My wife and I are on OWL phase of Atkins. We've essentially put our children onto the lifetime maintenance stage - < 50 carbs per meal with access to the full carb ladder.

One of our kids however is losing weight. He's a very stubborn kid and there is a part of me that things he's doing his own hunger strike just to get his way, but there is another part of me that is questioning myself. Doctor says his weight is within the green zone, but he is losing.

He takes forever to eat.. sometimes upward of 2 hours. He just sits there. Sometimes he'll eat a dish very quickly and other times he just sits there. He'll have food in his mouth the entire time, and not chewing it. If we were to get takeout (Lasagne, Pizza, KFC, chinese, etc) - I'm certain he'd wolf it down in minutes ...

Anyone have to go through this themselves? Makes me question if I'm doing the right thing by keeping the 'crap' out of their system or not ...



Here are some typical meals we give them:

Breakfast:
-Whole Grain Oats with Whole Milk and Berries
-Cheese Omelete with half an Orange

Lunches and Snacks:
-Sandwiches We use Homemade Bread (20% Organic Wheat Flour, 40% Dark Rye Flour, 30% Organic Oat Flour, 10% Organic Golden Flax Seed). Contents vary between Ham/Roast Beef/Chicken/Turkey - all whole meats sliced with meat slicer. Other fillers include lettuce, mayo, mustard, and sliced non-processed cheese
-Balkan Style Yogurt with Wild BlueBerries
-Greek style Fakes (Lentils with Carrots)
-One piece of fruit per day (Banana, Apricot, Peach, Apple, Orange)
-Organic Locally made Beef Jerky - we give them the one with pure Maple Syrup glaze - its <5 carbs.
-Soups (Chicken Gumbo, Cream of Celery/Chicken)

Suppers:
-Pressure Cooked Sirloin Tip Roast with Root Veggies (Turnips, Beets, Parsnips, Rutabagas, Carrots, Onions)
-Greek Spiced Meatloaf (Bifteki) (no Ketchup but has Feta and oregano instead)
-Steaks / Fried Chicken / Fish
-Spaghetti Squash with Tomato sauce and shredded cheese
-Flax Seed Breaded Pork Cutlets with Parmesan Cheese

Drinks:
Water

First off, I want to commend you for switching your kids, too. It's definitely worth it - as a mom of Paleo kids, I can tell you that when I give up and let them eat whatever junk is easiest, there's a night/day difference between concentration, behavior and general attitude to when they're strict Paleo. So, don't take the rest as an insult to your parenting, because I'm just trying to give my best objective layman's advice.

Can you fill in some extra details?
- How old is he (and the others)?
- What was their diet before the switch?
- How long has this been going on?
- How much weight has he lost?

My best advice, as a BTDT parent, is to switch the kids to a Paleo diet. Eliminate all grains and all dairy. Most kids don't know the difference between Fruit Loops and oatmeal, Strawberry Milkshakes and whole milk. And then they wonder why they get one and not the other.

Please remember that Atkins was formulated for adults with an ongoing weight problem, who began at morbid obesity and ended at normal to slightly overweight. To put it another way, it exists to accommodate people with long-term metabolic damage and difficulty regulating weight. Obviously, your children don't fit this bill. Also, Atkins maintenance involves finding your carb "safe zone" - for some people, this is 150 grams per day - rather than a simple < 50 gpd measurement.

To give you an example, here's what my 9 year old daughter eats on a typical summer day (when I can monitor everything that goes in her mouth lol). She measures at 99% weight/height for age 11-12, for reference.

Breakfast - two pieces of fruit, 3 eggs, 3 pieces bacon/sausage, half a cup leafy greens
Lunch - 4 to 5 ounces of meat, 1 cup leafy greens, 1 cup starchy veggies
Dinner - same as lunch, incorporating a starch (usually potatoes/yams or rice if it sounds good)
Snacks x2 or 3 - a few tbsp nut butter with a cup of raw veggies, nuts, a piece of fruit, etc.

My 7 year old daughter (who measures as a 5 year old for weight but a 9 year old for height), eats roughly the same outline, with more starch/natural sugars - extra fruit, less meat. 6 year old daughter (who's about spot on for measurements), eats mostly meat and fruit. And my 2 year old son is an obligate carnivore. :-P

Anyway, my point is that when you're dealing with multiple children, you can't pigeon-hole them into the same ratios. Especially not ratios created for metabolically damaged adults. Your son may need extra starch, while your other child(ren) may need more fat. IMO, it's best to come up with what foods are "allowed" in your house and feed those unrestricted.

Thanks for your reply. To answer your questions:

-Boys aged 7, 8, and 10
-Diet was absolute trash. Store bought bread .. bologne sandwiches .. chocolate granola bars .. puddings .. the only veggies were a small bit on their plate at supper time.
-The 8 year old is the one I'm concerned about. He has lost 10 lbs since switching ... but its not so much the weight .. its visible changes in muscle mass and pale skin colors. We've been doing this for a month now.

I understand Atkins is designed for adults .. and even in Dr. Atkins' own words - he hates it when people take his things and apply them to others. So I probably shouldn't say they are doing "Atkins" .. because they aren't. They are allowed to eat as much as they want .. as long as it follows the low carb food pyramid I came up with.

I am not against grains or dairy .. I am against all the crap they put in them .. also against the genetically modified versions of the crops - which seem to be very hard to get away from these days. I am against juice and pre-shelled nuts. These are foods designed to be consumed at a slower pace in my opinion.

Since posting my original article things have gotten a bit better. He got really sick for a week .. didn't eat anything for two days ... both mom and I were telling him that its because he wasn't eating. Then he finally starting eating. He still takes his time on some meals .. especially if there is a distraction ... but this weekend he had a cucumber and tomato salad and some beef and broccoli - so we'll take those victories as we can get them.

My wife still insists on sending sandwiches with them to school everyday .. mostly due to not knowing what other types of lunches we can send. We have the added worry that they aren't eating their lunch .. so again - that line between giving them *something* to eat vs nothing.

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Have you considered he may be sensitive to gluten or dairy? Until I started eating better I never knew how bad my digestion really was. Now if I eat something I shouldn't I get nauseous or outright sick. The dairy or grains may just make him feel yucky, so it wouldn't hurt to cut them out for a while and see if it helps.

I doubt its that. Gluten or Dairy sensitivity doesn't really run in any of our families. He loves bread and dairy - used to eat a ton of it. And even now on the new diet - if bread is on the menu - he's eating it. I think he just got sick because he wasn't eating very much at all.

Maybe he was just sick? Got a virus or something and had stomachache or just was not hungry & fighting something?
I have a 3 yo, I eat low carb at home, and I have requested that they feed her low carb (no bread or sugar) in pre-k, but I find that they don't always do as I request. She herself prefers the dates I send with her instead of the cake or chocolate spread on bread they give them upon waking. I hate to come early and see the kids eating that poison, why don't they just give them cigarettes?

My kids have been very resistent to the change in their diet to a more healthy- junk free diet and it's getting better- VERY SLOWLY over time. I think they've eaten junk for so long- they want to have it (I can sympathize with that!) and it's just a thing that for us is progressing over time. Thinking back- it would have been best for MY parents to do this when I was younger for me- but I would have resisted like H$ll!! So, I try to be patient and know eventually they won't think a thing about it- over time. And I'm prepared to wait... Hang in there! It's hard doing the right thing for them when they don't want to cooperate!!