Hey_Neener!

Great pictures of the Incredible Shrinking Neener.

Keep up the good work.

Personal opinion on kids and low carb:

I low carb at 30 grams of carb per day. I'm a diabetic and I'm overweight.
My two girls (ages 8 and 9) also low carb, but at a much higher carb level than I do; between 100 and 125 grams of carb per day mostly from fruit, whole milk, yogurt, whole grain breads and veggies. They're young and active, still growing and neither of them is overweight. They do get the occasional high carb treat; part of learning to make healthy choices for life isn't NEVER eating anything that's high carb, it's learning that those foods feed the tastebuds only and not the body and should be kept to the occasional treat. It's my personal opinion that young children (defined as under the age of 12) should not have their carb intake restricted to induction or near induction levels and I believe that Dr. Atkins agreed on that point: he didn't recommend very low carb for children under the age of 12 and suggested that simply cutting junk food and highly processed carbohydrate foods from the diet and replacing them with healthier choices would be a good start for younger children:
http://atkins.com/Archive/2002/1/5-51665.html
I'm trying to teach them that food is fuel; not entertainment, a security blanket or the "fix" for a bad day or some other emotional hurt and that the purpose for food is to nourish our bodies...BUT...there is a time and a place for "fun" foods as well.

Very well said, Lisa. Would that I had been raised that way!

Kay

This whole "carbs & children" thing is a touchy subject and I have nothing but admiration for parents dealing with it. I've known parents who will hunt their children down like escaped convicts over a Tootsie Roll, yet let them eat all the fries they want, not realizing it is just as bad for them.
As always, real food trumps fake food. The sooner children realize that, the better they are able to make good choices.

Your son sounds very similar to what was going on with my daughter. She wanted to change her eating habits along with us. She was as a matter of fact a big driving force in why we decided to begin this. We wanted to set a good example for our kid, when we began reading she began to want to read with us and ask questions. I was told that Ketosis was a bit risky for the kids and never inducted them. My daughter has never really wanted the sugar even when she was a baby. Always leaned on fruits and veggies alot. Her big thing along with myself was the breads, pasta and rice. I really find your posts inspiring. I would love to be able to do as good of a job as you complementing the lifestyle of LC'ing to your children. Great Job Mom!!

Lisa, thank you so much for the link. I am going to be logging off the forum tonight and printing this one out and reading it and discussing this with hubby and daughter. I am new to this and spoke to a nutrionist prior and just doing what I was told was appropriate. Thank you so much for the link.

Ozzysgirl, I don't know what made you think I don't value your opinion but if I did not hon, I would not acknowledge it. Just because you don't have kids doesn't mean anything. When you become a parent you tend to try to do the best for your child and I have to admit, I felt at first you accused me of not giving my kids enough of basic nutrition. I wish I had the time to post every aspect of my feelings and what is going on here, but I try to explain myself but I just cannot post all of what led us to this LC'ing..Let's just say my daughter has cried herself to sleep feeling she was fat, ugly and that she hated her fat body. I am desperately trying to do what I can to help her make healthy decisions and for her to know she is making them on her own. Long stor, lots of heartache....I wish you could see my daughter now, she is down 9 pounds, more active and smiling and feeling so good about herself with such a high sense of accomplishment. I wish all of us here the best of luck and I have no hard feelings about your opinions. This is a support forum..positive vibes.

Sha, I am sorry if I offended you in any way, that was not my intention. I was just wondering if they were on induction and thought that was not good is all. Sometimes my posts do not come across the way I mean them to so I should think in that same respect when reading. I have seen many posts where it was stated flat out children needed (whole) grains and milk so I was going on that. Like I said I have NO idea what children need or don't need.

I understand completely the way your daughter feels, as I was the same. I, too was never a big sugar eater (Pasta and rice were my mainstays) Although I wouldn't have passed it up...I never passed anything up. I wish I could have gotten a handle on my eating habits at her age, trust me, it would have saved TONS of heartache. It is definitely NOT easy being an overweight teen. I wish I KNEW about Atkins when I was that age. I tried everything and could never stick to anything, thus thinking I was an even BIGGER failure for not being able to stick to it.

