What Should Kids Eat?

What Should Kids Eat?

          What should kids eat?  Everyone seems to have different ideas and opinions to this question.  All families have children with different dietary needs and challenges, so everyone should tweak their menus accordingly.  I believe families should focus on what they can eat if dietary restrictions apply and create awesome meals to share.  I want to teach my children to honor and respect their bodies by making wholesome real foods to nourish their bodies on a daily basis.  I pray families celebrate the blessing of food daily by creating meals and sharing them together around a kitchen table.

          I believe families can create an environment in their homes to promote healthy clean eating in their children.  When families go into the grocery store, it is easy to start picking up the processed food like substances of our times.  The human body can not process or recognize these chemicals, artificial ingredients and overload of sugars in these proceseds foods because these foods are not what God intended for us when he created the world.   These processed foods are man made science experiments to create a food that is addicting and makes you come back for more.  The more processed food you give your children the more they will crave and want.  There is no such thing as kid food or adult food.  There is just real whole foods meant for all human beings, whether a kid or an adult, to eat and use as energy to stay alive and live.

           If you start feeding your kids a whole foods diet, their taste buds will change.   They will start craving the sweet in an organic apple rather than a candy bar.  Fruit is truly God's candy and so yummy.  Parents need to stop enabling their children in developing poor eating habits.  It may be an adjustment but eventually if you keep putting the healthy whole foods on the table they will eat it.  My son took a bite of salad the other night after many years of saying I don't eat that.  He said it was delicious too. Sugar consumption is a major player in a lot of childhood disease, so protect your children by lowering their sugar consumption in your home.

         Children get offered so much junk food in the world, so make your home the place where the food is real, healthy and healing to positively impact their growth and development.  A healthy child is a happy child.You are planning the meals so you have the power to transform their diets to benefit their overall well being.  Don't get caught up in the standard american diet because it is the root of many diseases.  Remember to give your children occasional treats with healthy ingredients, so they feel satisfied and not deprived.
           Keep your children's diet fresh and exciting by trying new recipes.  This summer my family is going totally gluten free.  I have non-celiac gluten sensitivity and feel gluten is very hard to digest and gut irritating for all people. The human body just does not know how to digest it effectively.  I believe gluten can cause many ailments in the body and change children behavior.  I am excited to bring gluten free eating which is a new way of eating to my whole family to help them heal their bodies and feel their best. What healthy foods do you feed your children?  Have you tried any new recipes or eating plans lately?  Do you share a meal with your family daily?

          

Redefining What A Treat Is?

Redefining What A Treat Is?

           What is a treat?  When most people think about treats, they think about cakes, cookies and pies.  In today's culture treats are widely available, and people are consuming treats daily or multiple times a day.  I question if this is why the world is in an obesity epidemic with lots of children getting diabetes and other horrific diseases.  Before all of these premade treats became available, people had to take the time to make a decadent treat before they could eat it. So having treats available was more time and labor intensive and people prepared them less often which means they consumed less.  I am trying to reteach myself and teach my children that treats are meant for occasional consumption to be enjoyed along with a primarily healthy food plan and way of life.  I feel it is important to allow yourself a treat now and then because it gives the human part of us satisfaction, enjoyment and pleasure.

           Since I became ill, I have had to rethink what a treat could be for me on this food plan.  I also starting rethinking my kids treats and making them with more wholesome ingredients.  If your going to have a treat the best way is to make it with the healthiest ingredients and enjoy occasionally.  When I say occasionally, I mean 2 to 3 times per week in appropriate portion control.  I am finding that I still feel satisfied with my new treat options even though they are not the standard american treat of cakes, cookies and pies.  I also am becoming empowered because even my treats are positively impacting my healing journey.

          So what do I eat for treats?  I love grilled bananas.  I make popsicles out of fresh fruit and coconut water.  An absolute delicious treat on a hot summer day.  When I went strawberry picking, I pureed the strawberries and put it in an ice cream maker.  Viola, in minutes strawberry sorbet was created and enjoyed. I love to eat frozen grapes because they feel like little ice cream balls when consumed.  The yonana machine which makes frozen bananas into soft serve ice cream is refreshing too.  I also love to just have fresh fruit as a dessert after a meal.  I look forward to trying to make new treat ideas without added sugar and sharing it with all of you in a future blog post.  So yes, you can have treats and still be positively impacting your health and healing journey.

Day 21: Success and Healing on my Journey!!!

Success and Healing on my Journey!!!

