Saturday, August 31, 2013

Paleo Style Lunches For Kids

   When I decided to change the way I ate, I also chose to pack healthier lunches for my kids. I didn't feel that it was fair for me to avoid sugars and unhealthy boxed foods but still buy this poison for my children. If you want to know more about my paleo diet of choice, go here.

Cucumber sticks (my daughters new favorite), peppers,
 sliced apples with almond butter for dipping, and blueberries.
   My toddler is completely on board with whatever I give him. My older kids, however, were not so happy at first. They went through a time period in the beginning where they were craving sugar ALL the time. I realized that this would happen since our bodies do physically become addicted to sugar and foods that will process as sugar.    My older kids (ages 9 and 11) still do eat processed foods from time to time. I am rarely the one that gives it to them since I don't buy it. It may be school, church, family members, etc. I've decided not to deprive them when the opportunity presents itself. I feel as long as I'm teaching them healthy habits at home and their diet is healthy the majority of the time, then I'm happy with that. They have really adapted and actually look forward to all of the fresh food and colors that make up their lunch. Foods that they would never touch before (my daughter hated cucumbers), they actually request now.


Baby carrots, celery sticks, a hard boiled egg,
strawberries, and cherry tomatoes. Easy, right?
  
      These lunches are super simple to make. It only requires a little time of cutting things up!  I do all sorts of combinations with their lunches. I'm providing a couple ideas of what I've done and plan to add more ideas as time goes on. I bought bento boxes for their lunches so that I could easily separate the fruits, meats, dips, etc. These bento containers are not necessary. You could easily buy plastic containers with dividers from your local grocery store. The reason I chose the bento boxes was that they had a centerpiece that stays cold if you put it in the freezer over night. I like their eggs and meats to stay cold. If I add homemade mayo or ranch for anything then that is something that should stay cold as well. These boxes stack on top of each other and close up to a nice size. The kids love them!

Salad with tomatoes and peppers, homemade
ranch dressing, strawberries and uncured turkey
lunchmeat with tomatoes inside.
   I try to have hard boiled eggs, cut up veggies and fruits, uncured cut up meats, etc. in the fridge all the time (not always perfect at this). It makes it much easier when packing lunches. I have the kids help with preparation as much as time will allow with school work, activities, etc.
  

   Other ideas include: homemade guacamole, salad, cole slaw, rolled up lunch meats with mustard to dip, homemade ranch for dip for the veggies, soup in a thermos, bananas with almond butter, raisins,  pea pods, cinnamon cooked squash, and many, many more. Any different combination will work and variety is key. As I said, I will add more as time goes on and I get more pictures.
  Once you're done filling the containers, stack them on top of each other then close the locking lid and Voila!
   Now, my next venture is to get away from those poisonous plastic containers! EEEEK!!!



(If you like my blog posts, please go to the right side bar and click "follow" to receive notifications when I write.  Thank you for your interest.)

Thursday, August 29, 2013

How Essential Oils Saved A Duck

   This is a story that I can't help but share with people. Essential oils can be beneficial to animals as well as humans! In this case, they helped saved a life.
    Our neighbors bought 4 ducks a few years ago. They really enjoyed our pond. We didn't mind as they are so beautiful and it really brings life to the pond and yard. Ducks seem to be a little like rabbits. Let's just say that 4 ducks turned into more very quickly. We live in the country and unfortunately there are many wild animals out here. The eggs don't always make it to a hatching point since there is something out there that enjoys eating the eggs. Once they DO hatch, the babies start to disappear quickly.
   My kids decided that they wanted to protect a couple of the eggs from being eaten and take care of the ducks once they hatched. They did a good job of this because both ducks grew up to be healthy and happy. The kids let them go so they could swim the whole pond and not have to be so confined. After some time went by we noticed that for a couple days the white duck was sitting in the same spot and didn't appear to be moving. My husband went over to look at her and realized that she had a big, open wound with maggots in it. She appeared to be in a lot of pain and quite sick.
   We had 3 options; let her die naturally, put her down ourselves, or try to save her. We chose the latter. We noticed that along with the wound, her leg was also injured. Whatever bit her (we think it may have been a snapping turtle due to the wound being underneath) took a good chunk but worst of all, injured her leg to the point where she could not open the webbing of her foot.
   The first step was to remove the maggots (gross!). They were clearly going to eat her alive. They were buried so deep that we had to suffocate them. We used cornstarch and applied it to the wound. The maggots started to come to the surface so we could remove them with tweezers. My husband and I took turns doing this. It took 2 days to remove all of them.
   I decided to use essential oils. I didn't have a lot of information about which oils to use on which animals so I just did my best. I used lavender at times while we were removing the maggots to relax her and help with pain. She was very anxious at first but the lavender did it's job well.
   Next, I used melaleuca (tea tree) oil because it is an excellent antibacterial and anti fungal. I created a "wash" with the melaleuca in it. I know that bugs and creepy crawly things don't like tea tree so I figured if there were any maggots or other bugs lingering it would take care of them.
   The following day I started using a blend made by doTerra called On Guard. It is a mixture of wild orange, clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary. In this situation, these oils would serve as a natural antibiotic to prevent infection from occurring. After all that work I certainly didn't want her to die from infection! I added a drop or 2 to her water and also applied the oil directly to her wound.
   She had terrible diarrhea for 4 days as we were trying to help her recover and get to a stable point. Once I started the On Guard the diarrhea went away. After one week, she was ready to come out of her confined space and try to walk around. She had some trouble trying to gain balance again with only one working foot. She used her wing a little at first to balance but quickly learned how to limp around using her other leg.
  It has been about 4 weeks since then and she is now out and about swimming the whole pond and enjoying her space and hopefully her life. Thank goodness for essential oils!!!






