Primal Teens.... Please help with my teens page

[Debbie B in MD]

Good Morning! I have been following Primal for about a week. I have been gluten and dairy free since the middle of January. What an amazing difference. I am not having trouble with grain-free, but a bit with sugar free. The low carb flu- I suspect. I am gluten-intolerant, no idea about celiac though. I share this about me to give a little background. Now for the kids.....

I have a 15 yod and a 16 yos. My daughter is a ballet dancer, not extremely thin, but truly beautiful. I wish I was built like her, I wish I was ever built like her. Anyway, she is up for gluten free, but the jump to primal is more than she thinks she wants to do. My son is my real concern with respect to primal. I am so certain he would do so well with primal. He has a cough that sticks around, not bad, but a throat clearing kind of thing. He has acne. He is also addicted to bread, pizza, and pasta. I suspect he is sensitive to gluten and dairy. He absolutely craves these kinds of foods. As a 6 year old we eliminated all artificial colors and flavors and preservatives. It helped his behavior greatly. He was diagnosed with Aspergers at age 10. The last couple of years have been a real joy as he has matured so much. We homeschool. He is in the Civil Air Patrol, an Air Force auxiallary. He truly a great kid. I would like to revamp his eating habits as I am working on mine. I guess the simple answer is to just stop buying the things I do not want him to have. Okay, great, but do you have any ideas to make this transition easier?

He has been sick with a bronchitis type thing since the middle of February. He is on his second antibiotic. This is a kid who really never gets sick, except for that throat clearing cough. The doc says it could be allergy, not bronchitis.

So bascially, how do I help make this transition, if only for an experiment for him, better? Bribes? (I have considered it.)

Thanks for the help.

[Patrick]

Why not give him a day or two a week for his old favourites, so long as he sticks with Primal fare on the other 5-6 days? Or choose 4 meals -- he can have whatever he wants for those four meals, so long as he gives you X amount of time in advance. Try to keep them on the weekend or near the weekend, though, so he can gain a few days of feeling great thanks to Primal fare.

So maybe Monday - Thursday is all Primal, with Friday supper, Saturday lunch, Saturday supper and Sunday lunch being whatever he wants? Gives him some control over it while giving you a chance to give his body a chance to feel the positive effects of Primal eating.

Just a thought.

[Debbie B in MD]

These are great ideas. Thanks Patrick!!!!!

[Gathwh]

My advice would be to try to make him try it as an experiment, try it 100% for a month and then let him choose. If he doesn't feel better, let him eat what he wants.

[theholla]

The teenage mind is a huge mystery to me, so I can't be much help there! But, the best way I've found to sell an adult on Primal is to do a 30 day challenge, like Gathwh suggested - try it for 30 days, and see how you feel.

Just as a thought, since it sounds like your children are active and not overweight, I wouldn't suggest limiting carbs too much - just making sure they're from nice, clean sources like starchy vegetables, and to a lesser extent fruit or even some rice.

[ani]

I'm 17, and I know that if my parents tried to make me try a new dietary approach I would be incredibly stubborn. I suggest only providing the best foods possible for your son and being okay with what he decides to eat when he's away from home. I recently got my brother (19) more interested in being primal, and i think what really did it was providing some delicious primal subs for foods that would normally be off limits. For example if I know there will be crap cookies around I will bake up a grain free batch that anyone in my family can munch on instead, same with ice cream. I know primal subs and treats are controversial, but it helped me and my brother switch over much easier. In fact I discovered the primal blueprint when searching for fun things to make with coconut flour Hope this helps!

[den.sidste.messias]

I know how you feel! My mum was recently diagnosed with hypertension, and my grandmum has osteoporosis, hypothyroidism, rheumatism, etc. But even as I gripe and grumble, promote and portray Primal as the only viable option (to my mum at least), she doesn't buy it one bit.

I know what I must do though to convince them - lose my freshman fifteen that have been hanging around with me since I was eighteen. Example is the best teacher. So you've got some self-work to do - being only one week in! Sadly, I've been on and off this thing for about a year, not changing much physically (due to relapses and nights out)

[Enamel]

I'm 17, and I know that if my parents tried to make me try a new dietary approach I would be incredibly stubborn. I suggest only providing the best foods possible for your son and being okay with what he decides to eat when he's away from home. I recently got my brother (19) more interested in being primal, and i think what really did it was providing some delicious primal subs for foods that would normally be off limits. For example if I know there will be crap cookies around I will bake up a grain free batch that anyone in my family can munch on instead, same with ice cream. I know primal subs and treats are controversial, but it helped me and my brother switch over much easier. In fact I discovered the primal blueprint when searching for fun things to make with coconut flour Hope this helps!

I think this is all great advice. I'm 19, so still technically a teenager, and I know I'd be pissed off if my parents tried to force me into some sort of diet that I didn't choose myself, so I think easing into it would be a good approach. It's really important to make the food taste GOOD and be appealing.

Your effort to help them out nutritionally is really commendable - I'm sure they'll be grateful for it later on in life. Instilling good eating habits in your children is really important, imo.

[runnergal]

I'm 17, and I know that if my parents tried to make me try a new dietary approach I would be incredibly stubborn. I suggest only providing the best foods possible for your son and being okay with what he decides to eat when he's away from home. I recently got my brother (19) more interested in being primal, and i think what really did it was providing some delicious primal subs for foods that would normally be off limits. For example if I know there will be crap cookies around I will bake up a grain free batch that anyone in my family can munch on instead, same with ice cream. I know primal subs and treats are controversial, but it helped me and my brother switch over much easier. In fact I discovered the primal blueprint when searching for fun things to make with coconut flour Hope this helps!

More along these lines. Cook primal at home. Dont monitor what he eats away from home.

[Conner P.]

I second just cooking primal at home (and keeping the munchies primal: no cereal, chips, or anything). If you use decent food like fresh chicken as opposed to the 3lb/$5 bags of frozen SHIT, then it won't matter. Make it tasty and the kids will eat it. Fresh meat and veggies loaded up with butter and maybe a sprinkling of sea salt. He won't even think of pasta while gnawing on a juicy steak.