Ok, I am new at this. DH and I are on the diet, but we have 3 kids ages 10-16 who are all normal weight or below, extremely active in sports and still growing.

If I took bread or potatoes away from my teenage boys they would KILL me. I also try to make sure that they are getting lots of fruits and vegetables, as well as skim milk.

My question is - How do you manage to feed a family while on Induction without going crazy? We only been at this for a few days, but so far I have been cooking two sets of meals. I also didn't have any luck in cleaning the carb heavy foods out of the cabinets.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping that my career as a short-order cook is soon over.

TIA!

Well...after nearly 3 years my girls (8 and 9) are low carbing with DH and I at maintainance levels. When I first started low carbing, though, I was the only one in the family eating that way.
What I did was to make the same meals I always had (meat, veggie and some high carb side dish) and I would eat the meat and veggies and they got everything else. It didn't bother me to see them eating it because I was feeling SO much better eating the way I was.
Whether they complain about it or not, you have to admit that cutting back on the empty calorie junk food that your kids eat won't hurt them in the least, especially if you replace it with foods that actually do something for their body besides just giving it calories to burn. If they're very active and into a lot of sports activities, they just might find a lot of benefit in getting more protein and nutrient dense foods instead of junk.

We did the meat, veggies and carb thing too. Then I started finding some really good LC recipes which everyone raved about. I slowly started replacing the carb sides with something else, faux potatoes is a fave of my kids. Then slowly we just started getting rid of the carby side. We never buy potatoes, pasts or rice anymore, both of which they ate at nearly every dinner before. They do have wheat bread but we don't incorporate into meals as much as we used to. They also all eat LC but not to loose weight-- they still have fruits, some simple grains, etc. I'd say the trick is do it gradually and don't make a big issue out of it. Just start serving different things more and more and slowly phase out the carby stuff. My family was honestly so excited about the tasty new main dishes instead of the same old stuff they had been eating for years that they didn't miss it.

Think of this also as a great opportunity to educate your kids. Since I've been on this board and learned so much about nutrition my kids get lectured all the time!! (poor kids) I realize that they make their own decisions about what to eat a lot of the time, and especially when they're older. By now my kids are thoroughly educated -- they can tell you which foods are most nutritious and why -- which vitamins they contain, how they're classified (pro, carb or fat), whether they're a good carb or a bad carb and why, etc. Their teachers are amazed!!

Stick around! You'll be amazed at how much info is here!!Pass it along to them -- they'll thank you some day.

...and if they're teenagers, they're old enough to help out around the kitchen and/or buy their own carby food.

I don't have kids, but I cook for a vegetarian boyfriend and I don't care for his soy crap. With practice, I've managed to minimize the kitchen chaos.

Even younger in some cases. My 9 year old daughter made her fist batch of cookies by herself (mom did help with the oven since she's still a little afraid of it and that part still needs to be supervised) over Christmas break. She was very proud of her accomplishment.
Before that, I got her involved with helping me read recipes and measure as well as doing basic things such as peeling carrots and cucumbers for dinner, taught her how to crack eggs, work the mixer (put the beaters in before you plug it in, please!) let her flip pancakes and other basic kitchen skills as well as lessons in kitchen safety (if you drop a knife, never EVER try to catch it!).
When I was growing up, my best friend and her brother (then about 13 and 15) each had to take one night a week to plan and prepare the family dinner. I think that's a great idea and plan to implement that with my girls when they're older and more capable in the kitchen; they get to practice skills that will last them a lifetime and mom gets a break from the daily "what's for dinner?" grind.

I appreciate the ideas. My only question, sunspine17, what are faux potatoes?

I disagree with some of the above (sorry!)

Quote: we have 3 kids ages 10-16 who are all normal weight or below, extremely active in sports and still growing.

I don't think you need to, or should restrict your children access to complex carbohydrate foods - especially if they are underweight. In my opinion you should continue to give them potatoes and bread (preferably wheatmeal) and maybe other healthier carbs such as muesli etc. Also, I think you should continue to provide them with fruit. It is the white sugar and any junk food you need to cut out (for all the family).

No doubt they will benefit from the increased salads and veggies I imagine you are cooking now.

Growing sporty kids need healthy food - but not a low carbohydrate diet.

I have a two year old and a four year old. I low carb and my DH doesn't. I've decided to continue making high carb foods like potatoes, pasta and rice for my family but I now limit the portion sizes, buy healthier choices (we no longer buy things like Rice-a-Roni) and we don't have the little extras like garlic bread with our spaghetti. If I do make spaghetti I give them a big salad first so they eat less spaghetti. We eat lots of vegis but cut out ones like corn. If we go out for icecream, they no longer get the big multi scoop sundaes. They only get one scoop of plain old icecream.

I hope this helps. Good luck

Here is a link to one (of many) recipes for fauxtatoes or mock mashed potatoes:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=140259

It's really mashed cauliflower, but many folks have said that the taste and texture is very close to that of mashed potatoes.


Robert....my biggest concern with families where some are low carbing and some are not is that those who are not will wind up eating high carb and high fat which we all know is not a good combination.
I believe that moving the rest of your family towards maintainance levels of low carb and replacing the high carb junk food with more nutritious things like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats and adequate amounts of proteins is the best way to go when at all possible.
Without exception, the foods that my kids complained the loudest about my getting rid of were the processed low-nutrient foods like chips, cookies and such, not that they weren't getting complex carbs in the form of oatmeal and other whole grains as well as fruits and veggies. My girls get between 100 and 150 grams of carb per day from things like yogurt, whole wheat bread and bagels, oatmeal, fruits and veggies (along with the occasional high carb treat) and they are growing beautifully and not underweight. We don't eat rice or potatoes and they rarely have pasta. They are also very active and don't seem to be suffering from lack of energy from having their beloved junk food removed from their diets for the most part.

My children are teenagers and I have not "imposed" my diet on them. But I have found it impossible to justify to myself buying potato chips and certain other trigger foods that are nutritionally void and I know they will overeat. I encourage my son to eat a tuna fish or grilled cheese sandwich or soup after school instead of chips or french fries or his old staple, pizza. Over time my daughter has become interested in the benfits of low carb (she is 17) but she was resentful at first unless I made some pasta and tortilla based dishes. Give it some time to see how your whole family adjusts.

Yes, I see your point. I think we all agree that getting rid of the junk food and trying to get them to eat 'healthier' carbs like whole grains etc. is the way forward.