10 Things We’ve Learned in Helping Our Picky Eater Accept Nourishing, Whole Foods

I’m writing this post with the disclaimer that we still have a ways to go in terms of my son eating non-preferred foods and sealing up his gut lining.

BUT…six months ago, I had a child who literally ate quinoa pasta for dinner every single night. I kid you not. Every night. And who would only eat raw tomatoes and cucumbers in the veggie department, which flared his eczema. And who had eaten meat maybe five times in his life. I used to cry after any kind of nutrition/functional medicine appointment, because I knew he would straight up refuse anything I was told to feed him.

Now he’s expanded his palette to include daily mixed greens salads, chicken, grass fed beef, salmon, carrots, spaghetti squash, green beans, and all kinds of fun things hidden in smoothies. And this week he’s eaten ground beef with shredded carrots, asparagus, and onions. Who is this child??

This is now a typical meal for James! And I took the picture after he had finished his spaghetti squash. 🙂

So here is what we’ve learned from our super smart speech and occupational therapists and from trial and error with a cute little boy who between food sensitivities and sensory pickiness gave (is giving) us a run for our money.

1. It’s not going to be perfect. This one was really hard for me, especially because of his many food sensitivities and reactions. Take it one step at a time- sometimes with steps being weeks apart and oftentimes one step forward, two steps back.

2. Every small step is a win. Our therapists coached us that when James lets a non-preferred food stay on his plate, that’s a win. He touched it?? Even bigger win. And if he brings it to his mouth, that’s a home run! Usually with enough exposures, we can progress through these stages. Actually eating the non-preferred food might take quite a while, but setting the foundation for him is huge.

3. Take the pressure off. The more you can pretend to not care, the better it is. If my little man knows I’m watching him, you bet he will refuse whatever new food is on the plate. I try to engage in conversation, sing songs, or even just walk away and let him do his thing.

4. Cut out addicting foods. This was huge for us. Possibly #1. Cutting out artificial and processed foods opened up the door for more natural alternatives. Cutting out grains for James helped his palette open up even more. Once you cut out the foods that the body is addicted to, it makes way for the stuff you really want them to consume!

These past two weeks, we finally cut out homemade yogurt, leaving ghee, which only has trace amounts of casein and lactose, as his only dairy product. Interestingly, he has also been more adventurous at meals than ever before. He would never dare to touch a green bean or any kind of cooked vegetable for three years, and these past couple of weeks, he has started to eat them with little to no hesitation.

5. Build on what they know. James loves anything crunchy, so my husband sautéed little shreds of chicken into crunchy pieces using salt and ghee. Once James loved those, we could sauté them less. Then we could transfer the method to beef and eventually salmon. He eats these things easily now, which amazes me when I think just how much he used to despise any kind of meat or fish.

We’ve also recently used this method for shredded pieces of organic carrots, calling them French fries.

6. Make smoothies. These are so amazing for sneaking foods. He loved banana and blueberry smoothies (and his body tolerated them), so we started there. We could sneak lots of his supplements in these smoothies and eventually started adding little bits of veggies. I wonder if getting a bit of the taste of mixed greens with the smoothies has now helped him to eat them regularly, with honey, of course 😉

7. Let them play with new foods. I’ll never forget his therapists telling me to let him play with new foods. I painfully took this advice when I introduced bone broth to him, but it worked–

He was not happy to see the bowl of broth with some quinoa pasta in front of him (this was before we cut out grains), but since I knew this was a big step, I let him watch some kid music videos to allow him to relax. And then I walked away. Eventually I saw him picking up the noodles and splashing them in the broth, with the commentary, “splish, splash!” I remained in the corner in the fetal position through this process.

But eventually, he started licking his fingers. And then he started to pick up the noodles and eat them. And 10 minutes later, I saw him scooping up the broth with a spoon saying “yummy!” Totally worth the pool of soup on the table.

