Anyone out there doing the Modified Atkins diet??

JagerLewis

Hello, I was wondering if there is anyone doing the modified atkins diet and following a low calorie diet?? My daughter has epilepsy, and we are now doing the modified atkins diet to help control her seizures (fingers crossed). The diet is high in protein and fat and very low in carbs (15-20 grams a day for now, will probably go lower). I have been doing well following my 1200 calorie a day plan, but would like to follow MAD with her to not have her feel left out (she's 11). Trouble is, I find it hard to eat how she's eating, and follow the same amount of calories I've been eating to continue with my weight loss. AND...... I'm a wife and a mother of 2...NOT a short order cook. So cooking two different meals a day is out.

mmipanda

Dont do it if its just going to be a negative experience. I think it would make it harder for your daughter if you struggle to follow her diet.

I dunno what you mean with the last part. You have to prepare her meals differently to the rest of the family right?

JagerLewis

Dont do it if its just going to be a negative experience. I think it would make it harder for your daughter if you struggle to follow her diet.

I dunno what you mean with the last part. You have to prepare her meals differently to the rest of the family right?

So far its not negative...She must be on this diet it's pretty much our last resort. No, I do not cook different meals for different members of my family. I would like to know of anyone following this plan while counting their calories.

RaineyLaney

Dont do it if its just going to be a negative experience. I think it would make it harder for your daughter if you struggle to follow her diet.

I dunno what you mean with the last part. You have to prepare her meals differently to the rest of the family right?

So far its not negative...She must be on this diet it's pretty much our last resort. No, I do not cook different meals for different members of my family. I would like to know of anyone following this plan while counting their calories.

You said she needs this diet, but unless the rest of you are willing to eat that low of carbs, then you will have to make it different.

I am diabetic and have to eat a low carb high protein. I don't eat that low of carbs though. I am around 100 a day. Your breads, potato's, pastas, rice, any kind of cakey dessert are loaded with carbs. Your higher carb'd veggies are Corn, green peas, lima beans. Lower carb veggies are Lettuce, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli,

You may want to do some searches on low carb/high carb foods to get a grasp of it. There is a diabetic type 2 group and some of the people there follow excesively low carb diets. (like 10 carbs a day low)

You have to make a choice though, either your daughter eats the diet she is suppose to and feels a bit left out, or your other child eats her diet and feels left out. You can not have it both ways. Low carb is no easy road at all. (another high carb foods is pizza (not the toppings, but the crust, also pie crusts)

psuLemon

I don't have much feedback, except with as little weight you have to lose, why are you eating so little? Your max per week weight loss should be aimed for 1 lb a week and handling two children will make you lightly active. One suggest might be to slowly lower your carbs until you hit your goal. 25g a day is fairly aggressive. Also, consider this should be net carbs so you can get enough veggies. To help though, below is a group that might be beneficial to you.


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-group

JagerLewis

Thank you all so much. I just wanted to incorporate how I already eat with the diet she needs to follow without sabotaging my weightloss. Last night was fine....we had tacos severed in a romaine lettuce leaf, so I know some nights won't be an issue...but I know we will have challenges down the road.

indunna

My son just weaned off of two years of epilepsy dieting (6 months strict MAD at 10 carbs per day and 80% fat) the rest on keto (8 carbs per day and 90% fat). My situation was different from yours in that there was no option for the rest of the family to follow keto as it wouldn't have been healthy for us. Here's what I did:

1) Found MAD/Keto friendly meals that looked close to what the rest of the family was eating (same protein, same veg)
2) Brought few non-veggie carbs (fruits, breads, pastas) into the house. Stored what I did have separately from his food.
3) Avoided eating carbs in front of him as much as possible (and made my husband and daughter do the same). This especially applied to foods he really missed like goldfish and bagels.
4) Emphasized to him and to the rest of the family that everyone has a diet which means eating what is healthy for them - for my son that meant MAD/ keto food, for their friend across the street that meant GFCF food, for my daughter that means fresh fruit and veggies, lean protein, and whole grains.

The truth is for an 11 year old to succeed on the diet (I am assuming that she is cognitively normal) it is going to mean she is going to have to understand and buy into it as there will be many opportunities to break it when you are not around. Certainly you should strive to make home as temptation free as possible - but not at the expense of your own health.

If you haven't already you should join the MAD Yahoo group. You will find great support there including Gina, the moderator, who did go on Atkins with her teenage son on MAD. I would also highly recommend Gina's book "Fight Back With Fat" and the "Keto Cookbook" which are both available on Amazon and have many recipe ideas (with calorie counts) that you could use or modify. Feel free to friend/ PM me if you want to talk more.

Best of luck to you and your daughter!

indunna

PS

If you do decide to go on a strict Atkins diet (not MAD- there is no reason for you to eat that much fat) your daily calorie allotment should go up 300 to 600 calories and you should continue to lose at the same rate (this is because the body requires more energy to break down protien and fat than carbs).

http://www.atkins.com/Science/Articles---Library/Carbohydrates/Myths-and-Facts-of-the-Atkins-Nutritional-Approach.aspx

But, as I said you can alternatively tell your daughter that you have your diet for weightloss that restricts your calories and requires you to track what you eat and she has her diet for seizure controll which requires her to restrict her carbs and track what she eats.

Did I mention kudos to both of you for using your willpower to take controll of your health?!

JagerLewis

PS

If you do decide to go on a strict Atkins diet (not MAD- there is no reason for you to eat that much fat) your daily calorie allotment should go up 300 to 600 calories and you should continue to lose at the same rate (this is because the body requires more energy to break down protien and fat than carbs).

http://www.atkins.com/Science/Articles---Library/Carbohydrates/Myths-and-Facts-of-the-Atkins-Nutritional-Approach.aspx

But, as I said you can alternatively tell your daughter that you have your diet for weightloss that restricts your calories and requires you to track what you eat and she has her diet for seizure controll which requires her to restrict her carbs and track what she eats.

Did I mention kudos to both of you for using your willpower to take controll of your health?!

Thank you so much for your wealth of information!!!!! She does understand she CAN NOT cheat on this diet. She wants to be seizure free as much as I want her to be, I've already paid her for her Halloween candy. I'm so lucky she wants this as bad as I do.

juliinfo

I know this is an older post, but if it is working out, I'm sure your daughter is still on MAD.

I am doing the MAD diet myself and I count calories and nutrients. That helps me eat enough protein and fiber and the right number of carbs. You could also eat more of the veggies she does and less of the added fat (cream, salad oil), and place Jack Sprat with her for any meat you eat.