The Great Breakfast Cereal Battle!

I'm not sure exactly how or when it happened, but somehow I got suckered - hook, line and sinker - into providing breakfast cereal for my children.

I thought I was beyond peer pressure!

Actually, it wasn't really my peers... it was my offspring! Seems as though my school-aged child had been led to believe that, once again, her mother was an awful, unloving, mean person because she didn't provide cereal like all the other mommies of her friends. Where's my barf bag when I need it??

BUT... I fell for it!!!

For most of the past school year, 80% of her school day breakfasts have included cereal. It was always organic, never any high fructose corn syrup, GMOs or trans fats... but insulin-producing CEREAL nonetheless. Thankfully, I've always 'mandated' fruit and protein in the morning as well - apparently to offset the poisonous effects of the cereal I was providing her.

What on earth was wrong with me??!! I KNOW better! Organic or not, it's still useless food that's worse than "empty" calories... it's "negative", "harmful" calories. The grains in sugar (and bread, pastries, bagels, etc.) are broken down to sugar. This stimulates insulin production. This is true even if it's "whole" grains.

And I was wondering where her big attitude was coming from!

Anyhow, fast forward to the last few weeks. I've been back to my heavy-duty nutritional studying and reviewing in preparation for some upcoming books I'm writing. By simply reviewing studies by the godfather of nutrition, Weston A. Price, and several of his followers, I was reminded of what a DORK I've been!

Here I've been serving my kids cereal because they were begging for it, but I wouldn't touch the stuff with a 10-foot pole! Heck, I certainly didn't want the insulin spike! No thank you. I start my day with protein, greens, fruit and fish oil... plain and simple!

I had a very grown-up conversation with my daughter about the dangers of regularly consuming cereal and eating too many grains (we've had this conversation many times before!), and we laid out a game plan for getting rid of cereal at breakfast. Was she happy? Not at all. Was she eager to welcome breakfasts without her beloved cereal? Nope. Oh, well. I'm fully aware of who wears the responsible nutritional pants in our family!

To her credit, she was a very willing and enthusiastic participant in selecting healthier breakfast options at Whole Foods the last time we grocery shopped together. She chose some clean meats and different fruits that we don't normally purchase... and she thoroughly read each and every ingredient in the whole milk and yogurt/kefir products we chose.

So, for the last several days since beginning our new & improved breakfasts (which are pretty much the type of breakfasts we used to eat BEFORE she began school!), we've been doing exceptionally well! Our breakfasts have consisted of organic turkey bacon &/or organic free range eggs, fresh fruit, whole milk organic yogurt or organic kefir and some organic almond butter. Yum!

She has been joking at the breakfast table, "I think I must be in Heaven! This breakfast is SO delicious!" A bit dramatic, I know!

Suddenly, the cereal monster returned this morning!

Holy cow... I wasn't quite sure what hit me! I'm pretty sure what she had is scientifically known as a "hissy fit"! That kid must have been in the middle of a sugar withdrawal... or pre-puberty! Either way, it was UGLY!

I tried to rationally explain that, as a GOOD parent, I simply couldn't knowingly poison her and destroy her health. (Apparently, drama runs in the family!) She retorted that "If poisoning me means I can have cereal this morning, I'll eat poison!"

Did I mention she's only FIVE????

Yes, it was a rather tumultuous morning in our house today! Did I give in and let her have the cereal? No. Was it because I needed to "win" this one? No, not really. It was mostly because I had already prepared her entire breakfast and I cannot stand wasting food... or money... or my time! Will I ever let her have cereal again. Maybe. That's not really my point anyhow.

My point is that we don't NEED it. There are SO many healthier options to choose from. My number one goal with food is always to create more health in the body.

One of these days my kids will get it, too. If not, the stress from trying to provide healthy foods will outweigh the benefits and I'll be back in the loony bin!


I'm including a link to a related article on Dr. Mercola's site. Once again, make sure you read all the way down to Dr. Mercola's comments AND the readers' comments... that's where all the fun is!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/17/why-you-should-be-worried-if-your-kids-cereal-is-widely-known.aspx?source=nl

Dr. Mercola has some fabulous archived articles on grains. I also HIGHLY recommend checking out the Weston A. Price Foundation for superior nutritional information.

http://westonaprice.org/

It's not about "NEVER" having grains. It's about being informed and aware of how they effect your health. That's all!

