Low Carb alternatives for Atkins?

[Whatsername]

Sorry, I am not sure where to post this.

My son wants to do Atkins with me. He is 16 and overweight (not sure how much he is overweight by). He plays football and works out regularly. So exercise isn't much of an issue.

The problem is he is a very picky eater. There is no way he will stick to Atkins, especially once he is back in school and in the cafeteria where I have no control.

I have looked at South Beach...but they seem to want you to eat beans and he won't. But I like how SB is more "lenient" because that is what we need (fruit for example).

Does anyone have any other suggestions or advice?

Thanks!

[imagood1]

There is a different bookforteens since they need more nutrition than an adult - I hope you will check it out and use it for her health. The name is "Feed your Kids Well" by Dr. Fred Pescatore. Dr. Pescatore was an associate of Dr. Atkins. You might check that as well as other plans.

[Elsie150]

Well does he want to do it with you or doesn't he? You say he wants to then that he won't stick to it...so I am confused.

You have a month to show him what the results of Atkins can do for him. Show him the allowable food list. Have him check off the foods he likes. He does't have to eat 2 cups of lettuce...it can be cucumbers with dip. A veggie omelet. Sit him down and talk about him being willing to try new foods and new combinations. He is a big boy...as long as he tries it. Explain that some foods that he may not like will taste differently depending on how it is prepared. My picky son just turned 13 and I had years of making just plain food before I finally said he had to at least try. If it was especially gross to him he was allowed to spit it out (he was 11) now he will swallow the mouthful. He had never even had a casserole before that. I get him to rate it between 1 - 10. And try to serve the higher rating foods. Now he eats a much wider variety of things. Do I wish he would eat a bigger variety..yes. But at least it isn't just cucumbers and corn anymore. And every year he tries a little more. I even fooled him once with cauliflower crust pizza! A lot of dishes you can serve have cheese on or in them and that will help. There are a lot of allowable foods...I am sure that you both will be able to find some good recipes. Maybe agree to two new recipes a week. One you pick and one he picks and helps prepare...if he makes it it is more likely he will like it. Check out Linda's site for some good ideas and pics. Maybe you will find something in the recipes in my sig line. They are induction friendly. Good luck!

[Whatsername]

He wants to do it but he is a very, very picky eater and the foods offered on Atkins are most of the things he won't eat. Yes, I could probably talk him into eating some of the items but realistically, he isn't going to go on day after day, eating things he doesn't like. Once he goes back to school and is in the cafeteria with his friends, he won't be eating salad most likely.

I just hope I can get him started, and have him lose some weight and hope that is motivation for him.

Thanks Elsie, I will look at some different recipes. I like your suggestion of trying one or two new things a week.

By the way Carole, thanks for the book suggestion, I ordered it today from half.com.

Jane

[Elsie150]

Jane,
Trust me I know picky...lolz. Years of white rice and chicken (no bones) and cucumbers and ketchup. He only started eating jam and peanut butter this school year at 12yo. lolz..

Anyway...even though I am a firm believer in Atkins (as I was just harsh in another post) I am thinking that maybe this diet is not for him. It is important to find something that he is willing to stick too even at the cafeteria. Though I don't know what the heck the foods there would fall under. Maybe South Beath or The Zone or even just further up the maintenance ladder on Atkins.

I guess the red flag for me is that if he isn't really ready to commit I would hate to have him start on the yoyo diet thing so young and messing up his metabilism (sp?) Maybe just serving healthy stuff and only having healthy stuff at home would be enough to offset the lunch at school since he is a growing boy...especially if he is in sports? It is so hard with kids because their motivation is different.

Good luck and please keep posting in this thread so that we know how it is going.

[Whatsername]

Thanks for your thoughts Elsie. I agree with you that I don't want to get him on a yo-yo type of dieting. I just want him to eat better I guess...so maybe we should focus on that.

He does play sports (football) which is almost year round for him. They have the regular football season, then just train the rest of the year (cardio/weights). Its a really good program and he gets a good workout from it. He doesn't have a big sweet tooth either which is helpful.

I had to laugh a little when you brought up The Zone. That was my first diet about 13 years ago. Talk about fussy and I barely lost weight on it. I was very skeptical about Atkins because of it. But thankfully I bought the DANDR and read it over and over and decided it was something I could do. lol

Thanks again! Jane