 

Sunday, August 25, 2013

What Is A Paleo Lifestyle?

   My last (and first) blog post was just a brief introduction to what I hope to accomplish with my blog and how I got to where I am now in my life with natural healing methods. It was very difficult for me to narrow all of what I've been through into something short and readable. I hope I didn't fall short too much on that task. I'm happy to report that right now everyone is busy doing something else and my toddler is sleeping. It is not a happy report because it brings me joy for my family to be AWAY but it's more like I'm just happy to have a few minutes to write a blog post that won't take me 3 hours.
   I wanted to focus a little on my way of eating since it has changed my life and it has been one of my successes. I have been through quite a few unsuccessful attempts at healing so I figured my first real post should be one that focuses on a success.
   Most people have by now heard of the Paleo diet. For those who haven't I will give a brief description. The definition of the word Paleo means ancient or prehistoric. So, basically when you adopt a Paleo lifestyle you are eating the way people did anciently. When I say anciently I mean prior to agriculture, mass production, and the processing of grains. Eating Paleo is a way to go back to our roots and "hunt and gather" instead of depending on technology and all that boxed stuff that's no good for us. I don't always do the actual hunting and gathering myself since I could never kill an animal unless I absolutely had to (that's what husbands are for, right?) but I'm still able to maintain this way of eating without all the blood and guts. Well, maybe not fully without blood and guts. I will still find a dead, bloody deer laying on my kitchen counter from time to time or a furry little squirrel stuck in the fridge. I have slowly learned to get used to these things. I should add that if you're interested in eating this way there are plenty of farms that treat animals right and feed them what they're supposed to be fed so don't think you have to do the slaughtering yourself.
  I have been taking a course in homeopathy (more on that in another entry) and my instructor mentioned that I may benefit from the Paleo diet based on some of the problems I am experiencing. That's when I started researching and finding out all of the positives that can come from it, the science behind it, and the terrible effects that processed sugar and grains can have on my body.
  Since I now have all of this information in my brain that I won't be able to remove I can not look at a dessert or a bag of white rice without thinking of one word. This word is in BIG BOLD letters in my brain and it helps me when choices get tough because, hey, I'm human and this girl loves chocolate! The word, you ask? INFLAMMATION.
   I will not get into all of the scientific explanations here but I will just give a brief overview of what these foods can do. These foods (namely processed and refined) are not always recognized by the body as food. Jillian Michaels (LOVE her!) calls them "frankenfoods". The body does not know what to do with them so it always takes the easiest way it can to break them down. Most of the time they break down into sugars or sugar alcohols. Most people are aware of this but those darn foods are so good that no one really wants to think about it. What some don't know is that these foods can actually become damaging to the gut wall over time. This can cause larger particles (for lack of a better word) that should stay in your digestive tract to pass through the gut wall and then into your body/bloodstream.  When your immune system finds these particles it goes after them and will create an antibody to hunt for more of the same. Sometimes these particles can have the appearance of certain tissues in your body. Your immune system becomes confused and can start attacking it's own cells rather than these particles. This is where the word "autoimmune" comes in. A few examples of autoimmune diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, eczema, and Celiac disease. Sometimes these diseases do well when removing the foods that are damaging to the gut. Most of our immune system is in our gut. Take care of your gut, take care of your immune system.
   Remember that word INFLAMMATION that I can't remove from my brain? That is something else that is caused by these foods. When I removed sugars and grains, I removed my pain. When I cheat and have that chocolate bar once in awhile all of my pain returns temporarily until I get back to my normal diet. I generally have less inflammation of all areas of my body. I have not been eating this way long enough to share the long term effects. I feel that my body is the way it is from years and years of eating things that were no good. Therefore, I believe it would take years and years to gain what I want on the reverse side of that. I have a ton more energy since adopting this way of eating. I don't feel sluggish after eating a meal. I have a clear mind and less foggy thinking. To me, it is worth going against the "norm".
  What does the Paleo diet consist of? DO eat: Vegetables, fruits (less fruits than veggies), meat from animals that are raised the way nature meant it to be (grass-fed beef, wild fish, eggs, etc.), good quality fats such as coconut oil, avocado oil and also nuts and seeds. DON'T eat: processed grains, beans, pasteurized dairy, vegetable oils, sugars that are refined, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup or anything processed.
  I know most Paleo sites will say all grains are bad. I personally don't believe this. I believe that grains can be good but just not the way they are processed for us. There are tons of additives and things I can't even pronounce in bagged breads, crackers, etc. I would prefer to be able to pronounce what I eat.
  Cows are not meant to eat grains.They are meant to eat grass. Humans want their cows fat so they feed them lots of grains. This makes the cows sick (why do you think they need all of those antibiotics?). Grains will also change the chemical make up of the beef you consume. This is why it can be unhealthy. A grass fed cow is a healthy cow. A person who eats the meat of a grass fed cow is a healthier person.
  Hopefully this has been somewhat informative. I actually sat in the same spot the whole time without having to get up and change a diaper or fix a shower curtain! Now that's progress...
    

