NieceyLee Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I'm a run down Mom of two, ages 1 and 3. I have spent the last four years pregnant and/or caring for an infant. I have had a tough year. Not nearly enough sleep and caring for everyone except myself. I have found I'm starting to not be able to do that anymore, I'm breaking down. I am neglecting not only my health but now my families by being to tired to really put in the effort necessary to cook, clean and really give the my children and husband the attention they deserve. In a desperate search for knowledge I found,"It Starts with Food". I'm too exhausted to read at night, my 1 year old doesn't sleep through the night, so I purchased the audio version to listen to in my car. I am a sugar addict, I have been my whole life. A trait passed down from my Dad and now my son has a vicious sugar dragon that lives inside him. We are starting to experience some behavioral issues with him and I know in my heart I can help him to have a better day by feeding him better. I am about 50ish pounds overweight and my husband's weight is constantly bouncing up and down. I want to be a happier person, a more active person, I want to enjoy life naturally like I used to. The main thing that has changed in my life other than having children is how I eat. So here we are. A family of 4 getting ready to start our first Whole 30 on June 12th.. Any tips, advice is welcome...especially if related to kids, specifically a picky, sugar addicted 3 year old boy with a nasty stubborn streak. Oh, and if you read this far, Thank you for your time, its valuable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanna Liberty Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Hey, I totally could have written this introduction! I have been where you are, and I get it. I have two boys (7 next week eek! and 4 in August), and each one nursed for about 2 years, so it was really only a couple of years ago that I was able to have my body back to myself. I hope your little one starts sleeping better! That is so so so tough. When my oldest was an infant, he would only sleep for an hour at a time. Holy wow, was that exhausting. He still fights sleep, but it's not as bad now since I can just put him in bed. As far as tips for Whole30, I think that the best tip I could give you is to set aside a prep day - aim for the day AFTER grocery shopping. Most people will say the same day as grocery shopping, but you and I both know that by the time you have the kids in from the store, brought the groceries in, and unpacked them, people are already hungry and underfoot and you're too darn exhausted to do more. So that's why I do my prep the day after. Portion out as much as you can ahead of time so that you have easy, ready to go meals. I make like mini-freezer meals (like the cooking ahead camp, where they do 30 dinners in 1 day or whatever) where I have the meat portioned and ready to go, all I have to do is cook it and go. Having the veggies pre-chopped is great too - if you need a snack you can reach in and grab it, or if you're ready for a meal it doesn't take nearly as long to make it. I started with changing my food, and my family's food has gradually changed. But for a long while there, and actually still now some days, I make different meals for myself and the kids. My husband works weird hours, so if he's home, he eats the same as me. And that's ok, you can take steps to make it as easy as possible with meal planning, making a great shopping list where you know in advance what you need (and take it TO the grocery store, which is where I usually fail LOL). In parting, I have one last piece of advice - wake up 15 minutes early or set aside 15 minutes for yourself sometime during the day. For me, I like to use Daily Yoga - it's an app on my smartphone - and do a 12 or 15 minute yoga session. It helps to remember that taking care of YOU is an essential part of taking care of your family. If Mom's not happy, no one is! The power of Mom and Wife is unparalleled, but first you have to take care of yourself. It isn't selfish, it's necessary. With your little ones, hopefully your 1 year old is napping during the day and your 3 year old might be too. Or there might be a time when you can set the 3 year old at a task - even for 15 minutes, or maybe you could work up to that from 5 or 10 or whatever they're able to do at first. You'll get there! Feel free to chat any time too, I've been there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NieceyLee Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 Joanna, Thank you for validating my experience right now!! I too, am breastfeeding. I am going to take your advice...Prep day AFTER grocery shopping, 15 minutes to myself and I am going to find that app. I'm a big fan of yoga. My goal is to start running and supplement that with yoga. Again, thank you for sharing your experience with me. There's something very validating knowing that I'm not the only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeantownDiva715 Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Welcome NiceyLee! I'm a Newbie too, only on Day 2 but I did want to say- First- Congrats on being such a Super Mom and making this decision for your family to readjust a few things. NOT downplaying what a big step it is but I can say, having been raised by a nurse ahead of her time on the whole "clean eating" thing, the (mostly good) habits and food tastes I have as an adult are absolutely because of what she fed my brother and me as small children. Neither he nor I are much for overly sugary or salty foods, pretty much never anything "fast" or processed. Our weakness is wine and cheese . We never had "junk" food in the house growing up- we got an OCCASIONAL chips ahoy cookie along with our lunch, lol, and she may have gotten a little lenient once I was in college and bro was in high school. Second, I can't back up Joanna enough on the suggestion of having *2* days ahead of Day 1. One for shopping and one for prep. Heck I only have a DH and two cats and *I* felt slightly overwhelmed on trying to get it all done in one day. I had this "brilliant" idea that we'd get home from a few days away Sunday night, I'd run to the store, prep and start June 1. Yeah. Fast forward to delayed flights, travel drama and reality hitting. I am SO GLAD I decided to shop Monday, in a relaxed state, and prep Tuesday. The prep actually bled into Weds as well for various and uninteresting reasons and I started yesterday. I'm not a mom (yet) but I do know so many of my Super Mom friends who, while it was difficult to initiate, got SO MUCH out of just a few moments to themselves ahead of the family onslaught each morning. I LOVE Joanna's suggestion of the yoga app, it could also just be a few moments walking around the block as the sun rises. OK that sounds a little cheezy but you get it. Also, I am neither a mom nor a doctor, but I wonder if you making these amazing changes in your diet may help the little one's sleep patterns? You are still nursing (what a gift!!) so I would guess that he gets a lot of whatever you put in your body. Perhaps your improved nutrition will lead to his! Also- I can totally believe a 3-year olds Sugar Dragon is probably even more powerful than ours!!! You're a brave woman but you can do it!!! I am sending you so many good thoughts and hope to be able to see and hear about your amazing journey here!!!! Go gettem' Mamma!!! -Bean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NieceyLee Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 JoAnna and Bean, How are you two doing on your whole30? I'm on day 7 and I'm pretty surprised on how well its going. My kitchen is a pile of dishes on a daily basis because of all the cooking but I have been cooking more than I ever have. I'm following the meal plan in the Whole30 book just to get an idea of what the authors see as a typical whole30. I know once I get used to it I will be more efficient and cleaner about it. My 3 year old son is actually doing quite well. He has never been into eating veggies or meat, so the struggle is real. I'm taking a laid back approach with him. I've taken away all of his staples and understand he wont commit to changing overnight. That being said he loves Spaghetti with meatsauce, using spaghetti squash and I've found a smoothy in the morning for breakfast works out great for him. I put 2 egg whites for protein, spinach, a carrot, some frozen banana, frozen berries, almonds or cashews, coconut cream and water...He loves it. His diet is heavy in fruit but I will take that over processed granola bars, PB &J sandwiches and Mac n Cheese any day. He seems to be happier and his moods aren't swinging as much as they did before. My 1 year old daughter is such a great eater that it almost seems like she has been eating like this her entire life. She loves the carnitas recipe in the book. Poor thing has all 4 eye teeth breaking right now so sleep is a broken up jumble but I know that this to shall pass. My husband fell off the wagon at a day and a half by way of brownies and icecream at work. We made a compromise and I gave him his cereal, tortilla chips, bread, jelly and beer. He gave me the support of not expecting me to cook double meals. What i make for me and the kids he'll eat. What I make for him to take to work for lunch, he'll eat. He thinks he's back to normal but really he's eating so much healthier then he was just a week ago. I make eggs for breakfast every morning for both of us so at least he's getting protein with his cereal. I consider this a win!! As for me, I'm doing great. The first three days were hell, headaches, no energy and a lot of self forgiveness for my house going $#!%, not to mention all of the emotions coming up, that before the whole30, I'm pretty sure were shoved down with spoonfuls of ice cream and chocolate bars. I remember reading something about grieving the food you have lost and for me day 5 I was experiencing food depression. Starting yesterday that has changed and life is starting to get back on track. I have moved into the food grieving stage of anger. Mad that I can't eat this or that, then I remember I can but I'm choosing not to and that anger shifts into being mad that i have allowed food to have this much control over me. I'm pretty sure I'm starting to enter a boredom stage. The newness has worn off and I'm not getting the excitement from food that I used to. The boredom is being counter balanced by the "oh, look, skinnies" comment I've been getting from my husband for the past couple of days. Anybody experiencing weird energy shifts? I'm tired at bedtime then right before a go in to go to sleep I have odd surges of energy and can't sleep. I will also wake up in the middle of the night with a burst of energy and am having a hard time falling back to sleep. My daughter is sitting on the dinning room table with my tank top on her head. I think that's my sign to end this post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeantownDiva715 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Niecey I've been thinking of you and wondering how you were getting along! Crashing now but I'll drop by tomorrow with a proper hello! The pork carnitas were a huge hit here too! Sounds like you are ROCKING THIS!! Bean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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