It's Not About What We CAN'T Eat...
It’s About What we CAN eat!
I still remember the day Scotty came home and told me what his Functional Medicine Doctor had prescribed him. It felt a bit like she told us the only thing he could eat was lettuce and liver.
I felt overwhelmed with all the information and changes required, and strangely guilty for what we had been eating, and really confused about what healthy actually was.
Another part of me was excited because I really enjoy a food challenge, and cooking is my love language… but I was struggling with the restrictions.
This lasted for months.
Then one day I was standing in the kitchen having a bit of a breakdown about about all the things Scotty COULDN’T eat, how hard it felt, and how I just had no idea what was healthy for any of us anymore. When he looked at me and said “you know, I think we need to start thinking about all the things I CAN eat instead of the things I CAN’T.”
This was the beginning of finding joy in the kitchen again.
We started thinking about all the meals we enjoyed that naturally didn’t require any of the restricted foods. We thought about what we could easily adapt to suit the restrictions, and then finally I got excited about trying new ingredients and really digging into the new food challenge.
The next interesting thing that we did was break down what our seemingly pre-determined beliefs were about food, and what and how we thought we “should” be eating.
What beliefs were in place that told us we had to have toast for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. That told us pasta was the only delicious thing in the world for dinner and sugar was the only thing that made life sweet. We thought about how we could flip the script on these ideas and rewire some new ones into our habit forming brian.
Once we started focusing on WHAT WE COULD EAT INSTEAD OF WHAT WE COULDN’T things got so much easier.
Actually fun!… because I’m weird like that.
Food was simple, clean, and easy to prepare.
Yes, getting a grip on meal planning and being prepared for the times when cooking isn’t an option took some getting used to — but it turned out that wasn’t a bad thing at all! It ended up freeing up time in the long run, and ensuring that we all ate some seriously healthy food on a very regular basis.
The new fun challenge was how to make something with fresh, simple ingredients that was flavourful, nutritious, and delicious enough that the whole family would eat it with gratitude.
I realized that that has actually always been my goal, it’s just that the ingredients had shifted a little.
I learned that when the only thing we notice is all our restrictions, limitations, and obstacles — that is the only thing we see.
This is true when it comes to food, and life of course.
Looking for the gaps in between the challenges, and finding and focusing on the things that are working is the path of least resistance.
If you’re just starting out on a food and lifestyle change, look for the simple things you naturally like.
This rule applies to food, movement, meditation, or any lifestyle changes you want to make. If we can find something we ENJOY doing inside of the things we NEED to do, we are much more likely to do it.
Think about WHY you want to make this change, WHO you want to make it for, HOW your life will look after a year or three of this change being made.
Now think of five meals that you really enjoy that naturally don’t involve ingredients that you’re trying to avoid.
If you can’t figure it out, send me an email. I’m happy to try and help! We gotta stick together on this!
The next step is to live off of those for as long as it takes you to figure out the next things you want to eat. No need to overcomplicate things right at the start, keep it simple and easy, and allow yourself to succeed at this.
Natural, nutritious, and nourishing.
I’m here if you need any help, because this is seriously something that brings me a strange amount of joy.
We got this!
Gwen
