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7 Steps for Kids
The seven steps for children are different from the seven steps for grownups. See what you think.
Eat breakfast with protein and some carbs every morning within an hour of getting up.
Make connections between what you eat and how you feel.
Change snacks and drinks from junk food to healthy food and from soda to water.
Eat protein lunches. Make sure lunch includes a protein food and good carbs.
Shift to whole grain food. Eat brown food instead of white foods.
Take out the sugar.
Take care of life.
Notice that taking out sugar is not step one. Before you start taking anything out, you will want to add some things in. You want to balance your child's biochemistry and heal the brain before taking out the sugar. Your enthusiasm may outpace your child's capacity to integrate the change, so we do not want to rush. Think of this as a program of abundance rather than deprivation. Do the steps in order, slowly. Slowly means 6-12 months for the steps.
Here is why slower is better:
- Going slower puts attention on the process rather than the end that most people define as getting off sugar. It allows your child to get to know a given step rather than blazing through.
- Going slower reinforces following instructions that sugar sensitive people tend not to do. It gives you a chance to learn the drill so you can better lead your children through it.
- Going slower allows the behavioral changes your child is making to settle in - planning, stopping, waiting, not acting impulsively.
- Going slower allow the neurological change to *set* with each step before adding more in.
- Going slower reduces the number of variables your child is dealing with and trying to pay attention to.
(c) Kathleen DesMaisons 2006. All rights reserved.
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