Excruciatingly picky eater on weight watchers

[Dawna]

Hi all,

My almost-18 year old daughter has begun weight watchers, and has lost 5.4 lb in three weeks. She has an extremely limited list of what she will eat, and a very long list of what she will not eat. Think kid food in the extreme. She is okay for breakfast and lunch, but dinners are problematic. Looking for suggestions.

What she likes to eat: Steak, ribs, turkey burgers, occasional chicken breast, burritos, tacos, macaroni and cheese, canned chicken noodle soup, fresh steamed broccoli, fresh steamed cauliflower, apples, raw celery, canned green beans, frozen corn (yes, only canned green beans and only frozen corn). At restaurants she will order a bacon cheeseburger, no matter where we go. She loves mashed and baked potatoes. She will eat a salad (if you can call it that) that is either totally iceberg or totally romaine lettuce, with ranch dressing.

What she won't eat: Fish, any seafood, anything spicy, onions, bell peppers, any other peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, basically any vegetable not listed above.

When the family has a pasta dish, she will only eat plain noodles. She prefers foods separate rather than casserole type (too much work to pick out offending items that way!)

I tried figuring out what she ate of the frozen prepared dinners that I purchased for her busy days, but honestly she picks out more than she will eat of those too.

Weight Watchers has been great for her. She is actually seeing what she needs to do to eat a more balanced diet. She is getting her calcium needs met, drinking water, and even eating some fruit and veggies, although extremely limited.

This is the child who threw up (sorry to be graphic) when forced to take bites of things she did not like. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Dawna

[foodlady]

WW can be a great tool for weight loss and eating a more balanced diet, so kudos to your daughter!

Since (I'm assuming) she took the initiative to join WW, how about letting her take the reins on her own meal planning? She's certainly old enough to take responsibility for this herself, and she may even try more "new" veggies and fruits if it's her idea. (And she's trying to manage her points well!) You could ask if there is anything you could pick up for her at the store, but let her do the planning herself.

Just a thought.

[cocoa'smom]

It sounds like there's a lot she can eat from her list of acceptable foods. Is she doing the Flex plan? Maybe she'd be better off doing Core - here's the description from the WW site:

Core Plan
On the Core Plan focus on wholesome foods without counting…
Eat wholesome foods from all the food groups, including fruits and vegetables, grains and starches, lean meats and poultry, eggs and dairy products.
Enjoy satisfying eating without empty calories.
Have the occasional treat in controlled amounts.

With Core (I've never done it myself), it sounds like she can eat most of the foods she likes and not worry about making "recipes". If she has to have that bacon cheeseburger, she should only eat half, though!

She sounds a LOT like my 16 yr old DD. Plain pasta, no sauces, steamed brocolli or cauliflower, canned LeSeur peas, not into casseroles or complicated dishes (will eat riccota stuffed shells or manicotti), doesn't like the texture of beef or most pork. She has started to eat salmon (yay!!, but no other fish) and it has to have the brown sugar/soy glaze I put on top. Picks out onions, peppers, etc. Very annoying!!

Good luck to her and congratulations on her progress!

[funniegrrl]

I agree with letting her take control of her meals. I would be a gentle encourager for learning to like foods she has previously avoided, but you need to get out of the role of enabler.

I am on Jenny Craig and active in the JC online community. I have been stunned by the number of adults who have similar lists of narrow choices they will eat. When you've decided that you only like starches, some protein, and fat or whatever, you set yourself up for a lifetime of weight problems. The ones who are most successful in the long run are the ones who decide that they WANT to learn to eat a greater variety of food, and keep a positive attitude. In a way, taking control of your food and learning to eat WELL, not just to satisfy your childish palate, is a form of growing up. Some people never get there and stick with their burgers and fries all their lives, and have the health and weight to show for it.

Good for her for making the progress she has in eating more fruits and vegetables. Congratulate her on that as much as (if not more than) the weight loss. Keep encouraging her to use WW to learn to eat a BALANCED diet, and not just figuring out how to use her points to stick with her favorites. Remind her that the more variety she learns to enjoy, the easier it will be to stay at her desired weight, not to mention be healthier overall.

[swquilts]

I'm following the WW Core plan. She may not like the minor restrictions on Core.

Whole wheat pastas only, no blends, only once a day
Brown rice only, once a day
Potatoes, once a day
Ground beef, once a day
Fat free dairy only, soy cheese is OK tho

But....you eat until you are satisfied, NOT FULL. And you do not have to count points. You do get 35 points a week for non Core foods.

If you have any more questions let me know.

[blazedog]

I also would suggest exploring the Core plan as a number of the foods such as steak, turkey burgers are on the list including salads and whatever plain veggies she likes.

On the other hand, on Flex she can eat anything she wants but has to count the points and limit the portions.

