My nutritionist told me to keep a journal. Here I go.
Two months ago "eating-healthy-with-mom" sounded like a great idea. Everyone was looking forward to a summer of big salads, fresh fruit and nutritious entrees. The kids were looking forward to starting their senior and freshman years of college trim and fit. We had plans to share the shopping, prep, and cooking. We would be that smiling family supporting one another to eat well and get to the gym. There were only two problems with the plan. 1) Two months ago was so VERY long ago, and 2) That's not how my family actually works.
My plan was a soft-start (a good amount of cheaty food) when school ended, and a full out hard-start three days ago...
That was Monday, the day my family started the AIP (autoimmune protocol) diet. I'll go into the reasons for this diet choice another time, but for now, suffice it to say, I have issues and I need to fix them. Since I'm not the only one with issues, I thought it would be great for the whole family. Now let me expand on AIP. You can't eat any grains, dairy, nuts, seeds, nightshades, soy, eggs, sugar, processed foods, or a couple of other things I don’t care about. We made a few modifications: We’re allowing ourselves eggs, tomatoes, and peppers. Woo hoo. What you can eat on the AIP diet are non-processed meats and organs, most non-starchy fruits & veggies, some roots and tubers, and, did I say meat? There’s no part of a bowl of cereal allowed, but if you want an emu drumstick with a side of fiddleheads, this might be the diet for you. Anyway, Monday did not go well.
I made two giant miscalculations. First, I’d been travelling and didn’t get a chance to shop and properly stock my kitchen. And second, I had no idea how much teenagers eat when you take away all their carbs. I spent the day thwarting a full revolt. I spent most of the day answering, “Can I eat this?” with “No”, followed by some degree of teen cursing. I quickly discovered 17 year-old-boys get really grumpy when presented with eggs (Can I have toast? No.) and salad (Can I have beans and cheese? No and no.) and a smoothie. (Can I have milk? No. Soymilk? No. Almond milk? No.)
SO, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT?!!!
I managed some chicken, a coconut milk smoothie, melon and lots of veggies. I was happy with this food, but the kids pretty much just glared at me until bedtime.
Oh, and I’m married and my husband is joining us. Except at work. And maybe not at breakfast on the way to work. And he got home very late Monday night and popped a mac & cheese in the microwave. Don’t look kids, you’re only going to make it worse.