Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

[Lia]

hi.. all. I have not posted in a while... I am doing fine.. I am at about 121 lbs... a loss since January 1 of 14 lbs... I have been at 121 for about 2 weeks. I am running about 14 miles a week on the treadmill... NOW... I had said months ago.. when school was out.. my son will be starting. Well.... that time is now.. On Friday at lunch.. he officially started... He is also on geodon and lexapro... small doses and I HOPE this will not stall him. He is 5'6 and 242 lbs. VERY.. VERY heavy... but I am optimitic.. he did get away from his dad after church for the coffee hour.. those coffee fellowships are loaded with poisons... anyway.. he ate half a danish before his dad caught him. We try to explain to him why we are doing this. I will not freak out if he cheated... it is due to it is hard to explain to him why he cannot. So.. I will imagine induction will take longer than 2 weeks.. which we are fully prepared for some accidental cheats. WE will do our very best.. I will post here.. I got him a digital scale and a calendar.. he loves to record.. he can weigh every am after the bathroom and before breakfast... we walk 4 nights a week.. an hour a walking... swimming 2 times a week. THANK god.. he loves bacon and eggs.. all meats and cheese and loves salads.. the only thing he won't eat are tomatoes and onions. WISH US LUCK and any suggestions welcomed... Lia

[sham]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

I praise you for wanting to do this for him some parents as their kids put on weight out of love still let them eat what they want but you know if he keeps eating his carbs and not changing his lifestyle he will keep putting weight on just get him excited wuth the diet as he might not know much about it let him read the book and mainly let him help you with the cooking get him involved at that moment explain what foods are allowed and what foods are forbidden.Why dont you do a reward system with him for every 10lb he lose which is a dress size give him a simple reward like new t-shirt or jeans he will enjoy it and everytime he weighs himself be there for him and on any loss praise him tell him his looking better all these simple things will keep him going and encorouge him.I dont know if this advice has helped you anyway all the best to you and your son keep losing.

[JulieB]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

Wow - good luck with that! It will be difficult if he doesn't understand why treats aren't allowed anymore. I think your idea of the scale & calendar are great - the more he is involved in this & doing things he likes, the better - IMO. Are there other things he can measure/record? His daily cups of veggies? Rewards (non food!) for losing weight or for going to church tea & skipping the danish?

I sincerely hope this works for him - he'll be healthier & and happier.

[Lia]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

hi... he has a snack.. issue.. but.. he can eat a hard boiled egg or celery and he is happy with it.. I just gave him 4 pieces of pork rinds.. he loves them... like I said.. he got away.. real fast ... and had that danish.. next week.. his dad will be faster than him... My son is very compliant with food... the reward system is good... I also told him we can go to mcdonalds for the mcdouble without the bun .. onions and pickles.. ketchup... this way.. he still feels he can have the fast food... thanks.. all.. Lia

[Hillary]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

Lia - what you are doing is great and I applaud you for that!

[Lia]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

By the way.. his summer camp is for kids on the spectrum and most of the kids are gluten and caSein free.. so they will know... not to allow him things.. they are offering more veggies this year as snacks... Lia

[sham]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

why dont you ready his meals and give him earlier a bit so he knows what his meal is before he gets hungary to stop him going for the carbs because when he gets hungary he will look for foods and go for the wrong ones.leave atkins friendly snacks with him as his watching tv or when you know he might want a snack so you can try and control what he eats this way you can count his daily carb intake too as you will know what you fed him and hopefully he wont cheat fingers crossed!

[chinadoll]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

And start exercising with him in fun ways so he also develops the habit to be active.

[Slapshot]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

Wishing you and your son the best, Lia. He's a lucky lad to have a Mom like you.

[wackielady]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

my niece is here for another week. I am trying her on Atkins for the last week. I forgot to weigh her this morning, but will tomorrow. It is not going to be an easy go for her since she loves snack cakes and chips, but she is willing to try it. Maybe in a week she can have a little weight loss and try to keep it up once she goes home.

[imagood1]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

There is a version of the Atkins diet suitable for children and teens "Feed Your Kids Well: How to Help Your Child Lose Weight and Get Healthy" by Dr. Fred Pescatore.

Dr. Pescatore was an associate of Dr Atkins in New York and designed this diet for teens because they have different nutritional needs than adults.

[wackielady]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

Thanks Carole for the book recommendation. I have looked on the board to see if I could find out what needs to be modified for teenagers, but could not find anything. I will have to see if 1/2 price bookstore or amazon has it.

[imagood1]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

Thanks Carole for the book recommendation. I have looked on the board to see if I could find out what needs to be modified for teenagers, but could not find anything. I will have to see if 1/2 price bookstore or amazon has it.

Half.com / Books / Search Results for 'Feed Your Kids Well: How to Help Your Child Lose Weight and Get Healthy'

[msanjelpie]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

No ketchup at Mcdonalds! It has lots of carbs...

My first son has Aspergers, and my third son has mild Aspergers.

Geodon is good in that it isn't like Zyprexa or Risperdal which cause weight gain. I take Lexapro and haven't had problems losing on it...

Keep junk food out of the house and that will help a lot

[Riverj]

Re: Putting my son with autism on ATKINS

Teenagers don't need a different diet from adults. The RDA for most nutrients is the same because the teenage body is an adult body, in spite of some growth to do (but many teens stop growing early)

Children diet might be a little more different but they too need basically the same things adults do. I think aiming foods to children is just a marketing things. Indigenous populations eat what they found available and the children, once they stop drinking mother milk and have all their teeth, eat the same things that adults do and they're known to grow better than the average western child.

Glucogenesis works perfectly in children so if adults can survive with little or even no carbohydrates, children don't need more. The majority of kids anyway eat a deficient diet comprised of few junk staples, and yet when a healthier diet is proposed for kids, everyone gets worried it might harm there and complicated irrelevant approach are created just for those under 18 (which is ridicolous considering there's no difference between a 17 and a 20 year old person) and I believe this is just a way to sell more books, more programs and make more money.

Children with epilepsy have been treated with ketogenic diets. The diets were extremely low in proteins (way lower than Atkins induction), extremely high in fat and contained hydrogenated oils.
This is why few children had problem. They found out that children with epilepsy had the same success in preventing seizure by using the Atkins diet without the hydrogenated oils and with enough proteins. The children following this approach did great and grew better and with less growing problems than their peers.