To expect shops to sell no-carb fast food alternatives?

[FlamedToACrisp]

My adult stepson wants to try the Atkins diet, but the 'meal suggestions' he's come up with are simply things like pork chops with veg but no potatoes and no gravy. Well, yeah, if he ate 6 pork chops and 3 huge plates of veg, he might not be hungry... but he wouldn't stick to that for very long!

He'll eat pretty much anything, but he doesn't like cooking, there's no way he'll spend hours researching what is and isn't no-carb, and I'm not wasting space in my tiny kitchen for peculiar ingredients I'll never use to make normal food, nor will I cook everything from scratch for him.

Unless I'm making dinner for us all, he normally eats lob-it-in-the microwave-lasagne type foods, followed by bags of crisps.

Surely there must be no-carb gravy granules and no-carb versions of a pie or sausage roll? All I can find is cauliflower rice - what else is there?

Help!

YABU. Tell him to eat less and move more. If he wants to fad diet, he gets off his lardy arse and cooks/does the research.

as an adult, time he learnt to cook and pulled his weight.

Going no carb is pretty simple - you cut carbs. They’re not hard to identify.

Pork chop and veg is bang on.

Can’t your adult SS sort this for himself?

^^what they said

He is an adult. Surely the simple answer to this is he takes responsibility for his own shopping and food choices?

Sorry but I agree 100 percent with mencken

I went on Atkins sometime in 2002 and never really stopped, but no, I don't expect there to be tons of convenience foods to cater to my dietary restrictions.

If he wants to do this, there really is going to be a lot of cooking with different ingredients, some of which have a steep learning curve (sweeteners and alternative flours can be a real nightmare!) But he should be learning to do that for himself!

he normally eats lob-it-in-the microwave-lasagne type foods, followed by bags of crisps

He doesn't need the atkins diet, he needs to stop eating crap.

Not sure what you expect a no carb sausage roll to be made of. Fresh food and lots of veg is the way to go but yes to dumpling microwave meals and crisps

If he wants to eat specific food he can cook it himself, no?

He'll eat pretty much anything, but he doesn't like cooking,

^

Explain how this actually works?

Eating low carb requires commitment because there aren't many handy snack options. It's definitely more enjoyable and easier to stick to if you cook from scratch. Meals don't have to be elaborate - a cheese omelette or burger (no bun) with garlic mushrooms. You could download the spreadsheet from the low carb bootcamp thread and I suggest he checks out Diet Doctor website. Lots of food lists and recipes for free.

Stir fry but skip the noodles. Cheap and fast.

Hes going from one terrible diet to another.

Cant you encourage him to eat a balanced diet and be more active instead?

"there's no way he'll spend hours researching what is and isn't no-carb,"

Um, so he's going on the diet doing no research?

Also, why are you cooking for him?

If he’s not committed enough to research it, buy and cook the food then he won’t be committed enough to lose weight.

You are making a rod for your own back - he won’t lose weight because YOU aren’t doing it right. Meanwhile he will be stuffing his face with crap outside the house.

Don’t get involved. Smile sweetly and say you don’t know anything about Atkins but you look forward to tasting some of the meals he makes for you all.

Which would basically be eggs/cheese/fish and meat and you can just make some veg and carbs ( rice pasta potatoes ) for anyone else.

But why is it your responsibility to cook all these meals for him?

I'm not cooking three meals a day for him, that's for sure. I don't mind doing the family evening meal, but I just don't see any no-cook alternatives he can produce himself for an easy, filling lunch if he can't have sandwiches or a micro meal.

As for telling him to 'get off his lardy arse', I hardly think fat-shaming him will help him to choose suitable foods. (Much as I might be thinking the same thing!)

if he ate 6 pork chops and 3 huge plates of veg, he might not be hungry.

And if he ate that every meal, he wouldn't just not loose weight he'd put more on.

Its just impossible

Pork chop and veg is really quick and easy anyway

Can't you encourage him to eat a balanced diet and be more active instead?

I did. He didn't.

We dont eat many carbs for main meal (we do at lunch and breaksfast) so we can squeeze in more veg. We do just eat fish or quorn with veg quite a lot. But I thought Atkins was no carb so very little vegetables eg no sweetcorn and carrots or something?

Only thing I'd say about meat and veg are its expensive. And if you're no carb you're missing lots of food groups like pulses and lentils and fruit that provide essential nutrients

We do stir fries with more sauce and veg amd peanuts or cashews and no rice or noodles. Fish pie with no topping but peas and leeks included. Cauliflower cheese with bacon bits. Hearty soups. Bbq with lots of bbq veg instead of garlic bread. Sausage and roasted veg like aubergine. Salads with protein such as salmon nicoise or ham and egg. Stuffed omelettes.

Courgette spaghetti?

Fat shaming him wont, but educating him will.

I’ve followed a low carb diet for at least 2 years (not Atkins tho) I just substitute potatoes for extra veg and maybe the odd half sweet potato
If he really wants to do it he should be looking to do it himself and not expect you to handhold him through it
If he won’t then it’s just not sustainable for him

Pork chop and veg is no problem, but he can't eat it every day and for breakfast and lunch as well, because I won't be cooking it! And anyway, pork chops are a luxury we can't afford more than once a week. I think it's a stupid diet tbh but anything that encourages him is a good idea, surely?

If he wants to no-carb, he needs to a) do the bloody research himself and b) either just eat the non-carby buts of what you're cooking for the family, or cook for himself. If it's that important to him, he'll do it.