a medical reason? I only ask as there's a lot of talk on these boards (I've done no scientific research on the issue myself) around females, depression and carbs. Which may be completely outside the scope of your original question regarding weight gain, but could be a culprit for the headaches. Something (else!) to consider.

She sounds like she's having a rough go of it, so good on her for being willing to play around with different modalities to help herself feel her best.

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She started the Keto a few years ago when she was just starting to go through puberty.  My husband is big into it and she just decided to follow along.  She lost the little bit of puffiness that she started to see and just kept with it.  Our family has a lot of health issues related to weight, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease. She was such a happy, free spirit before puberty and has been very uncomfortable in her own skin since about 13.  I hate seeing her so hard on herself and I am proud of her for deciding to try to reset her system with Whole30.  I just wish this wasn't such a big deal in her life right now.

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  • 6 months later...

Have you printed a copy of the no scale victory pdf? Maybe that will help. Also, and Im not trying to advertise for something else here, I’m not personally affiliated or making money from this, but there is a site called body gallery I think? It’s a site where you can look up people who are the same age as you who also have the same body type and dimensions as yourself to see that everyone is different and there is no such thing as a “normal” body type. The sudden weight gain is concerning, but maybe take the focus away from that. One of the aspects of the whole 30 is to eat things that make you psychologically healthy and change your relationship with food, and I think making that a focus point might be counterintuitive to that. Not that you guys are focusing on it, but as a teenager it can be a bigger deal than we might see on the surface. I’m not a doctor, psychiatrist, or whole 30 expert. However, I was a kid who gained 20 pounds a year and dealt with depression and body image issues. I was pretty hard on myself and was not comfortable in my skin for a long time. Some of that stemmed from the mixed messages I got from my parents about food and eating, but I digress because this is not about me. I think she is very lucky to have you guys as parents invested in helping her make better choices but also to feel better about herself as a whole person, try to help her be that confident and carefree kid again, that you both are giving clear signals about food, and relating it to overall health.

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I also saw a post earlier up from a teenager who wants to do the whole 30, but wasn’t sure if his/her parents were going to be on board. I don’t know if it would help to connect your daughter and this person, but I thought I would point it out.

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