Older kids going from SAD to RAW?

[choleblack]

Does anyone have advice, inspiration or BTDT for transitioning older children from SAD to RAW (at least high RAW)?

I have a 5.5 yr old DD who is the pickiest eater. It's so hit or miss with her eating anything, much less something healthy, that I haven't done much but let her eat what she wants I'm now starting what may be a lifetime RAW lifestyle for myself and am realizing how unhealthy my DD eats.

I could really use the ideas, and maybe a few sure fire food pleasers for older kids who already have thier own "ideas" about what they like.

Thanks

Chole

[Purl]

we are on the way to RAW. One of the first raw meals I made was a raw apple pie and let them eat it for dinner. (I'm SUCH a cool mom! LOL! ) I also leave a large basket of fruit out and let them eat from it when ever they want. I let them eat lots of raw nuts and dried fruit. I've been making a green salad almost everynight and putting their favorite dressing on it. (Annie's French Dressing) I put nuts and furit in the salad. I know you're not supposed to combine fruit with anything-but if it helps them go raw-I'll compromise for a bit.

ETA: take out the "worst" offenders-throw them out. Don't let her have them-no matter what. You can't be wishy-washy or this "diet" will seem like "punishment" and your old ways of eating will seem like a "treat". You don't want her to long for these foods so don't offer them-ever. Also, FWIW, I have 4 dc ages 8,8,5,2. My 5 year old is a very picky eater.

[choleblack]

ohh desert for dinner might be the ticket. I hope that as there are more raw/healthy choices in the house she'll just start to come around because that's what there is to choose from.

My biggest problem is that she's so inconsistant. She'll love clemintines one day then refuse for weeks! She used to have a nice list of healthy things she liked and now straight out tells me "I used to like that but I don't anymore". What changed & how do I change it back?!

Chole

[Purl]

Must be the age. My 5 yo ds is exactly the same. I'll finally find a recipe that he likes and I will make it exactly the same the next time and he'll "HATE" it. One day he just LOVES pears and 2 days later he HATES them and claims to never have liked them at all. Sometimes I just get mean at tell him "eat or go hungry-this ain't no restaurant and I ain't no short order cook, buddy!" He usu eats after that.

[joannes]

She'll get used to it if you don't give her a choice. Sounds harsh, but very true. Don't beg or try to talk her into eating something though - offer it in a matter-of-fact sort of way and with a smile or good attitude. If they know they can have something else ... or they know that you will give in and let them have something else, they will hold out till they get what they want (works in all areas, not just with food!). You have to be consistent. My kids eat whatever I feed them, no questions asked - even when they were younger. Consistency really paid off for us ;) They are all a little older now and eat EVERYTHING - and they enjoy almost everything too. They love eating all raw; green smoothies are their favorite. We blend together about 12 bananas, 1 large bunch of spinach and enough water to blend. Sometimes we'll add mango; sometimes we'll use celery instead of spinach.

Oh yeah - it helps if you only have good food in the house. It's hard to give in if you don't have any other choices - you know what I mean?! Of course this part is difficult if your spouse eats still eats the SAD.

[tracyinfo]

The younger they are, the easier it is to feed them a high raw diet. Fruit is just a pure natural for children. Vegetables and nuts may be a little harder, but I find by grinding nuts and veggies, they are more palatable.

Also, dipping is kind of fun for kids. Find a good raw dip and slice veggies/fruit and serve it as a meal.

I agree with above statements - one says it helps if partner is raw/high raw and it helps to eliminate all really low raw items from the house.

Blessings.

[heather]

i had the same problem with my middle child.

my kids refused nut milk for days then one day, the 4 year old sat in his chair staring at his bowl of cheerios and nutmilk AGAIN, so naturally, i was a bit irritated and just left the room with a "well then its gonna be a long time until lunch" statement. i came back in the room just moments later and he was DRINKING THE MILK OUT OF THE BOWL then started begging for more in a cup! that day i made a salad for lunch. again, he defiantly sat, staing at the bowl. after several minutes, he finally ate it and even licked the bowl and asked for more. the key for me was to chop up everything really small so he doesnt recognize it. and lots of dressing. i put it in a large bowl so i can toss well and make sure every piece is covered in dressing, then i put it in the kid size bowl. that way, its ALL GOOD. not just the pieces that he normally likes. oh, and smoothies every day are a GODSEND. apples with nutbutters. whatever he wants, he can have. we have no processed foods in the house for him to grab. so its fruit, vege, or nuts. take your pick. what do you want. eventually, they will try something and like it.

just keep trying and they will surprise you.

