Weight Loss for Tweens and Teens?🍔🍟🍕🍦
~ Maxine, Registered Dietitian
 
One of my clients kindly asked for some nutrition advice regarding her younger teenage son as he wants to lose weight and join her weight loss journey. Everyone needs an individualized approach to their nutritional goals but I wanted to share my general guidelines in case there are other parents here that are unsure on how to go about this.
 
Firstly, I recommend staying away from the concept of "dieting" or calorie counting at the start. It can be very overwhelming for a tween/ younger teen and often ends up having a negative impact on their relationship with food well into adulthood. I would rather focus on making "health" their ultimate goal. Teaching them about macros and how to build a healthy meal instead is a great start.
 
Here are a few healthy eating and lifestyle guidelines to support:

• 7-8 hours of sleep each night (important for supporting growth and limiting sugar cravings the next day)
• Avoid skipping meals (especially breakfast)
• Eat 2 fruit a day and 3 or more different vegetables each day (3 x 1/2 cup servings)
• Drink lots of water (2L/ 70oz per day)
• Include a protein source with each meal (eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, chicken, meat, fish, ham/ turkey deli meat, tuna, legumes, tofu etc.)
• Limit all sugary carbonated drinks and juices
• Treat foods/ processed foods (such as chocolates, crisps, candy, cookies) should either be limited to 1-2 days a week or eaten in smaller portion-controlled amounts
• Encourage an increase in activity levels by playing sports that they enjoy (a great distraction from the kitchen as well as important for building muscle and burning calories)
• Limit their screen time during the day as that reduces activity levels
• Encourage them to spend time on hobbies/ activities that are unrelated to food.
• Enjoy main meals together as a family and without distractions (TV, cell phones etc.)
  
• Encourage them to join you in the kitchen to learn more about food, cooking, meal prepping and planning their favorite meals for the week.
  
• Discuss the importance of healthy meal choices with the whole family and try to make sure that they don't feel isolated around meal times.
  
• Discussions around body weight should be more positive and focused on what the body can do, the importance of healthy food to fuel the brain, to play sport better and to nourish the body the best way possible.
  
• Instead of tracking, you could encourage them to use a food journal where they write down their meals for a week or two (or to plan their meals/ snacks ahead of time) which will help them to analyze and review their dietary intake.

Lastly, kids tend to copy their parents’ habits so as long as you keep going on your health journey I'm sure it will benefit them too!😁
 

 

In the US, Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of the summer season (but this information is great for everyone with a social life!)

BBQs, pool parties, camping, road trips, beach days…..so much fun to be had, we hope everyone is blessed with lots of sunshine this weekend and all summer long wherever you might be.

At PLT Nutrition, we take a flexible dieting approach and this provides you with, well, flexibility! 
This is a great weekend to really plan ahead and make good use of your relaxed plan, your flexible ranges or calorie cycling, and enjoy yourself without guilt or stress! If you’re not working with a coach but are working towards some important goals on your own, we hope the tips below are helpful! You CAN come away from a long weekend feeling empowered and confident that a fun time wasn’t a derailment from your goals!

I love to get everyone sharing their favorite tips….

If you are road trippin’ with the fam, share your car snack magic! What are you packing and what are your travel stop/convenience store go-to’s??

If you are hitting the beach for the day, what are your favorite sandwiches tucked away in your cooler and what else is in there waiting to get covered in sand?

If you are entertaining at home, you are in control of your environment and this is a great opportunity to be on the ‘lean & mean’ side of the grill especially if you are going somewhere that you can’t control the environment another day

Fire up the grill and lean towards lean protein, here are a few ideas, the possibilities are endless:

• BBQneless chicken breasts
• shrimp skewers w/peppers & pineapple
• salmon any way you like it
• teriyaki tuna steaks
• Asian boneless skinless chicken thighs
• spicy shrimp skewers w/baby tomatoes & onions
• pork loin rubbed w/your favorite spice blend
• scallop kabobs w/soy sauce, ginger, brown sugar marinade
• extra lean ground beef burgers
• foil packet fish & veggies
• black bean or veggie burgers
  

Keep your sides light too and when you are heading to friend’s homes, ALWAYS bring a ‘light side’ as you just know there will tons of mayo laden yummy sides you might not find are in your best interests! Use a light salad dressing you love or make your own using some balsamic, dijon mustard, salt & pepper and a splash of olive oil (or google homemade dressings, there are tons that are SO easy to throw together!)

• tossed salad w/lots of raw veggies
• spinach, strawberry, goats cheese salad
• arugula, peaches, crumbled blue cheese
• tomato, mozzarella, basil salad
• watermelon & feta salad
• shrimp & avocado salad
• deviled eggs
• grilled veggie/orzo salad
• cowboy caviar
• arugula & beet salad
• Patti's 'Famous' Citrus Slaw!

Sweet and decadent desserts are fun, and can and should be enjoyed in moderation, but how about some other lighter options that might keep you balanced:

• fruit skewers w/Greek yogurt dip sweetened w/honey
• grilled peaches w/homemade whipped cream or a little vanilla ice cream
• mini graham cracker crusts filled w/pudding, Greek yogurt etc. and topped with fruit & whipped cream
• teeny tiny brownie bites & chocolate dipped strawberries
• grilled pineapple
• watermelon & mint tossed with balsamic
• ice pops!

A 3min Read

Is +5/-5 grams really the gold standard for tracking?

Many people and companies believe in the +5/-5 approach to tracking and it certainly works but at PLT Nutrition we don’t believe it is needed or of any benefit.
The approach asks you to be within +5/-5g of your daily macro targets.
 
It’s benefits:

• It ensures accuracy

 
It’s negatives:

• Its restrictive. It takes a typically flexible diet and makes it less flexible.
• It asks a person to push through and eat even when not hungry. This blunts our body’s natural hunger signals. Eating beyond fullness is a part of why many people are overweight in the first place.
• It can easily become a stressor of a diet and worse, can uncover/ exacerbate obsessive tendencies and result in fatigue and disordered eating.
• It’s unnecessary.

Whether you track your daily fish oil, whether you track 3 or 7oz of broccoli, salad leaves, salsa, marinades etc isn’t going to impact your fat loss or general health goals. No one ever became overweight eating these things.
Yes they are part of your overall calorie intake; yes, you most likely underestimate the number of calories you eat, but whether you track these items isn’t of consequence.
It’s the other parts of your life that are the impactful areas, the parts that should be tracked and controlled.
Fat loss comes from reducing your calorie intake and possibly increasing your calories burned, that’s not likely going to come from reducing broccoli and if that’s your approach it’s the wrong approach.
Your tracking isn’t designed to be an expression of your complete calorie intake or your metabolism. It’s designed to identify the areas of your diet that can be improved and apply control to. If you do this, you can achieve your goals and track in a much more relaxed and fluid manner.
 
There’s nothing wrong with +/-5 if you enjoy that approach - PLT Nutrition just believes it’s unnecessary...
 
And this why we are THE “Really Flexible Dieting” company 💛
tks
Paul