This could be a misconception of mine but I always thought swimmers should be ravenous after swim practice. My son (13) swims for 2-2.5 hours and does not want to eat dinner after practice. He eats about 30 minutes before he leaves for practice but it's not a huge meal. Most days he skips dinner and goes to sleep without eating anything. I am concerned because 1. shouldn't he re-fuel his body after practice? and 2. not sure he is getting enough nutrition to sustain the level of effort that is needed. At the same time I want to trust his body to let him know when and how much he needs to eat. When I ask him he will say he is not hungry. Any advice?
Thank you everyone for your feedback. We are going to try a chocolate protein shake, a smoothie or a light meal and also try to make something he really likes and see if that cures his appetite problem. He's been sort of picky lately and I'm sure that's contributing to the problem.
What concerns me about this is it seems to me you are trying to do this under his nose - like, you're trying to trick him to eat.
He's 13, if he's at all intelligent for his age he will be able to answer questions for you to narrow down what's actually going on, and also to understand if you explain why proper nutrition is important, especially to a growing teen.
This isn't like trying to feed a 6-year-old peas.
Thank you everyone for your feedback. We are going to try a chocolate protein shake, a smoothie or a light meal and also try to make something he really likes and see if that cures his appetite problem. He's been sort of picky lately and I'm sure that's contributing to the problem.
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This isn't like trying to feed a 6-year-old peas.
Man, I HATED peas when I was six... but now I love 'em! Mixing them in mashed potatoes always worked for me!
:worms:
What concerns me about this is it seems to me you are trying to do this under his nose - like, you're trying to trick him to eat.
He's 13, if he's at all intelligent for his age he will be able to answer questions for you to narrow down what's actually going on, and also to understand if you explain why proper nutrition is important, especially to a growing teen.
This isn't like trying to feed a 6-year-old peas.
I don't think anyone's trying to sneak in the food, but the kiddo's just had a fairly heavy workout and is in the midst of adolescence - eating *something*, at least, is not really optional here. I agree - kiddo's parent should sit down with him and say "look, you do have to eat something after practice, before bedtime, but clearly the regular dinner isn't working out right now. Here are some options to try , what do you think?" Nudging kiddo to try different options will probably help get more information.
Consider a protein shake. What kid (or, ok, 51-year old) can say no to a PB and chocolate shake. A friend of ours had an issue with her teen (15-16) who was a big runner and, unfortunately who had serious body image issues related to her weight (she, the daughter, thought she was too heavy when in fact she was not, so she skipped lots of meals). She'd come home from school or the gym, after running 5-10 miles, and all she'd have for dinner was one protein shake, which amounted to not many calories. Her mom offered to have her shake ready for her when she got home. Unbeknownst to the daughter, her mom spiked the shake with full-fat heavy cream. She got much-needed calories in her daughter. In fact, her daughter's running and weight-lifting improved. Our friend credited her magic shakes!
