Are You Making the Right Choices?

About six years ago a major transformation took place in our household. A paradigm shift, if you will. The life that we had grown accustomed to was about to receive a harsh 'File 13' exit. Though I don't recommend doing to your family what I did to my family in such a drastic all-or-nothing way, the end results were beneficial as we are still experiencing success to this day. What in the world am I talking about???

Our eating habits....

Even though I grew up cooking everything from scratch for my family at age 13, once I got married, had a baby and started working 50 hours a week, Betty Crocker cooking was out of the question. What amazes AND angers me is that the downward spiral to killing your body with processed trash is really quite easy! I believe this is why our country is in the condition that we are; the most unhealthy country in the world. I read an article not too long ago that pinpointed America's demise: the introduction of the addictive MSG in the late 1940's. It is in just about everything you buy, including a can of Cream of Mushroom soup.

I am ashamed to admit that I bought into this lazy, ignorant thinking that frozen food and fast foods were not only quick and easy but actually tasted good. How in the world could it be so bad for you - they made it in a kitchen, too, right? By the time my second child came along, my family was lucky if I cooked twice a month. We lived on McDonald's, pizza rolls, frozen burritos, Chef Boyardee, mac and cheese, hot dogs and Stouffers Frozen entrees! We only drank pop and Kool-Aid and breakfast was always Honeycomb, Frosted Flakes and Pop Tarts!

It wasn't until we moved to Oklahoma and I became a stay-at-home mom that things began to change. Now I had the time to cook but had very little knowledge (17 years of doing the wrong thing will do that you do!) I even tried to make my own baby food one time. I cautiously put those fresh, clean carrots in the blender with a touch of water to give my baby all natural, chemical-free food. I was quite bewildered when I had chunky, crunchy carrot mush instead of smooth, carrot puree. My best friend, Denice, had the nerve to ask me if I cooked the carrots first - and, yes, she was laughing at me! We still laugh about it today and that was 13 years ago! (can you believe I just told the world this, Denice??)

However, the major change came when I realized my youngest son had an issue. Every morning he would wake up and 'demand' cheese and always craved bread, peanut butter and candy! Denice called me one morning to tell me about this Christian doctor on TV that was talking about Candida (internal fungus) and how amazing his talk show was. His name is Doug Kaufmann and he is responsible for our paradigm shift!

My son had an overgrowth of Candida (self diagnosis) which is why he craved those foods. I had a new mission. We had to detox our bodies and get us all on the right road to healthy eating. The next few months were overwhelming to say the least. I had never heard of the things Doug spoke about. I had to become involved and informed. I read both of his books, The Germ That Causes Cancer and The Fungus Link - incredible reads. I researched the internet, watched his daily show and then started learning about other health advocates like Ted Broer (love his book Maximum Energy) and Don Colbert (What Would Jesus Eat cookbook is awesome). I was on information overload, but the data that I had collected was too solid and powerful not to act upon. That first trip to the grocery store where I actually read the labels was daunting as it took me 3-1/2 hours to complete my trip! We were going to eat healthier. I wanted my fridge overflowing with fresh foods not my pantry walls busting with processed food.

That was six years ago. Was the change worth it? Did I see any benefits in my family's health? Are we still eating that way? Glad you asked...yes, yes and yes!

The change was hard, my family rebelled, we all went through withdrawals and many of our friends laughed at our drastic, unorthodoxed changes. Going against the grain is so 'outside-of-the-box' but then again, that seems to be what my family is about! After four long years of learning, retraining, making changes and constantly saying no, I have relaxed a bit and do occasionally splurge (especially around birthdays). However, we still eat very healthy compared to our pre-Kaufmann days!

The biggest benefit? My kids health. This is where I won my husband over. Before the radical change, I was at the pediatrician weekly - eye infection, ear infection, asthma, allergies, eczema, bronchitis, etc. Our medical account was definitely in the red! It didn't take long until I started noticing that our weekly trips were bi-weekly, then monthly then I stopped thinking about them. The cravings and demands for certain foods left, everyone had more energy and I quite buying Tylenol, Benadryl and Sudafed. I called the doctor last year just to see how long it had been since were were there -- two years!! My kids are just rarely ever sick. I attribute 90% of this to the change in our eating habits. I will talk about some other changes we made and the foods that we eat in another blog.

I encourage you to plan your meals wisely and pay attention to the ingredients in the foods you buy. Eating healthy is not hard - it's just a different mind set. Read the books I have suggested and see what changes you can make in your family's dinner table gatherings.

I would love to hear from my readers - what healthy changes have you made? Do you have a healthy recipe you want to share? What foods have you learned to stay away from in order to protect your family's health?