So good for her for making that choice. And I know you cannot write down every aspect of your life on here, nor would you want to so I am sorry for jumping to conclusions. I just see (in my volunteer work) so many parents pushing their children in so many ways, basically stating they have to be perfect, an easy road to an eating disorder if you ask me. Anyways there is so much expected of girls nowadays and it hurts me to know that an 11 year old is crying herself to sleep because she is thought of as overweight. I just wish that would not have to be a worry in any childs mind. So sometimes it gets to me and again, I am very sorry if I said anything disrespectful, since you are only doing good for your child. I agree, a support forum is intended for positive vibes. Good luck.

On the topic of Kids...When I was young I would routinely give up foods because of one bad experience. One of those foods was Milk. About 3rd Grade, the School switched from Whole Milk to Low-Fat Milk. Not knowing what had happened, I drank some and quit drinking milk as a result. I still ate Ice Cream on occassion and Cheese frequently...and never had a problem as a result of not drinking milk. I've started using Soy Slender and Carb Countdown since LCing. That said, Whole Milk is relatively good food for you. It is loaded with Vitamins and Minerals, the Carbs aren't that bad [for a person not on an induction diet,] and Lactose is Low Glycemic. It is definitely better [for you] than Soda or Juice any day. Low-Carb milks are even better because they still have most of the Nutrition, but not the Carbs.

As for Grains, humans eveolved fine without them...I found a food journal I'd kept in 6th Grade and it showed that at that time I ate about 1 serving of Grain a week. Interestingly enough, at that same time I was 200+ pounds lighter and 24-28" smaller [in the waist] than I was when I started LCing. I was also able to play sports without winding, could run for extended distances, and could do chin-ups/push-ups/sit-ups no problem. It was only when Grain [Rolls, Graham Crackers, Rice Cakes, Cake, Doughnuts, Biscuits, Rice, and Pasta] became a daily [several servings a day] foodstuff that I began to really pack on the pounds and get winded easily.

I see no reason a kid couldn't eat Grain once a week or so...and stay healthy. That is as long as Whole Grains were emphasized and he/she did not become addicted to the Grains. I just don't believe it is absolutely necessary for a healthy diet. The Inuit don't have Milk or Grain and they do just fine. Same goes for many other Hunter-Gatherer tribes from varied parts of the world before they recently succombed to the convinience of processed carbs.

Brush it off.. if they don't understand, or want to understand.. then it doesn't really matter.. the only person who has an opinion or thought about it that matters is you. I so do not buy into people raising eyebrows at this.. who cares what others think about it.. really...

Besides.. if the chicken was cooked in honey, the total amount absorbed could not have been more than a teaspoon, the reality is that small amount probably will not hurt you.. 5 grams carbs per teaspoon, so relax. I think it seems they made some effort to do the right thing.. the last time I went to my brothers for dinner they cooked wholemeal pasta, and when i said i could not eat it.. they replied.. but its not white, so it doesn't have carbohydrates... Some people are just not educated, they never had need to be.

Hola! Soory about your families way of treating you. It was pretty rotten. I am impressed on how rock solid you are about sticking to the program. I am real bad about bites here and there, it got me in trouble once before and thats why I am on induction again!! Anyway thanks for the inspiration, you've gotten me on the right track.

Adios Gringo

Certainly, if this was crystal-clearly intentional sabotage, your brother and SIL are pretty messed up. But I agree with the earlier message that it is hugely possible that since they aren't on the diet, they probably have pretty limited knowledge of the details. I think a lot of people just know of it as "lots of meat, bacon, etc and no veggies or potatoes or bread". Few people really know the specifics of carbohydrate counts unless they are following the diet. So keeping an open mind about their motives, and then letting it go even if you truly believe they knew the honey would sabotage you, sounds like good advice for a happier you. But I would consider brown-bagging it next time...

PS I agree though that this amount won't harm you, and your continued weight-loss should be fun to show off!