8. Place non-preferred or new foods next to familiar, preferred ones. The familiarity helps take the pressure off.

9. Think about your main goals during the meal and the factors that could detract from those. For example, using a fork is still hard and intimidating for James. When I give him a new food, I will put it in a bowl with a spoon or just on a plate for him to explore with his hands. If I want to work on utensils, I will give him a food he is very familiar with and enjoys.

10. Play with colors and fun designs. For some kids, it helps to have a non-preferred food next to a preferred that is the same color. Or to have the foods displayed in a fun way!

Parents of picky eaters, what you have found that has worked for you and your child??

How to Make Ghee

One of the many things I am grateful for in this health adventure is our introduction to ghee, butter’s major upgrade. Ghee originates in the Indian subcontinent and has been traditionally used to promote wellness both as a food and through topical application.

 

It’s rich in fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E; high in butyrate; and has lots of both short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids. Because the milk solids are boiled out of the butter, it only has trace amounts of lactose and casein, making it allergen-friendly. By boiling out these milk solids and water, you also end up with a rich product that has a higher smoke point and is safer to use for higher temperature cooking.

 

Once you’ve cooked with ghee, you wonder how you ever cooked with anything else. So smooth, versatile, and delicious! By using ghee, we have convinced our picky eater to eat a whole lot of non-preferred foods.

 

It’s a bit on the pricey side, but the good news is that it’s really easy to make. And it’s probably one of my favorite things to make as well. I find the whole process to be therapeutic.

 

The gold standard for ghee is butter made from the milk of grass fed cows, which will give you the most health benefits. You can look to your local organic farmers or find Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter in many popular grocery stores. If you can’t find grass fed better, organic is your next best bet!

 

Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make ghee.

 

You need:

 

• Two pounds of organic butter or grass fed butter (you can use one pound, but we go through it crazy fast)

**Note-it’s recommended to use unsalted or you will end up with salty ghee! When we didn’t have any other option, we tried salted a couple of times, and it seemed that a lot of the salt boiled out with the milk solids, so it wasn’t too bad! Just be prepared for it to be foamier. 

• sauce pan
• wooden spoon
• sieve
• several layers of cheesecloth or nutmilk bag
• 24 ounce mason jar

 

From start to finish, the boiling process takes about 20-25 minutes with two pounds of butter and about 15 minutes with one pound. The first couple of times you do it, you want to monitor very closely, so the butter doesn’t burn. Once you get the hang of it and know what to expect, it’s a bit easier to multitask.

 

Directions:

 

1. Cut butter into cubes

 

 

2. Heat on medium low, scraping bottom and sides of pan to avoid burning.

 

3. As the butter is melting, you will notice that it starts to foam.

 

 

4. Continue scraping the bottom and sides of the pan. The butter will start to boil, and as it bubbles, the foam will begin to clear. Bubbles will become larger and clearer as well, and foam will eventually disappear completely.

 

 

5. As the butter continues to boil, you’ll notice the foam beginning to appear once again. Very important to continue scraping the sides and bottom of the pan to avoid burning.

 

Starting up again!

Foamy

Foamier

 

6. When it looks like this, it’s ready to be taken off the stove.

Foamiest!

 

7. Let the foam settle for a minute, and then strain the butter through several layers of cheesecloth. I use a nut milk bag, so I just strain it through two layers of the nut milk bag twice- the first time in a glass measuring cup, and the second directly into a mason jar.

 

First strain

Second strain

 

 

 

This is what you’ll see left behind.

 

 

 

8. Put the lid of the mason jar on loosely until it forms into a solid.

Liquid ghee

Finished product!

 

Isn’t it pretty?? You can leave it at room temperature in a cabinet for up to 3 months or in the refrigerator for up to a year. Enjoy 🙂

 

Bubble Magic

Bubbles are a big deal at our house. James’ speech therapist showed us early on in his life just how much they could do.

 

He would do anything for these glorious rainbow soap spheres.

