Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Lets talk FOOD, Part 1

Notice: I started this post in January! Eeek.

It’s the beginning of the year and most people I know are making resolutions to , “Eat healthier,” “Eat cleaner,” “Stop eating junk food” etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And I think it’s a joke. Seriously.

I’ve come to the conclusion that what you believe about food guides how you eat, truly. Convenience in food has sold us on the idea that healthy food lasts over a year on your shelf, whole food now comes with stickers and labels that say “Just add water,” and things like dextrose, fructose, and nitrate are now ingredients in anything you put in your mouth at each and every meal. And its all a lie.

Let me take you back to the start of November, where we took Bogie to see a new doctor for his skin. He had been having severe breakouts of eczema and the only thing that seemed to help was progressively stronger steroids. He’s four. He’s been on steroids for over two years. Over half of his life, I had allowed topical steroids to be part of my child’s daily regimen. And when I looked around I saw that I was not the only Momma hocking her kids up with drugs; daily. But when I thought about it, or when my mom would ramble off about how kids did not have all of these problems when I was a kid, I would just push it back to the ‘nod a smile’ and move on. But, I don’t want my kids hocked up on meds each day AND I’d like to be a grandmother someday, so the steroids had to be stopped.

This new doctor really believes it’s a food allergy/sensitivity Bogie has. How do you relieve the build-up in a body from a food allergy, you detox. You take all of the “bad” stuff out of your diet, fill it with “good” stuff and let your body do what it was designed for and get into optimum health from the inside out.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Sounds like common sense, right? It is, but it is damn hard to do. And I don’t think I would have ever changed the way I fed my kids had somebody not told me that what I was putting into their bodies was HURTING them, meal after meal.

Let me tell you all of the “No’s” of his diet.

  • No gluten.
  • No wheat or whey.
  • No dairy.
  • No eggs.
  • No red meat.
  • No pork.
  • No processed sugar or processed foods.
  • No corn.
  • No peanuts.
  • No oranges or grapes or lemons.

I’m sure there’s more… it just became easier to say what he could eat.

  • Lean white meat (chicken, poultry, or fish.)
  • Fruits.
  • Vegetables.
  • Good fats.
  • Beans.
  • Rice.

I was like, “WHAT? You want me to give my kid what to eat?!? It’ll never fly. We will starve! He will starve!”

When I was put into the  position that something that I was giving my kid was making him sick, literally sick, I had to re-think my whole idea of food and how we eat. I had to wipe away everything I’ve ever thought or cooked and start from scratch. And after a bazillion trips to the market-multiple markets, and a doubled grocery bill, I am finally figuring it out.

Its crazy hard. It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of planning.  And that’s why I think starting at the beginning of the year with “I’m cutting out sugar” or “I’m going to eat healthier” is just bogus because these statements do not correlate to true change. It it  is a lackadaisical approach to something that we don’t really want to change. Because it is HARD. And these statements tell me that the person has not truly arrived with a whole belief that food can either aid or hinder your health. People who do, eat differently every-day-of-their-lives.

In the coming days and weeks, I’ll show you what a I feed my kids, what I’ve discovered, what has happened to Bogie’s skin, and what we teach our kids about food. Join me?

6 comments:

Sarah said...

I can't wait to see your updates to this post. We're doing the 10-days of real food challenge and started on Monday. I was absolutely amazed this past weekend when I read the labels in the grocery store, really read them, for the first time. Sugar as the second ingredient in the "whole wheat" bread I had been feeding my family. Come on! You're absolutely right that it's a lot of work, a ton of work, but I have to say that I have SO MUCH more energy after just 3 days of no processed foods, no refined sugars, no additives, food dyes, etc. Granted we can eat more than what your poor little guy can, but it's still hard so I can only imagine what you're going through. Seeing a positive change in our kids is so worth it though. Thanks for sharing this with us!

Megan said...

Oh wow, this sounds like a food revolution! Bring it on!

Genn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Genn said...

Oh man.
Great post.
Tough stuff with Bogie. I had no idea he had so many "no" foods. That makes it that much harder to change.
But stick with it and it will get easier everyday!

Have you looked at that book Weelicious that I bought? Some really great kid friendly recipes for the whole family in there and I'm sure many of them you can personalize to Bogie's needs.

When I first wanted to learn about where our food really comes from I was completely SHOCKED at all that I discovered. I still get shocked and mad and sad to learn more about it. Have you read any of Michael Pollan's books? His easy and super quick read Food Rules was a big game changer for me. And that book led me to read his other books, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and In Defense of Food. And then we watched Food Inc. which is also crazy and super informative.

Excited to follow your posts on this. Good luck on this new food journey. You've inspired me to post something on the subject too. Hmmm...

Genn said...

PS- I ordered Robyn O' Brien's book yesterday immediately after watching her video. It shipped today and I can't wait to dive into that. I bet she has all kinds of great tips!

A couple food tips I've learned:
bananas are cheap, buy a lot, they freeze well and can be used is tons of smoothies, and the kids love to peel them themselves for snacks.

Beans are cheap. Always have in my pantry. That crockpot pinto bean recipe floating around pinterest right now is SO good! I made em recently and we ate them all week with some brown rice and tomatoes.

Frozen fruits and veggies are sometimes better buys or possibly cheaper, when fresh organic produce is not available. Good to have freezer stocked too so you can whip up healthy things anytime even without fresh produce.

Ok, I'll stop now. :)

Nicolle said...

I love so much of what you are saying here. Genn has great tips too! I wonder now if Boyd's eczema is from what he is eating as well. We have tried to cut out a lot of junk. We haven't done it 100%, but we have been eating healthier in the last couple of years than ever before. I can feel the affects that processed foods have on my body and my brain. Loved your post!
xo