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Exercise & Nutrition

enough protein?

18 years ago

I've got an 11-year-old son who has very finicky eating habits. He has a particular displeasure with vegetables(what kid doesn't?). Since he's not a heavy eater, I decided to a trick to get him to get more protein. I blend 1 can of Boost or Ensure with some ice cream and make a shake. Am I doing wrong by giving him that sugar boost time after time? He stays away from sweets(totally on his own)and he will eat some veggies(corn,tomatoes,lettuce). I'm not giving him the shake every night so as to not addict him to it.

And has anyone noticed that the kids aren't outside playing as they normally do in the summer? Is the climate creating shut-ins?

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Comments (3)

alevy327
18 years ago
Although I have long past my stage of being a finicky eater, my mom sure had her hands full with me. I hated veggies and also had to drink Boost. Don't worry I turned out healthy. My mom use to use all kinds of tricks to sneak extra nutrients into my diet. She did some research on cooking techniques and got really good at it. I didn't even taste any of the veggies. I could pass along some of her secrets. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. About the Boost....I had one everyday and nothing bad happend to me. It is suppose to be a meal replacement so think of it that way. Of course it has some sugar in it and had I eaten an actually meal instead of Boost it would have had sugar in it too!
fandlil
18 years ago
I think that kids or adults who don't eat their vegetables have a problem with the way the vegetables are prepared, or the particular veggies they are exposed to. There may be some individuals who have a aversion to ALL veggies. But most who avoid them are just not exposed to the ones they like. I do not think BOOST is the answer. I think some changes in meal preparation might fix the problem -- easy changes, nothing to upset the whole household routine.
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Hi Alice! You rock!!!!!!!!!!! I know exactly what you mean about the cravings. Ice cream is one of my "special" foods-----I buy those "Skinny Cow" ones---they have 130 calories, 2 grams of fat, and are 23 grams Carbohydrates. They're round ice cream sandwiches, a pretty good size, too. Six in a pkg. for about 4 bucks---no, I don't work for them. lol I may have to buy some stock, though! It sounds like you're well on the way to your goal weight. I've got at least 30 more lbs. to go, have lost about 15 in the past 3 months. I seem to fluctuate... a lot! I don't know if you read the other thread, but DH has diabetes problems so now he's cutting back on all of his sweets, etc. So, now it should be easier to lose. Take care, have a great day and post with us----we're all doing it together----losing one lb. at a time. sue
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A great way to "stretch" is to add textured vegetable protein to your diet. It's really cheap, and you re-constitute it, so you can soak it in stocks. Add it to ground meat or use it instead of meat. I'm vegetarian, and we re-constitute it in a mushroom broth with some Dr. Bronners thrown in. I mix it with spaghtetti sauce for pasta (gives nice texture), or macaroni and cheese...it pumps up the protien in these foods without adding too much of an odd texture like tofu is to some people or the beany taste from beans that some folks don't like. Lentils are another huge staple of our diet. There are tons of different kinds, and they have a very pleasant taste. Of all dry beans they are fastest to cook. My mom makes a great lentil salad with cooked brown lentils, diced celery, tomatoes, black olives and a bit of feta with a clear Italian or vinagrette dressing. You can throw them into a simple broth, with carrots, potatoes and celery and have a great soup.... Nancy mentioned B12 and nutritional yeast is a great source of B vitamins. If you like tofu, here's a cheesy tasting tofu recipe from The Grit, in Athens, GA. Using super firm tofu, (or press it with a book to squeeze some water out), cube it small and fry it in a non-stick skillet (don't use oil, this browns it better). Then turn off your heat. Sprinkle it with some soy sauce (about a teaspoon for a whole box of tofu ) and then throw the nutritional yeast right in on top of it - it will stick. We put this on salad as our "croutons" and it is YUM!!!! Also excellent on stir fried veggies over brown rice (the Grit calls this their "Golden Bowl". GGG
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I don't deliberately plan my meals that way. I tend to put things together that seem to go together(beans & rice for example) I eat a lot of ethnic cuisine and it seems to be figured out for me. Been a veggie for 26 years and am very healthy. The only supplement that I take is E. I don't buy into the lack of protein thing that people worry about with a veggie diet. Think we eat way more protein than we need anyway.
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popi_gw
18 years ago
My son was the same with veges, he is now 16 and is a vegetarian. We often have a laugh when I tell him how difficult he was when he was little and not eating veges. Now he eats all veges, but hates cooked carrot !

When he was little I used to get around the vege thing, by grating veges in things like hamburgers. He used to gobble that up. You can puree veges and put some in some icecream, its only limited by your imagination.

Personally, I always present fresh food, and always have, to my family. I avoid processed food.

Perhaps your son loves fruit..my son, when little, would eat lots of fruit. My doctor told me that if he is eating fruit he is getting enough nutrition.

I totally agree with haus proud, when she says its all in the preparation of the veges. Who wants to eat a lump of broccoli, well I do...but others may not be so keen.

What sort of protein does your son eat ?

I heard today that some research has concluded that if a person is not getting enough protein, then they will usually eat more other foods, usually carbohydrates until they have enough protein. This can often lead to obesity.

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