Really depends on what she is willing to do --

In any weight loss program, she isn't going to be able to eat bacon cheeseburgers and ribs -- or at least she would be eating them in such small quantities, that it would be a fairly moot issue.

On Core, she could have a facsimile of a cheeseburger -- lean turkey burger, ff or soy cheese and Canadian bacon -- all no count Core foods -- add a 1 point Wonder Bun and there you go.

Mashed potatoes are also easily made Core but of course subject to the specific limitations of the program.

I would however, let your daughter take control of it and you step aside only insofar as you assist her with what SHE wants to do -- i.e. have the food and if you are the cook, prepare it. Do not become the diet monitor :D

[Kingwell]

All of the comments so far have been right on. She is old enough to participate in meal planning, and even preparation, so maybe she could help you more in the kitchen now that she's more involved in food choices.

If lunches are working well, perhaps some of her favorite lunchtime options could be embellished a bit for dinner. Or, you could have breakfast for dinner once a week. There are some very good Weight Watchers breakfast recipes that seem to have points values that, in my experience, are really too high for a normal breakfast (but ok for brunches) but would make a good light dinner.

(I am on regular WW, not Core, but love lots of vegies and fruit, so it's a great match for me.)

Also, you could suggest your daughter to the WW Web site and sign up for the free weekly recipe newsletter. I get this and find some good recipes that way, and again, it might get her more involved in the process, as well as give her the chance to consider some other preparations and foods.

Good luck to you and to her. It is a good, healthy program, IMO. CL is also a great source for finding WW-friendly recipes. I go through my mags and assign the point values to the recipes that sound good, so your daughter could also do that (if you subscribe).

[wallycat]

I am not familiar with all the varieties of WW currently out there.
There is something to be said about eating "boring" meals. Studies show that people who explore less with their menu and eat a core of foods actually end up learning not to overeat ...well..because it's boring.

I agree she is old enough to cook, shop for and make her own meals if she elects to be picky. Actually, learning this early on will be a god-send for her and a life-long skill she will appreciate.

As long as she is getting her fruits/veggies in and is limiting sat. fat and taking a multi-vitamin, sticking to the same several foods for a week would be fine. As I stated, it may even encourage her to eat less because it isn't exciting anymore.

Best to you both.

[JLS]

Along the lines of what Foodlady suggested, what about having her pick out a weight watchers cookbook and perhaps trying a recipe or two?

Or have her read the ww bulletin boards. They often share food ideas, so perhaps she'll read about something that spurs her interest? I know on the bulletin boards, there's a shared excitement of trying new fruits, vegetables, treats, etc. And there's frequently posts of astonished members having discovered a "new" food love.

[spudugan]

This really is a fantastic opportunity for your daughter's future. If she is still living at home you can provide some help on skills in the kitchen if she's open to it...and since she is certainly old enough she can participate and be at least partially responsible for her meal preparation--or maybe better yet the whole family can adopt her healthy eating--adding to the support of her efforts--and take turns on dinner prep and planning. Like maybe on 2 nights a week she plans the menu with the recipes and the others help in preparation. Other nights another family member picks the menu from the many WW sources and she can be the helper. Make a game of it...rules like..each menu has to have servings of vegetables and healthy proteins. Desserts that use fruit. Fruit crisps can be quite healthy and incredibly delicious--CL has a bunch of those recipes..or grilled fruit. Anyway..She can have the benefit from learning from you and your encouragement while she becomes prepared for living on her own and being able to keep up her healthy lifestyle once she's independent. That would be the greatest gift to her. I found that once i was involved in meal planning and prep suddenly i was anxious to try new things and developed a palette that appreciated much more variety. Tell her we're proud of her taking control of her health...she'll benefit the rest of her life from this step...and the great bonus of being healthy on the inside means the outside will reflect that with being fit, energetic, and ready to conquer her challenges!

[swquilts]

Does she like "fast food"? WW has a great cookbook called Take Out Tonight. It has Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Greek, and deli type recipes. I've tried a few of the Chinese and they were very good.

Just a thought.

[Dawna]

Thanks for all the replies.

I was doing Core, but switched back to Flex (probably more like a combination of the two) when she started.

I sat with her and looked at the WW cookbooks available at our meeting, but she vetoed pretty much every recipe, as they all included veggies on her "I don't eat that" list.

At this point, I am trying to adapt things she will eat to fit the program, while encouraging exploration in the fresh foods categories. Last week we tried a turkey meat loaf recipe made in a muffin tin, and she enjoyed it, although she did pick out the vegetables she could see. Next on the agenda is pizza, perhaps on a flat bread.

Unfortunately, to this point her kitchen nights have yielded a lot of plain starches. We are working on that.

I think if I can come up with a rotation of foods she enjoys, made lighter, we will have something we can work with.

Thanks,

dawna