How are your young kids handeling the changes?

I have a 12 yr old son, I was really honest and gave him the choice to visit me in the hospital or not. I was in 2 nights as I had a late afternoon surgery and he chose to visit me. He is pretty oblivious to the food and eating aspect. He was very sensitive about what I was lifting and helped with groceries. Prior to surgery I emphasized that I would be able to be more active, live longer, go on rides at Disneyland and go swimming with him soon. I still fix a few meals just for him that I can't eat like pizza and chicken pot pie but generally we all eat the same , I skip on the carbs. I've lost close to 50 lbs from my high weight and my son can't tell at all, in the end I'm just his mama.

 

 

I have a 4 and 7 year old.  At first, I ate differently because I was mainly drinking my meals.  They knew I had an operation on my tummy to help me eat healthier foods.  Now we basically eat the same meals, only they have some additional carbs.  It can be a challenge.  My husband really likes casseroles, but most of them are too high carb for me.  In the summer, grilled lean meat and veggies are pretty easy for everyone to handle, though.

I keep snacks for my kids that do not tempt me, like granola bars.  I have never really liked them, but they do.  I am still learning what I can have in the house for them and what is not a good idea.  Last week I discovered I really can't buy them chex mix because it tempts me.  It's now gone, and I won't buy it again.  My kids already ate a lot of fruits and veggies so this isn't that different for them.

I have always been an "eat what I cook or go hungry" kind of mom, though, so they are used to me ignoring their requests for pizza and hot dogs at every meal, haha!

I fix meals for the family and sometimes something different for myself. As long as we're eating a lean protein and a vegetable, I just eat what they are having. I just skip the potatoes, pasta and rice and I don't eat any bread. My younger kids are 11 and 14. They totally understand why I'm eating the way I do and for the most part the whole family just jokes about how different my eating is now compared to theirs. I still get them their snack foods but not as much. The whole family takes their lunches to work/school so we have lunch meat, chips, granola bars, fruit and vegetables for that. I don't really have a problem staying away from their foods and they stay away from mine. For myself I have special cheeses, yogurts and things and they all respect that it's Mom's and leave it for me. 

In the beginning, I would sit with the family and drink my protein shake while they ate dinner and on the weekends for any of the meals we would usually sit down as a family for. Then as I slowly added in foods, I would cook/fix my own meal and eat with them. Now that I'm further out most of the time I just eat what they are without the carby type foods. 

A big thank you for all your replies! They helped alleviate most of my anxiety. I was so unsure about it and it helped so much to hear your stories. I have talked to them about the reasons I'm having the surgery and the diet changes I will have to make. They are very supportive about the surgery although a little scared by it. I have told them there's no need to be scared and have tried to give them the knowledge they need to calm their nerves. They are looking forward to us being able to do more things together and for me to feel better all around. I love them so much and want to make this as easy as I can on their little hearts. So again, thank you all so much!!!!

I'm a little late to the thread but wanted to add my two cents. My kids (10 & 7) are oblivious.

I'm still on the liquids stage, and I just sip my protein shake while they eat their regular foods.

During a meal pre-op I was rarely at the table anyway because I am a distracted cook and couldn't seem to get everything together at once, lol. My attitude adjustment toward food has caused me to create much simpler meals for them and they haven't really noticed.

So they're not used to me being at the table with them, but it's all good.

My kids worried that i would look differently, not like their mommy. I've lost 40 pounds and they've been here for every gradual change and say they don't notice anything different about me! They dealt with all this way better than I expected!