I share many healthy food pics and recipes on my Instagram and often get asked how I got started. I'm going to try to keep this condensed. WHY? Everybody must have a reason as to why you are making a health change. If your reason is strong enough and you’re passionate, you won’t look back. For me it was my son, my SUN. He brightened my world and changed my life. When my son was diagnosed with autism at 2.5 years old I quickly noticed some of the physical ailments of the disorder. Mainly digestion. I read and researched a ton. It confirmed what I had suspected, that food definitely was playing a huge role in how my sons body was reacting. He had constant bloating and discomfort, constipation, unexplainable tantrums, and even eczema. Giving him unhealthy/toxic food brought on more suffering than smiles. It was a no brainer, a lifestyle change HAD to happen. And we were going to do it together, as a Phamily. But how?? {insert confused, scrunch face, crying emoji's}…….. HOW? We didn’t eat terribly bad before starting the transition. My kids have never ate from McDeath, I mean McDonalds, but on many Fridays my husband would bring home chick-fil-a. I made most of the food they ate but very little vegetables. My son lived off breads, pizzas, noodles, rice, and meat. He did liked fruit, but preferred junk. My daughter was only one at the time so she was always eating pretty good. This was the crucial time to start making changes before my sons gut issues got completely out of hand, and a time when my daughter was forming her toddler eating habits. So I had a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Neither communicated easily either. I had my work cut out. I was inspired by other moms on IG (shout out to @foodforhowl), I knew it was possible. I knew it was possible to reverse some symptoms of Autism, and to change the way “picky eaters” ate. I read Dr. Natasha Campbell-Mcbride MD book, GUT AND PSYCHOLOGY SYNDROM. It was a very useful guide, and I would recommend it to anybody looking to heal their gut and change their life. PHASE ONE: ELIMINATION I started by one week at a time cutting certain things out. Dairy was one, Gluten next, then Refined Sugars. That was a non-negotiable. I showed my kids the bad cereals, fruit snacks, and crackers all getting literally thrown in the trash. We sang goodbye, they cried for a quick second. I wanted them to see the changes I was making so we could all understand how we are evolving out of the sugary, fake, over processed, non healthy “food” choices. I even had to pass on birthdays and other social events while we focused on our health. You gotta do what you gotta do. And for my kids health, my life, my sanity, I’d do it all. PHASE TWO: ORGANIZE If You fail to plan, you plan to fail. I made a list, it was short, of what healthy foods my kids would eat. Three columns, a “YES”, “MAYBE”, and “TRY IT” section. The more I cut bad stuff, the more yeses I added to the list. Also my son was in school at the time so making a lunch that he would eat was difficult. I made a schedule mapping out breakfast, his lunch, and dinner so I knew ahead of time what I would be making. I grocery shopped according to what was on the weekly schedule. It was also a way for me to reflect on the day for him emotionally. I noticed behavioral patterns based what he ate that day. It was very helpful. I also started cleaning out my fridge regularly, keeping it neat, organized and inspirational for myself PHASE THREE: IMPLEMENTING NUTRIENTS I implemented bone broth daily. Since bone broth is very important to gut health I had to figure out how to get my kids to drink it. I started with soups. One bowl of soup (mine) and we would all sit down and slurp from the same spoon and the same bowl. Eating from my plate naturally made my kids more willing to try new foods. I was the example. We also bonded. Eventually I made it fun for them to drink out of little tea cups while cuddled on the patio in the morning. Another key supplement was Probiotics. If you’ve been following my journey you know I’m obsessed. Since the gut and brain are connected I knew I had to improve the current state of all our guts, not just my sons. I started giving him GARDEN OF LIFE kids. It was a simple tasteless powder that I could easily mix in the orange juice. I started taking one for women. As we thrived I continued to implement different forms, fermented food was a main choice. After being consistent with these things after a few weeks I noticed major progress and the amounts of new foods my kids were willing to not only eat but actually enjoy.
PHASE FOUR: FOOD SUBSTITUTIONS When I realized all the food I needed to not eat for a while like pastas, grains, and processed food I kind of panicked. I found myself thinking “what the hell am I supposed to make for dinner” often. I had to get creative. I made substitutions based off what food looked like. For example my kids are half Asian and RICE is LIFE round these parts. So, I figured mix in cauliflower rice as it wouldn’t really be detected or discriminated against. I started with half and half, and every time after that making the cauliflower ratio higher than the rice. When it came to snacking, I had to do major overhauls. I tried to isolate some of the main enjoyments of snacks and make appropriate substitutions. Pretzels and chips were a constant go to. I tried gluten free pretzels then I realized all the ingredients were just as non-beneficial. After not having a chip for a week or two offering some tasty crunchy kale chips was a win. To replace pretzels I just peeled and chopped veggies that had a good crunch. Having something to dip them in (hummus) created more fun. Food was fun, snacks were healthy, I was happy. Over the years eating healthier became easier and easier. My picky eaters were no longer picky. My sons digestive issues went away, and so much more.
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