Brown Bag lunches

Sometimes I get questions on what I feed Reece. Ever since he was little he's always had the same foods, or similar foods to what I eat. One of his first "whole" foods was actually sauerkraut. As my diet evolves, so does his.  I don't believe in feeding your children "special" foods. I do think that you allow your kid to become a picky eater. He isn't allowed to tell me that he doesn't like something before he tries it. You may have to introduce your kid to a food seven times before they like it. Yes, seven times. Sometimes that means reheating the same food at least twice. Reece is not a picky eater at all. In fact, he can be easily described as a "hearty" eater.

My personal philosophy on kid-rearing is that you need to treat them with respect like you would any other human being. This can be tough; I would like to elaborate on this more in another post.  This does mean that Reece is allowed his own opinion when it comes to food. I respect his opinions. Reece does not care for spicy foods. I love spicy foods. Usually I only cook anything spicy when I'm home alone. However, on occasion I cook something I want that is spicy but it's usually a compromise (and there are some spicy foods he likes).

I ask him if he thinks a dish needs something (Spice perhaps? More meat? Less broth? Cheese? A sauce? Butter?). My mom gets a kick out of his descriptions of food because he is so opinionated about it. He has told me that at certain restaurants he's "disappointed" in the food. I work to make his food experience better and I actively explain why certain foods are better for him. He is not to be rude when I cook something he doesn't like. After a meal if he doesn't care for it he simply says, "Mommy, that was ok for tonight but I would prefer if you didn't make it again." That's code for "I ate it, but I wasn't happy about it." I do also hear "I would love if you made that again, Mommy. That was awesome!" (i.e. Alfredo is is fav. right now.)

I don't always have time to make his lunch. I'm getting better about it, though. I like to put little notes in his lunch box to let him know I'm thinking about him too. The lunch and the note combined make for a nourishing meal for his body and his mind. I make a few different lunches for him. I like to rotate them because I don't want him eating the same thing every day. (How boring!) I do ask for feedback. (What did you eat first? What didn't you eat? Were you full? Is there something you would have liked to have?) I always want to know "why" for his answers. I hate the idea of him throwing away something or trading food. 

Ideas for his main course for lunch are:

Awesome Chili

Nacho salad (meat + cheese + sour cream + vegetable chips + lettuce and salsa mixed up)

Tuna salad (mayo + tuna + sardines) <- I would put spices but he doesn't want them

Crab salad (mayo + crab + spices)

Chicken salad – usually with a sliced fruit and crumbled nuts + mayo or dressing

Cheese + Meat, no crackers

Leftover soup

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Here’s Reece’s favorite lunch:

Grassfed polish sausage (cooked and cut into little disks)

Homemade honey mustard -> really raw honey + deli style grey poupon stirred until mixed thoroughly (in a 1:2 ratio)

The raw honey gives him extra enzymes to boost his immune system and help digestion. Because the grassfed polish sausage is higher in fat + protein he does not have the wild blood sugar swings he would if he only ate honey on it’s own… Plus he’s just dipping it so he’s not eating a ton of honey. He really doesn’t care about the sides as much. Once he sees the polish sausage, he knows he’s in business.

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The sides change too. But here’s some examples:

I give him at least 1 savory item in his lunch also. Examples of this are:

Cheese (usually raw from the farmer)

Vegetables and dip (not celery though… he dislikes celery)

Vegetable chips (usually with homemade dip)

Spiced nuts

Deviled eggs (although sometimes these are the actual meal if I put enough in there)

A small side salad + dressing (He loves this)

Savory mini doughnuts (I'll write a post about these later)

I've sent him bacon strips too. He likes that. (I do too.)

A few times a week I will give him 1 sweet treat (which is usually not really that sweet). Examples of this are:

Plain yogurt (organic always) + berries and nuts

Sweet almonds

Chocolate milk (from the farmer)

Homemade cookie

Grapes or another (low sugar) fruit

Apple + almond butter

A couple squares of dark chocolate

To drink usually I'll send him water, kefir smoothie, or  raw milk (which he loves). Over the next couple weeks I'm going to try fermenting more foods and sending him those too. He's been battling a more illnesses this year than in past years. It'd be good to boost his immunity now while he's overcoming some illnesses.

You get the idea, hopefully. It's pretty much what we have in the house. I usually make him his favorite lunch on Wednesdays... when I can. I try to make his lunches higher in carbs than I would eat (more vegetables, some fruit, and more dairy), because he doesn’t need to lose weight. He’s not using hormones to grow wide, his hormones are making him grow taller.** I feel he does better if it’s pretty balanced as far as leaning toward a lot of fat and more protein. He tells me he does better in class if he can think clearly. It's hard to concentrate in school (or life) if you're starving.

** I've noticed when he eats more home-cooked foods, gets CLO, and no gluten he grows. He's now up to my clavicle. I'm growing a giant. :D

Cod Liver Oil Kid

When Reece was 4 and I started learning about WAPF, I started giving Reece Cod Liver Oil  (CLO) in a shot glass. We would top it with a little juice and we would “belly up to the bar” and have our oil every morning.* I’ve been slacking lately and he reminded me that he misses it. I’ll be purchasing some juice this weekend.

