Things have been trucking right along with my transition into the candida-free diet. I still have about four bags of dried fruit in my house, but I'm well on my way - eating at least 2 acceptable meals each day. Ikaika and I even made ACD (anti-candida diet) pumpkin cookies the other night...and ate them all for breakfast the next day :)
So the other night I was looking to clear out my cupboards when I noticed a box of Made By Nature "Crazy Bugs" macaroni & cheese dinner on the shelf. I whipped it up with some turkey dogs and we sat down for our feast. I had 2 dogs and a plate of steamed veggies - Ikaika had corn, dogs and Crazy Bugs.
Then he looks at me and says "mommy, where are your crazy bugs?"
Well, part of the answer is that I'm trying not to combine starches with proteins in hopes that it will aid my digestion. The other part of the answer (the real part) is that this dinner was not only made from strange cheese powder, it also was made with enriched wheat flour. Meaning wheat that has been stripped of everything that is good about it and then enriched with a paltry sprinkling of nutrients.
My basic philosophy about diet is "avoid refined wheat, refined sugar and dairy" (that is my standard theory - the anti-candida things is temporary). So why am I giving my kid something that I won't even eat myself because I know it's bad for me???
I do this a lot and I know I'm not the only one. I think it's because we tend to think about what kids like to eat rather than what they should or will eat. So we give them things that are loaded with sugar, colors, flavoring, refined grains, etc. thinking we have to because that's what our kids like to eat. As if their preference mattered - I'm not going to let Koa play in the toilet and he loves doing that.
If I'm going to make myself some quinoa and chicken breasts for lunch because I know it's nutritious, shouldn't I be serving the same thing to my child (who probably needs the nutrition more than I do anyway)? I couldn't thrive on graham crackers and applesauce, so why am I thinking that my 2 year old can?
And, back to the Crazy Bugs, it's hard to blame my kid for eating it when I'm the one who bought it! Of course he's going to eat it. My kid eats plain, sour yogurt like it's going out of style simply because I've never given him any other yogurt option. Sure, he likes the flavored yogurt with it's 20+ grams of sugar per serving, but I don't offer it to him and he seems to be doing just fine with the plain stuff. So why am I giving him refined pasta that I won't even eat myself?!
On a scale of 1-10 I would say I'm about a 6 when it comes to being neurotic about feeding my kids. I prefer to feed them healthy, I will starve them if necessary, and it's mandatory to try at least one bite of everything before getting anything else. I don't normally take requests, I hide/throw out "gifted" candy, and I administer at least 4 supplements a day.
But, I'm not at the point where I am going to make my son watch his friends eat corn dogs and drink milk while I sit there and tell him how he will thank me later. If someone (uncles are the worst) gives him a bag of chips, I'm not going to rip it from his hands and give him a carrot stick. I've given him fast food (reluctantly) and occasionally buy things that I don't really want him to eat simply because I think they look "fun" (ex. crazy bugs).
Feeding my children the way I want to be fed. It's a lofty goal, but I admitting it is the first step.
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