My daughter joined me on the atkins diet and has been following it. She does cheat alittle but she only has 10 lbs to lose. But to her that is major because she is 15. But what i found is that without the sugars in her diet , her mental attitude has changed dramatically. She used to be sooooo moody. That has changed. She goes to bed at a decent hour and sleeps--before she was up till 2 or 3 am before she could fall asleep and then so tired the next day she didn't want to do anything.
Since I have seen her change I am really supporting her in keeping on this diet--not so much for weight loss but for the mental attitude. I am busy making her popsicals and creamsicles (sugar free) so that she won't be tempted to go and get a frosty , mcflurry or slurpee. I want her sugar free. She is a happier child this way. With all the hormones raging inside of her, my guess is sugar just adds to the problem.
angie

Angie...

Very interesting observation on your part. Is she aware of the differences too? I've seen several books in the marketplace that address sugar addiction in children as well as the benefits of a LC diet.

My personal experience is that since eating LC, I no longer suffer with depression (a life long problem) or require anti-depressants.

Wishing you both continued success with LCing.
Marlaine

That's great to hear Angie. I wish MY mom had started me on Atkins when I was a teenager lol.

She did notice the change in her after I pointed it out to her last night.
Last night I made the popsicles and creamsicles for her. She was up at 5.30 am this morning raiding the freezer for a creamsicle. She was so looking forward to them and was not dissappointed.
She has also tried anti depressants and sleeping pills in the last year without much success. She had stomach aches and head aches and aches everywhere. I thought it was just her state of mind and wanting attention. Now I am rethinking back the last year. My thoughts are that she was with her friends more often ,since she is at that age ,running for sluppees, chips and pop. her sugar intake increased by leaps and bounds and she started to gain weight.
I will be watching her progress from now on and seeing how she behaves on sugar and off and just letting her know what my observations are. I probably will change my ways instead of telling her to get more sleep I will tell her to get off the sugar.
I am so glad I have found Atkins.
angie

I have an adopted daughter (for anyone who saw my post about expecting my first*born*). When she came to live with me, she was a handful. I had screaming arguments for the first time in my life. Things got a little better but she was still very tempramental, able to fly off the handle at any time. She is now 15 1/2.

Since I started Atkins, the kids (she has a younger brother too) eat one LC meal each day (dinner). I have noticed enormous improvements in both their attitudes. My daughter is studying more, is more helpful around the house, and accepts direction more easily without argument.

There is no question in my mind that the kids' behavior is 100% better with just that one meal changed. They seem happier and more well adjusted. I have also noticed that they hardly ever act "bored", at least no where near as often as pre-Atkins.

Getting them to give up sugar completely is, for me, a pipe dream. I'm content with having conquered dinner. However, they *are* eating pancakes made from soy flour now - as long as *I* make them

My one big question is--Why the heck doesn't the doctors educate parents like me first rather than giving out drugs like candy to the children.
I seem to have wasted 1 year of tantrums and stress when something this simple will work quite effectively. it just makes you wonder what kick backs these doctors get for medication??????????
And what my daughter went through this last year--she auctually thought she was going crazy--and with her attitude, emotions and thought process I was starting to think so too but could not tell her that.
NO MORE SUGAR IN MY HOUSE.
As for her not eating sugar out of the house--it ain't gonna happen. She will need to do that on occasion but most of her friends know she is on this diet and are supporting her.
angie

they have no idea..I swear! I never knew sugar was bad in my whole life! Even today I was thinking about it... I always figured sugar was good for you..much better than all the fake sugars... I REALLY want to get my kids off sugar too. I need the approval of my husband though and he is a HGE convenience food type man...he still eats frozen everything and could seriously benefit from Atkins too

Annie, great post!

I was the same. I thought those who were rebuffing sugar to be a bit unreasonable and in the extreme. I thought they were a bit nuts lol. It's funny how my perspective has totally changed..

Hey what part of the Island do you live on? I'm in the Comox Valley.

Glad it is going well ! Kathy

Hey so am I--in Courtenay to be exact

angie