Okay, so I'm a little calmer than I was last night.

I haven't truly "zoned" our family/home yet, having just begun this journey. I have "Enter the Zone", and want to have a good handle on being able to explain what we are doing, especially for my hypertensive, ten year old daughter.

We were planning on swimming after we picked them up from after school yesterday. I was proud of myself because I had picked out some zone friendly snack bars, and gave them to the kids while we were still in the after school environment, but I wanted them nourished before swimming.

I turn around, and there's my one kid with his bar in one hand, and a pepperoni pizza in the other! I look, and my daughter is also eating pizza--these are sizable pieces.

I just felt like it was the epitome of my whole struggle to get good stuff into them, that even if they wanted to eat in a healthy manner (which my older one occasionally does), they are bombarded with temptation in all directions. In defense of the staff, they had told my daughter to ask me, and she told them she had. . .

I can be tougher on her, but who offers them decent food? Even outside of the Zone, school food is about 3-4 x the recommended allowance of sodium, seldom decent fiber options, I could go on and on.

I need techniques for staying on top of this. We eat out several times each week, because we get them after work, and they have an activity or two a week (Aikido, swimming), and they are always absolutely starved. If I could get on top of having the snacks before they feel out of control, they may have more ability to say "no".

It can be a challenge!

You could send the bars to school with them, so that they have the bar ready to go. Then, they don't have to be out of control when you come to pick them up.

School lunches are not that great, but it depends on how far you want to go with this. Your alternative is to send box lunches, and then you would have control over zoning them.

Also, may take some work and planning, but you could pack a "picnic basket" in place of going out for dinner.

Hi Julia!

My three kids ranged in age from 9 to 18 when we began the Zone diet at our house. That was 15 years ago and now, as adults living on their own, one of them also a parent, they've all retained their Zone balanced eating habits. The way I handled it during those first years in the Zone was to set the best example I could at home, working in little bits of info here and there about certain foods and why we were eating differently, but not making it an issue. The first across the board change I made immediately was in the fats we ate. I got rid of the bad fats (as in dumped them in the trash) and from then on used only the best fats for the Zone. During that first year in the Zone, I gradually stopped buying the offending high density carb foods. By the end of that year, our house was full of only Zone friendly choices, and has remained that way. For my youngest, I'd have only Zone foods available at breakfast, I'd pack a Zoned lunch made of things he liked, and we'd eat Zoned snacks after school, Zone dinner, etc. If he ate other things away from home, it was his choice. He has ADD, so it was especially important for him to maintain a Zone balanced diet. I figured the less pressure I placed on the issue, and the more Zone favorable choices he had at home from foods he loved, the easier it would be. Even the pickiest eaters, adults and children, can successfully do the Zone diet. Here are a few tips. Give it time and use some creative thinking when it comes to what to eat. Try to be patient and stick with providing good choices at home in the form of Zone favorable foods that your daughter loves. Keep meals simple and delicious. Use sauces to make veggies taste good. Meals don’t need to be traditional fare. A bowl of Zone balanced chili is as good a breakfast as scrambled egg whites with cheese, a bowl of berries, and some nuts.

It might not always seem like it but kids do emulate their parents. Setting a good example will pay off in the long run. I remember one day, a couple years after we’d been doing the Zone, when my husband had stopped for milk on the way home from work. He’d also picked up a box of granola and a jug of orange juice. He said he thought the kids might want some since it had been a long time since we’d has any in the house. Much to his surprise, the orange juice sat in the fridge, hardly mostly unused until it finally went bad, and the granola was the in the cabinet unopened for months. We ended up discarding that too, after it reached its expiration date.

Thanks for the input.

I guess we all have different starting places. And I'm sorry, I really am more proactive than this, but my opening "snapshot" is the somewhat discouraged, guilty feeling me.

I mentioned in another post, that we had tried the DASH diet for my daughter, right after she was diagnosed with hypertension. This means less than 1500 mg sodium per day. I made their lunches, taught her to read labels, controlled her snacks. She was great, and we stuck to it for around 3 months.

