Help my 15 year old son figure out what to eat for lunch!

[Ragtime Gal]

Hi teens,

I have a son who is 15 and has finally decided he is ready to start Atkins. However, he insists that I will have to pack his lunch every day because there is nothing he can buy in the cafeteria.

Can I ask what you all eat at school for lunch? Do you bring your lunch and if so, what do you bring?

I suggested that he buy a sandwich and not eat the bread...but his concern is that the meat that's left won't be enough for him, and then he would have to buy two sandwiches....

Help appreciated...thanks!

Sharon

[julirama723]

I bring my own lunch to school everyday (I'm a teacher) and I know exactly what he means about not having anything acceptable to eat if you depend on the cafetera. The best thing to do is pack your own lunch, that way you know exactly what you're eating.

This is usually what I bring:
*Pepperoni slices, mozz. cheese stick, green pepper slices
*Salad with bacon crumbles, hardboiled egg, cheese, dressing
*Pinwheels (turkey, ham, beef slices topped with cream cheese and lettuce, rolled up)
*Homemade beef jerky, jicama slices, cheese stick
*Egg salad with celery
*Pumpkin mixed with cream cheese and cinnamon, grilled chicken tenders with ranch

I just bring finger foods. Stuff that you can eat with your hands (well except for the salad and pumpkin!) that is quick, cheap, and easy to make.

[HeidiE]

I suggest he make a list go with you to buy the stuff he needs and then he can pack his own lunch

[ValidRouge]

The cafeterias must be different from when I went to high school.

On the worst day, they always had one line that was dedicated for salads. Of course, it would be very boring eating the same old chef salad all year long.
He could, however, bring his own toppings for the salad that could be different every day. Otherwise, it probably is necessary for him to pack his lunch.

Ask him to make friends with the lunch room ladies. (My mom has been a lunch room lady for the majority of my life) Then he can always be "in the know" as to the menus coming up for the week. I'm sure if he went in and asked the lunchroom manager for help planning his menu, she would. Go with the attitude of here is my problem, can you help me. Tell him to tell them that while he can't expect them to prepare special food just for him, they can let him know what the menu will be so that he can eat some days in the cafeteria and bring lunch on days when it's not atkins friendly.

[3xmom]

I have 3 children in school here in FL and I can tell you, packing is the best thing to do. I posted in another post that schools here count french fries and tater tots as "vegetables". Also, he may not want the embarressment of eating differently, but with a brought from home lunch that wouldn't be quite so bad. Also, if you find his school online, there is probably a menu posted and you can plan to pack some days and maybe if good atkins friendly food is available he can buy his lunch some days.

[Lady66]

here are some ideas

`cut up veggies and put them in a ziplock bag like celery or cauilflower and get those ranch cup dips. You can find them in the veggie sections
` a handful of nuts like almonds
`he could get packages of meat slices for sandwiches and just bring the meat
` cheese sticks, cheese cubes, cheese slices
`beef jerky
`make a salad and put it in a container for him to take with things like bacon bits ontop and cheese and some type of meat.
`jello cups
`if he is having a hard time drinking water you should check out the To Go Packets that are sugar free to mix in with water. They have koolaid and even hawaiin punch.

I wish him luck!

[Nightporter]

Hello Ragtimegal,

First of all... Your name is awesome! I love ragtime.

Secondly, I used to have the exact same problem! Schools these days (or at least mine) are filled with cakes, pastas, chips and all other things bad for the body... It's a conspiracy... It must be!

... What I used to do was buy 5 packs of beef-sticks at the store. (The ones that come with 4 in a row... They look a bit like long cigars) and take one of those for every day of the week. A bag of little cheese squares. (The kind you toss on salad), A bottle of Arizona tea (They have many zero carb flavours and are delicious!), and some mini-carrots.

Some of this can be a bit of a burden to lug around all day... But most of it can fit just snugly into the backpack... Except for the tea. But it's cool to carry tea around with you ;-)

-N-

[Ragtime Gal]

Thank you for all the great suggestions. So far, so good, except that he refuses to eat breakfast which I don't think is good. And...he's still obviously not eating enough for lunch as he comes home absolutely starving. He's also eating too much cheese, in my opinion...but I can't run his life. I'm not sure how much he has lost as he doesn't want to weigh himself too often. He thinks he lost about eight pounds so far, but that's comparing our home scale to the pediatrician's scale. At any rate, he's definitely eating better than he was before, even if he's not doing it completely right....

Thanks again!!

Sharon

[Nightporter]

Hello Sharon,

When you mentioned your sons habit of skipping breakfast, I immediately was reminded of myself.

I used to hate eating breakfast too... But skipping it is very bad. I already do skip lunch, and I can not afford to skip breakfast. However, eating in the early morning hours makes me sick... But I was able to overcome that a bit... Here are some tips and tricks I have used:

1) Wake up about a half an hour then usual... You may be hungy by the time breakfast rolls around.

2) Make the absolute last thing you do before you leave (with the exception of brushing your teeth) is eat breakfast... That gives enough time for the stomach to wake up and get hungry.

3) Certain foods can be sickening... And eggs are definitely one of them. How I choke down my eggs in the morning is I cook up 5 peices of "Light Maple" sausage and each a chunk of the sausage with a bit of egg... It is so much easier to eat breakfast that way.

4) Take 2 hard boild eggs to school and eat them in first period.

.... I hope those may help... I definitely know eggs disgust me in the morning, and sometimes it takes a while for my stomach to "wake up" per se...

-N-

[Ragtime Gal]

I don't know that he can get up any earlier than he does. He has to be at school at 6 a.m. three days a week to do sprints (for the football team...football season is over but you have to do this year round!). He doesn't want to eat before that because he is worried about throwing up during the sprints, and I guess there is no time to eat after that before school. He also just doesn't seem to be hungry. Anyway, he's very stubborn and I can't make him eat. It would be different if he himself realized how important it was and worked at it...but he's just not...sigh....