My son wants to hop on board

[Laurak.]

Hi everybody, I am so happy to have found this web sight. I am doing the Atkins diet with a few girls. I am so excited that this diet is working for me (us) I can hardly see strait. My sister started this doing this diet a while ago, then my mom and now, inspired by their success I am on board too. My son who just turned 10 last month is so impressed with the changes he is seeing in mommy he wants to "do the diet too". Does anybody have any information re how many carbs an active 10 yr old boy should have per day. He plays hockey several times a week and also soccer at lunchtime with his friends. He weighs 106 and should be approx 90lbs. His ped says not to worry about the weight. Just to make sure he stays active. I would listen to her advice but Mark is not comfortable with himself and is asking me to help him. Any info about kids this age and low carb diet including lunch ideas would be appreciated. Thanks much :)

[freydis]

My daughter, 11, says that kids who don't have chips in their lunches are told they have "nerd" lunches. So, we include a small bag of chips for appearances. She may nibble on them occasionally, but they aren't her favorite thing.

She takes fresh broccoli with ranch dressing, fresh spinach leaves, pistachios, low-carb candies as treats, Nori (seaweed) sheets, strawberries, ham & cheese "sandwiches" with mustard in between the two ingredients, low-carb bread with peanut butter, salmon/cream cheese dip for her occasional chips, beef jerky or Slim Jims, low-carb cheesecake slices, etc. We try to vary her choices, but let her pack each day's lunch.

If your son likes more meats, nuts and boiled eggs, he'll be doing better than she is. She's VERY picky.

[DoubleD]

My DD (age 10 1/2) has been cutting out sugar and refined carbs/processed foods. It has been very difficult to help her choose the least bad choices from her hot lunch menus... even wtih alternate choices... they are usually very carby. I am just about ready to start having her take cold lunches - at least on the days where the choices are so awful! As is, she takes a 1 ounce bag of almonds with her everyday in her backpack ... too supplement her lunch because she ends up leaving a good portion of it uneaten... cinnamon rolls, cakes, cookies... yikes I can't believe the crap they feed our kids. They always serve fresh apples and oranges with lunch... and she chooses an apple almost every day. She is not "low carbing" in the sense of me on Atkins - but she is cutting out sugar and the refined carbs... which brings her carb down to a much lower range than the typical child eats. So far she has been doing very welll - and is getting pretty savvy about what to choose.