What do you give your kids instead of bread?
 

So my son's weight is spiraling out of control. :(

He is about to turn 11. He is autistic and has always seriously craved carbs. I have relented, especially since my husband brings them home again and again.

I have finally put my foot down and at least taken wheat out of the house. I don't care what my husband thinks of my "restricting the family" at this point - my son is 4'6" and 101 lbs.! He is OBESE and he is A CHILD.

I was wondering what you LC parents give your children instead of bread. My son doesn't like vegetables much (yeah, I know, if there's nothing else, eventually they'll eat, but take pity, it is HARD with an intellectually delayed child who literally can't understand - and who, by the way, has started to sneak food, to my horror).

Until now he has loved his sandwiches. I'm seeing wheat free isn't working with the substitutes (like pancakes, bread, etc.). I had thought this would ease him in but he's craving just as badly.

Would love any help.

I'd look at pastry holders or popovers based on egg. Like there are paleo pastries made with good fats and almond flour. Does he have to be zero carb or can he do roots and fruits?

I would not want to be around a kid forced to go cold turkey off starches. His body can't change in 5 minutes - I would do a taper and swap.

Slightly different answer. Can he be part of the makeover, and together you compile a master food list?

you can go through tons of magazines and get pictures of proteins, veggies, starches and fruit that are acceptable to you. And then you shop so his favorites are on hand.

Our son is 7 years old and is 4 feet tall (50th percentile) and weighs 71 pounds (97th percentile).
We don't buy cereal, and mine only likes select veggies (broccoli, zucchini and cooked carrot in small amounts)- none raw. We buy fruit in spurts (when in the store, he gets to choose what he wants to try) and he likes avocado like I do, so that's a frequent item here.
We keep LC wraps in the house, but he only gets one 'sandwich' a day on an LC wrap (don't eat them, but DH and DS love them), and the sandwiches are sometimes egg, ham/egg, bacon/egg, sausage/egg, "pizza" with pepperoni, a squirt of Pizza squeeze and ripped up string cheese.
I have premeasured baggies of pepperoni, cooked sausage patties/links, bacon, boiled ham, Trader Joe's meat sticks, hard boiled eggs (which he'll eat plain without anything on them), cheese slices, cheese sticks, string cheese, almonds, pecans, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds available in copious quantities for snacking and sometimes he just likes a combination of those as a meal.
Almond butter - which he loves by the half spoonful as a treat. He likes the almond butter more than peanut butter, so it has replaced our peanut butter for all intents and purposes. We don't buy sweetened almond or peanut butter - just the "natural" varieties.

Cutting back on his carbs has made his cravings for things like cookies to go way down. In fact, we were supposed to do some peanut butter cookies today, but he waved me off saying he wasn't really interested in eating them! I have PopTarts on the shelf, but he hasn't wanted them in weeks.

He drinks whole milk or water. I keep Ovaltine on hand for his occasional want of chocolate milk. He doesn't really ask for it often.

He's a kid though, so he gets his occasional blueberry muffin or other carbalicious 'treat' (which I keep frozen since he just doesn't ask for them so often). He isn't held back and can grab things on his own. He will tell me when he's hungry and I don't do a set schedule for meal times. Mostly, I'm trying to educate and have him tell me what he's hungry for. Sometimes it means something sweet, sometimes he wants "real food" like fried chicken or chicken livers (which I fry after dipping in egg and almond meal/spices) and let him eat until he feels satisfied.
I've done education with him that wheat isn't really our friend and while he's been getting dietary education from some of his school stuff, I've made it a point to correct the misconceptions and direct him more towards low grain carb, more vegetables, more protein and fat for better health. I think he's getting it some. I don't talk about calories and stuff *at all* - only health. He frequently talks about wanting to be 'healthy and strong,' so this approach has been working for him.

I guess it amounts to: If I don't have it in the house, and he's hungry enough, he'll happily eat what is on hand. We have a very different situation where TV is very limited and he doesn't go to school (we home school), so his influences that way are limited - the day-to-day peer pressure is non-existent to eat junkfoods.

Thanks so much to both of you!

I am not looking to have him go ZC by any means, or even low-carb by my own definition, but rather, to take starches out as much as possible. I'd love to have them gone completely, to be honest.

I may try the LC tortillas - I had those before I went completely wheat-free and they were delicious.

He is on a constant cycle of being starving. He wants to eat EVERY MINUTE. He probably eats every hour or so, sometimes he stretches it out to every hour and a half. I told my husband in horror at one point that it's like having a newborn infant who needs to feed every 90 minutes.

He can not control himself and I recognize that constant hunger (though I simply denied myself at his age to be "skinny"). He can't stop eating. I feel helpless. If I go to the bathroom he RUNS to the kitchen to sneak more food. If I leave to, say, make the beds, into the kitchen he runs again. Sometimes as I re-enter the room he skitters away from me fast to another room with his hands in front of him, hiding food. Then he goes and wolfs it down. He just can't stop. And yes, I've had him tested for diabetes - and about a billion other things. He may be hypothyroid (I am, so was my mother and so is my husband's father); the endocrinologist can not see us until September. :(

And no, it's not a growth spurt. He has grown actually at a slower rate, having gone from the 50th percentile in height last year to the 25th today.