           I have arrived at day 21 of my 21 day whole foods no sugar challenge.  I was very true to this challenge and the foods I ate for 21 days.  I kept a food journal and ate mindfully.  I did not eat any additional sugar except the sugar that is naturally present in fruit.  I only ate foods that I know I do not have a food sensitivity according to my MRT blood test panel.  I have been watching my tyramine and salicytate acid consumption which is naturally present in some foods.  I have a new food storage system where I freeze portions of foods and take out when I will eat it withing 24 hours.  This helps reduce the tyramine chemical that builds up on left over foods.  I was watching consumption of fodmap foods found on my MRT blood test yes foods list.  I am happy to say my body is tolerating pears and plums which is a higher fodmap food.  This is progress.

       I feel this challenge was very successful for me.  I lost 13.2 pounds of inflammation all over my body.  My joints are not hurting like they were and I do not feel like a walking balloon.  I have more energy, a more positive mind set and  motivation to keep doing the hard work to heal my body. My belly bloat and gas is less severe. I am continuing to do my exercise along with my diet changes, and I am starting to see and feel improvement. 

          So where do I go from here?  I want to build on the success that I have made.  I will keep the foundation the same which is focusing on whole foods I know I do not have a sensitivity too.  However, I will start introducing foods that are not on this list one at a time to see if my body can tolerate it.  This will give my diet a little more variety.  For now, I will stay away from added natural sugar like honey and maple syryp. I will continue to focus on fruit for my natural sugar source, so I am going to continue the sugar free challenge.  I am so thankful that after 4 years of trying many food plans that this food plan is starting to positively contribute to my healing and made me feel better.  I am committed to heal myself through food and I feel this has been the first positive step towards my goal.  I also plan to get in the kitchen and make some new dishes and treats with foods on my plan to keep my healing journey fresh, exciting and motivating.  

Treats:To Eat or Not to Eat

Treats: To Eat or Not to Eat

There is a lot of differing views on if it is healthy to include paleo treats in a healthy paleo diet or a food plan designed for your body.  I do follow a lot of paleo food bloggers and have made some of these delicious creations and have ate my fair share.  We have all heard the words eat everything in moderation. However, I do not believe this quote works for people who have food sensitivities and a body that is depleted and not well.  I have to be very careful what I put in my body because it can set back my healing for a month or more.  With that said, I do believe it is important to have a treat that has all ingredients that is safe during your healing journey. When I do not allow myself to have any food that brings me pleasure and feels like a treat, I start to feel deprived and this derails my progress.  However, it is easy to get caught up in treat making and have more that what a treat is suppose to be. I have had this happen to me where I was relying on to many paleo treats. A treat every day or multiple times a day is to much and negatively impacts the healing process.  I believe it is healthy to build in a treat 2 or 3 times a week as long as it is a safe treat with portion control for your healing journey.  I good friend once told me, "Enough is a banquet".  This quote can be applied to many areas in my life, but for treats it reminds me to mindfully eat, enjoy each bite and go back to eating my healthy whole unprocessed foods for the rest of the day. Now I feel satisfied and motivated to continue following my food plan which greatly impacts my sacred journey of healing and restoring my body to good health.   I enjoyed the treat and I will enjoy the treat again when it is the right time.   Do you incorporate paleo treats in your food plan?

The Mind Body Connection

The Mind Body Connection

         During my journey to heal my body, I am figuring out that only focusing on healing through food is not enough. There is a strong mind body connection that has to be nourished too. I feel my thoughts deeply impact my healing.  The power of food, thoughts, body and mind working harmoniously together is the recipe for full healing.  Healthy nourishing food is so important because it gives the body the fuel it needs to heal and repair itself.  Positive, happy thoughts gives the body and all of its miraculous bodily functions a happy place to do great works and dwell. I believe the holy spirit lives within me and I want to create a happy peaceful temple for it to dwell.  God is good, and he has given me this body to use to enjoy the beauty of life and do great works for him, my family and the world.  

          I believe if you allow yourself to see everything negatively, then your life will be negative.  However, if you allow yourself to see the positive in everything, then you will live a positive life.  It is all a choice on how you choose to view the world.  I have chosen to see the positive in everything even the most challenging of challenges.  When I find the positive in the challenge, there is always an opportunity within it waiting for me to unfold. I choose to be happy.  I choose to find the joy in everything I do.  I choose to listen to the quiet whispers and subtle gifts the Lord shares with me during ordinary everyday life.  At church yesterday I was able to serve the Lord by being a eucharistic minister and give holy communion to the sick.  I find great joy in helping people especially those in great need.  A ninety two year old man gave my family 3 prayer cards with Jesus' picture on it with the ten commandments written on the back.  I found this to be a powerful moment inspired by God.  I am starting to see Jesus in ordinary people and all their kind acts directed by God's will.  I believe your thinking can greatly impact all you do, how you feel and your road to recovery. Do you choose to see the positive in everything?  Everyone has blessings, we just have to wake up and see and appreciate them.

