Day 12: Emery Tapping Out

Last night we sat Emery down, looked her in the eye, and broke the news that she would no longer be participating in our Paleo "experiment".  I'm sure it was tough on her, but she just didn't want to show her feelings in front of us.  Instead she took her feelings out on a HUGE bowl of steel cut oats.

Yes, Emery is tapping out of Paleo.  We just couldn't get her poos regulated.  It got to the point where she would strain, turn bright red, and cry just to push out one little pebble.  Not something you want to watch your baby girl go through!  I think it was just too much protein and not enough fiber for her little body.  And we tried everything!  I was pretty much giving her sweet potatoes and almond butter (see result in picture), eggs, steamed vegetables, plums, nectarines, flaxseed for the last couple days and it wasn't helping much.  I really think she needs the fiber in the legumes and whole grains.  We are going to keep her mostly on track with us, but substitute some plant proteins (black beans, hummus, etc.) in for some of our animal proteins.  We are also going to give her some live cultures, probably in the form of kefir, miso, and yogurt.

The biggest change we have seen with her is in her runny nose and congestion.  It will be interesting to see if those return in the next few days as we reintroduce some grains, legumes, and increase dairy.

Sawyer may be soon behind her.  The problem we are having with him is that he does not like meat....at all.  He will get one piece of ground meat or chicken or whatever in his mouth and hold it there for literally two hours.  He just won't swallow it.  And going to bed hungry isn't doing much to help. He's ended up eating eggs, natural deli meat, and almond butter for almost all of his protein, and that just can't be good for him.  We went through 5 dozen eggs this week alone. He also natually loves beans and plan protein.  This kid would eat a bowl of hummus for every meal if I let him!

We also haven't seen much of a change in him. He has actually seemed more tired since starting Paleo.  His nose has stopped running but he is still congested in the mornings.  We'll see.  Although I want to give him the full 30 days, I'm not going to push through something if I'm already sensing the benefits don't outweigh the "sacrifice".

One thing the plan stated is that every individual responds differently to this diet.  Everyone is able to tolerate foods differently, and the key to this plan is figuring out where your sensitivities are and tailoring your diet to your individual make-up.  We are figuring some things out pretty quickly in these first two weeks, and we are learning a lot!

I will be making my meatloaf, guac, and ketchup this afternoon, though, so those recipes should be up today!  Our plan is pretty much the same as yesterday, except Emery had more oatmeal for breakfast, and I'm going to cook her some black beans for lunch.

Off to the the gym in a few minutes.   Have a great Friday, everyone!