 

We’ve used them to help him say the “b” sound (reinforced by bubble blowing), sign and say “bubble,” sign/say “more,” eventually “more bubbles.” Then he learned to tell us if he wanted them to go “up high” or “down low.” Practicing the lip control and airflow control to blow them himself. Standing, taking a couple of steps, walking across a room, you name it.

 

Shortly after Georgia could walk, she knew how to make her brother happy by going to the cabinet and getting the bubbles.

 

The one thing we could never get him to do is pop them mid-air. While other kids frantically chased after them, popping in stride, he would watch them with the most euphoric look on his face, every muscle in his body tightened with intense focus. The only way he would pop them is if they landed on the floor or ground, when he felt their journeys were complete.

 

The other day, I tried to see bubbles like he sees them. I tried to look at them with his astute eye and intense focus. Letting the rest of the world fall away.

 

I saw the reflections of the windows drawing in sunlight, interspersed with effervescent rainbows.

 

I saw the images of myself, James, and Georgia, amusingly distorted in the lighthearted way only a bubble could create.

 

I saw bubbles that merged together, joining forces as they traveled whimsically toward their next adventure.

 

I watched them in their unpredictable paths, changing with someone’s breath or laughter or quick wave of the arm.

 

I know James sees much more than that.

 

Why would anyone want to pop them?

 

It’s James’ way- seeing and feeling things on a different wavelength.

 

It’s why when we pray, he doesn’t want to stop.

 

It’s why getting out his icons is the first thing he does each morning.

 

It’s why he reads my emotions like a book, oftentimes before I do.

 

It’s why when we think he’s paying least attention, he shows us that he hasn’t missed a beat.

 

It’s a gift.

 

And sometimes, on hard days, when there’s a royal meltdown when the bubble container closes, I wonder if it is a gift. I know many, including myself sometimes, would call his interaction with bubbles a stim.

 

And I wonder if as his gut heals and he gains more conventionally accepted knowledge and skills, he starts to treat bubbles the way others would- a game, rather than a mystery.

 

I will embrace whatever comes, as it does. But I am grateful for the chance to view the simple things in mystical ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chewy Banana Chips

These yummy morsels don’t last long around here. Light, sweet, and just a bit salty. And ingredients you probably have in your home right now.

I started making banana chips when James was unable to tolerate his favorite crunchy snacks and was mouthing everything. The mouthing might be a combination of imbalance in his digestive tract and sensory need for more input. We are learning how these two things often go hand-in-hand.

For the time being, I was looking for a healthy snack with the short list of simple foods he was able to tolerate. One of those trusty foods was bananas.

Most of the banana chip recipes floating around used lemon juice, and the citric acid was a no-go for him. So I attempted to make them with olive oil, and they completely disappeared in a couple of hours. Totally hit the spot. My kids now call them cookies..why not? 😉

The initial goal was to have a crunchy snack, but my family much prefers the chewy. And the chewy sensory input was just as helpful for James.

So here are banana chips with none of the additives you might find in store-bought options!

Ingredients:

3 bananas (not overripe)

2 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200F

Lightly coat olive oil on a nonstick cookie sheet

Slice the bananas into about 1/4 inch slices

Lightly brush olive oil on both sides of the banana slices and place on cookie sheet

Sprinkle with sea salt

Bake for 3 hours, flipping slices after 90 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

 

Two-Ingredient Pancakes

Well…no one is winning a food photography contest around here, but we love these 2-ingredient pancakes that have been floating around cyberspace. My picky eater finally eats eggs!

 

Ingredients: 1 mashed banana, 2 pastured eggs. The end.

We threw some mashed up blueberries in for this round! And if you’re really feeling crazy, add a dash of cinnamon.

After whipping them together, cook in ghee, butter, or the oil of your choice. Serve with raw honey or organic maple syrup.

