Health + Wellness
Our Journey to the Keto Diet: Becoming a Reluctant Hippie
I tend to shy away from fads and trends. If a movie comes out that is all the rage-I will willingly and purposely not see it. Same thing with books. I can say I have never seen Game of Thrones or read any of the Fifty Shades books. I have no idea why I take such a stance on these random things but I do. I avoid fads and it includes fad diets. Our journey to the keto diet was a reluctant one. But the proof for us was in the way our children’s behavior changed. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Not gonna do it!!
Included in my hatred of all things fad was the keto diet. I don’t diet and I love carbs; like a lot. Some days, more than family. And sweets? Are you kidding me? I would hide in my pantry and eat fluff when I was pregnant. So, you asking me to give either of those up is like asking me to give up two of my kids; depends on the day. I mean absolutely not gonna happen.
And then I had an autistic child, and another one who I swear has some sort of underlying issue because he just won’t listen or sit still or calm down. My mom told me about a documentary on Netflix about the keto diet and I told her I would watch it. No lie, I had no intention of watching it, but I had a rough day with the kids and my husband was stuck at work late. I watched it, cried and from that point on, I was sold.
What will it hurt?
We started keto (but very lazy keto for the kids because they are already tiny and don’t need to lose weight) We have talks with our daughter about how this isn’t a diet (or a lifestyle change (gag)) but that we are eating healthy. We are doing this so we can be the best we can be and fuel our bodies with proper nutrition. I don’t want her, at nine and fifty pounds to get any kind of a complex. There are talks about good sugar and bad sugar. But we still let them be kids and don’t do a sugar-free cake for birthdays or anything.
The results speak for themselves
Since we started our journey into reluctant hippiehood (journey to the keto diet) my youngest has started babbling again, and for him to go from mainly nonverbal to repeating everything is nothing less than amazing. The other kid that tests my every last nerve has also calmed down a ton. I thought I was feeding them pretty well before, but I relied a lot on processed foods. Making dinners for them is even worse now and many go uneaten, which makes the dog happy. I have also given my kids elderberry syrup bought from a stranger online. We use CBD oil. I still use unhealthy cleaning products and I don’t make my own soap or deodorant. But I did jump on the high healthy fat, low carb train because it works for us. Because I see results.
It is so hard!!
If you thought cooking was hard before diet restrictions- man it’s so hard now. Kids are still kids and don’t really enjoy veggies. I let them get a cooking magazine for kids, pick out foods from it, and help cook it-all so we can then give it to the dog. It is frustrating for sure, but when we have ‘cheat days’ the behavior I see is totally different than when we eat real foods. We also avoid dyes in foods. So we have eliminated dyes, carbs, gluten and dairy from our diets. What do we eat? Real food! Is it easy? No. Not even a little bit. Many days I want to give up and let them eat whatever they want. But I want them to be the best they can be, so I can’t give in.