Up until he was 5 and going into kindergarten Reece was in speech therapy. He doesn’t remember it very well, which is nice. I don’t want him to remember struggling to communicate with others. When he was 6 months old he said his first word. Amazing!  I thought. Then at 7 or so months he would say a full sentence and crack me up. After a year and a few months he said another word. Then he just stopped talking. I had him evaluated. At this point he made up his own language and only I could decode it. Part of it was that he just didn’t see the point in learning to talk. I understood him.

A lot of the people that evaluated him hinted that he might be autistic or have ADD/ADHD in addition to having the speech problems. I did not push the issue and have him tested for either. It can be debated another time whether that action was stupid, careless, or ingenious. My numerous reasons are too lengthy and personal to explain in this blog.

Prior to eating more WAPF style I was trying to be a low-fat vegetarian. I had gained weight (going low-fat vegetarian really helped me pack on the pounds) and I was trying to be healthy. This way of living did not suit me or my child.

I was actually scared to pick up that Nourishing Traditions book. I was afraid to change because I was tired of being wrong and getting sick because of it. The book's cover hinted that what I thought I thought was good was wrong. I already had an inkling that was the case. I looked around me to see if anyone was watching and I snatched that book up. How could something like that be in plain view?! I thought. Who else knows about this?! I read that book cover to cover at least twice. Now it looks... um, loved. It has splatters, stains, and folded edges. I guess loved is pretty accurate at this point.

When we started eating more fat, Reece’s development rapidly improved (and so did my health). The farm food we both loved for several reasons. The taste and quality were wonderful, but we both stopped getting so sick and our digestion improved a lot. The CLO really clinched it. I sold him hard on it too.  I told him he would develop powers similar to the guys in the Incredibles (run fast, see far, become super smart, etc.) because that’s what he was into at the time. I wasn’t lying when I told him these things would happen. CLO does some pretty awesome things.  

Originally I was really afraid he wouldn’t drink it. I didn’t have a lot of money to spare at the time for things we wouldn't use (which was another reason I was hesitant about the book). We were always sick and I had to take off work to take both of us to the doctor. I was very stressed out. I am really thankful that I didn’t second guess myself and put that book down. I am much more laid back than I used to be and Reece is healthier from all the changes.

Most people don’t even know that he ever had developmental delays. In first grade he missed testing into 5^th grade reading level by one word: meteorologist. He’s also the tallest in his class. In Kindergarden he told me he was angry because everyone else was able to stay home sick and he wasn't because he didn't get sick. He told me he wanted to spend time with me. (aw!) I don’t know where we would be if we continued down the same road we were going before WAPF and CLO.

He doesn’t really care about super powers anymore. That stage of development is complete. He tells me that he feels a difference when he takes CLO and when he doesn’t. That’s pretty big. He told me he misses it. He may not care if it gives him superpowers, but to me it’s amazing stuff.

Cheers!

*Once he got older I started taking pills because it really was hard for me to swallow the oil sans pill. I would have to gag when he wasn’t looking. I figured that face was going to turn him off the oil which I wanted him to take. He complains when the juice masks the taste of the oil. I think that's a little... odd.

Endometriosis… the sad tales of a chick in pain

This post is going to border on TMI. Ok, it basically dances all over TMI. I’m hoping that if you know and love, or even slightly like someone with these female issues that this might help you find some answers too.

I don’t know what I was thinking when I was younger. On Father’s Day, the year I was 13, I “became a woman” and started menstruating. I was really excited. That meant that I was growing up. I was almost the last girl in my class (that was a big deal). I didn’t want to get left behind.

The pain

It was exactly around that time that my back started hurting. It was a constant burning, dull, aching pain. I would complain to my parents about how much it hurt. Because my parents listened to me, I got a new bed. I got new bras. They tried everything. By the time I was in high school the pain was unbearable. It was constant, but around my periods it was the worst.

Diagnosis

By the time I was in 10^th grade, after the doctor trying everything (ulcers, IBS, etc.) I was diagnosed with endometriosis. It’s an autoimmune disease where the lining of your uterus does not 1. grow in the proper places 2. the signals from your body have it “bleed” into improper places in your body instead of out of you 3. can cause damage to your fertility if not treated properly. (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Endometriosis)

Treatment

That year I had surgery (exploratory pelvic laparoscopy) where they removed a cup of blood and 4 “growths.” They then proceeded to put me on birth control pills to regulate my hormones. That did not work completely. I took pills so I didn’t have a period for a year. Immediately after high school I had break through bleeding for 2 months. Straight. I was worried. This was a reoccurring issue for another year. The Army gave me injections to induce menopause. The explanation was so things would “dry up.” I am the only woman I know that knows what menopause will feel like before it happens.

