Not Food

It’s been a crazy week. One of those weeks where you just try to keep your head above water. If the weather were not so nice… I would have been more “productive” in the office. Temperatures in the 70’s in March, in Ohio, is unheard of. Needless to say, we have done the outdoor, fun in the sun things we haven’t done since October! My twin boys are approaching two now and life is a little easier. Being mobile is now an option. They are still shell-shocked every time we go “bye bye”. My daughter is three and a half and loves being a big sister. We did the zoo trip this week and they loved it.

Now the point of this post… Paleo! We are raising our kids on a paleo diet which means no sugary sweets. Are they missing out on anything? Some may say “the fun of childhood!”. I say no way! The boys are too young yet to understand , but my daughter loves to help in the kitchen. She is exposed to healthy food. When she is allowed a “treat,” which is usually a paleo cookie, she is told that this cookie is “not food” and it contains sugar. She is learning the difference between food and “not food”. We are prepping her for future “not food” decisions she will make when my husband and I are not around… mainly the sugary treats offered in schools.

Recently, my daughter and I went to the local health food grocery store and filled our “paleo cart” with fresh fruits, veggies, meats, nuts and eggs. We were second in line at the checkout when the cashier from the lane over offered the young boy ahead of us an “organic lollipop”. I knew what was coming and I was prepared. She offered my daughter, not me, the lollipop. My daughter looked confused while I politely said “no thank you. We don’t do sugar”. My daughter asked “what mommy?” while the cashier apologized sincerely. I know it is rare for a parent to refuse a sugared sweet for their child, and even less common to not get a protest from the child. I told her not to worry about it, that my daughter doesn’t even know what that was. Meanwhile, my daughter, upon hearing the word sugar, was asking me why she wanted to give her “not food”. I just smiled to myself as the father of the little boy devouring his lollipop looked embarrassed and our cashier praised me for being such a great mom.
When I said that my daughter doesn’t even know what that was… I meant it. I can take her to the regular grocery store, you know the one… with all the candy at the checkout… And there is no begging, bartering or arguing for sugar. She doesn’t even look at it. Am I crazy? No. I am enforcing healthy habits that will be with her forever.

Is paleo hard? Is it more expensive than the SAD (Stanard American Diet)? No and yes. We choose to live like three percenters. We know what 97% of the population is doing, and we do the exact opposite. We are 3%ers! Sometimes it is challenging, more often it is fun. Eating paleo and using paleo skincare can cost more today, but I am healthy and so is my family. My skin looks great no one can guess that I am 43 years young The toxins and chemicals we are excluding from our paleo lifestyle could cause cancer or some other illness or disease. How expensive is healthcare and medications, not to mention the effects of illness on one ‘s health and lifestyle. I have made the commitment to health and I welcome all of the challenges and criticisms from the 97%ers! We will continue to refuse all “not food” and “not skincare”.. We haven’t started talking about that yet since I have been making all of our skin and body care products since she was born… But “not skincare” is another post for another day!