Today I want to take our usual "Wednesday Nutritional" post in a different direction. My friend recently contacted me on Facebook about a mouse/paleo food/trapping problem (a funny story for another day) and we began talking about her Paleo experience. I was inspired by her story and asked her if she would be willing to share. I hope her story will be an inspiration to you and your Paleo journey. Enjoy!
It all started a few months ago when my youngest daughter (14
months old) appeared to have food allergies with dairy and gluten... I always
thought those moms who said gluten was bad were crazy, until I took it out of
my kid's diet and she miraculously was so much better!
Before all of this, we were pretty close to your
typical family, at least eating-wise. I have three small kids, so cooking from
scratch was extremely overwhelming and stressful with impatient little ones who
were hungry "now." We bought fast food at least a couple times a week, ate
a lot of quick microwave, pre-made, or sandwich and chips type of meals. In
fact, prior to all of this, I was couponing so we had mass amounts of these
types of things filling up our pantry and freezer. I was always tired, but
honestly, didn't think much of it... after all, I do have three kids 4 and
under... who wouldn't be tired?!
I really wasn't aware at all about the Paleo lifestyle. I had heard the word mentioned, but didn't understand what it was really
all about. Yet every time I was searching for things to feed my child who
couldn't have dairy or gluten, Paleo kept popping up. I'm a big time researcher
and want to know as much as possible about something before I have anything to
do with it, so I began reading just about every site I could that explained
Paleo to me. Frankly, I'm a Creationist, so I was initially turned off by of
the "eat like a caveman" type stuff, but it really did make sense.
Our bodies were never meant to eat the junk we've all grown accustomed to
eating. There's a reason mac & cheese doesn't grow in gardens!
I soon shared with my husband all I had been learning and,
being the wonderful man that he is, he was totally on board to do whatever we
needed to in order to make things easier for our baby. Some people would have
just changed the baby's diet, but if you've ever been around toddlers, there's
just about no way you could keep them from finding a crumb on the floor or
mooching off of their big brother or sister for something. Plus, I really
didn't want to have to make different meals for everyone, so we just went all
in!
As soon as we decided we were going to do this, we emptied
everything out of our house that wasn't Paleo... remember me mentioning that I
was a couponer? We had bags upon bags full of pantry and freezer food that the
baby could no longer eat, and now we were choosing to not eat. We just got it
all out of our house so it wouldn't be a temptation. I was worried at first
that my 2 year old and 4 year old would rebel against it all, but we just
explained how we were going to be eating more healthy foods that were good for
our bodies. It worked for the 4 year old; the 2 year old barely ate anything
for the first week and I was so worried! But I kept remembering what I'd heard
over and over from parents and grandparents: a kid will eat when they're
hungry. Finally, my stubborn one gave in and is now an excellent eater who at
least tries everything.
We've been doing this for a little over 2 months now, with
no intention of changing. I think initially we were doing it for the baby's
health, but after the results, we couldn't imagine going back to how we were
living before. Ironically enough, it wasn't even food allergies with the baby.
After seeing a specialist, we're pretty sure that it is just a temporary
toddler issue that she'll hopefully soon grow out of. In the meantime, she's
gained more weight than in a large portion of her life being on this
"diet" and we couldn't be happier! The older kids now have tremendous
amounts of energy (as if a 2 year old and 4 year old really needed any more
energy!) And their attitudes have improved, unless they get hungry of course.
My 2-year-old son had bumps on his arms that are almost completely gone now.
Now, I, a stay-at-home mom of three little ones, have
virtually no need for coffee anymore. I drink it sometimes for the taste of it,
but frequently never even finish a whole cup. This from the woman who would
drink 3 cups a day just to try to survive my hectic mornings at home! I'm just
not tired anymore! And one of the most amazing results to me is my husband's
blood pressure going down. He was an active guy in good health, correctional
officer, Army reservist, but had high blood pressure at a young age, presumably
just a hereditary thing. After less than a month of our new way of eating, his
blood pressure went down 20 points and his doctor was so happy to see the
change, that she cut his prescription for blood pressure meds in half, and
we're hoping that he'll be able to go completely off of it by his next
appointment.
Being that it wasn't our initial reason for our eating
changes, I haven't mentioned weight loss yet, but YES! we have lost quite a bit
of weight. In just over 2 months, my husband and I have each lost over 15
pounds each! And our kids are gaining healthy weight!
It is a lot more work to shop and cook, but it has become a
priority to us and an investment in our future health. For the kids, we've been
able to find healthier ways for them to still enjoy things like cake and ice
cream. We spend many Saturdays going to the local farmer's markets picking out
new veggies to try. We are able to do a lot more together being that we have so
much more energy. We all feel so much better and are so happy that we changed
our lifestyles!
I always suggest to anyone who's even considering eating
Paleo, just try it for a month! I promise that the results will make you never
want to go back!