My son got really sick--had something called "post infective gastroenteritis", where after a bout of vomiting and diarrhea, he got over the infection, but continued with the other symptoms for 2 months. During that time, I was also in school along with working part time, and the whole eating healthy fell apart. Also, my daughter grew weary of the extremely low sodium, and between her and her starving brother, they got rebellious about what they would eat, and started sneaking food.

I really gave up, or maybe they gave up on me. My son, then 6, kept telling the lunch ladies he forgot his money, and conning them into a lunch there, bringing home the lunch I made him.

I didn't want food to be this big a control issue. All I ever wanted was to give them enjoyable food that was good for them. But he, especially, won't look a vegetable in the eye. My DH has recently been insisting on some vegetables with meals. But he won't even try half the stuff I bring, sticking with rice and meat.

I think the having tried and failed is a big hurdle to get over. Having failed once at getting them on board with homemade lunches and snacks seems to make it harder to get them back on board.

Also, I'm struggling with a few NON-insulin/glucagon hormone pairings today.

Thanks for listening.

Julia

Hi Julia,

Thanks for the additional info. Here are some more ideas, off the top of my head.

If you're not already doing so, giving the kids Omega Rx fish oil will be of great help to them, especially for your daughter's hypertension.

Keep in mind that food can't be a control issue if you don't let your kids control you with it, and, if you don't try to control the kids with it. If your son won't eat veggies, so he doesn't eat them. If he never eats them, then so be it. If he decides to eat them some day, then good for him. But none of that has to change whether or not you keep offering only good Zone food choices.

Try to use some creativity along the way. Let it become the norm, something that's fun, not a huge challenge. Make a big deal out of being able to eat a dish of cottage cheese, berries and peanuts for dinner. Buy some Zone pasta and serve it with ground beef or turkey and spaghetti sauce. Most kids will eat that. Your family's already been down that road of the hard to stick to diet plan, with your daughter's time on DASH. The Zone isn't like that, so you don't need to worry about repeating that scenario.

If there's a problem with you son conning the lunch ladies, then you could talk to them, or even take the issue to the principal if you don't get anywhere with the lunch staff.

If you need to take a deep breath and relax about the eating, then do it. When it all seems to be going in the wrong direction, simply give everyone a Zone shake for dinner. Take it a meal at a time, even with the kids. You'll get there.

Good luck and keep us updated!

Thanks, Sue.

I also started reading the "Zone Meals in Seconds", and they take such a baby step approach, it's very encouraging.

The shake for dinner is a good idea. And the fish oil--I'll bet she'll do that, because she's meticulous about taking her medication.

I think I will start with snacks. If I can just make good snacks available to them throughout the day, it will go a long way toward keeping them from getting crazy before the next meal.

(Deep breathing.)

You're welcome!

Deep breathing, good! :-)

I like the snack approach. Baby steps are a very good way to ease into it when the kids are resistant, or even just uncomfortable with change. It will take a lot of the pressure off you, too. I hear you about simply wanting to provide them with nutritious enjoyable food. Its still possible, so hold onto that thought. Positive outlooks are contageous!

Enjoy the weekend!

Julia,

I hear your frustration!

My kids are ages 5-9-12. I am in the "thick of it", right there with you! I know exactly what you are up against. I guess the only difference is that I am not dealing with childhood hypertension. But, my oldest daughter has ADD, so I try to keep her diet in check, too.

Making an example of what is healthy to eat at home is important. Sending them off in the morning after having a zoned smoothie, or steel-cut oats is an important first step. If they can start out the day on the right track, that is part of the challenge.

Maybe you could talk to your kids about choices for lunch, and have them agree to eat a selection of foods from choices that you give. Use a reward system with them, whatever works. If they eat their lunches that you pack for them every day, then promise a fun activity for the weekend (this is what I have to do to get them to be ready to leave for school on time, it works!).

Also, my son is very picky about veggies, so I just ask him what veggies HE wants to eat. Fortunately, he will eat a select few, and so I agree to provide some from HIS list of foods. I do this for all of my kids, I give them choices and then THEY feel empowered because they participate in healthy meal planning.

So, I think that the message from me is to give them choices from the foods that you are willing to provide, and then let them put meals and snacks together, based on things that they like. Yeah, and if veggies are just not on your son's list, then at least get him some fruits. I bet he will eat those!