So, Sarah's back. Our embraces were wonderful! Her suitcase is unpacked, laundry is done and I even introduced her to our little project I got together while she was gone.
For a long time we have attempted parts of a Diet plan that has been suggested for Prader-Willi. We recently attended a conference in Utah that inspired us to really take a look at what we are doing in our home and see if we can take care of anxiety that has built up for Sarah and us.
We decided that one of our issues is our complete control of what she eats. Of course that's important but we think the way we go about it does not permit for her to have a say or feel some control. Well, it was time to completely embrace this Red Yellow Green Diet from the Ontario Prader-Willi Syndrome Association and see if it will help solve our issue. (you can order this same book if you click here)
So, look what I did to our pantry door! Justin and I were beginning to think this was all a little nutty when I got it all hung up but the more we studied and as each day has gone by it's become quite simple to us...it's working! Of course it hasn't been very long; I'll update you in a few months and let you know what we think then but as of now it's going pretty well.
Let me explain. The green foods are "Go Foods." She can have one each time we sit down eat if she wants. They are basically the no calorie foods, or low calorie vegetables.
The yellow foods are "Caution Foods." These are foods we all need for our bodies to be healthy. She just needs to be careful with amounts to maintain a healthy weight.
The red foods are "Stop Foods." She can one a week. They are basically dessert, high fat meats, or really high calorie foods.
So, the pictures posted on our pantry help Sarah to know examples of what she can eat and how much of each food makes up a serving.
Then she uses this chart below.
Each night before bedtime, while I'm working on the dishes, Sarah picks out what she will eat for each meal the next day. I give her options of what we can have for dinner and from there we start adding servings that she can have for each food group.
I absolutely love that Spencer and Allison are picking up all this knowledge right along with us. It's opened a rather healthy dialogue between us of why Sarah's body is different then ours. It's helping us all be a little healthier. It's motivating me to plan my meals a little better--saving $, time and stress. It feels like it's given Justin and I permission to be strict with her diet because someone else says so; we don't feel like the bad guy constantly. Sarah feels like she's eating more then before. She just fine when the rest of us our eating what we need or want because she's got her "Prader-Willi Plan" as she calls it.
I know that when we walk into school meetings this fall that we will feel a little more armed with how to deal with food at school. When I drop her off somewhere I just let her kindly know that if she chooses to eat something while she's there that is not on her plan then we will just take away calories from her plan. (Of course the adult that is in charge of her knows before hand that she's not supposed to eat anything too.)
Sarah still asks the questions about food but all we have to say is "it's not on your plan you made." She answers back with an "okay" almost every time! I can not believe it! It's so refreshing! Of course our little learning curve is quite steep right now but I'm okay with that when I know we are preparing this for years down the road.
I must say that this is just part of adjusting our traditions and the way we do things to our "normal" if there is such a thing. I'm pretty sure other people don't understand this one bit, so among my thoughts to myself that "I just can't care what others think" I smile thinking that "if Sarah lived under their roof day in and day out" they would come up with some of these tricky things too.
