[SherryA]

Well I don't think pasta is necessary for anyone it is mostly white flour and a little egg. Not terribly nutritious. Rice, and potatoes maybe if you are trying to stretch the food budget, but they don't have that much food value either mostly starch unless you are talking something other than white rice, but those things don't tempt me that much, the family can have them even if I don't. Fruit? I generally eat fruit. I usually eat berries, and the kids can eat those too. Or I will buy them fruit they can take in their lunches to school. Fruit isn't that much of a temptation to me either. Bread? I generally buy whole grain bread for the kids and hubby but they eat these for lunch mostly not with dinner.

I may make their lunches, but I'm not tempted to eat the things I make for them for lunch. At dinner time however I am hungry, and anything I cook at dinner I am likely to eat too. So I cook for everyone. Vegetables have enough carbs for kids and adults. I generally make green veggys, I don't see how that hurts the kids at all. Milk they have while I will use cream instead if I need some of that. Dairy in the form of cheese, sour cream, butter and that sort of thing we can all eat.

Mostly the healthy carbs like cereals are not the things that are tempting to most of us. Junk food carbs on the other hand, for some reason those are hard to serve other people and not eat them yourself.

My kids have eaten low carb before (for short times, like maybe a week), and it has benefitted them. My son could use a little weight loss and he did well on low carb. My daughter can't afford to lose any weight, but her asthma seemed helped by eating this way. Normally when I'm on Atkins, the family eats like I do. I make salad, green vegetables and meat for dinner. What they eat the rest of the day is probably not low carb, and they survive just fine.

My children aren't small though, they are both in their early teens, so I don't generally have to concern myself with their meals thoughout the day, only dinner do I cook for the whole family.

Still the examples you gave were "pancakes" and "pizza". I don't see those foods as particularly healthy for anyone. Pancakes are made of white flour, eggs and then with a bunch of sugary syrup poured over it. How valuable is that nutrition wise for your loved ones? Yes the eggs are good, but why not make them eggs without the white flour or all the sugary stuff?

Pizza you can eat the toppings if you can stand to give up the bread. I love pizza, but I would never argue that it is necessarily a healthy choice for the family.

I would like to make one point though. Children more and more are having obesity problems and are developing diabetes and other health issues more and more as a result of bad diet. I've watched people in the grocery stores and watched what they put in their baskets. If they think that their kids need the kinds of carb they throw in those baskets they are kidding themselves. Children need good nutrition, yes they probably need some carbs. But they need them from the healthiest most WHOLE foods you can find. They don't need empty calories any more than we do. In fact to feed them that way you are setting them up for diabetes and obesity and health problems down the road when they reach adulthood (or for many children long before that).

[kotty]

Susan,
I love cheese too, and i always felt guilty about eating too much of them but this is the most tastful thing, i think i would try to do the same like you do

Sherry,
i see your point but the problem when you have a husband who loves to eat all those unhealthy food and desserts.
My house cann''t stay without those items, this is the problem.

rebeleagle1965,
I know that the best thing is to choose whats best for me but this is hard in my circumstances cause no one here care about it, and i have lived long time with this unhealthy atitude and to swicth to atkins and stick to it is the problem.

[Ciarra]

Morning,
Welcome to the group, Kotty.
I've been MIA for about a week because of family stuff. But I did want to say hi.
I feel your pain about the family thing. Some things I do are:
I cook a lot of pancakes and freeze them, then reheat for my son. Only have to actually deal with cooking them once every other week or so. Sometimes just once a month. He doesn't eat them everyday.
Dinner meals with family: Atkins basic plan of meat and salad or induction friendly veggie and then add potatos or rice and occasionaly whole wheat bread.
I have been known to fall off plan becasue I occasionally partake in the extras. But yes to keep my guys happy I have to feed them some of their carbs.
Snacks: I get things they like and I don't for the most part. Fig cookies, popsickles, and Little Debbie Nutty Bars.
I have been known to eat the toppings off of a pizza. (when the occaasion arrises)
Fruits can be added pretty quickly up OWL. Do your 2 weeks and move on. I can pretty much eat from any rung I like (been at this forever), but I try to stay under 30 carbs. Some days when I know I'll get a lot of activity I'll eat more. But you don't have to eat from every rung every day. Also once you hit grains, Dreamfields makes an awesome pasta everyone at your home can enjoy. Tends to be a weekly treat around here.
Hang in there.