His father and I are both morbidly obese - though we didn't "achieve" that dishonor until, for him, his early 30s and for me, my late 30s. He's only 11 and already firmly in the obese category. He is going to be morbidly obese by high school at this rate. I feel helpless.

Our littlest son is now the only non-overweight person in our nuclear family. But this son (the obese one) was UNDERweight at our youngest son's age. We are ALL going to be fat and sick if I don't put the brakes on, NOW.

I told my husband I am putting my foot down, all "his" foods (juice, why juice??? Who the hell needs juice? We have always argued over that one), chips, ice cream, breads out the yin-yang. OUT OUT OUT.

I don't care if he thinks I'm a b*tch. I'm saving my sons' lives. If he doesn't care that he looks nine months pregnant, that we are repellant to each other, and that we are both pre-D, that's fine. He doesn't care. But when it comes to our kids...*I* care and no matter how much he whines, the food is GOING OUT.

Sorry. Just feeling emotional over this today. My husband and I have fought for 11 years over these issues and he has guilted me every time. Well, he eats out EVERY day at lunch, spends a full 12 hours EVERY day without us to eat whatever the hell he wants, then he's home with the kids for what, an hour? - before they go to bed, then he can go out to the garage and eat his junk all he wants so WHERE IS THIS RESTRICTION he keeps whining and mewling about?

I have just had it. Thanks for listening.

I think I'd try to wean then severely limit the carbs he has access to only because (as we know low carbing) carbs begets the craving for more carbs...
Once the habits are ingrained, then adding carbs back in slowly might be the way for him to make the right choices long-term.
Right now, it's that and it's a learned behavior that he grabs the carby yummies to 'fix' the hunger. We know carbs don't last long, so of course he's constantly feeling like he's starving! If he doesn't have them, he'll have to 'fix' it another way.
In the end, Glendora, you can only do the best you can and I'm sure whatever choices you make can only help the situation. Hey? At least you're acknowledging it and trying to do something about it! That's a WIN! :)

Keep up the good fight for your kids.
{{{{{hugs}}}}}

Thank you, Sereen. I appreciate it so much. I am not going to allow my kids to continue to be sick this way. IMO that's child neglect. If the parent isn't going to do something, who is?

Maybe it is just insulin driving the hunger, but could it be Prader-Willi Syndrome?

http://www.pwsausa.org/syndrome/

I have been making "sandwiches" with 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed, mixed with 2 tbsp of water. Let sit for about 2-3 minutes, then spread out with a spatula on a piece of parchment paper.

Today I tried squaring it up to make it more bread shape. I microwave for 2 minutes. Then I use a knife to get under the "bread" and flip.

Cut in half, spread with butter and add my topping (I like Wow Butter), but you could use anything.

Place one half of the "bread" on top of the other, cut again into 2-3 piece and enjoy!

I don't think so. He doesn't have most of the other features of P-W except the ones that involve speech and intellectual delay. He never had hypotonia, he does not have the facial characteristics, short stature (in fact this is the first year he was below the 50th percentile in height, and in the past he has been as high as the 80th percentile), and so on. Also, because he is autistic we had him genetically tested. I'm not sure but there are enough genes involved in P-W that I would think it would have shown up.

In any event, none of the doctors, geneticists, neurologists, and so on have ever suggested P-W.

Thank you...going to try this!

My husband who does not like my "funny diet food" in general will happily eat flax buns (similar to the MiM recipes) with goji berries added.
He also does not mind almond bread (4T ground almonds. 1T melted butter or oil, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder) which I spread out into a square shape on parchment paper and microwave for 90 seconds. Then cut in half to make a sandwich.

Oh, I forgot to mention - this makes very thin "bread" - about the thickness of a cracker, which is what I prefer.

If you made it thicker, it would probably take longer to cook, and be much smaller.

NutritionData says: 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed
74 calories, 6g fat, 4g total carbs (0g net carbs), 4g fiber, 2g protein

There's a coconut cranberry bread in the cooking forum that is delicious with butter and/or peanut butter.

I've been keeping tabs on this thread. My ds (dear son btw, he's about to turn 10), is overweight. I'm afraid he is carb sensitive like mommy. And he is 120 on a 5ft frame. My hubs is resistant to me carb-reducing him. I KNOW the kid will benefit. But with hubs, if it isn't his idea, it's a dumb idea. "The boy is still growing." Yeah, horizontally... Ds just isn't very athletic. And he's ADHD. I'm not saying I'm going to go as restrictive as me, but having less mashed potatoes on his plate can't hurt him. He's got plenty of meat and veggies on there. He won't starve.

Luckily for me, ds will eat just about anything I put on his plate. I already limit him to one non-water drink per day. He drinks soy milk as he is lactose intolerant. I'm hoping to sneak some stuff on him. I'm looking at LC sweets and LC breads. I hate to sneak around on my husband, but maybe once he sees a change in the boy's energy level, and weight, he'll come on-board. The hardest thing is getting him to stay away from a giant bowl of cereal. Though I made him eggs and ham this morning. He is already quieter than normal.

