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syracusa..please don't take this the wrong way. I truly mean this with the utmost concern....have you considered just relaxing some? Life is short. There are things worth worrying about and things spending so much time over just end up being wasted time you could be enjoying. Your daughter is not fat. You seem to be providing healthy foods and you haven't indicated she is unhealthy in any other way. Be thankful. You are blessed with healthy children, a home, a job etc. This time with your children is fleeting. They will be grown before you know it. I'm sure you don't want them growing up feeling your angst and stress over their body type or activity level or annoyance of where you live. Most every post you have indicates a level of unhappiness about one thing or another. Try to see the positives in what you do have instead of focusing on the negatives be they real or imagined. Play with your daughter, embrace the child she is and try not to panic at the thought that she may be introduced to a Twinkie at some point in her school years. Best of luck to your family.
At 2 and 1/2, I would do 2% milk rather than 1% or skim.
Looking at the diet you are giving her, I would say she needs more protein too. I would suggest chicken or lean beef or eggs or perhaps beans. At this age, the charts suggest 1000 calories per day if she has a sedentary lifestyle. Variety is the spice of life.
syracusa, We're actually not too far apart in our thinking. I learned to cook from my Polish grandmother who, yes, got up at five in the morning to start cooking. Heaven help you if all the aunts were together in one kitchen!
I looked at your daughter's menu. I had to laugh because it is VERY "California healthy". Oatmeal. Nuts. Thin broths. Tomato salads. I've an idea that I could walk in your house, sit down at your table, and enjoy a meal I'd serve my own family. (I'd go with nana's suggestion for more protein.) Feed her well, then give her a hug and take her for a walk.
Try not to stress. Your daughter is young and healthy. There will be PLENTY of time for worrying about her. Just enjoy her now!
Breakfast: Bowl of milk (organic, 1%) with some cereal, usually non-sugary (occasionally with some sugar in them, when daddy manages to buy the sugary ones despite my advice); sometimes oatmeal with nuts, etc.
10:00am: half a fresh fruit.
Lunch:
a) Some type of soup (vegetables + some shreds of meat, non-hearty), cooked from scrath, I always skim the fat.
b) optional - some kind of meat and vegetable stew + a bit of starch + raw salad; dressing is usually olive oil + lemon + salad; I don't use purchased dressing.
c) Fruit salad + nuts.
Afternoon: Yougurt, plain, I add a tad of honey and nuts; or another piece of fruit, etc.
Evening: Can vary widely.
- If no second course was served at lunch, she will have whatever main dish I cook for the evening.
- Other times, when I have nothing cooked for dinner, will do a "fast food" dinner which would be feta cheese and tomato salad; or pasta and feta cheese + some salad.
Portions are usually small, especially when they have both soup and some second course. My stews are about 70-80% vegetables and 20% meat.
Sometimes we'll have casseroles for dinner; it just varies widely but I generally tend to cook low fat. Not because I am obbsessed with "loooking fat" but because I can picture my arteries getting blocked from all that nasty animal fat and I can't help but skimming it.
I often can't leave them with soup only at lunch as mine are not hearty soups to count for a meal, but rather liquidy/brothy.
It depends on how substantial they are every time.
Occasionally, she will have a sweet treat (very little) - but only because she sees her brother having it. For example, we've had Halloween candies in the house lately and I had to give them a tiny little bit every day for quite a while. I certainly would not COMPLETELY forbid the occasional treat, as that would eventually backfire.
That's about it.
So you really think that it's too much food? It sounds very normal to me. I'm not sure what you are worried about.
syracusa..please don't take this the wrong way. I truly mean this with the utmost concern....have you considered just relaxing some? Life is short. There are things worth worrying about and things spending so much time over just end up being wasted time you could be enjoying. Your daughter is not fat. You seem to be providing healthy foods and you haven't indicated she is unhealthy in any other way. Be thankful. You are blessed with healthy children, a home, a job etc. This time with your children is fleeting. They will be grown before you know it. I'm sure you don't want them growing up feeling your angst and stress over their body type or activity level or annoyance of where you live. Most every post you have indicates a level of unhappiness about one thing or another. Try to see the positives in what you do have instead of focusing on the negatives be they real or imagined. Play with your daughter, embrace the child she is and try not to panic at the thought that she may be introduced to a Twinkie at some point in her school years. Best of luck to your family.
Thank you, maciesmom and DewDropIn.
Same to both of you.
I think the reason she is eating so much is that the foods you cook are all low fat and she probably just needs something more substantial.
How about making her a nice bowl of whole grain oatmeal in the morning?
Foods like oatmeal curb hunger.
In all honesty syracusa, I wouldn't get too worried about it at this point. Lots of 2 1/2 year olds carry a bit of "puppy fat". Your daughter looks well within normal from what I can see. I work in child care and see kids from all over the spectrum- big eaters, picky eaters, extremely active, not so active. These same children often go from being one to the other from year to year. It's all normal. I had a younger sister who at a similar age would stuff her mouth completely full, take the flavour from the food, and then spit it all out, at that stage there was some concern that she wasn't getting enough nutrients as she was tall for her age and rail-thin. However, within twelve months she would eat anything and everything, twelve months after that, she went back to being picky. I understand your concern, but I'd give it more time, mix things up a bit, and see how you go. Best of luck.
wow you seem so obsessed with your daughter's weight. Poor kid.
My daughter EATS non stop. All day long she asks for food and I give it to her until she stops asking for it. Children are not stupid they don't over eat for no reason.
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