We have decided that we are goin to treat this like a food allergy...
Somewhere I found a great article explaining how carb addiction is really an allergy. It seemed so counterintuitive at first I just wasn't buying it. But they used cigarettes as an example. I used to be addicted to them, but before I was, smoking one gave me a massive reaction. I coughed, I choked, my eyes watered, I got a headach, I felt sick to my stomach. That is an 'allergic' reaction to something toxic. Unfortunately cigs have nicotine, an addictive drug, that you can develop a tolerance for, and while doing so, develop a tolerance for the other toxins. Thus allergies and some addictions fit hand in glove. Carbs have a very similar mechanism, just not as obviously violent in the negative reaction. But it's there. I bloat, swell, retain water, my blood sugar and blood pressure rises, inflammatory conditions worsen. That is an 'allergic' reaction. This may be an unacceptable use of the word allergy to medical science, but I really don't care because the explanation makes sense.
My health nut sis hates my low carb diet. She argues to the point of anger with me about it. Whole grains and oatmeal are the healthiest foods out there according to her. She has very embarrassing rosacea. I do not want to prove myself right and win the argument. It's too tense and she is in amazing physical condition. She is cut and muscular, incredibly lean, and can easily run 10 miles -- five foot two and 95 pounds. 50 years old, and not listening to her obese brother; at least not until he is no longer obese. Helping her with rosacea is a new motivator for me. She drinks a little beer on weekends and it always brings out the rosacea. Hmmm. She thinks it's alcohol. Could be the grains.
BigBob. I also have folks givin her and I a ton of crap about the way we are eating.. Even to the point that her friends Momma all but said I am a bad mother for letting her do this!! The improvements in her speak for themselves!! I don't care what the say!! We are stickin with it!!!
hairchick40v, I have different people, professional and otherwise, telling me all sorts of different things I should and should not feed my son (in terms of how they affect both health and temperment). After months of confusion and unneccessary withdrawal of foods from his diet, I decided to ignore everyone else and go with what I know best - feeding him a healthy varied diet! He basically eats what i do with some added stodge .. infact hes better than me for eating veg! There's nothing wrong with his health and his temperment in just fine
You and your daughter know your own bodies best and you know how you react to different foods. I'm so happy for you that you found atkins as a solution to the problems you're both having. I say fair play to you both for doing such a great job - and stuff everyone else and their uninformed opinions
Ok, imstuffed... I have to ask... What is stodge??? I have never heard of that, hahahahaha... But, I am American and southern at that!! I live in Florida.. I see you are from Ireland...
Oh ok!! How old is your son?? My girl is 16, we are eating the same.. I didn't want her to try to change her eating habits until she was mature enough to understand why... I hope that she will make this a life change and when she has kids, never even get them started on junk food!!!
My son is 7! He's always eaten very well anyway so i only made small changes in terms of cutting down on the amount of "bad" carbs he eats. For his age i think he has a good understanding of whats good and bad for you. I haven't banned anything from him. Well, in my house, "junk" food is actually a treat, i.e., he wouldn't be allowed it often enough for the novelty to wear off. Usually though he'd pick a load of berries as a treat so its not bad at all I think if there had been medical problems in my family that related to eating junk food I would have seriously considered cutting it out altogether though, i can see where you're coming from!
I failed as a Mother in this area... I played into the American convenience food way of life... When she was your son's age we ate out almost every meal, I worked SO much!!! Now for the last 4 years I have worked from home and have been making changes to our diet all along!! But for her I was too late... She had already developed her eating and it was terrible, and ALL THE TIME!!! So, when she agreed for us to do this together, I was super excited!! Now if I can get her eating her veggies, I will be on the right track, and maybe she won't take her kids down the JUNK street, I let her go down!!!
I've found: cleared up skin (spotty chin at 55? embarrassing!); reduced chin hair; less greasy hair; improved mood; improved coping skills with the (excuse me) poop that's been this week; less fluid retention, though not eliminated yet. I'm at the end of Day#13 of Neris and Helen's Idiot Proof Diet.
I've had incipient arthritis in the ball of my foot all this year: that hasn't improved yet, I'm hoping it will.
I think you're being a bit harsh on yourself there hairchick! None of us are perfect ... i'm sure I've done many things "wrong" that you and everyone else in the world has done right! I think the fact that your daughter has been able to make this decision with you is a credit to how you have brought her up ... be proud of what you're both achieving
I'm terrible at eating veggies so I have started making homemade soup to up my intake ... this might work for your daughter?! Basically I dump all the (acceptable) veg i have in my fridge into a pot with some stock and water, herbs, pepper and garlic powder (whatever i have in really) .. cook and blend! I have to say I find it tastes great every time I know some other people who chuck some spices and/or chilli in too ... not my cup of tea but it is another option to get it tasting how your daughter might like it!
Basically I dump all the (acceptable) veg i have in my fridge into a pot with some stock and water, herbs, pepper and garlic powder (whatever i have in really) .. cook and blend! I have to say I find it tastes great every time
I've done this for years. It's a great way to use up leftovers too. Trouble is sometimes you get an outstanding pot of soup which can never be replicated again because it's just a bunch of stuff thrown in a pot!
Sometimes I add some shredded cheese and/or heavy cream to the soup. That's tasty too.
Sometimes I add some shredded cheese and/or heavy cream to the soup
i'm not sure about cheese but creamy soup sounds amazing... do you need to put it in just before serving so it doesn't curdle or does the cream cook ok?
i'm not sure about cheese but creamy soup sounds amazing... do you need to put it in just before serving so it doesn't curdle or does the cream cook ok?
I put the cream in at the end when the soup is done and just heat it up so the soup is hot again.
After the initial soup serving, I usually reheat my soup in a big soup mug and sometimes it reaches boiling/bubbling. Never had any curdling problems. I also freeze soups too and it comes out fine when reheated. The soup separates when it's thawed but just stir it up and reheat. HTH
p.s. Another thing I do often is to add some canned pumpkin to soups/chili. Adds lots of good veg carbs, thickens the soup somewhat and you can't taste the pumpkin.
