So, the other day I posted about a few kicks in the butt I received that got me to doing things I needed to do anyway. I'm beginning to think my head might be a bit thick. One of those things was my 9 year old's migraine. As usual, I hopped on the computer and started looking up information. I'm a research
Basically, changing our diet would help some. Sweetheart needs to eat regular snacks to avoid these headaches. She also could stand to eat better. So could the whole family. So that sent me off on a whole goose chase around the internet with such phrases as "organic food" and "health foods" and all such as that. It can be completely overwhelming, let me tell you. On some sites I began to think that my whole life was one huge dangerous health-hazard. Even the use of hand cleaner is bad for you according to some.
The reason its overwhelming is because I'm not going to get my family to start eating bean sprouts for snack anytime soon. I hardly even know where to get really healthy food and even if I managed to get my hands on some, would I know how to cook it?
Then I stumbled on a tip that was the best thing I ever read. It basically said, "Eat things your grandmother (or great-grandmother) would recognize as food."
Ah, very wise. This means avoid the overly processed and prepacked stuff we depend on today. It means eat more fruits and vegetables. It means...learn to cook Brenda.
So THAT got me to thinking--hmmm, food my grandmother would recognize? I then looked up recipes from the 1940s. Guess what? I'm not worrying about all the organics and all the bits of advice that make my head spin. My grandmother served meat and vegetables and eggs. Sure, we should try to make sure that it's safe meat and vegetables and eggs and I think that's where the organics argument comes in. But the point is, my grandparents ate real food. They had never heard of some of the junk in boxes I now own.
So I made out a menu for the week. I changed a few things. It's a start, OK? I served meat loaf and carrots last night. REAL carrots. Like, they were raw and I peeled them and cut them up and cooked them! And the girls ate them! (Did I mention the brown sugar and butter? Oh, never mind.) I plan to make several things from scratch too. Little changes.
And then, to further complicate the journey, we went to the doctor today for Sweetheart's 3 day migraine. He told her to avoid chocolate, peanuts, cheese, and hot dogs. Do you have any idea what that does to her diet??? I mean, we can all live with fewer hot dogs and less chocolate...but no peanut butter or cheese? That's getting personal!
And in light of those doctor's orders...shall we examine my menu this week? Let's see--pizza tonight, cheese quesadillas for lunch tomorrow--it's not looking good. I will continue to research and learn. And we will get healthy around here.
This is so interesting--you bring up such a good point. Since I've started eating differently, I have bought far more ingredients and far less pre-packaged items--my grocery cart looks so different now. And I have to say, I don't really miss the old stuff, or how I felt when I ate it.
ReplyDeleteIn learning how to cook healthy food without it being boring, I have found my Weight Watchers cookbooks to be invaluable. There are several, but the "classic" one is full of many real-food recipes like meatloaf, oven "fried" chicken, rice, pasta, veggies, breads, desserts, etc. And I found that after using these recipes, I began to learn how to slim down "regular" recipes to make them more healthy. Do they have cookbooks in the library? Might be worth checking out!
I think it's so neat to see how God has prompted you to change; 1st for yourself, and now showing you how these changes will benefit the entire family. What a good and wise God we serve!
You can always try Tofu dogs.
ReplyDeleteKidding!
I don't think they're even the same color as regular hot dogs.
Anyway, I'm with Aunt Bossy. What she said. But I'll add that maybe you should ask the doctor for an appointment with the nutritionist?
He/she could give you some great ideas for replacement foods. Just a thought.
The replacements can be really life-saving (: The only allergy in our house is peanuts... but it is pretty severe. I find that the kids all like almond or cashew butter... it is a bit more expensive, though, so we don't use it as much.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the slow cooker works great for cooking during school for me. Really as easy as boxed mixes and a whole lot healthier (and I think tastier) I used to cook from scratch, but then had a bad pregnancy where I was on bed rest, so we went to "convienience" food for the better part of a year. Let me tell you, we were all aching for "real" food again... and we did have a lot of food related headaches during that "pre-packaged" year, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.
That said, look up recipes in the Country Woman Magazines. They are very down to earth, easy, and good. I love them!
Well, I'm supposed to be fixing dinner- I'd better go! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow.
Poor baby, I hope she doesn't have any more headaches. I notice that when I cook from scatch we all feel better and have more energy. I really like what you said about eating what our grandparents ate. Very smart advise.
ReplyDeleteYour right! REAL FOOD is the thing! And I have also seen fun activities and work to be the BEST exercise. :) Our grandmothers and great's knew the truth!
ReplyDeleteOk, I have read your blog for awhile but I am one of those dreaded non-commenters.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I thought I would mention what I have noticed about migrane. I would say rather than avoid all those foods (one dr told me that peanut butter would actually help my headaches) do a food diary and see what her triggers are. Mine is wheat products. I can tolerate some wheat, but too much will give me a migrane. The difficulty is, it isn't right away. Recently I ate a wonderful pasta meal with 2 rolls, the next day I had some head congestion and the day after I had the headache. I have a friend who can't drink coffee.
As for the hot dogs, I wonder if it isn't the nitrates that he is thinking of, which would then mean most lunch meat.
Eating foods that great-grandparents would recognize is a great idea. My personal, non-scientific opinion is that all the food additives and processing is part of the reason for the rise in so many health problems (autism, add, migrane, allergy, etc, etc).
Christi--nice to meet you! It is the nitrates he was talking about and she is a big fan of the nitrates. :) I'm not completely eliminating any of this from her diet. She's been eating this stuff since she was 2! Her main trigger, we already know, is not eating at scheduled times. That's what set off the 3 day migraine. So, she's on a strict snack schedule and we will use common sense with the rest. I think you are right about the food journal/headache journal though.
ReplyDelete