This whole "Gluten & Dairy Free Experiment" that I convinced my family to try on 4/1/2012 has been a journey. I have learned more about nutrition and food additives than I ever wanted to know. Don't even get me started on "Processing Aids".
We started this journey just to see if it would help with Nocturnal Enuresis. The whole family was going to eat Gluten & Dairy Free in support of one member (well secret deals were on the side). It worked wonders for the Nocturnal Enuresis but it made other family members extremely sick when we snuck the secret deals on the side (i.e. splurged and went out to eat).
Finally, I realized that for years what the doctors had told me about myself and my children were wrong. We didn't have environmental allergies, asthma didn't just run in my family for no apparent reason, we weren't just prone to getting sick all the time, etc etc. It was a combination of food allergies and sensitivities.
After two years of failing to accommodate allergies and sensitivities while still eating processed foods I switched us to basically a whole food diet. We do have 7 items that we buy that are minimally processed and they are brand specific. (catsup, bbq sauce, peanut butter, rice noodles, rolled oats, crisp rice, & jelly) Everything thing else is a meat, vegetable, or fruit. I should mention the meat is meat from the meat department...a slab of meat of some sort. No frozen meat of any type...remember the processing aids I mentioned earlier...they show up here. Fruit is fresh or frozen, no canned (I'm not sure if processing aids or if it is cross contamination is the problem here) Vegetables can be fresh, canned or frozen but no salt or seasoning.
We have been eating like this for 1 1/2 years now. We are all extremely healthy now. We very seldom get sick and even rarer do we need antibiotics. In 2014 each child had to be on antibiotics one time each. (In 2011 had a child on antibiotics 215 days)
So I will take ALWAYS having to cook from scratch and NEVER going out to eat. When I want to make chilly I have to plan 2 days in advance, soak the beans - day 1, cook the beans - day 2, make the chilly - day 3. (After work I only have a limited amount of time) To make banana muffins, grind the rice into flour, grind the oats into flour, mash the bananas...you get the picture.
So when my sister started the Whole 30 Program to loose weight what did I say to her?????
ARE YOU NUTS? WHY WOULD YOUWILLINGLY DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
She was less than happy with my response (I may have ranted a bit). But then I thought: What if it helps people. Who am I to question if someone wants to eat healthy...even if it only to loose weight...even if they are only doing it for 30 days.
So to all you Whole 30 people (and my sister).....knock yourselves out. I hope you feel better and get what you want out of the program.
After your 30 days I will spend 3 days making chilly in your honor.
