Diet

From my reading of late and my old country doctor's advice, we have this quote, "Eat breakfast like a KING, lunch like a PRINCE, and supper like a PAUPER." This is in reverse of the typical American order of things but it makes so much sense. Add that to my further reading that recommended breakfast be protein-dense, lunch a little less so, and supper be carb-dense. The rationale is that the carbs raise metabolism during sleep and help burn off fat, plus carbs help you sleep better. That improved sleep will cause less food-cravings during the day and thus help control weight. The slower-burning protein coming from breakfast and later at lunch will release energy during the day when we need it most. So, you combine the "when" and the "what" of eating to get better results.

This makes so much sense to me and is sure worth a try. We have found that a light supper works best with Erin when we are trying to lose/maintain weight and adding the carb-dense foods may help that happen even easier.

Sample Diet #1

This is a sample of Kian's diet. We are always tweaking it.

For breakfast: 2 omega-3 eggs scrambled in canola oil, half a banana, a few sips of skim milk

lunch: Stonyfield fat free yogurt, a couple of tablespoons of lentil soup, a few sips of skim milk

dinner: Stonyfield fat free yogurt and some strawberries and a few sips of skim milk (our dinner would be a dark green salad with vinaigrette, baked salmon, and strawberries)

Kian drinks a lot of water throughout the day. He doesn't really snack, except maybe bananas. At this point he shows no interest in food. Any snacking he does is really related to our eating. So, anything we happen to be eating as a snack we offer him (fruit, popcorn, yogurt). We offer him whatever we eat for dinner at well, but he is not a big salad eater and professes to be a vegetarian.

Kian also gets 1/2 g of fish oil in the morning and 1/2 gram of fish oil at night. Kian is 2 1/2 and is 50th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight.

Sample Diet #2

Here are some of the foods that would work for us.

Breakfast: turkey bacon, eggs/egg-beaters, high-protein/high-fiber Kashi cereal, cheese (once a week only), tofu-based sausage (Boca, etc.)--plus some fruit

Lunch: almond butter on fiber crackers, turkey on triscuits, peanut butter on apples or high-fiber waffles--these plus fruit and/or vegetables

Supper: Fruit and vegetables, brown rice, high fiber cereal, oatmeal, brown-rice pasta, potatoes (yukon gold, usually), sweet potatoes...I still add some protein for supper, just not much, because even though I want to help with sleep, I am still concerned about avoiding blood sugar spikes.

I'm sure there are a zillion other combinations, but these are what came to mind first.

What we've seen so far....We've been doing this for only a few days and we're coming out of a sinus infection so she hasn't been feeling so good, but I can clearly see that her sleep is better. She woke up a couple of days ago and said, "Wow, Mom! That was the best sleep I have ever had. No bad dreams. I feel refreshed!" (That's the old soul in her coming out with the "I feel refreshed!") She falls asleep quicker than usual, and that's saying something since she's always fallen asleep quickly. The other thing I notice is that she is sleeping more soundly. I check on her a couple of times before I go to bed and before, as soon as I walk in her room, she would often wake up, sit up and kiss me, then go back to sleep. Now, I can walk in, straighten her covers, stumble over her shoes, etc., and she still sleeps.

I haven't checked her weight this week (bad PWS mom!) but I will this weekend and see how that has gone. We haven't had good experiences with carbs to date so maybe I'm avoiding this part of it. :) I'll let you know how it goes.

So far, I like what I see in terms of sleep at night. What I am watching for is sleepiness during the day. She has been using a decongestant because of this lousy sinus infection and that makes anybody sleepy. I've noticed her being a little draggy during the day so now that we are off of the meds and trying to wash them out of her system, I'll be watching her energy level closely during the day, also any changes in hunger patterns. More news at 10....

Incorporating flax

You can also buy cinnamon flavored flaxseed oil, which I like. I put it on toast in the mornings for my breakfast. My second born also liked it that way and had it as breakfast for years. Then she decided it was yucky. ;-)

We do heavy protein (2 omega eggs) with Kian in the morning.

One alternative to flaxseed oil is ground flax meal. This must also be kept refrigerated. We put this in Kian's yogurt and he likes to mix it. Plus, you can bake with it and substitute out a lot of other fat when baking. I do this with banana bread on special occasions and the kids like it. Kids at school like it as well. They have no idea how healthy their birthday treat is!

Oh, and one other thing. In Chicago we can buy yummy Natural Ovens breads that are baked with flax meal and have high flax content. We can also get flax meal frozen waffles. Both of these are very popular at my house.

Special diets

Some parents have luck with casein-free diets and gluten-free diets. These are described in detail on Healing Thresholds.