A month after the injections wore off, I got pregnant. This was a surprise to everyone. I had been told my chances of having a child were slim to none and none was winning.

In the past 8 years I have lived almost pain-free.

Things that did not help:

I read a book about endometriosis that talked about ending my love with dairy products, especially cheese. That was very difficult to do – and did not help.

The same book suggested I eat less meat. Also, not very helpful. As soon as I started focusing my eating more towards a vegetarian diet I was in a lot of pain. Also on that same note – soy exacerbated the problem immensely.

I have not noticed a difference with more exercise in my life. The book and websites said that I should strive to get “enough” daily exercise. Large amounts of exercise only made me more tired and unable to cope with the pain.

Acetaminophen, OTC pain relievers – I still hate taking them. They did nothing to dull the pain and always upset my stomach.

Birth Control pills – I think that on top of a high-carb/low-fat diet, they forced my hormones to fluctuate wildly.

Things that have helped:

Having a baby. Seriously. Pregnancy was admittedly rough. I was very sick. I think I would eat differently and take better care of myself (relax more) to make it easier if I had to do it all over again. I don't recommend this if you're not ready yet, of course.

Breastfeeding also prolonged the lack of pain. I breastfed my son for 18 months.

I have a copper IUD. No extra hormones messing with my natural ones.

The biggest difference: CHANGING MY DIET TO LOW CARB!!! I am virtually pain-free today. Atkins worked miracles for my endometriosis. I don’t lose weight during my period, which is normal. (I did call the Atkins’ hotline and ask about that.) But, I still lose inches, and I don’t hurt. I eat cheese too!  I eat a lot of meat, eggs and tons of fat during my period because I need the vitamins. Also, my cycle was about 21 days when I was heavier. It’s now 25 after almost 2 years of low carb. I definitely think the difference is my diet. I do not eat legumes anymore either. That also improved the pain cycle.

PMS symptoms

I do occasionally have breast tenderness. That actually makes up a large amount of surface area on me (no matter what my size), which makes for uncomfortable times. I started taking iodine after hearing Jimmy Moore’s podcast (http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/%E2%80%98livin%E2%80%99-la-vida-low-carb-show%E2%80%99-episode-283-dr-jorge-flechas-says-iodine-deficiency-is-a-real-health-crisis/5801) concerning iodine. I read a lot of information about it before adding it. That one pill helped a lot of other pain issues I had too. (I used to have deep in the bone/tissue pain in my arms and legs. I don’t anymore with the iodine.) There is no pain prior to my period. Another thing that helped was taking high vitamin butter + fermented cod liver oil. I’ve noticed that it reduces the inflammation and gives me more energy.

I used to be very cranky and, um, not-nice prior to my period. (And since it’s a short cycle, that would make me a bad person to be around.) My moods are very even now that I’ve changed my diet to low-carb. I do feel more run down during that time and hungry, but I feel that’s my body’s way of telling me to slow down and focus on taking care of myself.

Something I’m trying:

After reading these two articles on the Weston A. Price Foundation’s website (http://www.westonaprice.org/womens-health/641-wise-choices-healthy-bodies.html and http://www.westonaprice.org/womens-health/637-treating-heavy-bleeding-and-fibroids.html) , I’m taking a double dose of cod liver oil (see above) during this period. I would like to see if it improves the heavier bleeding and cuts my period days down. I am also hoping that it will make my cycle longer. I am not sure that the oil I take now is high enough in Vitamin A to sufficiently do this. I may have to try it with another higher vitamin cod liver oil. I’ve noticed a lot of the health issues I have could possibly be attributed to low vitamin A. We’ll see how I do. I’ll keep you posted. 

__________ Update: 29 November 2010_____________

The cod liver oil helped some. I think the extra sleep I got for the month also helped. I cut the days down by 2 and added an extra 2 days to my cycle. That's actually super awesome and I am very pleased. Then I went more paleo (-any grains, -dairy) for the last couple days and felt even better. No matter what you read about endometriosis and diet, it's no different than other auto-immune diseases. You basically need optimum nutrition to function optimally. 

___________Update: 20 January 2011 ______________
Gluten free was definitely the way to go. When you have one autoimmune disease its easy to get another one. That's something you actually have to watch for... A strange rash on my hands appears when I eat gluten, so I've cold-turkey ended that. Now it really upsets my stomach if I eat gluten. My hands tend to be part of my livelihood (typing) so I can't just ignore them. Also, my cycle is now officially 27 days long. The extra cod liver oil might have corrected something internally. I only took it for that month. I'm really glad I did that. I've noticed now that I do not eat gluten I am not feeling bloated days before my period. I am sure I am still retaining water. Actually, I used to hold on to up to 10 lbs every cycle before low carb - and now it's exact every time. 3 lbs. That's it. Now I don't need "fat pants" ever. I still eat eggs and dairy (ugh! so addicted to those things!) and I'm starting to add more fermented foods and organ meats to my lists of foods to eat. It's an evolving menu plan.