Saturday, August 24, 2013

My Journey To Holistic Healing

     
     This blog has been a long time coming. I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough information or that the information I had would not be useful to anyone. However, the more people that I've talked to and the longer time has gone on, I've realized how useful some of this can be to some who may find themselves in the same situations. So, with a little bit of extra time set aside (who has THAT?) and some encouragement from others, my blog has now finally arrived!
     The purpose of my blog will mostly be to share what I already have learned about ways I've helped to heal myself and also my family and friends. With permission I may mention people, products, websites, etc. that I've used as aids in healing to hopefully help send others on their journey toward finding what may work for them.
   It would seem like these short blog entries would take no time to type. Remember that "time set aside" thing I mentioned earlier? My "time set aside" consists of having the laptop flipped open on the kitchen table while cooking dinner, managing the house, spending time with the kids, cleaning up the kitchen and all those other paradisaical things that make up the life of a stay at home mom. Let me just mention now that so far my 2 year old son has stopped me 4 times just within these first 3 paragraphs (once for a drink, once to say hi and once because his toy toolbox wouldn't open and it was VERY important to get that screwdriver out!) Hopefully I will be able to get out my thoughts in a clear, orderly fashion within the 6 hours it may take to type this all out since I will more than likely stop every time my children need me. Family is most important of course! Nevertheless, I will proceed.
   I was never too into natural means of healing for a good part of my life mostly because I didn't have anyone around me who had experiences with it. I took my kids to the doctor every scheduled vaccine visit and gave them whatever drugs were "needed" at the time. I took antibiotics, acne medicine, birth control, anti-inflammatories, antidepressants, OTC drugs for allergies and eczema. I had NO idea of side effects of anything because I didn't know to ask and I trusted that because a trained doctor was prescribing them that I was perfectly safe. I was never informed of any repercussions of any of these meds.
   I will say now before I go any further that I am not anti-doctor. I believe that doctors have their place in the world. We need them. (That darn toolbox got locked again and I am now wearing my toddlers sunglasses as I'm typing this because I look "cool") I do, however, believe that there is so much more that we can do at home for ourselves and our families first before running to the doctor for everything and spending a ton of money on things that may help but can also do a lot of damage.
   My journey began after I had my 3rd baby two years ago. I had the perfect pregnancy. I gained about 15 pounds. I worked out everyday. I tried to eat as healthy as I knew how. My labor and delivery was even better. I went in at 9am and had my son at 3:47pm with no complications. I was SO happy. My older children adored this new baby and nothing in my world could go wrong at this point. Or so I thought...
   I started losing weight too quickly, my hair was coming out in gobs (which is normal after pregnancy but this amount was scary), I was feeling sick all the time and a rash started to appear on my face. I was nursing at the time and was worried that I wasn't producing enough milk. I think of it as the storm after the calm!
  I went to urgent care, a family doctor, an endocrinologist, 3 dermatologists and had blood work done so many times I lost count. No one could tell me why I felt and looked so bad. I wasn't having many mental/emotional difficulties at the time other than having a new baby in the house and having to adjust. I was diagnosed differently with each person I saw. I was given a new medicine from each person I saw. I was told to stop nursing for a time to take some of the meds. When I tried my baby on formula (every different one you could think of) he threw up forcefully and was very sick. When I took him to the pediatrician to let her know how sick he was she wanted to vaccinate him. I asked her how this would help his formula situation and the fact that he didn't have anything that he could eat?! She said that I would have to just wait until he was dehydrated to take him to the hospital. What?
   If I wasn't mentally strained before all of this, I certainly was after with all the doctors, meds, baby throwing up, side effects of meds, etc. (I am now cooking chicken at the request of my kids and need to run upstairs because my older son just told me he broke the shower curtain. Never a dull moment!) I realized at this point that I needed to do something different. The doctors couldn't help me, the meds couldn't help me and in fact, some hurt me. I just couldn't go on any further the way I was. I began searching for natural approaches.
   I don't plan to get into much detail in this particular blog entry about all the things I've learned and tried for healing. In future blog entries I plan to focus on specific healing methods, what I use them for and whether they were/are successful or unsuccessful (I've had plenty of both!). These are the things I have either used in the past or still use today but will get into further detail later: homeopathy, chiropractic, herbs, essential oils, diet, meditation, massage, muscle response testing, detoxing cleanses and more. Also, in hopes of healing skin ailments I have made no-chemical, homemade make-up, lotion, shampoo and deodorant.
   I hope that you will find what I have to say now and in the future helpful to you and your family. If not, maybe you can at least get a good laugh out of all the effort it takes me to write.