An Update: 3 Months In

The past three weeks have been glorious for little man. A couple of days after my last post (Today, I feel frustrated.), James was back to his happy, fun-loving self. His functional medicine doctor asked us to increase his dose of EnteraGam, which is a medical food treatment that binds to toxic substances in the gut to prevent them from penetrating through the intestinal lining. When we started to increase his dose, he wasn’t feeling so hot, hence, my last post. But his body has now adjusted to it, and it seems to be doing its job.

We haven’t given him any broth the past few weeks since the suspect histamine issue came to light (broth is very high in histamine). He’s been eating lots of shredded chicken and steak, as long as it’s cooked in ghee. And my amazing sister brought to my attention two-ingredient pancakes, which consist of bananas and eggs. They are YUMMY. The kid is nuts over them, and he’s now regularly eating eggs. He still hasn’t touched any cooked vegetables recently, but we’ve been able to sneak some cauliflower, spaghetti squash, zucchini, and butternut squash into his smoothies regularly. Thank God for smoothies.

And the more fun behavior/overall temperament/language update. He has been so much more affectionate and personable. I’ll hear him say, “Where’s Mommy?” while he’s in another room and then walk up to me and want to sit on my lap. We hear lots of “big hug” requests all day long. Though he would readily receive affection, it used to be a rare occasion when he would initiate it. He’s also started saying, “silly goose,” when something is funny, which is just the cutest thing I ever did hear. “I want ____” statements are happening much more readily now, and the other day, he got up from breakfast and clearly said, “I want to go play.” Hooray for five word sentences!

We are still working on more reciprocal conversation. He loves to say good morning and ask how everyone is doing but has a hard time answering the question himself. A lot of his language has a bit of a rote feel to it, which makes me smile. For example, when he’s upset, you might hear him say, “It’s okay, buddy,” something he has heard quite a bit. 🙂 My personal favorite is when he’s given something, and he shows his gratitude by saying, “thank you, welcome.” Just wants to make sure both giver and receiver are covered.

We also had a great Halloween and hope you did, too! James still gets a little confused as to why we ring someone’s doorbell and then leave right away. He tried to walk into every house to visit, so we only made it to a few 😉 Our incredibly kind neighbors made him feel special by making sure there were non-food treats set aside for him.

Pictures for cuteness.

 

Thank you for following his journey!

 

 

 

 

Today, I feel frustrated.

Today, I feel frustrated.

 

I’m frustrated as I watch James slipping… his beautiful spirit going inside of himself instead of shining for all to see.

 

I’m frustrated, because I know he’s uncomfortable, and he can’t tell me.

 

I’m frustrated, because I don’t know why.

 

I’m frustrated, because he was fully present with us not long ago.

 

I’m frustrated, because the game keeps changing.

 

I’m frustrated that the three gallons of raw, grass fed milk that I make into yogurt each week could be doing him or my husband harm.

 

I’m frustrated, because I have no idea what to feed them.

 

I’m frustrated, because James asks for good things to eat, and I can’t let him have them.

 

I’m frustrated, because when a new food or supplement doesn’t go well, he pays for it for a week.

 

I’m frustrated, because we have to pack a cooler everywhere we go.

 

I’m frustrated, because we can’t do anything social that involves food without making someone uncomfortable.

 

I’m frustrated, because it’s not easy to make every blessed thing from scratch when you feel like it’s not helping,

 

But I know it is helping.

 

So I block out reality for a bit by plugging in the vacuum…he’s always found the sound of it soothing. And I find cleaning soothing…and maybe he’s onto something with the sound.

 

And I let him stim away and chew on a spoon he’s carefully held onto after lunch. And try not to panic or Google what kinds of metals are in the spoon and if they’ll do him harm.

 

And I smile when I see the goofy grin on his face each time the vacuum comes close.

 

And I smile when I see his sister’s goofy grin, too. Because if something brings James joy, it brings her joy.

 

And I smile when I unplug it and hear James try to continue its whirring sound.

 

So I’m frustrated.

 

But that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for how much we’ve learned.

 

And it doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for how far my boys have come.

 

Or how grateful I am to have easy access to grass fed meat, raw milk, and organic produce.

