If your kids are overweight, they may be in a rush to lose weight. This is especially true if they're teenagers. With all the social pressure to be thin, your kids may be feeling like losing 15 pounds quickly.
Kids are not encouraged to lose weight fast, but they should lose weight. If your child is 10 or 15 pounds overweight, you may want to take them to see a registered dietitian to make a meal plan for them. Talk to their doctor to find out what a boy or girl their age should weigh. In the mean time, here are 5 things you can start doing today to help your kids lose 15 pounds:
1. Stop bringing sugary drinks in the house. Your kid may not eat much but they probably have lots of sugary drinks. Even 100% juice is full of sugar. Don't buy more than one sugary drink at a time.
2. Take the TV out of their bedroom. Don't give them a way to hole themselves up on a nice day, stay up too late (which causes overeating the next day) or play video games all day.
3. Limit total TV time to one or two hours per day. Smaller kids don't need TV at all. Teenagers don't need much more.
4. Exercise with your kids. Wouldn't you like to know what's going on in your child's life? Wouldn't they like to have some alone time with you? What better way to bond with your kids and help them lose 15 pounds than to go for a walk after dinner instead of a movie or the mall. According to the American Cancer Society, kids need at least an hour of exercise every day. This helps them sleep better and do better in school, too.
5. Fill up your grocery cart in the produce aisle. Keep a bowl of fruit on the countertop every day. Don't buy more than one sweet or sugary snack each week. When you get home from the store, wash and chop all the fruit and veggies and put them back in the fridge. If you have time, separate them into baggies so the kids simply grab them and go. Otherwise they won't eat them and they'll go bad.
All these things and more can be done to help your kids lose 15 pounds in a jiffy while staying healthy and happy.
Get the pounds off as fast and safely as possible. Then keep them off for good!