Getting picky eaters to eat

Today has been the first day on our new grain free diet. We are doing the GAPS diet. GAPS stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome. I have detailed in a previous post why we are doing this diet, so I'll leave you to this link if you want to find out more about it.

I know I'm not the only mother out there struggling to get my kids to eat. It is a rare child that isn't picky.

Some of the reasons that children are picky include these:

• they have sensory processing issues. That means that the food either doesn't feel good or does feel really good in their mouth. For example, I really can't stand creamy things. I don't care for the way it feels on my tongue. On the other hand I love everything crunchy. 
• We as mothers have taught them through our actions that if they fuss long enough we will give them what they want, just to get them to be quiet. 
• They have an unhealthy gut with too many bad bacteria which thrive on sugary foods. The bad bacteria makes us crave processed carbs. 
• They are getting high on food. Food is like a drug. In fact in the book "The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program" Dr. Katheleen Desmaisons recounts some studies done under a functional MRI to show that some people's brains (about 50%) react to sugar the same way as if they had just had heroine. They get a pay off. Now put that reaction in a three year old with an unlimited capacity, motivation, and stubbornness to demand what he wants, and you know why you're still feeding him those crackers and cookies. 
• They have underlying medical conditions. Ezra never did like peanut butter, refused it all the time. Turns out he is very allergic to it.
• They watch what their parents eat and eat the same.

I'm sure there are loads more reasons. In fact if you know some please feel free to comment. I can see on my stats page that lots of people read this blog, but very few comment.

The challenge in helping your picky eater overcome his habits is that you can't always be sure why he isn't eating. I can say from my personal experience that I let my mommy fear "but he'll be hungry and starve" always get in the way. And behind the fear is of course a realization that I simply don't want to deal with tantrums, or that I don't want to be a mean mom who lets her child go hungry. Also, it is just easier to give the food they want rather than spending money and time preparing something delicious and healthy only to have them fuss or throw food.  

So how come I'm brave enough to try it now? Having two very picky eaters at home, one autistic, and one highly sensitive to texture I have put off this diet for 3 years now, because I just couldn't imagine doing it and getting them to eat. Finally, I have read enough to convince me that there just isn't any other way if I want them to have a healthy, happy life. In addition to that I talked to several friends whose autistic sibling has gotten older and their food preferences have narrowed even more. They are all carb addicts, if not treated. My kids complain about itchy ears (from eczema), and stomach pains every day. They get colds, they have food intolerances and allergies that only get worse, and are severely limited in their diet. Some people might think...but isn't it limiting to eat a grain free diet? No bread, no pasta, no chips, no fries, no cakes, no muffins? Well, that's the only thing they really ate before, so really their diet is limited now. I think this will broaden their horizons. Micah refuses all fruits and vegetables for example. I should also mention that the GAPS diet does have recipes for cakes, cookies, muffins, pancakes etc, but using nut flour instead of normal flour. And once they're through the introduction phase, I don't see the GAPS being much more complicated than anything else. A salad with some protein takes less time to assemble than cooking rice and pasta. Even broccoli is boiled quicker than rice. The only thing that really is less convenient is that you can't just go buy food at the store. Just about everything has to be prepared at home. My mother keeps saying that this is the way they used to live, and cook back on the farm in South Africa. In a sense I think one of the major stumbling blocks to a healthy diet in children is the desire of the mother to lead her own life, have a career, and a family on the side. Being a homemaker is looked down on. How many times have we heard or said: I'm JUST a mom? But that is a discussion for another blog.

Anyway, enough rambling. The first day went OK. In preparation to starting the diet I got rid of all the food we can't eat. Yes, I'm doing it with them. I didn't throw it all away. I do believe in food storage, so I stored it away in case of emergency. I stocked my kitchen with the necessary foods and equipment, bought a GAPS introductory meal plan online, and took a cooking class for GAPS (also online). I have also been talking for a month now with the kids about the special diet we would be doing together. I explained to them why we are doing it and what it will help us do (like eat cheese, and yogurt, not have stomach aches or itchy ears).
Today I got up and had some beef broth. Yes, not that yum for breakfast, but it felt good. For lunch I had some delicious chicken and broccoli. I eat whenever I'm hungry, or drink some soup. The kids ate nothing all morning refusing soup. Micah ate a handful of chicken at lunch. Whenever they asked for food I would offer them what we had. If they declined I didn't press the issue. In a way I'm doing this just how I potty trained Ezra. I just got rid of the diapers, and apologized that we didn't buy them anymore every time he asked for one. Eventually Ezra went potty. Took him 3 days, but he did it, and we never looked back. I'm hoping it will go this smooth with this.
So in short they didn't eat hardly anything all day. At dinner I made hamburger patties with grated carrots and onions, fried in some beef tallow. DELICIOUS, by the way. I served them with raw carrots. The kids refused again, and I left it at that. At about 7 PM Ezra was starving and so he sat down and ate all his carrots, the beef patty, as well as Micah's. I gave them Red Bush tea to drink.
Now they're in bed, slightly hungry. I'm feeling hungry too, but that's just because I didn't eat enough vegetables.
I definitely need to get a juicer tomorrow, so I can start making some juices for them. I invite you to check back to see our progress in getting my carb addicts to eat other foods. I expect there will be some ups and downs.