 

Or that we are able to stretch the budget, even when it hurts, to get what we need to restore health.

 

Or how I get to strike up a conversation with my favorite employee at the health food store.

 

Or how many amazing people we have met on this journey.

 

Or how James now asks me to read book after book after a year of refusal.

 

Or that a bad day now would have been a good day two years ago.

 

Or how grateful I am to watch him embrace more people and allow them to embrace him, too.

 

So, today he’s slipping, and maybe when he slips, I do, too.

 

He is, after all, my heart.

 

We’ll come back.

 

But today, I’ll be frustrated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weeks 5-7 on GAPS (kind of)

Can we talk about how confusing nutrition is? It’s like advice on getting a baby to sleep times a million. It’s challenging to obtain solid, well-accepted data on nutrition since it’s hard to do a randomized controlled trial with people and the food that they eat. Add picky kids to the equation, and it is virtually impossible. So what one expert says will heal everything, another says will put you in harm’s way. Roll the dice 😉

 

My envy of plants with their diet of water, sunlight, and some good ol’ CO2 continues.

Lucky roses

 

Fortunately, it seems we’re learning more and more about the human microbiome and epigenetics. So while the experts are making sense of these things, we do our best to hook onto really smart health practitioners who are constantly obsessing over all of this information, scour the Internet, listen to other families and parents who have experience with similar situations, and listen to our bodies. In James’ case, we watch like a hawk for any physical or behavioral changes and do our best to limit the variables that could explain any changes. And most importantly, pray for guidance.

James prays for all of us!

 

Shortly after my last post (finishing up week 4 on modified GAPS), James seemed to be going through a regression period. His eczema and overall demeanor were still worlds improved from what they had been, but an eczema flare showed that something was going on, and so did his irritability, less adaptability, and increased stimming. He also randomly threw up after a couple of meals.

 

So we began the guessing game. Is the zucchini we tried bothering him? I made the broth more concentrated this last round thinking it would help him. Was that too much? He’s eating way too many bananas…that definitely could be it. Was he exposed to mold somewhere or some other toxin? Or is it just kid stuff? Maybe he’s tired. Maybe he’s over scheduled. Maybe not scheduled enough. Maybe his little sister is pestering him too much.

 

I often observe his cheeks while he eats meals to see if there’s a difference in redness or bumps after he finishes. After we included daily avocados and made the broth more concentrated than it used to be, we started noticing he would rub his cheeks during meals. After the broth, especially, they seemed to become red pretty quickly. Which, I guess, is strange for eczema to worsen so fast, since it can often take 24-72 hours to show up after a trigger.

 

So that brings us back to the histamine sensitivity hypothesis his physician suggested after he vomited during first couple of days on GAPS. Histamine issues can come along with gut dysbiosis. When you look up histamine foods, they’re pretty much all of the foods that James eats—broth, avocados, fermented foods (like his beloved homemade yogurt), bananas. He also seemed to have more trouble when I was daring and added a splash of the fermented sauerkraut juice in his broth. GAPS is high on the fermented foods, which are also high in histamine.

 

I guess that means we need to regroup again. We can’t remove all of those high histamine foods, since he would be left with chicken, ghee, blueberries, supplements, and the tiny pieces of vegetables we are able to hide in his food and smoothies.

Spot the zucchini!

 

 

But we’re going to try to limit them to see if histamine is indeed a problem. And we can do things like adjust the broth cooking time so it has less histamine. We can avoid serving him leftovers as well, as the histamine levels increase the longer foods stay in the refrigerator. And figure out how to get some other foods in James in the meanwhile 😛

 

We’re also trying a new prescription called low dose naltrexone, which blocks opioid receptors and is supposed to generally boost the immune system and calm down inflammation. Let’s see what happens!

 

Though it’s a little frustrating when we have to reassess, the progress continues. It goes in waves, but the general direction is still forward. When we visited friends who hadn’t seen him since January, they were floored at how he had grown. He had much more interest in interacting and communicating and had a much faster warm up time. Since you can easily lose sight of that in the day to day, it was really nice and affirming to hear.

