People have been saying to me about my doing Atkins "it must be so hard to stick to when you've got a 7 year old to feed too" and "so what do you feed him if your eating that?". I just wanted to share my experience in starting atkins as a mum of one and hear from others how they are getting on.
I have to say, my response to those people has always been "not hard at all, it's better, and he eats the same and loves it." I've always strived to cook my son health meals from fresh ingredients. Now, I hardly have my son on atkins,(he's VERY active, thin and lean - I'd like to fatten him up if anything
) - but I do have him eating the same meals as me! All I do is stick some spuds/rice/pasta in a pan and add them to his meal and voila..
My son absolutely loves the meals i've been cooking him lately! He's always been a very good eater but in the past he hasn't been eating as much meat as I would like him to. He'd always eat the veg first, startchy stuff second, and a couple bits of meat last. I'm not sure if it's the way i've been preparing his meals lately, or maybe the fact that he see's me eating more meat, but my son has finally started eating decent size portions. It's great!
Because we both eat the same meals (save his extra carbs) I have less opportunity to cave, eat his leftovers, or pick at his food while im cooking! To be honest, this hasn't been much of a problem from the very start (i was very determined) but now that im in my second week of induction it's absolutely no problem at all! I can see how some people could really struggle with cooking carbs for others, especially in the first week or so. I do believe however that with a bit of perseverence anyone can get past that stage!
As regards treats for my son, I haven't been tempted so far to have some. When i'm topping up on treats for him I intend to buy things that would be favourites of his, but not so much of mine - just incase
How have other people fared when starting atkins with children (or even partners) in tow? I hope by sharing my positive experience so far, other people with children might not be so worried when considering atkins for themselves. Everyone will have very different dynamics in their own home, but at least for me, atkins has been a welcome addition to my home!