Been Busy Having a Nervous Breakdown!

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. I've been quite preoccupied having a complete mental and emotional breakdown for the past week... or two... maybe three!!!

The short version of the story:

The 6 month anniversary of my mom's passing, Mother's Day without my most favorite mommy, my dad having surgery for prostate cancer, my hormones wildly messing with my emotions for several days each month, my 3 year old son has completely losing his mind... as well as any sense of hearing his mother, and my almost-six year old daughter believing that she is indeed the ruler of the free world and must argue each and every syllable spoken between us!!!!

All these things converged in my brain and heart last week. My outlook and mindset were not overly perky, to say the least! I was searching for a dark cave to live in until the storm passed!

My ongoing "life saver" is my little "chunk" of time carved out of each morning WAY before the munchkins get up... my time for mental,emotional and spiritual nurturing and preparation for the day. Even THAT was blown out of the water last week! The kids decided that they needed to get up an hour earlier now... and promptly begin fighting with each other and crying (and whining) to their mother.

So much for preparation for the day!

I have felt very "tested" for the last few weeks. I feel like God has been saying, "OK missy... I know you have the tools to deal with all this. Enough lip service! Let me see you put it all to use!"

I tried several times saying, "No, thank you." Apparently, God's not much better at listening to me than my 3 year old! (just kiddin', God!)

Some of my greatest lessons and blessings (and reminders) from the past few weeks have been to actively search for the good each day. Not always easy when it seems deeply buried in the "crap" of life!

Oh, and none of it is really "crap". It's all a gift from God... some of it just has really ugly wrapping paper!

I've also found that sometimes the "good" is just a split second in time, or a beautiful moment, or one teeny tiny thing... not always a "The kids were fabulous all day today! Isn't life great?!" type of "good". Sometimes it's just the car ride that goes well, or prayer at dinner, or seeing the kids dance together, or a big group hug, or one silly moment where we all crack up, or a sweet smile, or a butterfly kiss, or a soothing moment in the rocking chair, or pointing out the beautiful flowering trees on the way to school and noticing the blooming flowers!

The "good" is all around us, all the time. Yes, so are the things that drive us loopy! My reminder was that it takes effort to see the good in the midst of the 'bad'. It's a discipline. It takes practice.

Plus, seeing the good is a WHOLE lot more fun and feels WAY better than only seeing the 'bad'!

Surprisingly, it also feels like a graduation of sorts, to a higher level of being human, when you make it through a dark period and are able to more clearly see the beauty in life and all its blessings.

Fully experiencing some dark moments and dark days helps us fully experience the richness, beauty and joy of brighter moments. Although it certainly doesn't always feel nice at the time, I do believe it creates balance in life. There's a flip side to every coin!

Does Forbidding Snacks Create Little Monsters?

I've been on the receiving end of much well-intentioned advice regarding food choices I make on behalf of my children. I've talked about it many times in various blog entries.

I've consistently found that most parents have no challenge with what I do "allow" my kids to eat... but they think I'm downright mean for what I won't allow! For example, for school, I don't pack any sugary snacks or nutrient-void processed foods. My daughter gets water to drink, that's it. No dessert with her lunch. No chips, crackers, 'lunch ables', etc.

Big 'ol meanie. That's me!

She gets "clean" meats, raw nuts, fresh veggies and fruit. Organic and raw dairy products. Homemade soups. Organic pizza on school pizza day.

Oh, I know - what a terrible mother I am!

Other parents have been telling me for years, "You know, if you don't let your kids have sweets and fast foods, they're just going to sneak them when you're not around!" I appreciate the concern.

Along that same line of thinking, should I let them start smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, doing drugs and having sex now too? Just so they don't sneak it later when I'm not around??? C'mon!

And really, what's my option? Feed them sugar and junk on a regular basis and somehow justify that this is better for them? Don't think so. I'll take my chances that they're going to go overboard on cake and cookies every few months rather than than give it to them regularly.

How about, "But they're just kids... lighten up!" It's hard to "lighten up" when you actually know what creates health... and what destroys it. Even harder once you know what's in those "foods".

Regardless of differences in parenting styles, we have to agree upon some basic physiological and health principles. Junk DOES NOT create health. Junk moves us AWAY from health. My job as a parent is to protect my kids, do my best to keep them healthy and teach them how to make great choices.

