This month marks the one year anniversary of our family starting a new way of life. I think. I didn't actually write the date down anywhere, so I'm not sure. But I THINK it was this time last year so I'm going to roll with that. About a year ago, I found myself a little overweight, The Coach was a little overweight with a borderline diabetes problem, and Justice was underweight. I had no energy, Justice had too much energy. I started to very slowly make some changes to our diet. I studied the Word of Wisdom, aka "Mormon Health Code", and prayed to change the way we eat so our family would be healthier.
One year later, we eat a 95% clean and not processed diet. I made a monthly checklist of what foods I would eliminate and what I would replace them with (if any), and I very slowly incorporated them into our daily meals over the course of about 8 months. The first month was the hardest, because I replaced all white flours with whole wheat, and eliminated white rice completely. Refined sugars were next on the chopping block, then artificial preservatives and colors. I replaced low fat dairy with full fat dairy, and eliminated processed cheeses and most meats. We still eat bacon and hot dogs, of the uncured variety. Nobody can tell the difference.
These changes were not hard, but they paid off huge dividends. One year later:
Me: 35 pounds lighter
The Coach: 15 pounds lighter, blood sugar stable for the first time in ten years.
Justice: 14 pounds heavier
The biggest winner was Justice. By eliminating processed foods from his diet, he was able to stop taking his ADHD meds completely. The jury is still out about school, we are cautiously optimistic he's done with the meds for good. I'm so happy about that. By eliminating his ADHD meds and switching to full fat dairy and adding natural nut butters and nuts to his diet, he gained 14 pounds, putting him at a healthy weight for his age and height.
Now, this is not a diet. This is not Paleo, this is not Atkins, this is not sugar free, this is not anything with a name. I stick to the perimeter of the store, hitting the meat counter, the dairy and produce sections and that's about it. I still bake, we eat dessert on Sundays and it can be anything. But it's homemade and doesn't have any food additives like preservatives in it. It's not about eating "light", it's about eating real food. The kids eat homemade muffins for breakfast, they eat cheesy eggs, they eat homemade lunch meat, and they get homemade cookies in their lunch. Nobody is feeling deprived, because they aren't. Me either. I like cookies too. I'm not a psycho about it. We ate our bucket list of food on our trip, but we also countered those bad choices with healthier ones. For the first time in my life, I went on vacation, had a great time and didn't gain a single pound.
And it was the best thing we have ever done for our health. I got so sick of counting calories, watching my sodium intake, etc. that I was miserable. I haven't had to do any of that. My issues with sodium disappeared completely when I stopped eating processed foods. The weight fell off when I eliminated pasta and bread. I know now I can't tolerate those things so I don't eat them. And most importantly, I don't miss them at all now that I know what they were doing to my gut. I am still addicted to caffeine. I know, I know. I'm trying. I don't drink soda anymore (maybe once in a blue moon, thankfully I kicked that habit on our trip) but I still drink an energy drink in the morning. It's a natural one, but it's still something I'd like to give up in the very near future.
Most importantly, everybody has gained a strong testimony about the Word of Wisdom, especially Justice. He already had a pretty rock solid testimony, but adding this to it has strengthened him even more. I'm really proud of that kid and the young man he is becoming. There is no way he could have done this on his own, without having help and guidance from prayer and he realized it so he "gave it to God". He really struggled at first, and he makes a mistake every once in awhile, forgetting to check a food label then getting sick from the food dye. Last week he ate an Airhead and it made him so sick he cried afterwards. In the end, his success with getting off his meds speaks volumes to me about "why" so many kids are having behavioral issues. I had always said "diet doesn't help Justice…" but I didn't do it right, and I didn't try hard enough. Eliminating everything processed, then introducing them back one at a time was all I needed as proof to know what was causing the majority of his symptoms.
I'm also grateful The Coach was such a good sport. There is no way we could have done this without his full support. We make a pretty good team. We have to live a lonnnggggg time, we have little bitty kids to raise, and we owe it to them to be as healthy as we can be.
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