My teenage daughter needs to loose weight. How do I tell her???

Question

My seventeen daughter needs to loose weight. I want to tell her without hurting her feelings. I have mentioned loosing weight once before but she started to cry so I have never mentioned it again.She has been an outstanding teenager and I don't her to resent me for this. I really believe this is important for her health. Both my husband and I work out on a regular basis and eat healthy too. I want her to do this for her own personal well being and not for us. I know she will feel better after she looses the weight.

Answer 1

you need to approach this very carefully and ask yourself a few questions.
Does she really need to lose weight? You've listed nothing for anyone to go on.
I have a daughter who has been hospitalised twice for anorexia and is the same age as your daughter. No one ever told her to lose weight.
really, at 17 she is just finding her way in the world, let her go as long as she is happy.

Answer 2

My oldest daughter had a weight problem by the time she was 14. I kept thinking I would mention it when she was older cause like you, I did not want to hurt her feelings. When she was 16, we vacationed at the beach and like any mom I snapped pictures like crazy. When she took a look at these pictures, she cried. I told her it was going to be hard for her to loose weight and break old eating habits but I knew she could do it. I let her do this at her pace but encouraged her. At 17 1/2 she was down to a sz 10. She was a sz 16. The way we started was not a crash diet nor did we go out and buy diet pills or diet food. We looked at portion control first. If she grabbed the chips, I would say " OK take a deep breath. " After she did that I would ask her if she was really hungry. She would sometimes eat a few but most times she put them back. She did not deprive herself of anything. We bought the small snack size candy bars and if she wanted one she would eat a big bite and the leave the other bite for another time. It was not easy for her to admit she had a problem but after the tears, she went to work and did a great job. Admitting you have a problem is the hardest step. I encourage you to talk to your daughter about it now. It is easier to regain and keep control of your weight while you are young. Not too mention the health benefits for years to come!

Answer 3

first of all the only way she will loose weight if it is her decision. If her heart is not in it then forget it. If you do things to force her she will likely be defiant and purposely eat bad choices.

Things you can do as parents, stop buying chips, soda, candy and other sugar filled snacks. Only have healthy snack items in the house. Make every effort to sit down as a family and have dinner together. Today so many people are on the go we forget to sit down and eat a decent meal. Make sure you portion the meal properly. Finally begin suggesting the whole family go for a walk every night. Take a weekend and go for a hike. If you make it family time and not focus on loosing weight you will get much further.

Hope some of this works.

Answer 4

What you could do is instead of making it all about her, make an announcement to the whole family that you are all going to lose weight and eat healthier together. Even though you and your husband already exercise and eat healthy you could make this a family thing. Remove the junk food from the house and sit down and plan healthy meals together. Including your daughter in meal planning and shopping will allow her to pick some of the meals and shows her what to look for when she is picking out food.

Is it true that your daughter really needs to lose weight or are you trying to mold your daughter to your standards?

Answer 5

I think your a great mom for thinking about your daughters feelings about this matter. If she is seriously over weight and you have concernes for her health then feelings or not you should just tell her. Make a weekly family workout routine. Once or twice a week you and your daughter should go to the gym to spend some time together and work out at the same time. start only buying healthy foods in your home. only buy fruits and veggies dont buy cokes unless there diet. I think your trying to set a great example for your daughter but to get her to do it your going to have to limit the other things. be very supportive of her.

Answer 6

I am sure your 17 year-old daughter already knows she needs to lose the weight. It maybe wise to get her to the doctor to get some blood tests to check to see if there are any chemical imbalances going on ESPECIALLY the thyroid.

Make sure you only have healthy foods in the house. Never, ever say "you'll look so much better if you lose weight". This tape would run in her head for a lifetime. Maybe sign up for Curves as this is a fun place or just a simple walk.

Answer 7

The worst thing that you could do is to make her think that she's disappointed you in some way, because of her weight. Maybe her problem is emotional, maybe she feels the need to over-eat to compensate for something she feels she's missing in her life. My best advice is to spend as much time with her as possible to figure out the best approach to solving this problem. Maybe spending some quality time with her at the gym on a regular basis will help. Don't force the issue, just use it as an excuse to spend time together. Try not to focus so much on her size, focus more on her emotional well being.

Answer 8

There are three main ways to lose weight quickly.

1) Use only water as liquid and eliminate all other liquid drinks from your diet. You must drink as much water as possible every day. You must drink about half of your weight. If you have weight of 200 pounds then you must drink about 100 oz of water.

2) The interval between the eating is very important. If you eat once, then you must eat next after 4 hours. You must take breakfast regularly. In the night eat your food three hours before going to bed.

3) Walking is very good. You must walk as much as you can. Walk everywhere you can. Use of elevators and escalators must be reduced and instead of these you must climb stairs more often.

These are some of the fastest ways to lose weight. By just following the simple steps, you can lose your weight very quickly. You must consult your doctor if want to change your diet or exercise routine.

https://tinyurl.im/aHODT

Answer 9

Lynn is so right. Unfortunately there aren't many ways to talk to her that won't hurt her feelings. She has to want to lose weight, period. As with anything else, she is on her own path and will know when she's reached her "limit" and is ready to do something about it. I know it's painful to see and difficult to watch, but it's the only way.
Nothing my parents ever said to me (quite a lot) motivated me or prompted me to lose weight. At the time, it only hurt me and put me on the defensive. It wasn't until I was about 19 that I did anything about it.
Should you choose to say anything, wait until she brings it up (then and ONLY then). Let her talk....listen to what she has to say, and go with it. She knows you love her; that goes without saying, right? So just say whatever you decide to do we will support you. I want you to be healthy and happy. Just keep reminding her of this whenever the opportunity arises.
In the meantime, it should be fairly easy for you to keep healthy food and habits around. Continue to set a good example. Are there possibly underlying reasons for her eating habits and being overweight? Maybe you can talk about/get to the bottom of that.
Good luck.

Answer 10

I went through the same thing with my daughter and if I ever mentioned "weight" in any conversation with her, she would tell me to leave her room and not speak to me. I left it alone and thank God one day she came to me and asked me if there was something she could do that would help her loose weight. So maybe you should wait a little bit. If not on her next Dr. visit have the dr. talk to her. Maybe it will push her if she thinks the weight will affect her health. Good luck with your situation. I know it is a very hard subject.