Atkins and small children

[Trisha1197]

How do you guys handle meal times with small children? Do you make seperate meals or just try to incorporate what you eat into what they eat??

Also how do you handle temptations with the food that they have?? Or do you just get rid of everything even kids snacks??

Just wondering because I have

Maggie 4
Ben 2
Joseph 1month

[2big4mysize]

Re: Atkins and small children

you can feed them Atkins maintenance. just give them healthy higher GI veggies and grain products like whole wheat stuff or whole oat stuff and they will be where you are trying to get

Now the 1 month old I'd follow his pediatritions advice not sure he should behaving solid foods yet.

[slimndown]

Re: Atkins and small children

I have been doing Atkins for a few months now with a 2 year old. For the first couple of weeks she pretty much ate what I ate but she would have more - to her heart's content. I'd also buy her fruits to eat in addition as she doesn't really like breads and potatoes too much. That is pretty much her diet unless we eat out or get something special then she has whatever she wants. She has been growing fine and her eating habits are excellent.

[Laurenfra]

Re: Atkins and small children

I make my meal for my family of 5 just add fruit and grains to theirs. For the first year or so I had to make non trigger foods for them. Example I would bake chicken serve green beans and baked potatos. I could care less about the potato and eat everything else. I never made noodles or spegetti because those were triggers for me.

[cleochatra]

Re: Atkins and small children

I make meals, but I'll give my kids those foods I do not eat, such as potatoes and brown rice. Granted, I do feed them the red potatoes or the yams, and not the white potatoes. The vegetables are generally lower-glycemic. And when we have fruits, it tends towards berries or granny smith or other high-fiber fruits. As well, I have low-carb snacks on hand for them: string cheese, pepperoni slices, nuts, hard-boiled eggs... and they love it! And not only are the high-protein snacks healthier than chips or cookies, but the kids stay full longer which cuts out further snacking for snacking sake. This is also the reason we switched to full-fat milk. Better satiety while still being healthy. My kids have slimmed slightly... not because they're doing Atkins but because they're just not as hungry as they were when being inundated with the high-carb foods at every turn.

[Trisha1197]

Re: Atkins and small children

True, True, True!!!

Thank you for the advice...especially about avoiding triggers! I have sooo many of them...especially the things my kids like!!!

And I guess I need to just toss out all the junk because they don't need it either right??

I also have the problem of getting into a rut with what I eat...I am trying to eat the things I ate before when I was on the diet and it kind of makes me sick to my stomach...

Like I can think of a hundred different things I would rather be eating except for what I have in front of me!!

So maybe that is my cravings talking no...shouting at me??

HELP!!! Where do you turn for help when you feel so close to the edge of throwing hands in air and saying forget it!!

[dreamof145]

Re: Atkins and small children

I also make my meal and when my grandkids are here, I'll add rolls or potatoes and extra fruit to their selections. I am no longer tempted by foods that aren't in my plan...so it doesn't bother me at all to have the 'trigger' foods of yesterdays on the table.

[Tryin2lose]

Re: Atkins and small children

Hi Trisha,
If the kids junk food is tempting you, then by all means you should get rid of it all!!!! It won't hurt them not to have it. I have done that for my kids. Not because I am really tempted, but because I want them to learn what they should be eating. They do have junk food when the opportunity arises, which for children is often enough, without having it readily available in the home too. My kids are 14, 11, and 7, even the older one has not had big issues with the change. Not that they didn't whine a little at first, but what Momma says goes!!!
Do what you need to do to have success!!
I'm just starting all over again, so I know what you mean by having some temptations.
Blessings,
Erin

[cleochatra]

Re: Atkins and small children

Put the kids' 'stuff' on one shelf. That's their shelf... and only while you phase in healthier food choices.

Phase them out of their snacks. I don't think I could go from feeding my kids pop tarts one day to saying, "Guess what guys! From now on it's allllllllllllllllllllllllll broccoli! Yay!"

The kids would done think you just committed them to life without gastronomical parole.

In the mean time, if labelling the food helps, do it. Label the pop tart bags with each of their names. If there's an extra write "divide between X, Y and Z". When it is labelled, you aren't going to take it from your kids because then there would be accountability and little Susie's missing her foily packet o poptarty snackliciousness.

[mirna05]

Re: Atkins and small children

I make the same meal for everyone, my kids are used to eating all kinds of veggies and salads (they have no choice). The snacks they have are nuts, almonds, peanuts, milk and fruit. No temptations at home. Mine are: Natalia 4, Renata 2. But I let them eat whatever they want on weekends when we go to restaurants.

Cereal is gone at home. Like cleochatra says, change the menu little by little so the dont notice it.

[Brook]

Re: Atkins and small children

How do you guys handle meal times with small children? Do you make seperate meals or just try to incorporate what you eat into what they eat??

Also how do you handle temptations with the food that they have?? Or do you just get rid of everything even kids snacks??

Just wondering because I have

Maggie 4
Ben 2
Joseph 1month

Hi Trisha

I do not make seperate meals for the children. I could never justify why it wasn't okay for me to eat things I regard as metabolic poison, but it was okay for me to slap that junk on a plate for the kids. LOL

At meal times, we eat primarily meat and veggies and sometimes I'll make them a more carby side-dish (occasional mashed potatoes or whole grain buns, etc).

There's no reason in the world why the kids can't learn that celery and natural peanut butter, apple slices with cheese, nuked cheese crisps with a savory cream cheese dip, or sugar free jello are 'kid snacks'. I sure wish I'd have learned to eat a primarily natural diet as a kid. You're in a position to give them an amazing nutritional jumpstart.

