I just started the Atkins plan myself this weekend, and though I am very pleased for myself, it has made me aware just how terrible my son eats! My daughter, age 12.5 (that .5 is important) eats very well, is athletic, and feels great. I am not worried about her--she eats all the good stuff.

My son, on the other hand, is almost 10 and hates all food (he tells me) except PB&J, pizza, hamburgers, french fries, grilled cheese, hot dogs, Taco Bueno, Cheetoes... See where this is going? I can get him to eat spinach IF it is on pizza (eeww) and he'll eat apples. I have been talking with him about all this--he has grown 5 inches in six months AND due to a foot problem had to drop out of sports---as a result, he is a mess. He is such an odd eater he confounds me. As a baby, he loved everything and was an ideal weight for his age/height. No longer.

He knows that we are going to make changes in our household, and very soon--his dad has to have heart surgery, and is on orders to lose sixty pounds (he has to go on a diet for Coumadin patients, which will be different than what I am eating). I could use advice on how to turn my son's eating habits around. Would slowly making the changes be better than trying to force him to change his habits immediately?

Any advice would be great--thanks!