Food glorious food

A few weeks ago, the kids and I went on a little trip to visit some friends and family. While we were away from home, we ate very differently than we usually do. It wasn't like we were gorging on soda and candy or anything - we ate "healthy" - it was just completely different than we have been eating for a while now. We ate breads and grains, more dairy than usual, and had a few days where we all had a little more sugar than we are used to. I had some coffee - enough that I had some caffeine headaches when we returned. Everyone did fine, and I did notice that the addition of bread to Peanut's diet made it way easier to get her fed. She scarfed down toast and peanut butter or a ham sandwich pretty quickly, and gained a few (much needed) pounds in the process.

So the fact that there were no major reactions to the change in diet in addition to the extraordinary amount we have been spending on food since Pumpkin has become an "eater", made me reconsider what we are doing at home. For the past few weeks we have been eating similarly to our vacation, and while it has been cheaper, I am feeling the effects.

Grains don't seem to bother me until they are processed into something like bread, and then I get really irritable and crabby and I am hungry (or I just think I am) all the time. Dairy is another matter. Yogurt and kefir are fine, but other dairy has been making me feel crummy. I'm tired, run down, feeling pretty lazy, and just a little mushy.

I do think that while there are no major signs of food intolerance in the kids, there are some new behaviors with the new diet. Both kids have been waking in the night lately - Pumpkin woke up a lot when we were away so I am really glad to be home and have Honey here to help out. It was hard when I was the only one doing night and day duty. Peanut has been having a ton of temper tantrums - we had a week of at least one or two huge ones every day (which never happens for her) until we asked preschool to cut out juice at snack and give her water. Then they stopped. There has been lots of whininess and clinginess from both kids as well as what seems to be an insatiable hunger from 9am - 1pm. Constant asking for "something else". Yeah, there are lots of other things going on so it is hard to point to one specific thing, but I have to try to see some patterns in order to make a change.

So starting this coming week, I'll be going cold turkey on the diet front. I'll do a week of a pretty bland detox, followed by a modified GAPS/Primal diet. I'm not planning on including any other family in this - they can continue what they are doing. I'm just hopeful that getting my mind and body back in fighting shape will help me be calmer and more focused on what I need to do with the family. Once I can focus, I'm sure there are some simple things we can do to help everyone be nourished and happy.