Glendora, I think you are doing a great job recognizing and fixing a problem. My ds can be hard to handle sometimes. I swear, that kid doesn't know how to speak with an inside voice! And he is always such a hothead. I can't imagine how you manage with the sort of battles you have with your son. I wish you the best of luck. You are making his life better, and that makes you a good mommy.

Hear hear Glendora! I for one am cheering you on. I bet if you could get your son tested for his insulin level, it would be high all the time and so he's hungry all the time. And insulin resistant. And the high carb input does affect impulse control and emotions too.

There's a book about working with carb loving kids called "Little Sugar Addicts" that has lots of techniques and things to transform the family eating. It assumes that carb loving kids have carb loving parents, and even has what to do when dad is not on board (so common). There's a whole world of people in this situation. One caveat: last I read, the author doesn't advocate vlc, instead carb reduction including healthwholegrains, but the behavioral and biochemical talk is right on.

Look up some of the paleo recipes for "granola". Usually they're things like flaked coconut, nuts, etc. I made some over the weekend and I love it. Many of them use honey, but you could use a non-caloric sweetener.

Have you looked at or tried almond milk or coconut milk. I would be very hesitant about giving soy milk to a pre-adolescent boy due to soy's estrogenic properties. Well I know this is a controversial topic among people. I'm one of those who goes to a doctor who feels "soy products of any sort are not a fit food for humans, especially of the male gender, except as a small condiment, like a splash of soy sauce". But even if you don't believe it why not try something else. I happen to think almond milk and coconut milk are far tastier than soy milk which is another consideration too. :D

We tried that first, and he prefers the soy. I suppose we could press the issue, but then almond or coconut milk would sit in the fridge until it went bad. That's something for hubs and I to think about though.

Extensive guest post on "Healthy Low Carb Kids".
Many suggestions for lunch box, meals, parties, eating out, etc.
Links to her recipes and kid lunchbox photos, etc.
So much information on the DitchTheCarbs website, and you can link to it all through this one post:

https://lowcarbrn.wordpress.com/201...-low-carb-kids/

This is a really hard issue. My middle child is in this category. She's 10 and always hungry and very big. Thing is, she eats the exact same food as the rest of us and my other children are thin, even maybe a little underweight (my oldest). We've been grain free and low carb for years. They certainly get junk from my mother but there are pretty serious limits on what that junk looks like. After severely curtailing any carbs at all earlier this year for all the kids due to a cavity scare (she's the only one who's had one), it didn't really make a difference at all except to drop my oldest's weight who didn't need to lose any at all. I don't actually care that much about her weight but she's kind of run down, has frequent stomach upset and just doesn't feel like a 10 year old should feel, with energy.

I'm at a loss now, frankly.

Has she had her thyroid checked out?

Question?
Have a lot of these children in the 7-10 yo age group who are gaining weight with no explanation been on repeated doses of antibiotics since they were young for either ear infections or strep throat?
Just wondering.

She's never been sick. I'm not even sure I remember a cold. She's never had ABX, ever. I'm totally stumped. Her dad was similar as a kid but she eats his diet now and it's been great for him. He was never obese as a kid, though.

what does she eat nowadays? amounts and timing of protein, fat, fiber/carbs?

My obese 8 yo grandson is hungry all the time but it can be explained by how much protein and starch he eats. His parents have not transformed the family diet the way you have. He had minimal antiobiotics but yes, regularly for ear infections.

But I'm wondering if your 10 year old has high insulin from something other than carbs. Protein, gut, inflammation,?

You might want to see if you can get this book from your library or buy it from Amazon or a bookstore.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...e+addicted+kids

And give him lots of vitamin D3, between 5,000 and 15,000 IU/day.

I will add my experience as it may help someone in the future, or maybe the OP will stop in.

I craved sweets as a kid. ANd later in life I found out why. I am low serotonin. Both my son and I are on the autism spectrum, and the low serotonin is fixed by seeking starchy- sweet foods as it triggers serotonin up tick. Thee days to keep my carbs low I use an OTC supplement recommended by Dr Daniel Amen in his book HEALING ADD, which is called 5 HTP. Tryptophan can be used too but 5HTP is much easier. I have recently added another he recommends called St Johns Wort. Now several weeks and months into this ( along with Magnesium citrate which replaced my magnesium oxide) I am calm when normally I would fly off the handle i a screaming rage. I can think instead of rage. A calmness rather than irritability that was...... irritating.

THank goodness for Dr AMens book which he wrote for the lay person to use when a good doctor cannot be found. I love that is covers many other aspects of the brain that can complicate ADD/ADHD. All doctors I have talked to about this give me the blank look like they suddenly became autistic and self absorbed. lol

I have learned more from Dr AMen than ALL resources combined. And he provides treatment options for everything. I highly recommend it as a basic book of knowledge as so many issues are rather common, and dr Amen really helped me recognize how to ID the situation and try OTC supplements for better function. AND I can see in others that they are suffering and just need the right supplement support to make life better.