Hi-

I'm re evaluating my 8 year old daughters meals. I've got a good handle on the LC way of life now and want to begin incorporating more of it into my kids lives too. I've been having problems with my oldest daughter behavior-wise too. I've been told previously by professionals that she's "gifted" but now that she's 8 and things are not settling down, I'm going to take her back in to see if we're also dealing with an ADD/ADHD. I've been doing a lot of research lately on the subject and have some to find that in MANY cases the underlying causes of ADD/ADHD are rooted in nutrition, allergies, mineral imbalances, etc. She does have a history of high lead levels and yeast overgrowth with are also factors.

I'm currently looking into some dietary supplements for her (Efalex, etc. so if anyone has any input about that too-- great!) but also, want to improve her diet by cutting out a lot of the sugars and processed foods to see if that may help her concentrate in school.

I personally don't feel it is practical to forbid her to eat all sweets, etc. She makes her own choices when she's away from home. She's pretty good about trying to stay balanced, she's not a huge sugar junkie anyway but come on, if a kid brings cupcakes to school or the teacher passes out a treat-- she's going to have one.

I am not going to cut out fruit or whole grains but I'm going to try to cut down the processed sugars as much as possible in her everyday meals so when she does have a treat or dinner out, it's not just being piled up on top of a whole bunch of other sugar she's been eating throughout the day.

My biggest challenge is lunch time. I'm also new to making lunches, she ate the lunchroom food at her old school. Below is a current typical lunch and my ideas of replacements. Would any of you mind looking of my current food selection and ideas and putting in your 2 cents? Thanks!!!


Sandwich:
Meat/cheese/mayo sandwich on white bread (I'll replace the white with wheat)
Every once and a great while PB&J (I can get a natural fruit spread & natural peanut butter instead)
She also likes tuna and chicken salad although I have not made it yet this year

Fruit:
Dole fruit cup
applesauce
yogurt
blueberries
apple or plumb or other in season fruit

Instead of chips (because I don't do chips):
Baby carrot sticks (may also do cream cheese on celery or cherry tomatoes for variety. She LOVES her veggies)
1/4 cup roasted peanuts for some extra protein
Beef Jerky (she actually picked this out herself! So proud!)
Uhhhh . . . I get stuck here . . . maybe cheese and whole wheat crackers?

Beverage:
Gatorade or 2 juice boxes (I can replace with Crystal Lite or Diet Hanson's-- what else??? Should I be concerned about the artificial sweeteners?)

Treat:
Fruit snacks-- the ones that resemble Gumi bears but are supposedly "natural"
Mini marshmallows
2 chocolate chip cookies-- only once per week
1/2 a Twix bar-- only once per week on Fridays
THIS IS MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE! All I can think of is SF jell-o and pudding cups. Any other ideas?? Again, too much fake sweetener?

Also, anyone have a suggestion for a brand of wheat bread your kids like? She tells me she is going to give her best effort to eat wheat instead of white but is not sure if she can do it. She LOVES white and is going to have a really hard time with this one (she's picky). Thanks bunches!