DAY 1 & 2 OF THE PKU DIET CHALLENGE

Well, here I am doing something I didn’t think I’d be able to do. Over the past few years, my daughter has asked me repeatedly to try her food or sip her milk (aka formula) which I would. However, it was not without hesitation and very small bites.

My name is Karen Ward and I have been challenged by my 8 year old daughter, Lauren, to try her PKU diet for a week. After watching Jack Everitt’s documentary, “So What Can You Eat?”, Lauren thought it was pretty neat that his friend, Liberty, was willing to eat low protein foods for a whole month. She wanted one of her family members try it so we could experience it as well. I have to say as excited as I was, I was a little apprehensive of trying different types of low protein food, but more importantly – failing. Failing to make it a whole week. How would I feel not making it a week if my child has to do this for the rest of her life?

So here we are on day 2 of my challenge. Day 1 went well. We toasted our first drink of Bettermilk ! After drinking it, I definitely felt full and wasn’t able to eat my breakfast until a little while later. I thought back to all those times I was rushing to get Lauren to school and trying to get her to just finish her breakfast and milk! When Lauren arrived home from school, I got the interrogation of “what did you have to eat while I was at school?” When snack time came, she weighed out our snacks and informed me on what snacks are best. We decided to try the Savory Crackers from Cambrooke – yummy!! The hardest part of my day…my coffee! I l missed my cream! It was only the first day and we tried a new food for dinner. We tried the Amazing Chicken Patty Crusted Cauliflower recipe on Cambrooke’s website. It was super easy and when dipped in a little ranch even better! Lauren isn’t the best at trying new foods, but we did it together!

The start of day 2 was not great. I woke with an unsettled feeling in my stomach and a slight headache. I didn’t feel great until I had something to eat. Some So Delicious yogurt and strawberries was a start. Today was a work day, so I had to make sure I had enough snacks so as not to be tempted. I was going along fine until my co-workers brought out the after lunch snack – Cadbury Mini Eggs, my favorite! Watching them pass around the bag and apologizing as it passed me. Wow. Imagine being in that situation on many occasions – probably more than once in a day. This day was different than day 1 as I was out in social situations. I know as a mom how difficult is it is to weigh foods, mix formulas etc, but now I am experiencing things from a different point of view, my daughter’s.