The last year....

The last year has been an AMAZING year faith wise.  We went through the toughest of toughest cirumstances, first being told we needed to terminate our pregnancy, then fighting for him through complication after complication, including a large subchorionic hemmorhage, placenta previa and placenta percreta.  My placenta had grown outside of my uterus, which was a very dangerous situation for us both.  We both survived surgery and he won himself a one month stay in NICU, initially on a ventilator for a week...and when we finally were able to take him home on oxygen, I was then admitted back to hospital with a huge 12 +  inch abscess in my stomach, which necesitated 6 additional surgeries...or was it 7??   The fact that he is here healthy, at 10 months old; that we are BOTH here, healthy today is a miracle in my eyes.   If I gave my thanks to God every day for the rest of my life, it still wouldn't be enough to show my gratitude. 

Healthwise, 5 months of bedrest during pregnancy and 5 months after (oh and those horrible surgeries removing chunks of stomach here and there) have done little good for my middle.  I am the most out of shape I have been in my whole life.  Part of me is horrified, but after all I have gone through, being ANY size alive is better then the outcome I could have had.  All of us need some change here though.  We ate a diet heavy in fast food for such a long time (thanks to bedrest and caring people who would bring cheap food for our big family) and we are all paying for it now.  I have been wanting to do a diet overhaul for a while, but I am at the point now that I need to stop being lazy and JUST DO IT!!! 

On thinking about what kinds of diet changes I wanted to install, I talked to someone at our coop who had a radically different diet from ours.  And the more I am learning, the more I want to give it a trial for our family!  Here come the groans...but its a sugar free, gluten free, pretty much grain free diet (dairy free for some, but I don't know if we could live without that).  I thought this might be a good fit for us for MULTIPLE reasons, including:

1.  My husband's nonstop GI issues....more then half of his food goes right through him.  I have always wondered if maybe he has an intolerance to gluten, among other things. Could this help in any way?

2.  My very hyperactive boys, two of which I am certain would diagnosed with ADHD if they were in a traditional school setting (we homeschool).    Will this radical diet change (especially the lack of sugar/grains) help with that?

3.  My 4 boys who have asthma in varying degrees, two of them hospital worthy at times.  All the sickness that goes through our house, and our weak immune systems.  Could this kind of diet make a difference for us healthwise?

4.  My chunky self, including my sluggish thyroid and my genetic predisposition for diabetes.  And with 6 young kids, I don't have time to hit the gym for 2 hours a day to get the results I need to see/feel. Will high protein/veggie, no grain, low carb diet work wonders for me?

So I am on a mission to give our family a one month trial, starting the day after Easter.  Why that long you ask??  Because I have a lot of learning/planning/preparation before I can intiate such a plan.  I need to read up enough to feel comfortable behind the science of our diet change (books coming Wednesday thanks to amazon: Why We Get Fat: and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes and The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy by Mark Sisson.  Started reading up a ton on marksdailyapple.com .  Its blowing my mind.  I can't wait to get my hands on these books.  I also need us to eat up our non diet change friendly food (bad I know, BUT we are on a VERY strict budge, we don't have money to throw away on our tight food budget).  I also need to plan out a menu plan of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and snacks so I know what to buy when I go shopping for the first time (can you imagine not buying grains and carb products, as well as processed stuff....thats like almost all of the store!!)  And last but not least, I am practical; in that Easter is around the corner, my parents bought my kids Easter baskets with tons of treats, and I can't start a diet change, only to say "whatever" on Easter day, nor can I tell them too bad, that their treats aren't on their diet plan anymore.  I plan to let myself suffer that day after Church and let them eat their favorites out of the basket (I might sneak a few myself) and then that night, the Easter candy will be in the trash and we will start our new diet change the next day. 

How does my family feel about this?? Well I am excited!  This body isn't forever, but it would be nice to feel better healthwise, and fit into things a little more comfortably.  My husband is willing to try it, but he hates veggies and LOVES Big Mac's, so this should be interesting.  My kids are hoping its only one month, they are already lamenting what a month without mac and cheese and waffles might be like.  We are going to do this as a family though, and one month into it, we are going to evaluate its effect on our health.  I am hoping that in a month, we can whether or not this extreme diet change has added value/health to our lives.  I am hoping that I won't meet extreme resistance our initial trial month, but I am nervous myself...my life has always been surrounded by grains.   You don't realize how much is a grain til you consider cutting them cold turkey!  Anywho, I think that is a pretty decent introduction to the hows and whys....will post more as I learn more. :)