I'm putting my kid on a diet. At almost six years old, she is around 43" tall and weighs 42 lbs, both of which are completely average for her age. So why the diet? First, let me explain that I do not believe in making kids diet, or even mentioning weight loss in front of them. It is a far better to have discussions about making healthy food choices and exercising, and making those changes as a family if your child does need to lose a little weight for health reasons.
Reagan is the older twin, Baby A, born just seconds before her identical sister. Here's the short story: she was diagnosed with epilepsy at around 2 1/2 years old. We immediately tried meds, switched neurologists, tried more meds, saw an epileptologist, tried more meds, had brain surgery, switched neurologists again. She has both myoclonic and absence seizures and is considered intractable, which means meds do not control her seizures. Reagan probably has over 50 seizures a day. A few years ago we got an official diagnosis of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS). At this point the only thing we haven't tried is the ketogenic diet, which has a great success rate in treating epilepsy.
If you've ever followed the Atkins diet, you've followed a ketogenic way of eating. In meeting with the dietician at the children's hospital, we've decided that the Modified Atkins Diet for Epilepsy (MADE) is the right choice in hoping to get Reagan's seizures under control. We'll limit her carb intake to just 15 net carbs per day and seriously increase her fat intake so that fat will make up roughly 70% of her daily caloric intake. Here's a sample menu** of what her day may look like:
Eggs, two strips of bacon cooked in coconut oil, one tsp MCT oil
Snack
Cheese crackers*, almonds
Lunch
Green beans, chicken thigh cooked in ghee, watermelon, one tsp MCT oil
Snack
Whipped heavy cream with vanilla extract
Dinner
Salmon drizzled in olive oil, cauliflower with ghee, strawberries, cream cheese, one tsp MCT oil
Unsweetened vanilla almond milk or water to drink.
*I have found a few recipes for cheese crackers, where you essentially bake some cheese, then break it into pieces. Reagan's not particularly fond of my homemade snack attempts usually, so I'm starting out with these crackers I found on Amazon.
**If you'd like to see her one week dietician approved meal plan that I designed, just leave a comment and I'll be happy to share.
Our plan is to stick to this diet for 2-3 months to see if we get any results. If we're successful, she'll probably stay on it for roughly two years before weaning off. We're hopeful that it works!
Have you ever done a ketogenic diet? What did you think about it? Leave a comment!
Reagan is the older twin, Baby A, born just seconds before her identical sister. Here's the short story: she was diagnosed with epilepsy at around 2 1/2 years old. We immediately tried meds, switched neurologists, tried more meds, saw an epileptologist, tried more meds, had brain surgery, switched neurologists again. She has both myoclonic and absence seizures and is considered intractable, which means meds do not control her seizures. Reagan probably has over 50 seizures a day. A few years ago we got an official diagnosis of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS). At this point the only thing we haven't tried is the ketogenic diet, which has a great success rate in treating epilepsy.
If you've ever followed the Atkins diet, you've followed a ketogenic way of eating. In meeting with the dietician at the children's hospital, we've decided that the Modified Atkins Diet for Epilepsy (MADE) is the right choice in hoping to get Reagan's seizures under control. We'll limit her carb intake to just 15 net carbs per day and seriously increase her fat intake so that fat will make up roughly 70% of her daily caloric intake. Here's a sample menu** of what her day may look like:
Breakfast
Snack
Cheese crackers*, almonds
Lunch
Green beans, chicken thigh cooked in ghee, watermelon, one tsp MCT oil
Snack
Whipped heavy cream with vanilla extract
Dinner
Salmon drizzled in olive oil, cauliflower with ghee, strawberries, cream cheese, one tsp MCT oil
Unsweetened vanilla almond milk or water to drink.
*I have found a few recipes for cheese crackers, where you essentially bake some cheese, then break it into pieces. Reagan's not particularly fond of my homemade snack attempts usually, so I'm starting out with these crackers I found on Amazon.
**If you'd like to see her one week dietician approved meal plan that I designed, just leave a comment and I'll be happy to share.
Our plan is to stick to this diet for 2-3 months to see if we get any results. If we're successful, she'll probably stay on it for roughly two years before weaning off. We're hopeful that it works!
Have you ever done a ketogenic diet? What did you think about it? Leave a comment!
You do so awesome!!!
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