[adrienne]

i can totally relate as i have a 17 month old with changing likes and dislikes and very stubborn nature...can't figure out where that came from...LOL
everyones advice is great and fruit always as an option, even for one meal a day just to be fruit is great (you'll have to eat whatever she's not into that day!)
and i always try to remember and this is hard, they'll eat when they're hungry and going without a meal or two is OK! she will soon love what you give her
keep up the good work and check out shazzie.com, fellow fab UK gal raising her baby 100% raw

[ReneeSC]

My teenagers are back on high raw - and some days all raw. I had to make the Executive Mom Decision to pull them back onto it after seeing their health, once more, take a total nose-dive. My oldest had begun vomitting cooked food again, the the youngest had ZERO energy and was cranky.

So, after I put my foot down, and have the backing of their high-raw and excited dad, we're back to morning fruit smoothies, veggies for lunch, and.. we're still working on a dinner. Me, being the most raw, I don't eat what they eat, but they'll be transitioning onto an all raw dinner, also.

Green and fruit smoothies are wonderful. Today's wake-up drink was banana milk with cinnmon. Yum stuff. On our school table is Mom's garden burgers, some non-raw but "clean" blue corn chips..and the most zingy, RAW, guacamole.

I agree, if you're having difficulty with children and sickness or disorders, sometimes you must take the bull by the horns and deal with it. I told my children that - "Frankly, I couldn't care less about anyone else but YOU - and this diet. I will NOT watch my children become more and more sick so you can "like me". Hate me if you want to - but I'm going to make sure you grow into adulthood HEALTHY and HEALED. One day you'll "get it" and thank me!"'

They got the point. They've not whined once. They better not. I'm not listening anyway. ( you'd have to know how sick mine where to know why mom became this way ).

I've watched the therapeutic healing of raw foods infront of my own eyes, and there's NOTHING ..and I mean NOTHING that equates with it. Do what you need to do. Experiment, toss and start again.

If you can get your younger children onto smoothies and eating fresh fruits and veggies with minimal contrivance - you're doing WONDERFUL. Children, once they know that's what they're getting, will begin to come around to what is in the house.

They're going to have cravings and bad days and detox days... and all sorts of "days" just like US. Be compassionate - but be FIRM. Get into the kitchen and start concocting things for them. Get THEM in the kitchen and have them also learn to "play with their food". On this diet - it's encouraged!

When out of the house: Now there's a challenge: Bring food with you - and water - and energy balls ( you make ) and nuts, and seeds, and anything you can "carry". Keep a cooler with you. I've just started that ( okay, I was late )... bring your jugs of water.

Every family has their own dynamics - so - work with them and work on changing them so that instead of going "nuts' thinking of their favorite ice cream - mom would have already frozen a bunch of bananas and the blender is READY for Vice Cream. Have things ready to go.

Talk up this way of eating - Keep your own excitement level up - and get them outside and moving. They need their movement and they need their Vitamin D for the day.

As they get older, and can handle more intense training in the realm of vegan nutrition - get them into the books and get them into the research so they can see for themselves what is happening to their bodies. Mine went "looney" when they saw the before and after sections of raw food websites. They are now their own before and afters. My eldest daughter is down 7 pant sizes and holding.

The youngest is now in photography contests for bulliten boards US wide - her skin is so gorgeous.

This is WORTH it. More than WORTH IT.

[choleblack]

You all make it sound so much easier than it's turning out to be. I swear her list of "no" foods grows everyday. Even when she takes a bite & says "yum" she will refuse a second bite. I've tried getting her to do the cooking and she enjoys it but refuses to try what she's made. Sometimes I think she refuses just because that's all she knows how to do. Darn stubborn kid!

Chole

[Boysenberry]

I agree with most of what was said above. I believe in offering choices though. apple or orange? celery or carrots? green smoothie or banana? You have the control. pick two out and give the choice. When they say neither, then you say, okay and walk out of the room. Let the tantrum happen without you.

Absolutely, throw out any SAD stuff that is highly processed. I am trying to convert some of my family, any cooked that is still in the house is "clean". Whole cooked pinto beans, organic peanut butter, 100% whole wheat bread. I only have a few left to conquer. I feed them raw every snack, usually breakfast and lunch as well. It is dinner where they seem to want raw. I wonder if it is the heat they miss.

