Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN(a bit late)

Sorry to put my *Halloween Hints* up a little late. Actually, I would love to hear everyone's Keto Kid Halloween experiences. So please leave a comment if you feel comfortable doing so.

Noah loves Trick or Treating with his big brothers! I have to admit, I felt a little sad when the boys came home afterwards, dumped their bags out & Noah had received 2 small toys in his entire boat-load of candy. Luckily, I had tons of plastic frogs & bubbles left over to add to his cheap toy pile. He loved it. Once the boys sift through their candy, Noah gives all of his to Daddy, Daddy gives him $20 & we take him to Toys R Us to buy the toy of his choice.

He loves this method! Hope to hear some of yours!
I love my Keto Kid!

Scales

The scale you choose is important! We received our scale from our Keto Dietitian during our hospital admittance to begin the diet. The most important thing is to make sure your scale measures to the tenth of a gram. As the battery gets low, the weight will gradually change without a change in the item you are weighing. Be sure to purchase a model that has both battery & plug-in possibilities. Good scales are important to exactness in the diet! Good luck & good weighing.

Candlelight Dinners

Kara, another Keto mom, uses candles each night at dinner. Kara has twin girls. Only one of the twins is on the diet. Can you imagine the challenge this brings into Kara's family's keto adventure! I'm strengthened by Kara's creative example and undeterred focus to help her child.

Candles at your dinner table can help your Keto kid!

Kara took her daughters to choose a dinner table candle. At dinner, the twins sit on opposite sides of the table and the candle is lit. The beauty of it isn't found in the candlelight itself but in the lights' brightness as it blocks the twins' view of the other's dinner plate.

Give it a try. It might mean a happier keto kid at the dinner table.

Back To School

My kids went Back to School at the end of August. Noah began Kindergarten. I'm proud of myself for actually leaving the parking lot. Actually I had nightmares of me sitting in my van crying while Noah was in class. Anyway, I didn't realize the Keto Quirks of having to send a meal with Noah to school. We changed his eating schedule to accommodate the classroom snack time. Another tricky element is that his Kindergarten Classroom is a "Nut Free" Zone. His current school Keto meal preference is cream, raspberries, pepperoni & cream cheese sandwiches. The last quirk to deal with is lunch containers. Most are too big & make his little Keto meal look even smaller. Some plastics leak - a big "no no." All need to be easy enough to open that Noah can open them by himself. The Keto Yahoo group members had lots of great ideas but the containers above were my favorite. They are from Bed, Bath & Beyond. The lids are cold packs! Brilliant for keeping that cream cold. They seem simple but a great solution.

My prayers are going out for all of the other Moms & Dads getting teary as you leave your epileptic child in the care of his/her school staff. Taking that step, trusting their teachers & getting in your car is overwhelmingly huge! But think how great it is for our children to develop some independance!! Awesome!

I love my Keto Kid

Stockin Up

Vacations, School Lunches, Appointments, Piano Lessons, Visiting Grandma.....

All of the above situations legitimize the need for Keto Families to stock up on small containers. I take a small lunch box or cooler everywhere with Noah's next meal.

Watch for sales because they are expensive. Try not to keep reusing them forever though. Plastics breakdown. Our Keto kids definitely don't need that too.

Love my keto kid!

Hot Dogs

Hot Dogs are a Keto staple. Hebrew National seems to be a great brand. Not the low fat of course. Noah can have a pretty good sized hot dog - lots of fat. My sister in law had some cute ideas about fixing hot dogs. Octopus Hot Dog, Worms Hot Dog - Hot Dog on a stick. I'm going to try the octopus for sure!

Noah, Ketones & MCT OIL

If you've kept up on my blog, you know that I've been on the quest to stabilize Noah's ketones at the 160 mark. I'm not happy with the 80's that have been taking over since January 08. We finally settled on using the Polycytra K - Potassium based because of the extreme thirst issues that occured with the Sodium based Bicytra. The original precription was for 12.5 cc twice a day. I figured out through trial and error that he can only handle 5 cc at a time without freaking out his hydration levels and dropping the ketones. No explanation for the interaction. It's just Noah. So now he drinks 5 cc with each of his meals (5 per day). Good thing he is fantastic at taking meds!! Thanks for all of your emails about this Polycytra problem!! It made a huge difference!

The other major adjustment has been with Noah's water intake. Along with the Polycytra being divided up throughout the day, his water also has to be divided. He has to consume around 30 ounces of water per day. We don't want kidney stones or other issues. Noah can drink no more than 2.5 ounces each hour. Any more that the 2.5 ounces and his ketones drop. I know, I know..... blood ketones are not diluted by water. But, I believe between the Polycytra K & the water, something drops his ketones. The only way we've stabilized him back to 160 is with everything divided up.

Crazy!!

OK - MCT OIL - We're using it for Noah. I've learned to only add it to a couple of his meals or his tummy gets upset. We already use Coconut oil. So, between the two we're keeping Noah's ketones DEEP!

Here is a write up on MCT OIL from one of the many websites talking about Medium Chain Triglycerides. Thought you might be interested....

"MCT's have been shown to be a good addition to anyone's way of eating. It promotes weight loss. Improves appetite control. Is beneficial for exercise and athletic performance. Improves thyroid function. Improves heart health. Improves your immunity. Improves brain health when used in conjunction with a ketogenic diet. Jump starts ketosis when following a typical Atkins's type diet. Thus decreasing the induction side-effect of the dreaded "Atkins Flu". Assists in calcium, magnesium and amino acid absorption in people with malabsorption issues--think WLS.

Medium-chain triglycerides were first used in the mid-1900s to reduce seizures with the help of the Ketogenic Diet. In the 1980s, MCTs became popular in sports as a substitute for normal dietary fats or oils. They quickly became a favorite energy source for many athletes, such as marathon runners, who participate in endurance sports. These athletes require a quick source of energy, which is readily supplied by carbohydrates. However, diets high in carbohydrates may cause rapid increase in insulin production, resulting in substantial weight gain, diabetes, and other health problems. MCT is also a form of fat; therefore, it is high in calories. MCTs do not cause weight gain because they stimulate thermogenesis (the process in which the body generates energy, or heat, by increasing its normal metabolic, fat-burning rate)."