Our Newest Adventure...FOOD!

“Our journey with FOOD!”

So I feel it is time to do some writing.  Maybe it's cause I'm sick or maybe it's cause I have been dreaming about what to write?  So this is me giving it a whirl one more time.  I've been thinking it was time to share about our recent adventure...our eating. 

 I've had many many of you ask me questions and even thank me for posting recipes about just eating real food!

No thanks needed. 

 I kinda felt bad at first until I realized that this was something we had to do and others could ignore it if they wanted. 

So this is our journey;

 This past fall Ella and Keegan started attending a homeschool group once a week called The Master's Study (we are the second group so if you see TMS2 it's just the same thing).  They both love it to death and its given me time just to get life back up and going after Callae! But as we started our homeschooling I noticed right away that Keegan was struggling. 

Side note: I love hs because I can teach in-between grades if I need to.  If Keeg were in public school we would have had him do K over again.  With his birthday being in late July he is probably the youngest kid in his first grade. We struggled with this, but then again it was one day a week and we had hopes that being with older kids would help him...plus he's completely on a first grade level all but reading (which again is normal for boys). 

 He was having issues with headaches and not being able to sit still, he was also struggling with his sinuses and seemed to have cold symptoms daily. So first thing we did was allergy testing...this helped the sinus stuff but didn't solve everything so we had his eyes checked...yep...coke-bottle glasses were needed and helped with the headaches! Yeah! But he was still a wiggle worm!

School improved a lot except I was still seeing him struggle with focus and being able to sit still long enough to finish a simple math paper (math is his best and most favorite).  

Let me go back a little.  Keeg has always been our “hands-on...physical kid” you know the one who wants to hug you so hard you turn blue.  I have always loved this about him but we were starting to get a little concerned and thought that maybe an outlet would help. So daddy stepped in and coached him in his first year of tackle football...we won't talk about this too much lets just say mommy submitted!  He did great and loved it, but even then we noticed he'd go too far with his buddies.  He'd give high-fives way super too hard and he'd ram his buddies trying to be tough.  I asked him why he was so rough and he'd answered, “cause its football mom...we ARE tough!” 

Now go back to TMS2...after a good few weeks it was brought to my attention that Keegan was also struggling there as well...with same same “hands-on” kind of issues.  He'd come home telling me what a great day he'd had and when I'd ask if everything went well and how he did he'd simply say, “great!” Which I've also learned is the most common boy answer given to every mom from their sons!  But after talking to the school I was told that he was almost bulling the other boys...all these questions came flooding into my mind. 

I felt defensive, anger, sadness, honestly I felt like a complete failure as a mother.  I know...I got over that part, I had to it was my job to help him. The school was really great at working with me and Keeg to figure out what was going on and Mark and I started focusing on teaching better self-control and practicing sitting still...he'd be in tears and tell me he was too dumb to sit still...that his body wouldn't let him, and so on. (Talk about emotions of a mother!) I just knew that there was something else...I even thought I knew what it was. 

 See earlier last year Mark was put on meds to help him with ADD something we think he's struggled with for mostly forever.  These meds made a huge difference, I'm talking a day/night difference! So my thoughts weren't far from Keegan and the potential of him having the same issues.  So I turned my search towards that and alternative ways to handle this without meds.  I didn't get far before I discovered that God gave me someone from TMS2 who was also in my CBS group (Community Bible Study...Thursday mornings at Traders Point Christian Church)...she opened my eyes to the GAP diet (gapsdiet.com). This began to open my eyes about all sorts of issues caused by food!

 Food -ha- of all the things my son, whom is a lover of food, is going to have to let go of and he will have to let go of some major staples.  

At about the same time I found out that mom was reading a book, “Wheat Belly.” This book talks about how the processing of flour (even whole grains,etc.) have been changed SO much over the past 50 years that it just is not the same and in fact it's really not of any value to our bodies.  And how gluten was becoming more and more of an issue with people now-a-days. I'd also remember mom telling me how they avoided any dyes in food and drinks when Jeffrey was little because it caused him to act crazy.

So with all this coming together at pretty much the same time...and asking God for direction on how to do this Mark and I took this as the path to try, even though I feared what everyone fears...the cost is going to kill us!  

 

Because of our budget we slowly eased our way into gluten-free and tried our best to avoid any dyes.  Holy cow it took a good 2 weeks of whining and even a bit of mourning from Keegan but we noticed a huge difference!  In fact it wasn't just us that noticed; TMS2 was starting to see a difference, his Sunday school teachers saw it, as well as CBS teachers! 

Mark and I even started to drop weight doing this which wasn't even our goal.  We saw such a difference that we called a family meeting!  We sat all the kids down and talked to them about what God calls us to do.  How He tells us to treat our bodies like they were His temple, His Holy temple which meant that we need to understand the things we were putting into our bodies.  We also talked about how God made us a family because He wanted us to be together in this world...we are a team...His team!  Yep...you got it, next we explained how Daddy and Mommy both felt it was unfair to ask Keegan to take this journey alone while the rest of us ate the things he loves...we gave the announcement: we are ALL eating like Keegan! Grissom jumped up and down cheering while Ella started crying (which is what we expected) and we totally understood.  

