Do you ever wonder...

...how you have ended up where you are today; good or bad? I have numerous times. I honestly live with a lot of regret. I've made some very bad decisions in my life and am not proud of those at all. I can't change what has already happened, but only apologize to those I've hurt in the process.

With that said, something pretty powerful has happened to me within the last few weeks. The reason I  say this is because for once; I'm doing something great! This decision not only changes and helps me but it truly is nothing but positive for everyone around me. It started like this; I decided Rick and I would do something once a month on our "monthly" dates (now that we finally got someone we can trust to take care of our son while we're out) that we've never done before. Trying something new and step out of our comfort zones, so the first date was a hypnosis clinic (don't judge as I'm being authentic in my sharing and don't want this word become a stumbling block in your walk with Christ if that's the case. Questions in regards to Christians and Hypnosis: please read). I won't go into detail about this because that has nothing to do with this post.

I came out of this date a changed person. My thinking of food...is forever changed. Sugar and flour are "Death Dust" to me and there's a big red flashing X internally when I see them. After this I think it was only a day or two later that we watched "Fed Up" on Netflix. I don't think this was a coincidence by any means but only another confirmation to the choice life we were about to take as a family. What we did next was...cleaned out the kitchen of most all labeled foods; yes, the 10 different bottles of salad dressing, canned foods, bags of whatever, boxes of prepared stuff, and all processed meats.

We headed to a local farmer whom has grass-fed beef, poultry, lamb, etc and interviewed their process. We agreed with their way of farming and raising their livestock. This is the only type of meat we will eat. So, going out to eat will be very limited if ever because it's so hard to find clean food out there. Along with the meat, we're buying only organic whole foods until we can get our own garden growing.

The next confirmation comes when our multiply diagnosed and complex son went through some new issues that threw up yet another flashing red "X" in my gut. The chemicals being pushed into his system by all the pharmaceuticals he has to take to function...what the heck am I doing to our son? I couldn't add to the long list of wrongs I have done in my life, so this has to stop. He doesn't have the choice to take them or not; he's been on medication since he was 3 years old and he's 10 now. He's been through one year of chemo as well as all the other drugs that go with that. These episodes put gasoline to the small fire within me that had been wondering how to get him off some of this stuff.

Many nights have been up researching, contemplating, praying, and bouts of crying when I found things I feel I should've already known. So, we first start in regards to him; with the med that isn't approved for kids...yeah, I know you're probably thinking why I would ever give my kid that. Here's why...If a child literally cannot sleep or get "REM" (good) sleep...there's going to be behaviors and a lower executive function. If there's a lower cognitive function & daytime behaviors..then he can't go to school and learn. Without going into that whole story; I'll leave it right there. If you'd like to know more about sleep and daytime behaviors please feel free to leave a comment, and I'll be in touch with you.

Here's another reason why...I trusted his doctors. She was upfront with us about him being on this medication and how she didn't like it one bit, but was the only thing that was going to help since his symptoms were so severe. She did forget to tell me though as time went on he'd need increased doses to keep having relief; well we're to that point now. He starting to tell us of the night time complications and school is reporting daytime focus decreasing. So, this is where we start. We go to see her; she's excited we want him off. We discuss something that I forgot about in the first meetings of this med or she thinks we discussed...vitamin deficiencies. Iron is a big player in this night time issue he has. Due to the chronic and severe cases of constipation we've dealt with over the years; Iron couldn't be given. So she orders some lab work; I ask for a full panel of deficiencies...she agrees. Guess what he not only is severely deficient in iron, he is in others as well.

Is your pain due to vitamin deficiencies?

Back to the research...I go looking into how the body can heal itself if it has the right "atmosphere" in which to do that. All the while; I have been using essential oils for diffusing mostly all these years. The reason I bring this up is that during these last few weeks we got pretty sick at our house; I made up a concoction; and within 24 hours we were better...normally we would've been down 3 days plus. We did not take any OTC meds or go to the doctor, but we did put some high dose probiotics into our system as well. Then my husband gets one of his terrible; put him out of order, gas knots as he calls it. Again I make a concoction, and within 30 mins he's feeling great. :)

Gut health...it all starts there. We're starting there, getting a nutritionist involved, and going to heal from the gut out. I found there are superfoods that will aid in the blood flow so our son doesn't have to take aspirin everyday, and we're adding in other foods/juices for his constipation (I'm assuming most of that is medicine induced constipation to begin with), supplements, and essential oils. We've cut down to using kids plates w/ dividers so we have portion control. We're trying new foods that we've never ate before; for me in particular would be kefir, butternut squash, and lentils. We've replaced pasta for spaghetti squash. All sugar has been removed from our diet except for those foods that are naturally and organically sweetened like fruit.

Guess what...we don't crave sweets! I really don't crave anything and we're hitting only about 4 weeks into this. I don't know if you ever wonder how you got to be where you're at today, but it's always by our choice and ignorance that we don't find ourselves with better outcomes. I was ignorant of all the sugar that is dumped into our foods. How sugar is killing us. There is such a long list of sugar that is named differently so they can list it in the ingredients without scaring everyone; and since more people are looking at the labels.

Names of Sugar :(

I dare you to educate yourself though and watch "Fed Up". It was the final call at our house to make a positive change for our future, our health, and ourselves. I'm only given this body for this lifetime and well I want to enjoy it. I thought food was an enjoyment...that was a lie that sugar gave; an addiction like cocaine. :( All approved by who we thought was there to help us, USDA, FDA, etc...NOT!

I may have made mistakes in the past but this one time...I'm doing something right, positive, and helpful. Oh yeah, and I got a treadmill. Put that sucker right in the living room; can't deny that guilt staring me in the face...so my first log of keeping track was yesterday. 1.6 miles in 33 min. Today was 2 miles in 33 min. 3 is my number so that's why I stop at 33. If you read this, and you would like to see more posts and details about such topics, or to follow our journey; please let me know. I can't read your mind. I also would rather encourage, engage, and entertain my readers; please comment and share.

Thanks for reading until next time. Happy Valentine's Day! Love somebody<3 p="">
Blessings,

Yvonne