Post by kteachermom on Jul 5, 2014 11:08:42 GMT -5
Hi all,
I have 3 daughters, aged 15, 13, and 10. Both my mom and myself have autoimmune disorders (mom: lupus, me: Hashimoto's) and through reading The Paleo Approach, I have decided that I need to get better control of my girls' diet so that they might not end up developing autoimmune disorder. The problem is that they are 15, 13, and 10 and firmly rooted in their bad eating habits. To make matters worse, my 15 year old has really bad eating habits-- to the degree that we have struggled with her for years and worried that she has a sensory eating disorder or something. My 13 year old has always been my healthiest eater, but she is getting worse about fruit and veggies in the last year or so. My 10 year old is fairly picky, but more of a "normal" picky, and still somewhat open to new things. (She was the only one who liked the AIP Shepherd's Pie I made with mashed cauliflower.)
Let me explain a little about the struggles with my oldest to give an idea. When she was less than 2 years old, she used to eat much more variety. She ate normal foods: hot dogs, burgers, salmon, veggies, fruit, etc. Sometime after that, she pretty much stopped eating most meat and fruit and vegetables. She survives mostly on pasta (I have switched to GF pasta, but still...) and dairy. She eats chicken, but only breaded white meat or VERY plain white meat chicken. She eats broccoli, but only the tops, and not much. She eats cantaloupe and bananas, but also not much or often. Often, her complaint with new foods is regarding texture or spice. She only can tolerate very bland foods, and foods of specific textures. However, she can eat junk food quite well- candy, cookies, ice cream, chips, etc.
To explain how "abnormal" her pickiness is, here is a list of things that kids often eat that she won't: hot dogs, hamburgers, steak, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, jelly, fruit pies, peanut butter and jelly (she will eat pb sand if forced, but no jelly), scrambled or fried eggs (she will eat hard boiled eggs), pickles, tomatoes, apples, oranges, pears, peaches, canned fruit, dried fruit, cooked vegetables of any kind except corn (she will eat raw broccoli tops, and raw carrots and cucumbers, if forced.) cereal with milk (she will eat "sweet cereal" dry), milk (ironic, as she only eats dairy, but she won't drink milk of any kind) oatmeal or any cooked cereals, anything with the flavor of vinegar, anything with sauce or in a "casserole" style (exceptions of lasagna-picking around the meat- and gravy on mashed potatoes- this is a new accomplishment) and I am sure there is much more!
She has made some attempt to eat healthier, as she will now put a little plain spaghetti sauce on pasta, and she will eat about 1 leaf of romaine lettuce smothered in ranch. (only hidden valley brand) The only other "dipping" she uses is sour cream. She does not like the flavor of coconut, so subbing coconut milk/cream won't easily work. We have tried the "eat this or you don't eat" thing and she chooses not to eat. (We have never taken that past a single meal, as she was always underweight as a child, so we didn't want to jeopardize her growth.) She is now a healthy size (about 110-120, 5'2", size 1 to 3) so that removes some of the regular "teen girl" reasons for eating healthier. For breakfast, she will often make a smoothie out of soy milk, cocoa powder, stevia, ice and powdered egg whites. (I encourage this, as it is the closest to "healthy" eating that she can do.) She acknowledges that she isn't eating healthy, and seems to realize this is a problem. We have had MANY battles about eating, and she will dissolve into tears saying that she wants to do what we are asking but she "can't." She sees a therapist and does talk about eating some, but it isn't the primary conversation, I don't think. I do believe that she would eat food that was healthy if it tasted like the things she likes. But it is challenging to hide healthy food in mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. (I did make Sarah's Paleo chicken tenders, and she said they were okay, smothered in ranch.)
She gets chronic headaches and some migraines and has significant mood problems that are related to her hormonal cycles. (though we have lessoned these significantly with amino acid supplements-- 5-HTP, L-Tyrosine) However, she fails to see (or admit) that her diet could be causing these issues. I think it is possible that some degree of it is in her head, and needs to be her decision at this point, but I also do believe that she wants to eat healthier but she is scared. (and truly can't handle the taste of lots of foods.) I read an article once about people with an excess of taste buds (called "super-tasters") and this reminded me a lot of her.
Can anyone give me any advice?? I have read all of the guest blogs about teen eating on thepaleomom.com, but I think that only addresses 1/2 of her problem. I do believe her when she says that she just can't handle the taste of many foods, and I think that most of the things I have seen on teen eating are about the desire or the peer pressure, etc. I had pretty much gotten to the point that I had given up and figured she would have to decide it for herself when she was an adult, but then I read The Paleo Approach, and I am worried about what she is doing to her gut. (I think that my other 2 girls are more of a "normal" picky/teen thing, and they will come around if that is the only option.) I have managed to get them all gluten free over the past 2 weeks, but I don't know how well that will hold up once school starts. (The oldest especially says that there is nothing GF in the high school to eat and she won't eat if she has to pack a lunch.)
