Low-carb kids

[teaandthorazine]

So, while I was pouring out ds's cereal this morning, I got to thinking. How come I'm spending so much time and energy on my WOE, whilst still allowing myself to feed ds stuff I wouldn't eat?

I'm completely committed to LC, but not just as a weight-loss tool. I genuinely believe that most of what we've been told about diet and nutrition over the past 40 years or so is just plain wrong. This WOE is just as much for long term health as for a 'healthy' weight. So I really, really can't justify feeding ds crunchy nut cornflakes, can I?

He's 10, smaller than average, skinny and full of energy. If anything he could do with putting weight on! But he said this morning that he gets hungry a couple of hours after eating breakfast. In my defence, he eats pretty well generally. Luckily he is a big fan of MEAT in all its glorious forms which makes life easier and he's not bad on veg either. We don't have fruit juices or fizzy drinks or sweets or anything low-fat in the house. In the evening he will generally eat what I'm eating (perhaps with a bit of added rice) but he would happily live on pasta and cheese, and sometimes, when we're pressed for time or I'm knackered, I turn to this staple.

But I'm going to stop. If it's good for me, it's good for him. I think some starchy carbs are still ok for him, and more fruit than I would eat is probably fine too. The odd protein and veg sandwich. But no more crappy cereal, no more processed sugar! Plenty of fat, plenty of protein. Eggs for breakfast and no more plain pasta for dinner. Sadly I don't have a lot of control over what he eats at school but otherwise, I think there are lots of changes I could make.

Would love to hear what other Bootcampers do (or don't do) LC-wise with their kids.

Found it -

8oz/225g passata
125ml water
100ml double cream
Artificial sweetener (I use Perfectly Sweet Xylitol) to taste.

Whizz together the passata & water and heat. Stir in the double cream, then add sweetener to taste - half a teaspoon should be more than enough - 5 mins start to finish if you have a stick blender.

This makes 2 bowls of soup at 8g a bowl (16g of carbs in the whole recipe) based on using Tesco's own passata - I don't know if there are lower carb brands around. Using sweetener isn't ideal but if I have to in cooking I prefer xylitol as at least it's good for your teeth!

Very keen to nudge my two (twin 4yr olds) towards a more low-carb way of eating. At the moment I have the "luxury" of them being diametrically opposed in tastes - one hates vegetables and most fruit, but is a real carnivore and has quite sophisticated taste in many ways (eating things I would never have eaten as a child). The other loves very plain simple food and would live on fruit and veg if she could, hardly ever eats meat or fish and detests sauces.

I think my first change is going to be to offer them the same cooked breakfast as me, together with some fruit to munch on while I make it.

Then I'll move onto other things! I actually managed to make cake with them a couple of days ago and not touch it myself, so think I'm going to try to come up with some homemade more paleo-style 'treats' for them (they do need the energy after all) and go from there.

Interested to read this thread...

Thought I might get this book for a start The Art of Healthy Eating Reinvented: Kids and have also been interested in the Paleo Parents Eat Like A Dinosaur

I've been having similar thoughts. My eldest loves pasta, bread, sweets.

My problem is that they are allergic to egg so I don't know what I'd do for breakfast.

Dropping pasta would be a shock for them! Some of the ideas up-thread look great tintin and Lovecat. It might have to be a gradual process.

Thanks Lovecat I'll try the soup recipe

Travelin - his budget is £15 a week so £3 a day. With that he can either buy a pizza slice, cookie/flapjack and drink in the school canteen, or now that he's 6th form, a ready meal for the common room microwave. To be honest, I think I prefer the latter. Trouble is, he has a Saturday job so he is spending his money from that to supplement his lunch money.

I'm waiting for the friend who started the same job at the same time to buy his PS4 with his earnings, while DS has an empty bank account at the end of each month. That might make an impact on his spending on junk food....

I have this same worry but my 3 year old and 18 month old would cry torrents of tears if I threatened to remove bread.

I think they do need more carbs than us so I just always they to include lots of protein where I can with the carbs - eggy bread, quiche made with cream, eggs and cheese. If I make them a smoothie I use almond milk (really low in carbs) with full fat yoghurt, a touch of honey and berries and banana.

Interestingly, tonight I was going to give ds a small amount of rice with his dinner, but when I asked him about it he said he'd just prefer the chicken and veg! So he ended up with two helpings of roast chicken (and plenty of crispy skin), with spinach sautéed in A LOT of butter and steamed green beans. He did then go and nab a chocolate digestive and some grapes, but I figure it's a start!

I'd love to get the DC's to have lower carb stuff. DS is a carb fiend, and is growing madly ATM. He is also allergic to eggs nuts fish sesame and chocolate! which makes cooking difficult enough in the house as it is. He will also cut off the slightest hint of fat from meat ( except bacon or crackling) but will eat cheese, creamy stuff etc, Oh and the only fruit he will eat is cooked apples/rhubarb/goosberries and grapes/raisins. No berries due to issues with the seeds!
DD is like me - she just likes food! - She eats lots of healthy stuff by choice - but lots of rubbish too.
I think I am just going to have to be a bit more inventive.
DS is the bigger challenge though.
I feel flapjacks etc coming on to replace other sweet stuff in lunchboxes.
Today I replaced DD's juice for water - we will see what her reaction is later....

