When Your Child Has Food Allergies - How To Deal With YOUR Emotions :)

It can be hard to navigate our way through all of the social, educational and professional activities in our lives when we have food intolerances ourselves.  It is a whole different ball game when we are talking about our children having food allergies or food intolerances.

It can seem that at every turn there are cookies at school and sports functions, parties, get togethers, meals on the run and temptations and cross contamination at every turn.

If that were not daunting enough we as parents also have to deal with our own emotions that we sometimes unconsciously project upon our children.  We assume that our kids are going to experience their lives and come to the same conclusions in situations that we did.  In reality, two people can experience the same situation and come out with very different perspectives and lessons.

For a child that has food allergies it can be a landmine to navigate the young years.  Many times intolerances and allergies from the foods that they are taking in affect not only their bodies but also their minds and emotions.  When we give in and give them a "treat" what we don't realize is that they are the ones that will be paying the price for days or sometimes weeks to come.  We, as parents, don't always put 2 and 2 together when the next week our kids are having emotional meltdowns or are demanding or not feeling well.  We can get frustrated and be short of patience and don't make the connection to that split second decision the week or day before when we decided to "reward" our child and give in to a "treat".  Now our precious baby is getting in trouble or is experiencing our lowered tolerance for unbecoming behavior and they are not in control of themselves.

It can literally be like walking through life in a fog when our brains are allergic to the foods we eat.  We can interpret life differently and respond totally different to a multitude of situations when we are reacting than we would if we were not. 

When your child is reacting they are basically powerless.  They cannot often times verbalize or even realize that the way they are feeling is not normal. 

I know it is hard but I would encourage all parents to stop and think twice before giving in to that "treat" next time and to realize that you are not doing your children any favors by doing it.  You are leaving their bodies and minds to experience the fallout for days inside their own internal world.  It is good practice when you have strong emotions in any situation about your child not being able to eat the same as others to stop and ask yourself are you projecting your beliefs or emotions onto your child?  Are you acting on what you would feel in that situation?  Sometimes just the acknowledgement of an unconscious thought stream in the mind can be enough to think through a situation differently. 

Also, when there are food allergies and intolerances present that means that there is a whole and different CAUSE of the problem.  Allergies are only a SYMPTOM.  When you keep introducing the item that is causing the body pain or illness you are just prolonging the time it takes the body to heal itself. 

You CAN heal from food allergies and intolerances but it does require removing the offender. 

Be kind to yourself and remember that you want to empower your children to be the best that they can be.  We are amazing parents and all doing the best that we can with what we have at the time.

I hope that my video and post was a blessing to you in some way.  Have a wonderful day and remember to keep that smile on your face!

A Mindset of Abundance Instead of Restriction

When you are changing your diet, whether it is because you are faced with fighting your way back to health or because you are wanting a higher state of vibrancy and vitality in your life it is easy to begin looking at what you can't have instead of what you can.

 

If I could change one thing years ago when I became gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, dye, chemical and preservative free it would be to look at the abundance of what I could have instead of all of a sudden focusing on the items that were taken out of my diet. 

 

I would look at the thousands of fruits that not only had I never tried but I had never even heard of!  I would immediately begin cultivating my taste buds to enjoy the taste of beautiful vegetables instead of trying to replace the foods that I had spent my life loving with imitation recipe combinations (that never, ever lived up to my hopeful expectations). 

 

A diet change can give you life at a level that you have never experienced.  Especially if you have food intolerance's, you don't even realize some of the symptoms that you are living with and as those begin to fall away you will discover who you really are - mentally, emotionally and physically. 

 

 

When you are faced with changing your diet it is a time to create new habits.  Find new loves.  Don't look back.  Keep moving forward and make new friends with food.  I know it is hard at first but I promise, with time you won't even miss some of the things that your body is calling out for now.

Try to cultivate a mindset of abundance.  Break out of the 20 or so foods that you eat over and over and over again that don't provide you with the results health wise that you want and begin to explore a world that is waiting for you full of amazing new and sometimes exotic tastes, textures and smells. 

You are worth the effort!

I love you all!

Make Your Own Liquid Hand Soap!

For those who are trying to heal their bodies, dealing with allergies or are simply trying to improve their health making your own hand soap can be one more step in supporting the body's pathway to health.

Inevitably, when on a journey of healing your attention will come to how to reduce the influence of toxins and chemicals in your daily life.  You can make choices and changes one step at a time and looking at the hand soaps that you and your family are exposed to is a great place to start.

One way to make liquid handsoap is to make it out of Castile Soap.  This product can be found easily in your local grocery store or Wal-Mart, usually in the health food section or green cleaning products section. 

Most Castile soap products are made out of an olive oil base but some preparations can have a base of coconut, hemp, avocado, almond, walnut or oil.  Castile soap can be used as a body soap, as shampoo or can even be used as a household cleanser.  Castile soap is known for being non-toxic and made of natural ingredients. It is non-allergenic, eco-friendly and gentle on the skin and delicate surfaces.

It is so very quick and simple to make your own liquid handsoap.  All you will need is:

• Liquid Castile Soap (scented or non-scented)
• Filtered or Distilled Water
• Essential Oils for scent or theraputic properties (optional)
• Used soap dispenser bottle, or you can purchase one for this purpose

In selecting your Castile Soap I definitely recommend that you go with a non-scented version if you are dealing with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, MCS, or food allergies and intolerances.  Any chance to lower the body's exposure to scents and chemicals helps to keep the toxic body burden down. 

Now, here comes the simple part: 

1. Add a small amount of castile soap to your soap dispenser, approximately 2 to 4 Tablespoons, depending on the size of your container and also your preferred thickness of the soap.  (Admittedly, commercial soaps that we are used to will be much thicker than what you will make at home with this recipe - but this is so much cleaner, healthier and allergy friendly and works just as well).
2. If you chose to purchase castile soap with no scent you can add drops of your favorite therapeutic grade essential oil here, or just leave your soap unscented.
3. Fill your container the rest of the way with either filtered or distilled water.  Attach the lid, and shake your new gentle soap to mix your ingredients.

And that, folks, is all there is to it. 

There are many ways to make different qualities of soaps and this is not meant to be an exhaustive course by any means.  Sometimes when your life is revolving around allergies or chemical sensitivities even the simplest changes can feel daunting.  So, with this recipe you can start simple and increase in complexity when you are ready.

I love you all to pieces and hope that this simple recipe is a blessing to you and helps you to realize that it can be very easy to begin replacing some of the common every day products that we use that may be toxic to our health with gentle homemade versions that are so much better for you.

Have a wonderful day!