 

When it’s obvious he’s feeling well, he is THE most delightful person to be around. Sunshine radiates from those beautiful eyes and smile. We work every day to allow him to feel like his best self.

 

 

And for Thomas who continues to stick to GAPS religiously (he’s on stage 4/6 of the intro now!), he is still gaining weight and tolerating new foods as he slowly introduces them. Depending on how he feels, he might jump to an earlier stage of GAPS to let things settle before jumping to the next food. For the past two years, he has lost weight, plateaued, and then lost some more, no matter how much he ate. It is so exciting to see things move in the right direction for him!

 

Onward and upward.

 

 

 

 

 

GAPS- Weeks 3 and 4

These last two weeks have left us very hopeful.

 

Thomas is generally feeling better, and he’s eating a ton, including foods that have caused reactions in the past year or two.

 

These include- eggs, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, and ghee! A drop of ghee made him sick for two weeks a few months ago. Now he eats it on and in everything with no issues.

 

James has also continued to improve! It took a little bit of time to recover from the plethora of new things we shouldn’t have given him all at once, but after a bit of a reset, he came back stronger than ever.

 

His cheeks are still just about clear of eczema (yay!) and the other patches on his arms and back are decreasing a little bit each day. He has also been eating much more than usual, which is so gratifying. Still limited foods on his modified GAPS diet (meat stock, chicken with ghee, avocados, homemade yogurt, bananas, blueberries), but we have nothing but time. Also can we talk about how much chicken he is eating?? He’s always refused meat, but cooking the already boiled chicken in ghee (so much ghee) has just made a world of difference for him.

 

So much chicken!

The next new food is going to be a tiny bit of squash blended into the soup to see if his body can tolerate it. If it does, then we’ll see if he will accept small pieces of it that we don’t hide. 🙂

 

Look at those clear, itch-free cheeks!!

 

Also, a lot has happened these past two weeks in terms of behavior and progress!

 

1. Outbursts—reduced dramatically. I would estimate about 75% reduction, especially in the last few days. And I’m guessing that many of the outbursts that he did have were because he was hungry, and we hadn’t figured out yet that he needed much more food than in the past. Transitions have been easier, he’s more flexible, and he’s more willing to try new activities. We have been lucky that he usually saves the more vocal protests for at home. He’s pretty good at holding it together in public. But I can’t tell you how life-changing it is to not always be on edge waiting for the next outburst.

 

2. Mouthing- once again, significantly reduced. Maybe by half. In the past year or so, his mouthing has been out of control. We would walk out of a room and back in two minutes later to find him chewing on books, toys, furniture, just about anything. These past two weeks, I have barely given him his sensory necklace.

 

3. School progress- After three weeks of vacation, James returned to school last week and had the best first day back ever. His physical therapist reported that he was understanding and following directions in school so much better. At one point, they asked him to sit in the red chair, and he responded, “no, green chair” and walked over to the green chair where a friend was sitting. They were so excited, they had the poor friend move to a different chair. So..maybe putting his own spin on the directions. But understanding and then interpreting them to his liking, for sure.

 

All smiles after his first day back at school

 

4. Communication- We’ve heard more unprompted sentences these past couple of weeks, and so have his teachers! He has also been making more attempts at conversation both with us and with people outside of his family, which just warms my heart. It is my favorite.

 

5. Gross motor- For the first time, when we were in the front yard, James took off independently and walked down the sidewalk, shouting, “let’s go!” He made it all the way to the corner. We joke that, “c’mon James!” is probably one of the most used phrases in our house. He needed no coaxing that day.

Independently going for a stroll in the neighborhood

 

 

I remember one of his very wise therapists telling me when he was a few weeks old that we had to remember this was a marathon and not a sprint. My naïve, eager self half-listened at the time, but obviously remembered those words. I never thought the marathon would involve food and overall health, but thinking of it in those terms has helped a naturally impatient person to grow the patience muscle a bit more. And it has been and will continue to be worth it. God knows what we need to work on, for sure.

