Q about sugar detox

[Joker]

We're going to eliminate sugar as a family starting next week, but I'm wondering how this will work with my oldest dd (14). We are mainly doing this for her as she is struggling with anxiety and major depression.

 

I can control what she eats at home by only buying and cooking certain things but I can't control her eating lunch at school. She won't take a lunch because she has 7 classes a day and no locker, so she already has her arms and backpack full and has to do a lot of walking between classes. She doesn't eat a full meal at school but usually grabs a cookie or fries and a chocolate milk. I've tried putting a healthy granola bar or something in her backpack but she won't eat it. If I tell her she can only eat something healthy, she just will not eat. The way she feels right now she can go without food most of the day but we urge her to and so she does.

 

So, my question is will she be able to notice a good change if she is still eating cookies and chocolate milk five days a week for lunch, or is it just going to make her moodier since she won't have access to any sugar at home?

 

If it matters, I plan on using the 21 Day Sugar Detox book as a guide to get us started. If anyone has any better suggestions or ideas, I'm also open to those.

[Cakes]

I obviously don't know your situation but I think it would be imperative to get your DD on board. Maybe offer up some incentives or rewards if you need to?

 

Eating a sugary lunch 5 days a week is certainly enough sugar to be disruptive. Sorry :-(

[MiMi 4under3]

I would ignore her sugar consumption at school for now.

 

As her diet at home improves and she feels better, she may voluntarily make better choices away from home.

 

[Annie G]

Unless your dd is on board with the plan, she's probably not going to get anywhere close to the maximum benefit from it. Eating that stuff at school five days a week is a lot.    But then again, if she's eating a ton of sugary stuff at home right now, eliminating that is a good start. Maybe if you eliminate sugar from the house now, then when Christmas break comes she'll have a couple of weeks without her usual school sugar fix and you can help her kick the sugar habit. 

 

Good luck- it's hard with teens because they often have their own money and can access junk easily. 

 

Having said that, I've had kids with anxiety and depression and eating well is a huge help. But sometimes just getting them to eat regularly is the first step, so if she's not eating three meals a day, I'd encourage that habit before I worried too much about WHAT she eats during those meals.  Baby steps is what got us through this. 

[AK_Mom4]

I think Mimi has it right.  Plus.... it's not going to hurt your daughter in the long run to have two healthy meals a day (3 on the weekends!).  16 out of 21 is much better than 0 out of 21, right?

 

It's hard with teens, but if you can get plenty of good fats and protein into her in the morning, she will be less hungry at lunch time and will end up eating less junk.