I have 3 daughters, aged 15, 13, and 10. Both my mom and myself have autoimmune disorders (mom: lupus, me: Hashimoto's) and through reading The Paleo Approach, I have decided that I need to get better control of my girls' diet so that they might not end up developing autoimmune disorder. The problem is that they are 15, 13, and 10 and firmly rooted in their bad eating habits. To make matters worse, my 15 year old has really bad eating habits-- to the degree that we have struggled with her for years and worried that she has a sensory eating disorder or something. My 13 year old has always been my healthiest eater, but she is getting worse about fruit and veggies in the last year or so. My 10 year old is fairly picky, but more of a "normal" picky, and still somewhat open to new things. (She was the only one who liked the AIP Shepherd's Pie I made with mashed cauliflower.)
Let me explain a little about the struggles with my oldest to give an idea. When she was less than 2 years old, she used to eat much more variety. She ate normal foods: hot dogs, burgers, salmon, veggies, fruit, etc. Sometime after that, she pretty much stopped eating most meat and fruit and vegetables. She survives mostly on pasta (I have switched to GF pasta, but still...) and dairy. She eats chicken, but only breaded white meat or VERY plain white meat chicken. She eats broccoli, but only the tops, and not much. She eats cantaloupe and bananas, but also not much or often. Often, her complaint with new foods is regarding texture or spice. She only can tolerate very bland foods, and foods of specific textures. However, she can eat junk food quite well- candy, cookies, ice cream, chips, etc.
To explain how "abnormal" her pickiness is, here is a list of things that kids often eat that she won't: hot dogs, hamburgers, steak, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, jelly, fruit pies, peanut butter and jelly (she will eat pb sand if forced, but no jelly), scrambled or fried eggs (she will eat hard boiled eggs), pickles, tomatoes, apples, oranges, pears, peaches, canned fruit, dried fruit, cooked vegetables of any kind except corn (she will eat raw broccoli tops, and raw carrots and cucumbers, if forced.) cereal with milk (she will eat "sweet cereal" dry), milk (ironic, as she only eats dairy, but she won't drink milk of any kind) oatmeal or any cooked cereals, anything with the flavor of vinegar, anything with sauce or in a "casserole" style (exceptions of lasagna-picking around the meat- and gravy on mashed potatoes- this is a new accomplishment) and I am sure there is much more!
She has made some attempt to eat healthier, as she will now put a little plain spaghetti sauce on pasta, and she will eat about 1 leaf of romaine lettuce smothered in ranch. (only hidden valley brand) The only other "dipping" she uses is sour cream. She does not like the flavor of coconut, so subbing coconut milk/cream won't easily work. We have tried the "eat this or you don't eat" thing and she chooses not to eat. (We have never taken that past a single meal, as she was always underweight as a child, so we didn't want to jeopardize her growth.) She is now a healthy size (about 110-120, 5'2", size 1 to 3) so that removes some of the regular "teen girl" reasons for eating healthier. For breakfast, she will often make a smoothie out of soy milk, cocoa powder, stevia, ice and powdered egg whites. (I encourage this, as it is the closest to "healthy" eating that she can do.) She acknowledges that she isn't eating healthy, and seems to realize this is a problem. We have had MANY battles about eating, and she will dissolve into tears saying that she wants to do what we are asking but she "can't." She sees a therapist and does talk about eating some, but it isn't the primary conversation, I don't think. I do believe that she would eat food that was healthy if it tasted like the things she likes. But it is challenging to hide healthy food in mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. (I did make Sarah's Paleo chicken tenders, and she said they were okay, smothered in ranch.)
She gets chronic headaches and some migraines and has significant mood problems that are related to her hormonal cycles. (though we have lessoned these significantly with amino acid supplements-- 5-HTP, L-Tyrosine) However, she fails to see (or admit) that her diet could be causing these issues. I think it is possible that some degree of it is in her head, and needs to be her decision at this point, but I also do believe that she wants to eat healthier but she is scared. (and truly can't handle the taste of lots of foods.) I read an article once about people with an excess of taste buds (called "super-tasters") and this reminded me a lot of her.
Can anyone give me any advice?? I have read all of the guest blogs about teen eating on thepaleomom.com, but I think that only addresses 1/2 of her problem. I do believe her when she says that she just can't handle the taste of many foods, and I think that most of the things I have seen on teen eating are about the desire or the peer pressure, etc. I had pretty much gotten to the point that I had given up and figured she would have to decide it for herself when she was an adult, but then I read The Paleo Approach, and I am worried about what she is doing to her gut. (I think that my other 2 girls are more of a "normal" picky/teen thing, and they will come around if that is the only option.) I have managed to get them all gluten free over the past 2 weeks, but I don't know how well that will hold up once school starts. (The oldest especially says that there is nothing GF in the high school to eat and she won't eat if she has to pack a lunch.)
