Diet on Hold

We gave it a good try for 3 days but the diet was too much for Luella. She wasn't thrilled about the food on Saturday when we started and she put up a pretty good fight but we were prepared for that, somewhat. As the day went on it was getting harder. Sunday was miserable. She was refusing pretty much everything. We tried bribing with grapes (still GAPS legal just not allowed on Intro), even then the best we could do was a couple of bites. She was looking so tired and didn't have much energy. On Monday she was very lethargic and basically falling asleep in her highchair while waiting for breakfast. She was barely talking. She looked terrible. I couldn't handle watching her refuse all food. Jim and I had a plan that we would bribe her with little bits of grapes and apples for EACH bite instead of at the end of the meal. We thought the added sugar would perk her up and she would be more inclined to eat more too. On Monday we started out with a little bowl of cooked carrots. She wouldn't even open her mouth. Finally she did take one bite then proceeded to gag. It is just so frustrating because usually she loves carrots, broccoli and cauliflower but I couldn't get her to willingly eat any of them on the Introduction diet. On Intro they are very well cooked (mushier then I usually make them) so maybe it was a texture issue too but she was simply not eating.

One thing to watch for on low-carb diets is ketosis. Going into ketosis isn't all bad - that's basically what the Ketogenic diet is built on - but in Luella's case we were a little more watchful of it because low blood sugar in the past has also caused a bad seizure which required her to be air lifted to SF for a couple days. Signs of ketosis are tiredness, loss of appetite, etc... I had some Ketostix (test strips) and had Luella go potty so I could measure her ketones. They were as high as the strip would measure!! We just couldn't continue down this path and have to deal with the consequences. We decided to abandon the Intro diet and just jump into the Full GAPS diet to see if we could get her to eat something. For snack yesterday I let her have some peanut butter and she quickly ate that. I also juiced an apple for her and she drank that as well. I was hopeful that maybe we could just continue with Full GAPS.

Last night I decided to make her eggs for supper since that has been a favorite since we started LGIT back in September. I also made her some guacamole (another fav). She cried and didn't want to eat any of it. I bribed her again and got her to take one bite which she quickly gagged up!! So frustrating!! So she once again ended up eating peanut butter for supper and some apple/grape/cucumber juice.

Jim and I talked and it just seems like Luella has developed a bad impression of some of her favorite foods. She also happens to be a pretty strong-willed child and was content with simply not eating. So with broth, meat, veggies and eggs being staples of the GAPS diet and her refusing them, we decided to put the diet on hold for now while we can get her on good terms with her food again. Our plan then will be to VERY SLOWLY start to introduce GAPS meals. Maybe just 2 a week for the first week and then gradually build up to all meals and snacks. We will not be doing the Introduction phase at this time. I need to regroup and focus on the Full GAPS diet and recipes now - before I was just focusing on the Introduction recipes. This will be good because many fruits are GAPS friendly and there will be a lot of variety vs doing the Introduction. I believe if we start slow she might not even realize we are changing anything.

So, yes, I'm disappointed. I battled in my head a long time before starting the GAPS Intro and was FINALLY ready for it. I thought the Intro would be the best thing for her and get us off on the right foot. Luella had other plans! :-) I believe God is leading us through this and I trust that He knows what He is doing!! I'm not sure how long before we will be Full GAPS but slow and steady wins the race, right?? :-) AND much prayer!! I can't thank you enough for all the prayers and words of encouragement.

We are pretty amazed that Luella didn't have a seizure even though her body was being stressed. Yesterday I was pretty sure she would have one. She was so spacey and clumsy. Thankfully she didn't have one and as of today it's been 11 days since her last one!! She hasn't gone this long since mid-November! Jim says - she hasn't had a seizure ALL YEAR!!! ;-) Now if we could get to December and say that, THAT would be something!!