One of my friends tried to serve me honey-glazed chicken too. I am positive he never intended to sabotage my diet, but the amount of honey was so small it just didn't register to him as being significant, just part of a common recipe. Before this WOE I wouldn't have noticed it either. I declined it - now he thinks I am extremely "hardcore" Atkins. Which I suppose is true.

I have had a few similar experiences that I chalk up to people not getting it. For example, on my 2nd day of Induction I went over to my Dad's house for dinner. Before I came over, he asked me what I wanted. I said, "Well I just started Atkins, so just meat and vegetables, I guess." He assured me that his girlfriend had just restarted Induction also and would make us an "Atkins dinner." (They have both been on and off the diet several times.) Naively, I did not bring any back-up food. They live about an hour away and once I got there it took a while before we were ready to eat. I was starving.

As I walked out on the deck to the table, there was a bottle of KC Masterpiece next to the grill! I said, "Dad, you didn't use this, did you?" and proceeded to tell him it was full of sugar, etc. He and his girlfriend both looked at me as if I were insane and said they "didn't worry about things like that." Girlfriend actually said, "Don't be so worried. You'll see, it's easy to lose weight on this diet. We just avoid obvious things like bread and rice."

Yes, I ate the chicken. I was too hungry to pass it up. And yes, I still lost plenty of weight my first week. But I learned not to trust people who say they're doing Atkins too.

On the flip side, two of my close friends (a married couple) have recently started trying to sabatoge me all the time. Obvious things that they think are funny, like bringing a huge crusty loaf of sourdough bread to our house when they came for dinner and setting it on the table next to me. I've been on this plan since the end of July. They know full well what the rules are and used to be supportive. They are both heavy and the husband tried Atkins (incorrectly) several years ago and had a bad experience. He's made several jealous-type comments and I think they're trying to knock me down because I'm so close to goal. It pisses me off. I tried to call them on it, but they said they were just joking.

Well jump for joy that you learned NOT to be able to trust them. Years ago, I was on Atkins. I had went from 269-145. It was a long and horrible road because my family went out of their way to sabatoge my eating plan. We went camping for a week in Wisc. I packed all my food knowing I eat differently and when we got there I was informed they took my boxes of food out before we left because THEY THOUGHT the Atkins diet was stupid. Man was I mad at that. I just learned that I could not trust them ever again. I have gained a lot of weight back, but I remember my lesson and to this day avoid them when I need to eat. I'm sorry you went through this, but I believe you are stronger for it.

It's sad it starts that young. Part of the problem I think is the clothes for young kids anymore. When I was a kid of around 8, we wouldn't be allowed out in hot pants and mid drifts Looking through alot of the Mary Kate and Ashley clothes at stores here my SO and I both swear my daughter won't get any. She can sneak them to school in her backpack like any other kid

I think alot of it comes from parents constantly complaining about thier weight. I heard a 3-4 year old at the park saying "this outfit makes me look so fat." Of course she probably had no idea what she was saying, just repeating what her mom said. When your constantly putting yourself down though then your child hears "Oh how pretty, youlook just like your mother" form a well meaning person, they may not take it as a compliment. "Well mom always says how fat she is, if I look like her I must be fat too."

I'm very careful never to use the word diet, or fat around the kids. I just say we are all going to eat healthy. My son usually takes the bun off a hotdog or hamburger anyway because it just tastes better that way. He doesn't even blink when I do it too Now if I could just get him to eat salad with me.

I find that most people who have never done LC (and some who have) are simply ignorant about this WOE and seriously think that "just one meal" won't hurt (and maybe it won't but YOU should decide that not them). My family is generally great about my WOE and don't question it but co workers (some who have even done LC themselves) say things like "oh come on you can cheat today" or "why won't you go out to eat with us?". The real problem is when they lie to you and the decision to "cheat" is taken away from you. The bottom line is that going "off plan" should be up to that person not their family, friends or co workers. If you make it clear that they will no longer enjoy your company if they cannot respect your WOE and continue to ridcule and sabotage your efforts then they will back off.