           Gratitude is also so important.  I have started to write a section in my journal focusing on gratitude.  I write a few things that I am truly thankful for that day.  It is easy to get wrapped up in the chaos of everyday life and forget to be thankful for the blessings that are bestowed upon you.  I choose to look at the every day ordinary things and be forever thankful because people and things can be here today but gone tomorrow.  I choose to live in the moment and enjoy what is right in front of me.  If tomorrow comes, I will enjoy it then.  I also choose to leave the past in the past because it can not be changed, so why should I let it destroy my present day.  I choose to surround myself with other positive people because their presence in my life will positively affect me and my journey.  In living like this, I feel I am a great role model for my children.  Instilling positive thinking and living in young children is a gift that will keep on giving throughout the rest of their lives.  There are days when mothering gets overwhelming and tiring, so now I surrender it to the lord and allow him to carry me through it.  He has never let me down, and he is always by my side.  When I do not feel like doing the household tasks of the day, I surrender it to the lord and do it with love for my family. Showing love to yourself and others is also very healing.  I believe my thinking can either positively impact my healing journey or continue to cause disease.  I choose to have positive, happy healing thoughts through out my day to benefit me and the people that I encounter.  When life gets hard to handle remember, "I can't, God can and I let him."  I encourage you to find the serenity prayer and say it daily.  It has changed my life, and I believe it can change yours too.  

          Another great practice is to say positive affirmations to yourself all day.  Just the act of saying these affirmations can change your outlook on life and can help heal your body and soul.  Every day I say, "My body is already in the process of healing and restoring itself".  I choose to be open to every day miracles that are set before me, and new ideas that allow for possible positive growth to my overall healing.  Life can be an unbelievable breath taking experience and all you have to do is choose to see it that way.  Choose love, joy, peace and happiness and God will bring you energy to do great works for others and a feeling of serenity.  There is no greater gift.  You have it all when you lift your head off your pillow in the morning and breathe air.  Its called life and you have the power to enjoy it just by changing your thinking positively.  I call this greatness a gift and a blessing.  

Finding the Exercise that is Motivating and Healing for Yourself

Finding the Exercise that is Motivating and Healing for Yourself

During my battles with my intestinal issues, I have learned the importance of exercise for my health, healing and overall well being.  I jog on the eliptical machine about 5 times a week for 30 minutes.  I can see a big difference in my emotional state throughout the day when I do some form of physical activity when I wake up in the morning.  I have a more positive attitude and outlook on life and am able to deal with challenges in a more calm state of being.  Sometimes it is tough to get motivated to get up and move in the morning, but I just try to remember the feeling of how I feel when I am done and how much smoother my day will go.  I do believe you also have to find a physical activity that you are passionate about.  I have found my love for martial arts.  I have earned a brown belt with one stripe, and I am so proud of myself.  I enjoy going to train once a week.  This is my time to do what I love to do.  When I am passionate about what I am doing, I believe this positively impacts my overall health and well being. I think it is also beneficial to try new activities to keep it fresh and enjoyable.  I am thinking about trying to learn yoga with a dvd in my home.  I thought it may help with the mind body connection on my healing journey.  I'll keep you posted. Have you found an exercise or physical activity you are passionate about?

Day 15: Eat Clean Feel Good

Eat Clean Feel Good

       
            It's day 15 of my 21 day whole foods no sugar challenge.  I am starting to feel so much better.  I have lost 11.8 pounds in 2 weeks.  The swelling and inflammation in my body is going down.  The sugar and carbohydrate cravings are becoming less severe. It is amazing to me that when you feed your body the right food for you, miraculous healing can happen.  Everyone's body is unique and requires the right combination of foods for their healthy healing needs.  I have tried so many different kinds of ways of eating, but have learned I need to listen to my body and come up with my own food plan designed for my body.  This is done by trial, error and research.  I listen to expert opinions on what they feel is optimal for health and then pick what I think may work for me and make it my own.  I have made many mistakes along the way due to lack of knowledge or that the approach just did not work for my body.  I believe there is great learning in mistakes if you find opportunity deeply embedded within your mistakes.  Great healing can come from these new found opportunities.
           During this 21 day challenge, I have also been mindful of the importance of sleep.  I am trying to get at least 7 hours a sleep a night.  If I can get more sleep on some nights, I consider this a bonus.  Some nights when I work late I fall short of the 7 hours, but I do not get discouraged.  My life journey is not about perfection, it is about progress. I feel perfection is unattainable and sets me up for failure. The human body does a lot of its healing during the time you sleep, so this is why sleep is so important.  It is recommended that the average person get 7 to 8 hours a sleep a night.  Are you getting enough sleep to create a foundation for healing?

