Well folks I can honestly say I had no clue we would be where we are as a family today one year ago. Let me take you back. One year ago my ever loving 6 year old with a heart of gold and compassion for all had me at the brink of sanity. Really how sane is someone with 5 girls running around her house you ask? It is par for the course here and I wouldn't change it for the world...well except that my 6 year old the loving child would randomly change into this monster that no one liked for no apparent reason with no warning making us all want to run away. Like it or nor, loving or not, "Christ-like" or not we would nick name her (not to her face) the spawn of satan, yes it was that bad. It had been that bad for 3 years and I was fed up! This is not how life was supposed to be and I was not ready to settle for this for my daughter who deserved so much of a better life. A friend had told me about her kids who back in the day had ADD and bi-polar. I was strongly against medicating for these things, not that some kids don't need it, some do, but the majority of kids that are just thrown on it as a solution for someone wanting a quick fix and not taking the work to get to the root of the problem, that is what I am against. All that being said I was losing my ever loving mind and walking on egg shells around this kid to the detriment of the rest of my family...I was ready to get meds and I wanted them now!
That led me to my friend Pam who's kids I mentioned before. I will be honest when she said cut out the food dye I was thinking "really? That sounds crazy and not to mention a lot of work!" At the urging of my dad I just checked it out on line. Sure enough I found a blog of a mom going through the same thing as me with her son. The next day I took my little sweet Ellie and we went through the whole house and garage and read every label (talk about going cross eyed!) and rid our house of all of the food dye. Initially this was going to be a one month trial. After about 6 weeks my skeptical husband said to me, "do you notice the difference in Ellie? I haven't seen one of her bi-polar fits in a while." It was then that I realized I hadn't noticed the change because I was still so on edge just waiting for the next fit to come. But she had not had another fit since we eliminated food dye. I was in shock.
I would like to say it has been an easy road and we are all jumping for joy about not having food dye. Not so much. It is in everything, white marshmallows, Pillsbury crescent rolls to name a couple. I think I have become obsessive compulsive about reading labels, it really is an addiction now. We have had MANY a time where food dye has gotten in from either from her sneaking it and me finding a food dye wrapper cemetery under her bed or someone not reading a label and just blindly giving her something with dye. I has happened many times, more than I wish but I have discovered the "life cycle" of food dye in Ellie's body. I am sure it is different for each kid, but for Ellie the effects are not fully gone for 48 hours. It is a horrible 48 hours too! But we have made it through all holidays but one...my favorite candy holiday to be honest. Easter is fast upon us, it is late this year hence being food dye free for one year and not having Easter yet. I love food, especially sugar, and yes I know the real meaning of Easter and it has nothing to do with candy. I am already plotting how to get through the egg hunt with nothing sneaking in. It is so tempting for kids (or adults) when something you want so bad is in front of your face. I do have to say I have noticed in the last 2 weeks though that if my kids are given something that has food dye in it by someone and I see it and say, "oh that has food dye" I don't have to tell them to stop eating it, there eyes get huge and immediately through it away. This is a HUGE milestone for us. This will get easier and easier as we get more and more used to it. We have had some funny moments and hard moments through it all this last year but it has been all worth every one of them. I will be okay with my 3 year old asking me "Does this have food dye?" about EVERYTHING she sees, or my 2 year old running through a store chanting "I like food dye"...it means they are listening to me!
Not only has cutting out food dye led to a mentally better life for Ellie and our whole family, it has lead to a healthier eating style for all of us. Ellie is gluten free (I will talk about that another day) and was dairy free for a few months. We have cut out high fructose corn syrup, sucralose (which I think is so nasty) and many other things with more things to follow I am sure. My motto is one thing at a time. I have seen huge improvements in Ellie's temper, fits, communication, school work and thought process all just by cutting out food dye. There is so much more I could say, and so much I have already said. I guess my one piece of advice for anyone wanting to cut out food dye or any other thing from your life would be, take it one step at a time. If you have no limits on your diet don't try and cut out everything at once. It is SO overwhelming. Start with one thing and do it until you are comfortable and feel like you have a handle on it. Then target your next thing. If you do it all at once you will more than likely fail because it is so much of an adjustment.
I have been asked by several people to write about my family's food journey. So that is what I am attempting here on my blog. I am by no means a professional at any of this, I am not perfect, don't have all of the answers and sometimes get lazy and have an "I just don't have the energy to care right now" kind of attitude at times. My goal is to share my food journey's with anyone who is interested and hoping to help someone like I was helped by others.
I will be posting more often and I have a lot on my mind to share. If there is a specific thing that you would like to know about let me know and if I have dealt with it I will share my experience. I would also love to know what you have found on your food journey, I am a sponge and want to soak up all information and tips I can to make my family as healthy as it can be.
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