So grateful.

 

 

 

GAPS- First two weeks

It’s been a chock-full two plus weeks! It seems we have experienced all of the emotions and physical symptoms we’ve had in the past two years in these past 16 days.

 

In preparation for GAPS, I read a lot about other people’s experiences, and I can totally see how many people have had to start and restart this multiple times. It. Is. Intense.

 

The first couple of days, the kids reluctantly ate their soups for meals. And we realized how quickly we would go through soups and the homemade yogurt. Though we were technically allowed to add vegetables from day one, we tried to give everyone a day or two of just plain broth and meat with salt in case anything else would aggravate the very reactive gut linings. Georgia was cool with the chicken broth, but on the second round of plain beef soup, she made it known that she was done. I couldn’t blame her.

 

James was never happy to see soup, but we’ve been working with him to eat broth for about four months in preparation for this. Though James ate foods with all kinds of tastes and textures as a baby, he started to become picky around 15 months, and when the gut issues became more pronounced, so did the pickiness. Unfortunately, we usually have to play kid music videos to get him to eat the soup. This drives me bonkers. I can feel generations past and present and any childhood expert shaking their heads at me. But I tell myself that most of them probably don’t have a malnourished child who is reactive to a million foods and has sensory issues with foods on top of it. So youtube it is-for now.

 

On the second and third day, James refused to eat soup at dinner and then vomited. The third day, it was projectile vomit. (Fun fact- it was also directly on my MacBook. He’s an excellent shot.)

 

That third day dinner, he then refused to eat any yogurt, and he was extremely lethargic. When I took his temperature, it had actually dropped significantly, which scared me enough to find the contraband Cheerios and force feed them to him until he started to get his energy back, all while I stress ate raw honey.

 

This was what we did to our pantry before we started GAPS. Thankfully, there were still just a few Cheerios that hadn’t been thrown away!

 

We spoke with his doctor the next day, and she wondered if it was a histamine reaction since broth could be a high histamine food. His skin had actually completely cleared from any eczema, and when we did some blood work shortly after, his histamine levels were within normal range, so we weren’t sure if that was the case. Obviously it’s a bit hard to tell after the fact.

 

Dr. Natasha Campbell, the creator of GAPS, had mentioned on her FAQs that vomiting can be a sign of hypoglycemia when a patient’s carb intake is significantly cut. Though James was already gluten free, his limited diet still consisted mainly of carbs with Cheerios, quinoa pasta, and bananas. So in consulting with his doctor, we moved him to a modified ketogenic diet, which is essentially the same thing as the full GAPS diet, just without the more intense intro stages. It’s still completely grain free, all whole foods, and avoiding certain inflammatory foods. This made us feel a little defeated, as the introduction stages of GAPS are set up for more intense healing of the gut lining. But maybe we can go back to the intro once his body starts to adapt to low carb ways and he becomes less picky, God-willing!

 

After making this change, James was much better. His skin was still clear, he was happier, more verbal, singing more songs than usual in their entirety, more aware of his surroundings and more interested in the activities of the people around him.

 

He even tried a couple of new foods!! We’ve read about this happening for kids who are picky eaters. We tend to be attracted to the foods that our bodies don’t process well. When we take them out, we become more open to other things.

James eating “pancakes!”

“Pancakes”- Four eggs and a cooked chicken breast blended in the food processor. Fry up the batter in ghee like pancakes! Recipe courtesy of Julie Matthews

 

“Chix!”

The kids were nuts about these things. Fry little shreds of chicken in ghee until they get crispy like chips. Thomas came up with name and method- reminiscent of the crispy pieces of chicken his mom used to make for him.

 

James eating mixed vegetables??

 

This was the most beautiful and bizarre sight. These were made by my very talented mother-in-law in one of the soups. They were in Georgia’s plate, and he just went for them. And ate the whole plate.