[Falon]

Rebel -

I understand that carbs are important to a growing kid, but not all carbs fall into that catagory. Pasta (unless whole wheat) isn't crucial for a child... it's the complex carbs that they need. If you think about the types of carbs you are intaking, which should be complex, how is that bad for kids? When it comes to pasta, my kids get soba noodles which is a pasta made from heirloom wheat and buckwheat. The green veggies are crucial, and given 3 weeks of dietary change in a household, they will eventually eat what you put in front of them. My son hates anything that resembled a vegetable, and after putting serious changes into place, he loves asperagus, carrots, spinach, broccoli, etc. He commented in the car yesterday, that he likes the healthy way we eat. *gasp* He's 9! I would have never guessed those words would have ever come out of his mouth.

I agree that there is nothing wrong (as the cook of the house) to slowly change the way an entire house eats. You are in control of the menu, and if they don't like it.. they might revolt in the beginning, but will eventually change their way of thinking. Explain to the kids why they need these changes. Show them what they are really eating in their nuggets, or what ever else they eat. My kids watched Jamie's School Lunch Project on TLC and couldn't believe what was in all the foods that are served in schools. They were happy to be homeschooled at that point. Read the book Fast Food Nation and tell them about the things you find in there. It's unreal!! Anyhow, sorry, but I could go on and on about this. You are in control of what your kids put in their mouths ( in the house anyhow) and you can to take that control back. Also, put them infront of the tv and have them watch Honey, We're Killing the Kids! on TLC. It's thought altering t.v. I swear!!!

Good luck --

[rebeleagle1965]

I have watched "honey we're killing the kids", and it is VERY thought provoking. Simple sugars aren't good for anyone-and besides the occasional treat, we could all stand to do without them, even kids.
None of my children have an overweight problem, as a matter of fact, my son is a little under weight. He's very active (he's almost 5)-to the point that it's a daily stuggle just to get him to sit down long enough to get a meal in. I've been concerned enough to ask his doctor about ADD, but he's just naturally that way. He needs a diet high in carbohydrates because of the amount of energy he expends throughout the day, and yes, complex is best.
I apologize if my earlier post wasn't written in a way that my point could come off like I meant it. I did state that we could all do without pizza, but for normal healthy people, things like that CAN be enjoyed OCCASIONALLY. Pancakes (which don't have to be smothered in sugary syrup-I buy sugar-free for my son) aren't necessary, but they aren't bad for them either, so I can't justify making everyone in the house do without them because they're bad for MY diet. We already use whole grain breads and pastas. Sweets are only an occasional treat for the kids, not only because they're bad, but they make my son really hyper. My hubby won't give them up, but atleast he keeps them out of their sight and reach.
I guess I should have been more specific.....complex carbs (not cookies and cakes) are a necessary part of a small child's diet. Sometimes I can make an entire meal that we can all eat, but I can't make low-carb for everyone every day, so I just have to deal with the temptation. The problem I have is this. Say I cook brown rice-which is perfectly healthy for the little ones. A 1/2 cup serving of brown rice has almost 21 grams of "digestible" carbs. If I make a sandwich with whole grain bread, that's 21 grams. On induction level, this isn't even a possibility. Even beyond that, if you're trying to stay in ketosis, it's something that can only be done once in a blue moon, because if you eat salad and other veggies throughout the day, adding that in will probably make you go over count. I agree-once you get close to maintenance level, things like this CAN be part of your regular diet for alot of people, but lots of people here, including myself, aren't even close to that being able to happen.
The point I was trying to make is that as a parent, you simply aren't going to be able to rid your home of the foods that are off limits, especially in the beginning stages of Atkins. I can't have milk and cereal, but the kids need calcium and fiber. Apples and bananas are certainly not bad for THEM, but I can't have one. I get to my count limit just about every day just because of the salad, cheese, and veggies I eat-adding anything else right now is out of the question. Later on in the plan, this won't be such a big deal.