If you've read anything I've ever written, then you know that I never say "never". I say, "Fill up with Health FIRST"... then your body's better able to handle the toxic choices you may decide to make.

Actually, our little family does quite well with food choices when we're not subjected to overwhelming outside influences. For example, if my kids happen to catch even the tiniest bit of a "kids' show" on television, it isn't long before they're asking for some of the snacks or fast food they see advertised during the commercials. Guess that's why television is strictly limited in our family, too! (I know, I know... mean mother!)

Anyhow, I found it quite amusing that Dr. Mercola recently featured a video clip on this subject. In the video, notice that the "unhealthy" snack is RAISINS!!!! Heck, if that were our biggest junk food challenge, we'd have no problems!

Also, make sure you read the article and scroll down to read the readers' comments... they' shed a little more light, and accuracy, on the "study". They'll also give you some ideas to incorporate into your own family.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/03/does-forbidding-snacks-work.aspx?source=nl

Enjoy!

This Is "Science Fiction Crazy"!!!

Ever since I first watched this video and read the accompanying text, I've been trying to figure out how to introduce it... how to get you to read it and not brush it off.

I still don't know! My only suggestion is to create a few quiet minutes for yourself, pour yourself a stiff drink, and sit down to watch this unbelievable story!!!

Here's the link:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/01/this-company-may-be-the-biggest-threat-to-your-future-health.aspx?source=nl

By the way, your "stiff drink" may be a green tea, a cup of organic 'joe' or some pure water.... personally, I needed a hearty glass of a robust red wine to get through this insane article! (but that's just me!)

Frustrated By Not Losing Weight?

Since spring has finally sprung in Michigan, I've witnessed lots of people outside moving their bodies on a regular basis again. It's a beautiful thing!

In the last couple weeks, I've also heard from countless folks, mostly women, who are frustrated with their weight loss efforts. At various speaking events I've done, this is one of the most common questions I'm asked. In the mom's forums I belong to, this is the hot topic of conversation. Even when I take the kids to the park, I overhear other moms expressing their dissatisfaction with their weight.

Now, obviously there's a whole lot to the weight loss issue: nutrition, activity level, type of exercise, stress levels, hormonal balance, etc. So I don't kid myself that I could tackle that hairy beast with one little recommendation!

But, recently, the one thing I've been hearing women discuss, is the type of exercise they do. They describe, with exasperation, the hours they spend walking, swimming, cycling, even jogging... with "no results". I met one young lady who jogs for miles each day, yet struggles with her weight. She jogs the same path every time, week after week, month after month. Another group of moms who do water aerobics several times a week for 40 minutes - walk in a circle one way for awhile, then reverse for awhile. Same story... no results. Another mom at the playground was walking in a circle around the equipment while her children played for 30 minutes. She said that's her exercise a few times a week. In the online forums, it's the same story as well. Countless women wondering WHY they're not shedding pounds as a result of their diligent exercise.

The one detail I don't hear these same ladies talk about is the INTENSITY of their exercise. Remember, if fat burning and weight loss are part of your fitness goals (in addition to the all-important mental and social benefits of it), then you MUST bump it up a few notches in your intensity level.

If you jog, then add some wind sprints or hill sprints to your casual jog. If you walk, add some bursts of speed as well. Or, stop and do jumping jacks or squat jumps or push-ups... anything to challenge your body and force it to work much harder for a short period of time. If you swim, add bursts of challenging resistance moves during your laps (or circles).

Increasing the intensity of your workouts results in an increased Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). This is what burns fat for your, even when you're resting. You can increase your intensity by adding more resistance, adding more speed and adding more variety... all in short periods of time, with rest periods in between. In the case of "working out" you can accomplish this by doing full body workouts, exercise the large muscle groups, use challenging weights, don't dilly-dally in your workout and change it up quite regularly.

So, while a nice steady-paced, low to moderate intensity jog, walk, swim is fabulous for your overall health, in most cases, it's not nearly enough to accomplish effective weight loss and fat loss. You'll burn lots of calories WHILE you're doing the activity, but not for very long afterward. On the other hand, if you include high intensity bursts of activity a few times each week, you'll see the amount of calories you burn OVERALL dramatically increase.

Another great way to accomplish this addition of high intensity bursts to your fitness regime is to take up a sport or class that includes that type of movement. E.g. tennis, kickboxing, spinning, racquetball, soccer, etc.

By the way, one word of caution... don't trip over all that fat as it falls off you!