The world might think this is harsh and unfair but this is how our family will live, united and supportive.  We gave one exception to this rule: Birthdays! They will be a free for all! That gives us 6 free for all days! 

As I began my search for gluten-free meals I was pretty disappointed to find many dyes still used, or it was just super expensive, or they just subbed out the flour with corn meal, corn flour, or corn starch.  And my thoughts started thinking could corn anything really be that good for you too? I knew enough about diets to know that corn was looked at as a carb.

I can't tell you how many prayers I had about all this throughout this whole process...and one thing I kept falling onto was Paleo - this and Paleo - that? So I read and read...did I ever tell you that I am NOT a reader?! But I read all I could about this “cave-man” diet.  It seemed to make since...if you can grow it or kill it then eat it - period! 

I wish I could say life got easy but it didn't.  Not only do I have a house to manage, kids to homeschool, a baby turning 1, now I have to seriously work at cooking real and good foods? This past year had been hard enough to have a dinner to eat before bedtime let alone make sure it's all real food! 

But I will fight!

 I've seen too much of a difference in both my boys and even a slight difference in Ella.  This IS worth it to me.  

As Mark and I got to talking about California we realized that we WERE eating real food there.  We HAD to it was all we could afford! We could load the fridge and the freezer up from the fruit stand for under $50 a week without a problem.  It was the meat that was costly so we ate chicken which wasn't much cheaper!  As we thought back on it we didn't notice seeing heavy folks out there and everything had a healthier vibe.  

It was normal to eat super healthy (they need lots of help with smoking and littering but it was super common to drink shakes (which we also started doing) and eat healthy. 

 Back home here in Indiana it's almost the complete opposite.  Eating the right way, the healthy way can really be hard on the budget.  

What is wrong with people? 

 I was honestly intimated to go in to Trader Joes...I know, I know go ahead and laugh, but it's true.  Out here folks get a snobby rap or that persona that they think they are better then other people cause they eat organic!  This persona is something I do not want.  So mom took me and to be honest I wasn't impressed, and I was a bit relieved.  Their food is good but not priced where I need it to be. 

 I've been told about Whole Foods and I am planning on going there (yes I have to plan these trips so I can go alone and think).  

So for now we have invested in Costco.  I'm really liking it.  We can eat produce and meat without it breaking our little tiny budget!

Now let me warn you that anyone you talk to that knows paleo still sounds kind of crazy but if it works for you then I think you need to go with it food wise. Being out in CA then coming back here we have seen a huge difference in people and size and that can only mean that something is just not right.  But I think people need to hear this stuff when they are ready.  I wasn't until we had issues.

  And I've found we can afford it cause I'm not buying all the canned and boxed meals and foods not even the snacks.  Our plate is colorful and not huge and we are not hungry like I thought...I am very impressed with this way of eating.  I will continue to search for better ways of preparing our meals...the crockpot is still my BEST friend ever! 

And I'm excited to tell you that my weight has literally melted off me...I'm down a nice 25 lbs in 6 months...and NO, I do not exercise! This is something I will be adding but not just yet...going slow is my motto! 

Did I mention I'm sleeping better at night? 

I've had better luck with my sinuses as well (minus this nice battle with the flu)!

Dairy is something we've been told to get rid of as well.  Right now we are not.  We have greatly reduced our amounts to a small glass in the morning and maybe some cheese during the day.  But I'm also learning that its not really needed in our diets.  Did you know that our country has the highest percent of osteoporosis and yet we are also the leading intake of calcium? Doesn't

that make you say, “How's that working for us?” If it doesn't it should. 

 From what I've learned we need to be careful because too much calcium can be harmful.  In fact calcium works with vitamin D3 and vitamin K to help our bones become more dense...along side of workouts! And if we eat the right foods we get all we need of all three. Although I've read if you do take a supplement D3 would be the one to take!

 I also learned that you need fat to absorb calcium which means the “low-fat” or “fat-free” fads are just a way to turn our heads from what our bodies truly need.

I must say satans job has been and will always be to take us out...believer or not.  I you are a believer then he wants us gone so we can not spread the Word, and if we are not believers then he still wants us gone before we have a chance to hear and respond to God's Word.  Don't you get it?  This is just another way (through our food) to take us out! Kind of radical, I know but the more I learn the more I'm feeling angry that this fake stuff even exists!

 It's been the past 50+ years that major disease has taken over...not to mention obesity...where's or when has that been more prevalent then it is right now? 

Don't take my word for it...research...learn...at least be open to a little change at a time.  Go check your fridge, look at your sauces to see what ingredients they have in them...see what has dyes or any artificial flavorings! If you don't know a word look it up!

  I'm only asking the ones I love to KNOW what you are eating. 

 If you have questions I'll do my best to answer them.

We are still on this journey too!

One things is for sure...our garden this year will be big and organic.  We will be canning and freezing more then we have any other year before!

Good luck on your journey!