kid is coming back home! Help!

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This week has been fairly easy for me to watch what I eat. Next week my 15 year old son comes back to live with me for a week. ( shared custody). How can I feed a growing, 15 yr old, running back on the highschool football team without going over in calories for myself? He wants meat and tatos!! Any Ideas?

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  • Dstrand1
    Dstrand1 Posts: 15 Member
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    Recognize 15 yr old boys have hollow legs ( have one as well) and eat to achieve YOUR goals... I typicalky skip the carbs....
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
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    Plan ahead and know exactly how much of each meal you can eat! Tacos are great because they can be as healthy as you want. Use ground turkey instead of beef (he'll never know!) get lots of fresh veggies, low fat sour cream or use plain Greek yogurt instead. Corn tortillas are lower calorie than wheat tortillas or you can buy the low carb flat outs or fiber one tortillas. I usually make myself one actual taco and then a giant taco salad with a bunch of salsa on top. Your son can have as much as he wants and you'll stay under :)

    Stir fry is easy to make super light, cook up the beef or chicken or shrimp and veggies and serve rice on the side so your son can bulk up his meal and you can control yours.

    Another good one is crock potted BBQ chicken or pork, I put chicken breast or a pork roast in the crock pot with seasonings and a little water and slow cook it till I can shred it then mix equal parts BBQ sauce, orange or apple juice and water and mix it in. I eat mine on top of a baked sweet potato, you can give your son burger buns to eat his on.

    With every meal cook up a big portion of veggies and fill your plate with that and smaller portions of meat and carbs and drink water so when you're done you're full.

    Try not to stress too much!! A bad meal won't ruin your week, you can always make up for it with a little more exercise the next day :)
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
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    This week has been fairly easy for me to watch what I eat. Next week my 15 year old son comes back to live with me for a week. ( shared custody). How can I feed a growing, 15 yr old, running back on the highschool football team without going over in calories for myself? He wants meat and tatos!! Any Ideas?

    make large quantities of things both of you can eat...but add his tatos, and then a veg for you ( salad or steamfresh singles)

    I try and make a family meal that I can adapt to fit everyone. Tonight was hamburgers. The kids had their's on a bun, I had TWO...but on a low carb tortilla instead of a bun. They had fries/tater tots, I wasn't hungry for a side. When I make chicken parm I make a LOT of it, but I make sure to make a piece or two with just barely any sauce on it for me.
  • Keyblr
    Keyblr Posts: 14 Member
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    I have three sports invloved teenagers (19, 16, 12) and they eat the same things I do only more. I have never made "diet" food for dinner. Just healthy everyday food; meat, veggies, fruit and some starch. I always go easy on the starch and stay away from the bread (my weekness). I'm going with the state of mind that I'm not on a diet, i'm learning how to eat properly. It's all about portion control and filling up on the lower calorie items.

    "junk food" in my house consists of fruits, veggies, nuts, dried fruits, greek yogurt, etc... my kids have never been one for chips and such, and we never drink soda.

    You can do it. If you have to have junk food for him, have special treat food for you that is only yours... i.e. I have some Weight Watchers Fudge Pops in the freezer. The kids can have the ice cream, but they better not touch my frozen treats! :)

    Good Luck!
  • JaimeLaRae
    JaimeLaRae Posts: 279 Member
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    I have my step kids for two weeks right now & I've been managing to do pretty well with them. For instance, last night we had grilled steak, mashed potatos & gravy. I skipped the tater's and threw a handful of baby carrots on my plate with a properly portioned piece of steak. I was satisfied! The night before we had pork chops (also grilled) with pasta salad & watermelon. Once again, I passed on the pasta & had half of a sliced cucumber. For me it's been taking just an extra minute to find a raw veggie to replace the high calorie, high carb sides. Tonight we're having fajitas w/ the leftover steak. I will have the filling with some salsa & skip the tortilla, cheese, and sour cream. I'm finding it's not too hard to keep the family happy & still be able to eat with them with some modifications! Good luck to you!!!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    My 13 year old grew a foot last year (literally) and eats more than my husband and I combined. We all eat the same food.

    Portion control. And I put bread and things on the table that he eats that I don't. I make a smoothie and dirnk 8 ozs and he has 24. I have 1/4 cup of ice cream and he has 2 cups.

    Went through this with my eldest too. Both have BMIs under 20. Disgusting isn't it?

    But I was that thin at their age too. I keep telling them - just wait until you stop growing!
  • cookn_mama
    cookn_mama Posts: 228 Member
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    Some good ideas!! Thanks.
  • cookn_mama
    cookn_mama Posts: 228 Member
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    My son is 15, running back, baseball player, wrestler, and dirtbike racer. He weighs 167 pounds and is 5'9". He can back squat round 180 pounds. and is also ADHD. Got to feed him good. Thanks for all the good ideas. Starting monday we will see how this goes.