Junk food does have a time and place, but in my house it's about once a week and I don't want to see it. LOL

With little ones, it'll be a tough transition for a few days. They're stubborn, like what they like and what they know, and are resistant to change. I know mine were.

Here's what I learned:

1. Children will not allow themselves to starve. They may throw fits, refuse to eat, etc etc, but they WILL eat when they're hungry and they'll eat what's available to them. It's up to you to decide what's available.

2. Parents are in charge.

3. They will get away with what we let them get away with. Nikole (my middle one) threw a fit of epic proportions one night when we sat down to a meal of baked chicken, broccoli and cheese and spaghetti squash. I'm talking screaming, throwing herself down on the floor, promising to "NEVER EVER EAT EVER AGAIN" complete with the "I HAVE THE MEANEST MOM IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD". She was sent to her room and then learned all about Point #1. She was hungry and ate what was available to her - which was her dinner. heh heh

4. If there are any questions, refer back to Point #2.

I do not force them to eat things they don't like. If they're unsure of something I make, they're required to eat 3-5 bites of it and if they still don't like it, that's fine. But that doesn't mean I'm going to jump up and make them a side of french fries or slap a hotdog on a bun for them. That means "you don't like the sweet potatoes, so you may have a salad".

Important side note: Nikole will now knock someone over for a plateful of spaghetti squash, and she will steal broccoli off your plate if you're not looking. I can't tell you how that makes my heart smile.

I keep our fridge well stocked with things like yogurt, sliced and cubed cheeses, sliced meats, sliced veggies, dips, and I keep a fair amount of fruit and whole grain breads for them.

HTHS.
~Brook

[mirna05]

Re: Atkins and small children

Great advices brook!!!

Another suggestion, sometimes my girls eat everything I give them just to have their favorite dessert. I tell them "if you eat well, you'll get strawberries with cream".

In the begining I put the dessert on the table, away from her, every time she ate a spoon of food, the dessert walked one step, and so then, until the dessert arrived next to her.

[Tryin2lose]

Re: Atkins and small children

Good for you Brook! We are a lot alike.

I do not force them to eat things they don't like. If they're unsure of something I make, they're required to eat 3-5 bites of it and if they still don't like it, that's fine. But that doesn't mean I'm going to jump up and make them a side of french fries or slap a hotdog on a bun for them. That means "you don't like the sweet potatoes, so you may have a salad".

Important side note: Nikole will now knock someone over for a plateful of spaghetti squash, and she will steal broccoli off your plate if you're not looking. I can't tell you how that makes my heart smile.

In November the little girl we are going to adopt came to live with us. She was a major junk food addict. The only vegetable she didn't gag on was green beans. The only foods she didn't make faces at were pizza, cheese burgers and fries and chicken nuggets. Having two children of our own, we weren't going to say that's ok, you don't have to eat vegetables and cooked meats. That is not how we raised our sons, so that is not how we are going to raise her either. Almost four months later she is eating steamed broccoli & cauliflower, salads, and squashes. She doesn't like brussel sprouts and asparagus and we don't force her to eat them. But she is trying everything and is giving it several tries, cooked different ways, before totally giving up on it. We tell her all the time how proud of her we are. Our boys have been really great encouraging her to try different things too. Best of all she is proud of herself!

Just wanted to share that. Sometimes as parents we make excuses for our kids, but they are capable of anything they put their minds to. Even if we parents have to give them a big push!

Erin

[Trisha1197]

Re: Atkins and small children

Thank you for all your post's!!

I really appreciate the ideas! And you all are right...I can help my children to make better choices so that hopefully they will not end up the way I am now! That would probably be one of the greatest gifts I could give them!!

Another problem we have is getting into the fast food rut! Especially as I am recovering this month I just haven't fixed many meals for them and I feel real guilty about that!

But I will try harder to do that for them and myself!!

Thank you again for the great advice!! HUGS to you all!

[Elizellen]

Re: Atkins and small children

I really appreciate the ideas! And you all are right...I can help my children to make better choices so that hopefully they will not end up the way I am now! That would probably be one of the greatest gifts I could give them!!

So true, Trisha

You said in an earlier post

I also have the problem of getting into a rut with what I eat...I am trying to eat the things I ate before when I was on the diet and it kind of makes me sick to my stomach...

Like I can think of a hundred different things I would rather be eating except for what I have in front of me!!

Maybe you need to look through the recipe forums on ADBB and find some you like that you didnt eat before when you were on Atkins that are induction-legal?

TWhy not take a look through the list of allowed foods and see which of them you havent ever eaten and find some recipes that use them to see if you can find a new 'favourite' to tempt you to eat on track!

If you click on the 'Recipes' link at the top of the page you can do a search for a particular ingredient so can find recipes that use what you have on hand. You will need to check the ingredients against your list of allowed foods as they are not marked for the separate Atkins phases.

Another good resource (or 'food-porn' site as my husband describes it ) is Linda's lowcarb site http://users3.ev1.net/~fontlady/ which has masses of adapted traditional and new recipes for lowcarbing it - and she even marks the induction-legal ones to help you stay on plan! I have used many of her ideas.

I have found Atkins easy to stick to food-wise because to me (after a lifetime of lowfat dieting) there are so many delicious foods I AM allowed to eat that I can forget about the ones I am not allowed to eat! Who wants to eat cardboard rice cakes with lowfat cheese spread when they can have flax crackers spread with fullfat creamcheese or pate for lunch!!