Oh, have you taken her shopping with you and let her pick something out? This works well for my children ( I have 6, it works with all, ages 1,3,4,5,13,15) They love shopping. Tell her, while you are in produce, that she can have something from this area, or it is a limited offer and she has ten minutes, stay in produce until her time is up. Sometimes I will tell them it is a new food day and they have to pick something they haven't tried before. I always give them a choice. If it is the baby, I choose two and say this food or that food and hold them up. (But actually, the baby has been caught eating heirloom tomatos and bananas from my basket and the three year old I caught licking the broccoli!) If it is the oldest, I tell him, it must be raw and under $5. ;)

Keep trying. Once she sees you are serious, she will follow and find lots of things she adores!

[Purl]

well-it's been 2-3 weeks and my guys are kinda "gettin' it" now. They do have cooked foods, but like boysenberry-it's "clean" organic grains, etc.Here's a typical day:
~Breakfast: brown rice with rice milk, raisins and maple syrup and a smoothie (frozen fruit of their choice and rice milk)
~Snack (at school): juice box, carob energy bar (wholefoods bulk), 2 dried apricots
~Lunch: (at school) almondbutter and raw honey sandwich on gluten free bread, baby carrots w/ Annie's dressing OR homemade trail mix (macadamias, coconut, pumpkin seeds, raisins, sunflower seeds)
~Snack: (home) any fresh fruit, nuts or seeds. (Yesterday my skinny guy at TWO pears, 1/2 c macadamias and a kiwi!!!)
~Dinner: Millet or Brown rice, tofu, and a big green salas with tomatoes, raisins and seeds with their favorite dressing, currently Annies French Dressing
~Dessert: carob smoothie, or fresh fruit, or some kind of raw dessert (raw apple pie, raw carrot cake, etc.)
So as you can see they aren't perfectly RAW, but they do get alot of their needs from fresh, dried, or frozen. NO prepackaged foods. All of their foods must come from nature, not a factory. It took them about 2-3 weeks to quit their pining away for their beloved mac and cheese from a box, hot dogs, and ice cream. Over time, as I discover more of the raw foods that they like I will incorporate those in and rotate some of their cooked foods out. Like this morning-They haven't been drinking their morning fruit smoothies this week-so I changed it up and made "banana milk"-frozen bananas (fresh would have been a better choice), vanilla rice milk, cinnamon and maple syrup. THEY LOOOOOVED IT!!!!

My point is: it has taken me several weeks of tossing most meals, to find stuff they like. and now they are much more agreeable about eating new stuff. Like last week TWO raw pizzas went directly to the compost pile after one bite. They weren't ready for it. My biggest allies are honey and maple syrup. Over time you can decrease the sweetners, til you can just omit all together.

My guess is your dd knows she's got you between a rock and a hard place, KWIM? I think 5 year olds are in a transition phase, much like 12 or 13. KWIM? I've had 3 5 year old's so far and 5 can be as difficult as 2 yo-smae stuggles, just more vocal and not as easily distracted! LOL!

Hang in there mama! She'll come around. If you can find even 1 or 2 acceptable foods, just let her eat them-til she's sick of them. Then she'll pick something else. You might have to put your foot down and let her be hungry 1 night, too. One of my greatest accomplishments as a mom ;) came a couple of years ago. All 3 children (they baby was a newborn) would complain about supper. They were down right RUDE every night. Come to think of it, the twins were 5 at the time and lil bro always does what they do...anyway they complained so much that I was exasperated. So I calmly and very sweetly made an announcement one night. "The next person who complains about supper will have his dinner thrown in the trash and he can get ready for bed. You will be allowed 3 crackers and 1 glass of water and then you will go to sleep." Me: giant smile I served supper. 2 seconds later a very loud and rude "I HATE THIS STUFF!!! THIS STUFF LOOKS LIKE THROW UP!!! I'M NOT EATING THIS!!!!" Me: GAINT SMILE, gently picked up the plate, tossed it in the trash and excused my boy for the evening. Taa-dah!
They seriously did not complain again for almost a year! LOL!!!! I do not mind a "Uh, mom-I don't really like this. Please don't make it again." That's fine, but the rudeness was not tolerated.

anyway-just my point that sometimes ya gotta go where they don't think you will and don't let them call you bluff. !!!

Have a great day!