question for tburley1

[Jeanna]

Hi! I read several of your posts about your kids. Congrats on the success! I have a 6 yr old son who I want to start on the program. Can you please tell me how many carbs a day you allow your son to have, or just how you do it in general for a child? Thanks a bunch! Jeanna

[tburley1]

Hi there Jeanna. The first thing I did was talk to my family doctor, not for "permission" per'say, but just for his information and input. Which fortunately, he's all for low carbing. We both agreed not to be completely "Atkins Strict", But to limit most of the proccessed carbs and simple sugars. I really don't count Jake's carbs, or my own for that matter. I've purged my house of junk foods, sugar, and proccessed carbs, and loaded up on veggies, meat, eggs, and TONS of recipes. I've found that keeping things interesting helps out alot. Usually for breakfast, he'll have eggs anyway he wants. I found a great low carb whole wheat bread with only 5 grams of carbs. I DO limit him to 4 pc's a day MAXIMUM. He'll usually use two of those in his school lunch for a sandwich, and sometimes he'll have toast with his eggs. Celery with 2 tsp. peanut butter, string cheese/ salads etc... The whole family is doing this...so that helps ALOT! All meals are cooked LC. He also takes a Flintstones vitamin everyday. Oh yea...he also has his milk for lunch at school. It takes a lot of preparation though. Cooking takes much more time, no more of the instant meals via drivethrough. And mostly, I put the "diet" into his lap. I let him make his own choices after helping him understand. He's really gotten the hang of it. He reads nutritional labels now. I also talked to his teacher and principal to inform them. He's very strong and determined, so that helps. But he's 8 almost 9, so he understands a little more. My 6 year old, (who's small for his age) doesn't understand/or like the family low carbing. He loves the foods I'm making, but wants chips/cookies/junk. So that makes it hard. I am more liberal with him. But ONLY when Jake's not around. I won't make Jake sit there and watch Zach eat the "forbidden" foods. lol Of course my daughter, who's not yet 2, pretty much eats what we eat and then some. I'm not LC'ing her yet. But at least no one has the option of sitting in front of the TV chowing down on chips and junk. It's just not here. I hope this helps, I'm sorry I don't have a specific number of allowable carbs, but even my Dr. said that everyone could benefit from not eating all the proccessed carbs/fast foods/simple sugars etc. He does get natural carbs from veggies/cheese and stuff. It's more I guess, a way of life eating versus counting numbers of everything. That's my whole goal. He's doing awesome, we all are. (Except my hubby, who's still drinking his beer) lol I had Jake weigh in this morning, and he's lost 9 pounds now. Which is so wonderful! He's so pleased! Instead of 114, he's now 105. You can REALLY tell a difference. Best of luck, and we can keep in touch.

[Jeanna]

Thank you so much for the information! I appreciate it so much. Tell your son congratulations on the weight loss. That is wonderful! I'd love to keep in touch. My son is 90 lbs and about 4' 2" tall. He's always been off the charts in this area, and I've always been worried, but really tried to feed him right. Unfortunately, he's a couch potato who is extremely hardheaded, and we also went through a big fast food phase. I lost 8 pounds my first 2 weeks, not eating enough in general and then eating too much lc peanut butter and ice cream. But in comparison to my normal carb intake I did great. I just don't know if my body went into ketosis that way or not. Now i'm angry at myself because since my weigh in I thought, "I'm not losing fast enough, I need to be strict and go without my lc pb on the celery, and not have a lc chocolate snack!" That frustrated me because that's part of what was keeping me on the lc plan, being able to satisfy that sweet tooth in a lc way. So I thought, I'll just do weight watchers for a week and see how I do. Well. guess what? I can't handle the lenience of WW. They give you an inch and I take a mile. I've tried atkins twice and stayed on it for 2 weeks each time. I've tried ww several times and cannot get past the second day without letting myself get way off track. I'm on my 4th day of the "way off track diet", now. Tomorrow is another start over. I am so convinced that this works, and is do-able as long as I keep the groceries stocked up and can figure out a bigger variety of things to eat. Maybe I'L Do like you and not literally count my carbs, but make sure I eat everything very low carb. I'm so excited to start my son on this plan. Thank you so much for your help! Jeanna

[tburley1]

Hey there!!!! Sorry it's taken me a few days to respond...it was my weekend to work. UGH! I read through your post, and I thought...."that's what I used to do..." hehe But then I just REALLY gave it 110%, and resigned myself to "you know what...THIS IS IT!!!" And you'd be amazed at HOW EASY and thoughtless it becomes. Removing all the temptations out of the house makes it TONS easier! AND Jake's now down TEN POUNDS!!!! I'm so proud of him. I haven't weighed myself in a week and a half, so I don't know how much I've lost, BUT I wore a pair of jeans to work today that I couldn't even get over my saddlebags a month ago! SOOOOOOOOO I can pretty much bet that the scales have moved dramatically! Maybe you just need to do a mild induction for two weeks to get the "cravings out". Don't do the PB or ice cream. Then start using it as a treat rather than a "get me through". I tell ya...there's such a WEALTH of information/tips/recipes on the internet, and this site alone. My first experience of low carbing was VERY BLAND and difficult, (7 years ago) I didn't have the resources or a computer. And I must say...we're eating GOOD! Crab stuffed mushrooms, sirloin tips, shrimp scampi, baked chicken, taco salads, colesaw...you name it! Get some recipes and try them out. You'd be suprised. It does take a commitment to cooking EVERY NIGHT. Some nights more elaborate than others. I found a great low carb bread, and we had BLT's the other night. Yum.... Keep it interesting and varied. I could never do weight watchers. It may work for some people...but I'm like you...tell me I can have a salad, and I'll eat a platter full! hehe... Great thing with this WOE, YOU CAN! hehe Once you get your son on the "losing bandwagon", maybe it'll change his outlook. Jake is doing SO WONDERFUL. He has more willpower than people twice/three times his age. And boy are his jeans getting baggy! It's kinda weird though...the more weight he loses, the older he's looking. Like he's losing his babyfat or something. Bittersweet! Well...gotta go...get back on the plan and give it your all. I"ve come A LONG "weigh". Literally. You're not much bigger than I was when I started, and yes...it's taken SOME time, just a year...but looking back, I'M SOOOOO glad I made that commitment. I feel like I'm getting a second chance! And to buy clothes out of the junior section. WOW. I love wearing stylish clothes, bootcut tight jeans, and snug shirts. AWESOME feeling. AND even though I'm married (very happily, thank you) today at work, a guy told me that I had a nice ass! hehehe (it's a factory so it's expected!) lol It's great. The compliments, I mean. I remember when I was 300 pounds, and when I'd go somewhere, I'd look around to see, and make sure, that there was SOMEONE, even if it was just one person, bigger than me. For some reason, that gave me alittle comfort. Now, I don't even think about that cause I feel so much better! :) Do it for yourself. You CAN!!!! Stick with it, and just make up your mind! If you don't, it'll just be another year gone by wishing you had! You already found this place, and you know you'd have tons of support! You owe yourself that! Best of luck, and keep me informed!

[Jeanna]

Thank you so much for the pep talk! I really need it bad! I have eaten anything and everything this week. I have been really sick with some type of flu bug! I feel kind of hopeless because I just can't thing of good things to fix. I guess I really need to surf the web and get some more ideas. Any good sites that you know of? Tell Jake he is doing GREAT! I still haven't started Ben on any type of plan, just trying to do lower fat and stay away from fast food. Thanks again!!!