Day 1: 21 Day Whole Foods and Sugar Free Challenge

Day 1: 21 Day Whole foods and Sugar Free Challenge

          Today I woke up ready, motivated, enthusiastic and excited about the opportunity to heal myself through the new elimination food plan and the 21 day whole foods and sugar free challenge.  I want to be healthy for myself and for my children.  Today is one of my daughters birthdays, so I thought it would be a great day to start and pledge my commitment to healing and getting well again.  I ate whole foods all day and did not eat sugar of any kind except fruit.  I made homemade chicken soup for lunches and it was yummy.  I froze individual bowls so the tyramine would not build up on the left over soup.  I am starting to get the hang of freezing the left overs and taking them out the night before to enjoy the next day.  Day 1 has been a success, and I look forward to many more successful days that build on one another to make me well again.  

Searching for Foods to Heal Myself

Searching for Foods to Heal Myself

          Since I became ill with gastrointestinal issues four years ago, I have been searching for the best food plan to heal my body.  Elimination diets and omitting whole food groups have become a way of life for me.  It has been confusing at times because there is many differing views about what is a healthy food to eat. I have learned a lot about how our food is grown and why to avoid factory raised animals and vegetables sprayed with pesticides.  I have been on a gluten free diet while still enjoying gluten free grains.  After I still was not feeling better, I omitted all dairy products from my diet while getting close to being a vegetarian.  I should also say that I do not eat any peanuts or tree nuts because my daughter has a life threatening peanut, almond and hazelnut allergy.  As I was trying all of these ways of eating, I kept saying to my GI doctor and nutritionist, "If I am eating healthy food why am I getting sicker". Shortly after, I went on the low fodmap diet and became grain free.  It was then the paleo chic was born within me.  I do feel better not eating grains, so now something I tried really started working. However, I still do not feel well and the bloating, gas and constipation are severe.  Just recently I stumbled across the MRT blood test that tests 130 foods and 20 chemicals for food senstivities. Apparently my SIBO has created food sensitivities, so when I consume these foods my body creates inflammation.  I was shocked that blueberries and oranges along with a list of other foods were making me inflamed and sick.  I also found out I have a sensitivity to salicyclic acid and tyramine which is found naturally in many foods, so I have to avoid these foods containing these chemicals.  So now I am on an elimination diet according to this blood test.  Soon I am going to take another blood test that is going to look at foods that cross react with gluten and produce symptoms like when I ate gluten.  I was shocked to find out that some food proteins are so close to gluten proteins that your body thinks your eating gluten when your really not.  So currently I am grain free, gluten free, dairy free, nut free, refined sugar free and soy free. I try to eat grass fed beef, wild caught seafood and organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible.  My new adventure is learning about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.  I am going to start only eating legal foods on their illegal/legal food list.  I have heard this diet is suppose to help people with SIBO that do not get 100 percent well on the paleo diet.  The Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food".  So as i move forward with my journey of healing, I am going to focus on consuming whole foods that will contribute positively to healing my body.
           Since January my doctors have been reintroducing foods into my diet to see how I would react. None of the foods we have tried had a positive effect on my body instead my body has been becoming more inflamed and sick.  They also were trying to make this a more liveable plan with paleo treats made with coconut flour and sweetened with maple syrup or honey.  My emotions have been a roller coaster with highs and lows which started a string of emotional binge eating.  Paleo treats, sunflower seed butter, coconut oil and whole foods are good, but you can get into a lot of trouble if your over consuming them.  While my body was becoming more and more inflamed while introducing foods that I actually have food sensitivties to, the weight on the scale was going up.  So during the past 6 months I have learned a lot of important lessons on what foods are good and not so good for my body.  I also learned how important portion control is with any food and how important it is to continue eating the foods that are good for intestinal repair.
           For the next 21 days starting June 9, I have decided to focus on eating whole unrefined foods that are MRT testing and specific carbohydrate diet approved.  The paleo treats help with cravings but coconut flour is still refined and needs to be eaten once in awhile as a treat. I have learned it is easy to get into a habit of eating several servings daily of yummy paleo desserts. I will not be consuming refined foods or any sugar including  honey or maple syrup except for natural sugar in fruit.   I have worked hard in the past four years to heal myself, but have made many mistakes due to lack of knowledge, motivation and hopelessness.  Today I have better knowledge and am able to make better food choices for my medical needs.  I am focused on God's journey for me and know that he wants me to heal my body.  Saying the Serenity prayer daily and living one day at a time has given me the strength to stay motivated even when the road becomes full of irritation, temptation and loneliness. The temple of the holy spirit that lives inside me deserves to live in a healthy temple free of illness. I choose to find the positive and opportunity during my time of challenge.  I am determined that I will heal myself through food and become well again.
       

