Alzheimer's And Eating

Mom is eating very well these days. She has went through so many different eating stages. When she still could and would feed herself all she wanted was candy. She would have me buy her Baby Ruth candy bars by the box full. She loved carmels  and peppermints too . She would have a peppermint in her mouth all day. I ask the doctor about it and he said at her age she can eat anything she wants. I wonder when I will be able to do that. I am ready now. Anyway, When it came to good food we kind of had to make sure someone cooked her something because she would just eat Rice Kristies or a sandwich. Than when I started caring for her full time I tried to cook 3 meals a day . I really hated it but  did it most of the time.  I started fixing  TV dinners at least once a day When I was still working  . She loved the Salisbury steak ones. Than she went to refusing everything unless it was sweet. I guess she was wanting her candy bars. But by this time everything had to be pureed. We had pureed fruit , shakes, puddings , custard and  cereal, lots of cream of wheat and grits. And of course maple and brown sugar oat meal . Still her all time favorite meal. But now I can get her to eat mashed potatoes, pureed vegetables , scrambled eggs and pureed meat. Man that is nasty. I just have to make myself do it.I am a bit lazy so actually getting up and pureeing something is a chore. I could go with baby food but that is a bit costly and not sure it  has enough nutrients for her. She still gets lots of  hot cereal and applesauce because I don't have to do much work and she just eats and eats.
I have some tips from my book on eating I wanted to share. Good luck and I am going to eat what ever I want after this post. My tummy is making noise.
1. Serve meals at the same time every day.
2. Serve foods with different colors and textures.
3. Make the table a calm place to eat.
4. Use plain-colored dishes with no pattern to set off the color of the food on the plate so your loved one can see the food. I had to get a plain color table cloth and place mats because mom used to pick at them.
5. Use a shallow bowl with a lip on it if they keep pushing there food off the plate.
6. Put only the knife , fork or spoon they need to eat with next to there plate.  Caution with this . Mom went through a stage were she would the knock the  heck out of you at any time so we kept the knives and forks away from her . A spoon was the best bet.
7. Allow plenty of time to eat. Don't rush them.
 If your love one refuses to eat, it may be because they have too many choices on her plate. Try offering one food item at a time.
They may not know how to get started . Show her the act of eating. 

In one of my older post . Really old post I showed you the heavy fork I got for mom. She never used it. But her PT gave here a rubber thing to put over her spoon to make it big and she could hold onto it better. I also had to remind her all the time how to use the spoon and get her started. Now it is feeding her all the way. But she did it for a very long time on her own. When she was wanted to. A lot of times she refused either way. For years I just left a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios sitting by her chair and she ate on it all day. In fact she used to eat two or three bowls a day sometimes. I miss those days. Now she just sits with hardly any emotion. Sometimes she talks and sometimes she doesn't . Never know what tomorrow will be like so cherish today.