It is hard to understand what we don't see. Why I make the choice to make my own ice cream or cookies, why I buy cookies sweetened with agave of fruit, why I don't cave in when people offer me decadent desserts--ever, is hard for my friends to understand. They all think I am crazy and extreme. I try to pass on this knowledge to my 4 year old who is comparing herself with her little friends and wanting to eat all the goodies they are. I try to explain about the chemicals in certain foods, and eating the same version of things, but the healthier versions. It is hard when you are one of very few moms doing this kind of thing. Slowly she is understanding more and more, but, it is amazing how hard it is for adults to get on the wagon and understand those things that they do not see even though it is explained to them. This article is a great one that addresses the things that look so pure and innocent that truly are not: http://www.naturalnews.com/023849.html. If a 4 year old can get it, we can too!
Comments
in agreement
Matia,
I agree that it is often difficult to explain these kind of things to people who just don't want or care to truly understand what they are putting into their body. I truly believe that even when I am not on this IC diet anymore that I will not indulge in refined sugars or alcohol because they just don't make me feel good and I know how to prepare healthier alternatives. Many many people don't want to take the time to even think about what is in the cookie they are eating let along bake their own! People think I am a total nut case because I make pretty much everything that I eat and enjoy doing so. I constantly get the response 'how do you have the time?' But the truth is you make the time if it is something you feel strongly about. It is difficult when you always feel the need to explain yourself and I often feel like an outcast because of it. I babysit two little girls who are four and two and I am appalled at the amount of sugar that is in EVERYTHING that their mother buys for them and I have to hold myself back from interjecting. And my friends who binge all night on alcohol wonder why they feel terrible all the time and are constantly becoming ill. When I tell them maybe they should stop drinking, cut out sugar for a while etc. it's always the same response, "Yeah, I should totally do that. But it's never going to happen."
healthy eating
In the beginning, I kept thinking, I need to cooperate and hurry up and get well so I can eat all that sugar again. As time has gone on, I've realized I'll probably never eat like that again. I ate a lot of refined sugar, and even aside from that, I ate a ton of carbs!! Very little vegies and meat. When I realized how awful the white sugar was making me feel, I switched to fructose cookies and started eating fruit six times a day, anything to have sugar. I still prefer fruit and sugar, I know I could easily get addicted again, but I've worked so hard and it's taken so long to get better I don't want to wreck it for a few cookies. I was eating cheese and avocado with olive oil on spelt bread the other night, and people were sipping soda and eating pretzels and cake and looking at me like I was WEIRD. Then they started picking on my weight (I am pretty thin) a usual occurence, though if I ever said anything about anyone else weight, I would be considered rude, lol!! I think it's funny when I go to the grocery store, I always compare my food choices on the conveyor belt at the register to the people behind me. MIne is always bags of green vegies and styro trays of meat and fish, while their's is all boxes of frozen foods and desserts.
Stick with it with your daughter, I know you will. She'll be better for it. I am already wondering if people will think I'm a mean mother for not wanting my kids to eat sugar someday. Do people get upset with you and offer her sugar anyway? Or do they respect mom's rules?
It is very hard
I am glad that you posted this article and opened a discussion about this subject. However, I have to say that it is very difficult to have my children eat the healthy diet. number 1, I have to cook all the time for them and for myself. They would never eat my special diet, so I almost always have to dook two meals. I have to get up very early in the morning to prepare breakfast and lunch for them to take it to school. It is like I am cooking 6 meals a day. And of course I have to promise them that if they eat everything what is on the plate, they can have a little organic icecream afterwards (usually after the dinner). Sometimes I get away with not giving them any sweets that day. Other time they will get a sweet at school and no matter how much I explain to them that it is not good for them they will take it because they see other kids to take it. On top of that, I have to fight with the grandparents who think that I am absolutelly crazy and mean mother. And they almost always take advantage of the situation when they take care of them (which is very seldom) they take them to the fast food restaurant. Because the chemicals are all around us, food, air, etc... we would really have to live in a bublle not to get affected by them. Nonethless I have to say that my children used to be very often sick when they were very little and I was very desperate to find the cure. Due to the fact that I got IC, I changed the diet for my kids as well and their health has dramatically improved. My son is almost never sick and my daughter as well, although she still has some minor problems with the digestion. But it has been a very hard work!!! Everytime when my IC symptoms get worse and I feel really bad and very hopeless about getting well, I always think that at least I have "cured" my kids.
I understand
I understand all the cooking and the stress it brings, and I don't even have kids. I feel like there are a lot of days that I just spend hours in the kitchen, making my own muffins, roasting potatoes and meat, cutting up vegetables for salads. And if I know I'll be out all the next day and won't have time to cook, or I know we'll be somewhere that won't have anything I can eat, forcing me to take a meal, it gets even worse. I do double duty in the kitchen preparing all this food and washing a ton of dishes. I often miss the days of take out and pizza or soup in a can. I can't even do organic soup because of all the spices and onions. If I want soup it takes a good four to five hours, even the broth has to made from scratch. I prepare it in advance and freeze it in case I get sick and won't feel like making it. I often wonder where I will find the time to keep eating like this if I ever went back to work full time. I understand your frustration and the downside of it too. That is so great that it really helped your kids though. I would think that as long as their not eating the fast food or junk all the time they should be ok?? I know that if I am ever well enough to have kids, me and the inlaws will butt heads over this. My mil has already called me mean, and I'm not even pregnant yet, lol!!
understood as well.
I totally understand what you are both speaking about in reference to having the time to cook, and I agree it does feel like cooking itself takes up sooo much time. For me I try to take pride in it. I've always loved to cook and grew up loving food and having a strong connection to it and to where it comes from. I think this is a very important part of eating for me. I go to the farmers market whenever I can for the freshest produce with roots that I can literally trace back to a farmer that I know. With meat also there are so many terrible processes going into helping an animal grow bigger(pumping a cow full of grain when they are intended to only eat grass is a perfect example) and more efficient for a factory type farm.
For me I have tried to take this terrible hiccup in my life as an opportunity to truly care about everything I am eating(not just diet related but regional and ethical, informed and educated) and to embrace the time it takes to cook a delicious meal from scratch rather than pour it from a can or microwave it. It can be exhausting but it takes me back to the land, makes me want to plant a garden and perhaps even grow my own food someday. What it also does it make me stop for a moment and truly taste the delicious flavors I am eating that do not need lots of sauce or sugar or spice because they are simply fresh and delicious the way they are.I think it's important when times are tough and we all feel a little hopeless to find things you can be passionate about and embrace them. I am trying my best to do so.
Healthy Eating
The majority of people are uncomfortable with anything outside of their own comfort range. Choosing a different diet or deciding to treat with an alternative doctor certainly sparks a lot of criticism. It's just easier for most people to cave in and eat what everyone else is eating, so as not to be considered "different," even though they may realize the foods they are eating are bad for them. One has to be strong to go against the flow. Most people can't be bothered. People only see what they want to see anyhow. I guess it comes down to a matter of personal choice, and sticking with the decision to do what we believe is right for each of us no matter what others say or think.