Navigating the Diner Breakfast

This morning I had to take my 190 pound autistic son in for blood work. As you can imagine, he doesn't like needles, and getting him to sit still for any kind of injection or prick of a needle has become a real challenge. The last time he had to get a shot at the doctor, four of us had to hold him down.

This morning, because he had to fast prior to the blood work, I promised him that if he was good, I'd take him to the diner for breakfast afterwards. It was still a struggle, but between the diner bribe, and threatening to tell his father that he "wasn't good," three of us managed to get the needle in him and the blood drawn.

So off to the diner we went.

Now diner breakfasts can be a caloric and health disaster, both for me and my son, but my son absolutely loves to go out for breakfast at a diner, so it is a very effective motivational tool for us to use on him.

Believe me, when you have a child who weighs 70 pounds more than you, is seven inches taller than you and has the cognitive abilities of a four year old, you need every motivational tool you can lay your hands on.

So this morning I had breakfast in the diner with my son. Not only was I concerned about what I was eating, but what he ate as well. My son is not only allergic to wheat and dairy, but has low muscle tone and a tendency towards being overweight.

So here's what I did. After explaining the wheat and dairy issues, I ordered two scrambled eggs for him made with no dairy and no toast. Instead of hash browns I asked for fresh fruit to be put on his plate, and ordered up a side of turkey bacon for him. He loves bacon and part of the thrill of going to the diner for him is to get the bacon. I discovered a while ago that he was just as happy with the turkey bacon as the real stuff, and now order that instead.

For me, I had an egg white omelet with feta, tomato and asparagus. Instead of hash browns I got steamed vegetables and I ordered dry multi-grain toast. We both drank water, and I had a cup of coffee.

My breakfast was probably still more calories then I would normally consume for breakfast, but I wound up skipping lunch because it was so filling and just had a mid-day snack of fruit.

So mission was accomplished. I managed to get the blood drawn, and still stick to a fairly healthy meal despite going to the diner.