Cod Liver Oil Kid

When Reece was 4 and I started learning about WAPF, I started giving Reece Cod Liver Oil  (CLO) in a shot glass. We would top it with a little juice and we would “belly up to the bar” and have our oil every morning.* I’ve been slacking lately and he reminded me that he misses it. I’ll be purchasing some juice this weekend.

Up until he was 5 and going into kindergarten Reece was in speech therapy. He doesn’t remember it very well, which is nice. I don’t want him to remember struggling to communicate with others. When he was 6 months old he said his first word. Amazing!  I thought. Then at 7 or so months he would say a full sentence and crack me up. After a year and a few months he said another word. Then he just stopped talking. I had him evaluated. At this point he made up his own language and only I could decode it. Part of it was that he just didn’t see the point in learning to talk. I understood him.

A lot of the people that evaluated him hinted that he might be autistic or have ADD/ADHD in addition to having the speech problems. I did not push the issue and have him tested for either. It can be debated another time whether that action was stupid, careless, or ingenious. My numerous reasons are too lengthy and personal to explain in this blog.

Prior to eating more WAPF style I was trying to be a low-fat vegetarian. I had gained weight (going low-fat vegetarian really helped me pack on the pounds) and I was trying to be healthy. This way of living did not suit me or my child.

I was actually scared to pick up that Nourishing Traditions book. I was afraid to change because I was tired of being wrong and getting sick because of it. The book's cover hinted that what I thought I thought was good was wrong. I already had an inkling that was the case. I looked around me to see if anyone was watching and I snatched that book up. How could something like that be in plain view?! I thought. Who else knows about this?! I read that book cover to cover at least twice. Now it looks... um, loved. It has splatters, stains, and folded edges. I guess loved is pretty accurate at this point.

When we started eating more fat, Reece’s development rapidly improved (and so did my health). The farm food we both loved for several reasons. The taste and quality were wonderful, but we both stopped getting so sick and our digestion improved a lot. The CLO really clinched it. I sold him hard on it too.  I told him he would develop powers similar to the guys in the Incredibles (run fast, see far, become super smart, etc.) because that’s what he was into at the time. I wasn’t lying when I told him these things would happen. CLO does some pretty awesome things.  

Originally I was really afraid he wouldn’t drink it. I didn’t have a lot of money to spare at the time for things we wouldn't use (which was another reason I was hesitant about the book). We were always sick and I had to take off work to take both of us to the doctor. I was very stressed out. I am really thankful that I didn’t second guess myself and put that book down. I am much more laid back than I used to be and Reece is healthier from all the changes.

Most people don’t even know that he ever had developmental delays. In first grade he missed testing into 5^th grade reading level by one word: meteorologist. He’s also the tallest in his class. In Kindergarden he told me he was angry because everyone else was able to stay home sick and he wasn't because he didn't get sick. He told me he wanted to spend time with me. (aw!) I don’t know where we would be if we continued down the same road we were going before WAPF and CLO.

He doesn’t really care about super powers anymore. That stage of development is complete. He tells me that he feels a difference when he takes CLO and when he doesn’t. That’s pretty big. He told me he misses it. He may not care if it gives him superpowers, but to me it’s amazing stuff.

Cheers!

*Once he got older I started taking pills because it really was hard for me to swallow the oil sans pill. I would have to gag when he wasn’t looking. I figured that face was going to turn him off the oil which I wanted him to take. He complains when the juice masks the taste of the oil. I think that's a little... odd.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!

One of my resolutions is to blog more often. Like most resolutions people make, I’m not sure this is going to work out. It’s more like a wish at this point. Really, I’m just aiming for the first couple weeks. I have a chance it might be habit by then. Good luck to all of us!

One of the first things I’d like to talk about was a comment I had made during my speech about eating upwards of 5000 calories in a day. This has been bothering me.  A lot.

Right now my calorie range is around 2,500 to 2,800 calories; I’m guessing. The last time I put food into a food log was probably last summer. I’m really not interested in tracking my intake. To me, calories don’t matter. They never have. Counting calories did not work before so I don’t know why it would now. I don’t have the willpower to starve myself. I can’t function hungry. I am doing this for life, so I refuse to starve myself for life. Besides, is it really a life worth living without things like low-carb cheesecake and bacon?!?!?!

One of the things that I fantasized about when I started losing weight through low carb eating was that I would be THAT GIRL who eats whatever she wants and still stays thin. At least, I wanted to appear like I ate anything I wanted. With the rest of the world eating low fat/high carb, watching me eat I do look like I eat what I want. Most days I eat eggs, bacon, and sausage for breakfast. On Saturdays I have steak and eggs (with broccoli drenched in butter). On weekdays I drink coffee in the morning, as is standard for the people in my industry. Lunch and dinner vary but are high fat containing (and filling!). I like the looks people give me as I eat breakfast because I feel like they’re waiting for my arteries to explode in front of their eyes… or maybe my pants will burst open like a certain commercial. I keep eating that way, and I keep getting smaller. So the joke is on them!

In the beginning two weeks of eating I did track my food. I did not know what was low-carb and what wasn’t. I had an idea, but you need to be that specific when learning a new skill. Eating and cooking this way is a skill. Sometimes you have to go back to basics (like learning basic English in college). There were some days I was surprised that I ingested something that had more carbs than I wanted to eat. I had to learn how some foods were packaged and what slowed my weight loss down. I was shocked when a few of those days in the beginning I had ate 5000 calories. I swore the number was wrong or that I input more servings than I had consumed.

But it was right. I felt a little ashamed, and the next day vindicated. Derek had been worried about me eating low carb for health reasons. He was also concerned it wasn't going to work. (He is now one of my biggest supporter and really believes this works.) I was very overweight in the beginning. I am sure anytime you see someone stuffing their face like the world is going to end it can seem scary no matter their weight. It felt like I was on a see-food diet (see it and eat it). I felt like I was starving. Derek had never seen me eat so voraciously. Those days I ate that much, most of the calories were fat (1 g = 9 calories). The next day after eating so much, I lost usually around 3 lbs (for the day). One day I lost 7 lbs! That’s when the light bulb clicked in my head. That’s when I realized calories don’t matter.

I have read/heard that it’s not “you are what you eat.” It’s “you are what you do with what you eat.” I think that my body had been starving for proper nutrition for a long time. If insulin is circulating in your body heavily (you can tell it is if you have extra fat that is unwanted hanging around) then it’s hard for you to get the right nutrients to your body. You need to eat when you're hungry when you're low carb. There is a reason your body is telling you to eat, no matter what plan your on. It's not proper to ignore the call of food. When I ignored the angry-belly call, I didn't lose weight. When I tried to curb eating and set my fork down early, I didn't lose weight. It's when I ate until I was comfortably full that I lost the most weight. This remains true today. Eat at night before bed, wake up and eat, snack and then eat huge meals... I still ignore the standard rules of when to eat and when not to eat that conventional wisdom tells us.

My rules? If you are hungry eat. Eat lots of fat.