I just need to chuck all the sweet stuff in the bin don't I? My DCs have two grandparents with diabetes and I think all four grandparents have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. They love those Muller Corner yoghurts but they're loaded with sugar. And boy can they hoover down the biscuits. I think I'll start by changing my shopping habits. When I was a kid my parents would buy one packet of Coco Pops per month and when they were eaten there weren't any more until the next month. Maybe I'll only do one 'junk food' shop a month where I buy biscuits, pasta, crisps. Then my DCs can get used to lower carb options more gradually.

Really interested in this thread. My DDs love their carbs, and although we hardy ever eat processed carbs, i'd still like to cut down on the pasta/rice/bread. DS won't eat veg apart from peas, red pepper, sweetcorn and bizzarely herbs, so it's not that easy. Although they do both love meat.

We are all eating lower carb at one since I started BC last Jan. I have a particularly hectic 7yo DS, a serial food avoider and realised a lot of his jumpy behaviour was the sugar crashes I suffered. He was eating pasta but no sauce, bread but no cheese and constantly stealing biscuits and no self control with Chocolate. Less carbs = better sleep and behaviour so carrying on with this!

I have found a really good book... Good info and a change from the tomato-based pasta bake recipes of most family cook books.

Low carb living for families, by Monique le Roux Forslund published in 2013 by Struik.

I discovered making gravy with double cream and Worcester sauce... A fab muesli recipe and a sausage stroganoff which is a firm Monday night fave, among other things.

I do still buy wm pasta and bread for packed lunches but breakfast is now eggs or cream cheese pancakes or frittata , their fave is tomato with blobs of cream cheese... Eldest DS likes leek and peas in his.

So who made changes and how are they going? Interested as I have a 2yo and we are trying to reduce reliance on bad carbs

This is definitely the thread for me! I have a 1 and 3 year old. I am generally pretty good at keeping their sugar/processed carb levels down. Except for bread. 3yo Dd is very fussy and I struggle to get her to eat much. Especially veg. I hardly ever give her chocolate ect. Snacks here are always cheese, ham, nuts, full fat natural yoghurt, spoonfuls of peanut butter or bits of chicken ect. I do give them fruit as dessert with cream or yoghurt.

Breakfast is hard. dD always wants toast. I will occasionally let her have cereal but only plain weatibix or plain porridge oats with milk.

The real struggle is her great grandparents. Thy are constantly giving her chocolate and sweets and Ice cream. They even do this with my 1 yo because apparently it's their 'job' to treat them. They just don't listen to me and DP will not back me up because he doesn't want to upset them. Drives me absolutely crazy. It completely undoes all my hard work with good eating habits especially DD who asks for a 'treat' every time she's eaten something. Argh!

Oh and don't get me started on how cruel I am for only letting them drink water! Someone call ss!

ha ha!!! we used to only do bm and water but over a period of time someone (DH? unstopped by me....) allowed diluted apple juice (dliluted with fizzy water) into the house and I have not managed to make it go away yet...... I am diluting the juice more and more, in fact I prefer it that way myself.

I am very interested in this adapted WoE for my son as I am sure he has a problem with too much sugar and possibly wheat as consuming them seems to lead to an "evacuation" very quickly afterwards. We already eat gluten free pasta but tend to eat rice and potatoes more than pasta anyway. He will not eat eggs in any form, unless in a cake, is not that keen on sausages or bacon and likes the ease of eating cereal but wont touch my nutty granola so we are kind of stuck for breakfast ideas. For breakfast he likes cereal or croissant or jam/peanut butter or hazelnut choc spread on bread.... Ocasionally he might eat a cooked breakfast but not every time it is presented to him.

He is happy with steak and fish and veg and bolagnase for lunch and dinner but I am not doing that for breakfast. I just cannot cope with it! Plus he eats breakfast at nursery most days so breakfast needs to be something he will eat and I can give to them at the start of the week to offer him.

any ideas?

Since I started LCHF a year ago I have been quite mindful of how many carbs I feed DS (now 2.5). He quite weirdly has never liked sandwiches so I give him cheese, chicken, ham and a few cherry tomatoes most lunchtimes with a pile of cucumber batons. I also only allow water or milk to drink and keep puddings to fruit and ff plain Greek yoghurt.
It's much harder to do this with his big brother though. He is a pasta fiend and a fussy b*gger. I'm always on the look out for new low carb tea time ideas that I can (bribe) give them to eat

at tea time I keep it simple. The other night I just did some frozen white fish (grilled with butter) and some asparagus and beans with gf pasta for him and sticks of courgettes for me. He ate mine too!!!!!

Otherwise I do fish fingers, steak, chicken with veg or a risotto with peas and roasted butternut squash. T wont eat potatoes and I dont like us being reliant on wheat and I get fed up of rice!!!!

FWIW I do think small kids need some startchy carbs, mainly because he is never going to eat the amount of veg he needs to get the carbs he does need. The challenge is to find something that is not wheat based.