My Journey to Heal Myself

My Journey to Heal  Myself

           My road to healing, health and wellness continues to be long and bumpy with unexpected bridges to cross in order to persevere on my journey to heal my body. I am a mother of 4 beautiful children who stays at home during the day to care for my family and works at a local grocery store in the evening.  My nutritionist has encouraged me to start a blog to write about my journey to heal myself through food.  I feel this blog is going to help me realize how far I have come by documenting all the healthy changes and knowledge I have acquired on my road to wellness.  I hope it will help motivate me to continue fighting the good fight to heal and feel well.  Sometimes the road to health can be paved with the best intentions but then becomes long, hard and lonely.  When I feel like I am eating and avoiding foods I am supposed to and continue to not feel well, it can become discouraging and hard to stay motivated to go on.  I am very excited to start this blog because I feel it is going to give me great hope and strength to continue what I know is working and seek new information to try adding to my healing plan.  I am not a doctor or nutritionist, so I have acquired a lot of my knowledge about healing healthy living through reading, research and trying it out on my own body to see what works.  If you like an idea in my blog, be sure to talk to your own doctor if it is right for you because what works for one person may not work for the other. I am very excited to start blogging and documenting my journey to heal myself so one day I can look back at all the great things I have tried and say "This is what it feels like to feel well!".
          As I look back at my life, I was sick a lot as a child. I was never breastfed, so my first food was a can of formula.  Unfortunately when I was born, mothers were not encouraged to breastfeed so they did not have the knowledge of how important breastfeeding is to a baby's health. As a child I ate mostly a standard american diet filled with gluten, dairy and sugar.  My mother made meals that were healthy with whole foods but there was still a lot of processed foods around.  When I was a child, there was not the kind of accurate information about foods and how they effect your body that there is today with the birth of the real food movement. I had a lot of environmental allergies, chronic sinusitis and bronchitis and migraine headaches as a child. I also had psoriasis and eczema on my scalp and body which I needed cortisone cream to control the flare ups.  My mother did everything she could to make me feel better with the knowledge she had.  I spent many days sitting in the allergist and pediatrician's offices, laying on the sofa at home and taking antibiotics.  I am very thankful that I have a loving mother who took the best care she knew how for me.  In my early twenties I became plagued with chronic yeast infections that the doctors just did not know what to do with me to heal me.  Then I went on to develop chronic constipation which started a life long dependence on laxatives.  When I starting having my own children, my allergies, migraine headaches, yeast infections and skin rashes seemed to get better during the pregnancies.  It was like my body ailments were getting better as my body was changing during the pregnancies.
           Even though I had a lot of health issues as a child, my present day real health challenge started about four years ago.  I became ill shortly after I had an emergency c-section with my fourth child.  Before the c-section I had all normal deliveries with no drugs administered.  My fourth delivery was different because the doctors felt my child was to large and was going to get stuck half way through the delivery.  The past four years I have been looking for the right doctors and nutritionists to find out what is wrong with me and give me the tools and ideas to heal myself.  Currently my diagnosis is SIBO which is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and non-celiac gluten sensitivity.  I have severe chronic constipation which I can not go to the bathroom without laxatives.  It is like the intestines has just stopped working.  I have developed many food sensitivities and am following strict elimination diets.  I deal with belly bloating and gas on a daily basis. I have some week abdominal muscles from having four pregnancies, so I am working with a physical therapist to strengthen my abdominal muscles.
          As I try to heal my body, it becomes very socially isolating because the strict elimination diets do not allow me to eat at family homes or go out for ice cream and enjoy a cone with my family. I am very thankful for my husband who has continued to support me during this long journey to feel well again.  I feel I have overcome many health obstacles and challenges because of my husband's support and my strong faith in God's plan for me.  God strengthens me, so with him I can conquer anything and triumph no matter how difficult and challenging.  I have learned a lot of tools that have helped me feel better day to day but still do not feel 100 percent well. I have good days and not so good days. I feel there is still some missing links that I need to discover in order to heal myself fully. So as I move forward with my journey to feel healed, healthy and well I continue to seek and try new ideas. My blog titled Mama's Healthy Healing Kitchen is born today. This is another stepping stone in my journey to heal myself through food and healthy living practices in order to promote a life of simplicity, serenity and wellness.