 

So of course we got excited and also gave him a birthday cupcake for Georgia’s 2^nd birthday….twice. It was a GAPS-approved recipe with all healthy ingredients, but definitely not something his body was ready for. The eczema started to come back. So did the edginess. And so did the pickiness.

Though we were silly to give this to James, I’m obsessed with this recipe for strawberry coconut flour cupcakes! So yummy!

 

He hasn’t touched a cooked vegetable since then, and the “pancakes” are now licked (still some serious progress!), but he never takes a bite. We are going back to plain broth, homemade yogurt, avocados, blueberries, and bananas for a few days to get his body back to where it was.

 

Thomas had a rough couple of weeks. Headaches, nausea, fatigue, insomnia, shortness of breath, all of the fun symptoms you can imagine. The second day, he actually broke out in a fever and chills! Apparently this can happen from bacteria die off. He hid the scale the first two weeks, so he wouldn’t be able to see how much weight he lost.

 

Some people try to start this diet during time off from work or an easy period of time. Being the sacrificial father that he is, he started it when he had a million things going on at work so James could start it during a school break. Somehow the man survived.

 

During the second week, his mom came to help us cook and take care of the kids. Though I am generally a good recipe follower, I don’t know food well enough to know what herbs, etc, work together well. So she made our soups into gourmet soups, which helped a ton. Thomas’ weight loss has seemed to hit a plateau, so hopefully regaining it soon follows.

 

He’s sticking out the introduction stages of GAPS and is currently on stage two! And the past couple of days, he’s started to feel much better. Just really tired. Making progress.

 

Georgia and I moved with James to the full GAPS diet. She was much happier to see blueberries, eggs, mangos, and avocados back in her life. She’s also been asking for birthday cake for a couple of months, so she was thrilled when her own birthday cupcake came. Her digestion has been a little off, but hoping that’s just because she had probably more sweet things than recommended for her family birthday party (Though we managed to make it almost all completely GAPS recipes! Thanks, Internet!)

Georgia and her much anticipated birthday cupcake ❤

Almost completely GAPS-approved! We threw feta into one of the dishes. And cacao powder in the chocolate avocado pudding is okay in moderation. 🙂

And for me- I actually feel great physically. The first couple of days, I had a headache and felt really weak in the morning until I ate. But my body has adapted to the grain-free lifestyle, and I definitely have more energy than I normally would on not a lot of sleep. I’m hoping the boys follow soon.

 

So, some first two week reflections:

 

Lessons that were/are hard to learn for us—

 

1. Don’t rush foods when you have food sensitivities. Just don’t. Even if it’s a sibling’s birthday party, and the parent guilt starts to take over. Give the body a chance to adapt and heal with each new food introduction.
2. Nothing is going to be perfect. Really appreciate and be grateful for those wins when you get them.
3. Time. So much time in the kitchen and away from the not super independent little children. It’s not their favorite or mine. I’m hoping we become more efficient as time goes on. We try to make things in big quantities, but we also seem to eat them in large quantities? Working on a better plan.
4. Social situations- navigating these is pretty tricky. James is generally used to eating separate food, but Georgia is not. We try to bring along snacks that they both love, so they don’t get too much snack envy.

 

Big positives—

1. James trying three new foods in a week?? Though we had a bit of regression these past few days, we can’t forget that. That’s pretty much a year’s progress, considering his history.
2. Even though it’s so much time, I love cooking like this. I love feeding my family whole, organic foods and nothing processed. It’s been an intimidating goal for us for a long time, so in many ways, it’s a blessing that the issue was forced on us.
3. The bit of progress we’ve seen in these past two weeks is so very promising. Makes it all worth it!
4. We are so, so, SO blessed to have so many supportive, loving friends and family. There were so many encouraging messages. And we could feel all of the prayers lifting us up!

 

Thank you for following. Here’s to the next couple of weeks!