Some interesting info I read last night in the Atkins Diabetes Revolution, which was written by Dr. Mary Vernon and Jackie Eberstein, both of whom worked closely with Dr. Atkins. This is about children, obesity, and low carb. I'm going to quote a few passages:

"The Atkins aproach is beneficial to overweight kids, just as it is for overweight adults. (To make sure they're getting proper nutrition and to monitor their progress, anyone under the age of 18 should do the weight-loss phases of the Atkins program only under the supervision of a physician.)"

"When a whole family starts cutting back on unhealthy carbs, everyone benefits, even those who don't need to lose weight and/or stabilize their blood sugar. When you are more sensitized to the value of protein and fats along with healthy carbs, both parents and children will be more likely to eat regular meals and fewer unhealthy snacks, more fresh vegetables and low-glycemic fruits, better-quality carbohydrates overall, and a lot less junk food."

And some tips to help children:

"Replace those unhealthy carbs with protein, natural fats, and vegetables. This will help decrease excessive hunger and cravings and introduce the child to a healthier way of eating."

"Don't fixate on the scale - what you want is fat loss, not weight loss, which is why increasing a child's activity is also key. Judge progress by how clothing fits, not by pounds dropped." I agree with this point 100%. Kids are still growing, and might not lose weight, but still lose fat.

I was really impressed by the sound advice in this particular chapter of this book. I just got it (from amazon.com, paid all of 88 cents plus $3.99 shipping for this huge, hard cover book!) I'm not diabetic, but the information is just too good for all of us to pass up. They put things so succinctly, they say it so much better than I ever could.

Basically, provide healthy foods for your child. Good quality protein, fats, and vegetables, and a little fruit. Get them active. Simple, straightforward. I wish I had all this info when my kids were teens, especially my youngest, who's had a weight problem since she was 13. This would have worked wonders for her.

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Nita

Nita, that is excellent advice and thanks for posting it. Something that all of us can take heed to.

Toylady, I don't think I can add anything to the already great advice and suggestions. I would, however, like to just share this with you.

I carried extra weight as a child, pre-teen and young teen. It was only when I decided to change that made the difference.

My mom cooked good meals, back in the 60s & early 70s junk food and fast food wasn't around, at least in my home. I just simply ate too much. My mom took me to my pediatrician, tried incentives, etc. and I would do it to please them and the effects were temporary. Time for high school came and I noticed the boys. My perspective changed right away, probably the day of freshman orientation. I lost weight and felt great about myself. It was MY deal and I did it by cutting back on portions.

Our youngest son will be a sophomore in college this fall. He started putting on weight around 10 years old. He would tease me about my LC WOL back in 2002 when I changed my life. His junior year in high school he decided one day it was enough and turned his WOE around. He lost the extra weight and has kept it off, even during the difficult freshman year of college.

Keep healthy foods and snacks at home. Don't make a big deal about what to eat or how much your daughter weighs. Certainly keep her self-esteem elevated by not talking about how much she needs to lose. Let her initiate everything, it will work better that way. Simply make it all about being healthy, that's what it's really about for all of us.

Encourage her to move more and stay active. The one thing that was my salvation back then, I loved the outdoors. My brother and I would play out all day, ride bikes, go swimming, fly kites, play badminton, play croquet, go to day camp, etc. Thank God there were no computers, Internet, cable TV, DVDs or game systems. I did love to read and loved going to the library in the summer.

It's wonderful that you have her best interest at heart. If they could only know to take this valuable advice and run with it.

Best wishes to you and your daughter.

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Ozzie's Place

She is a lot more comfortable with her body now, yeah. She's still pretty introverted in some ways, which is a bit of an oxymoron with her presentation, I know. Oddly enough, in some ways she's still quite shy. But I think that losing the extra weight is part of an overall process for her as she's growing up and gaining momentum to be on her own out in the world.

Overall, I think her self-esteem wasn't ever that bad, but I know in the area of body image, she's MUCH better off. As a mom, that's great for me to see, because I worry less with her in relationships. I think the better she feels about herself, the less likely she is to get into the less desirable situations "just to have a boyfriend." you know?

She takes after me in a lot of ways, including temperment, so I was very happy to see her be able move past some of the struggles with weight so young. I'm hoping she'll have an easier time of it than I did. You know-every mom's wish for their offspring.

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EatSmart Nutritional Scale Review

So my daughter came home today and informed me that her and her friend were going to do their own diet. She said they have talked it over and they are going to start tomorrow but they are going to eat from all 4 food groups( I am pretty sure her friend told her she needs to eat bread) but they are going to eat less and then once a week they will allow themselves a treat.


I am so frustrated because when she decided to join me I never said I was on a "diet" I always say I am changing my eating habits and I explained to her (even before she started) what I was doing and reason for the low carb intake was to detox my system so I wouldnt want the bad stuff and to kick my metabolism up.

Her friend is all of maybe 110 lbs and alot taller than my daughter and I know how this will turn out...2-3 days of their diet and then right back to what they were doing before.

I am already going to talk to her when her friend goes home and explain to her why she needs to change her eating habits (right away she wanted sunflower seeds and microwave popcorn) but I cant force her to change and eat healthy...we have always eaten pretty healthy but I will admit we have a "high" carb house. There is always granola bars, microwave popcorn, brown bread, potatoes, rice, etc. but very rarely do we eat icecream, chips or cake or any of that kind of stuff. (one of the biggest poblems is overeating and I thought that if she started following this way of eating that her appitiete would decrease as mine did. I know I can stop buying some things like popcorn and granola bars I cant have a carb free house.

does anyone have some suggestions on what to say to her? or should I just leave it alone and wait to see if she joins me again (she did say this way wasnt working and she wanted to try her way...I know it takes more than a week, but I didnt want to start the discussion with her friend here, I will tell her that later)

well, at her age, your main influence on what she eats is what's around the house, i'd imagine.

i dunno. i certainly can't tell you what to do. if it were me, i'd probably just hang back a little as long as she's not doing anything extreme/crash-diety, and let her figure it out. i think your strongest area of influence with a kid this age is probably going to be your example. if you're successful on low-carbing, as she sees it, her interest will grow.

whatever you decide, good luck with that, dear. it's a challenge parenting teens, i know! our family motto with teens has become, "No police involvement." Because as a friend of mine once said, "With teens in the house, any day is a good day if there's no police involvement."

Just keep it all in perspective. Peace out.

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EatSmart Nutritional Scale Review

Dixie said: LOL, boy can i relate to that!

Toylady, I can't improve on what's been said here. I just know that teenagers HAVE to take their own journey sometimes. Just know, that if you lay a good, healthy foundation for your children, they WILL go back to it eventually. So your daughter may experiment a little right now. But when she is able to make more adult, rational decisions for herself, she will fall back on the foundation you laid for her. I know, we as parents, hate to see our children make the same mistakes we made along the way. But life is a journey of ups and downs. Teenagers usually choose the down way first. If they learn from their mistakes, it's okay to make them. And remember, as Maya Angelou says, "I did the best I could and when I knew better, I did better." Same goes for those emotional, irrational, flighty, insecure teenagers. (I raised 5 kids and work in a middle school, LOLOL) If you set the standard and are a good role-model, that will go a long, long way.

Dixie, your DD is a beauty!!!

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