Day Three

" When the mind and heart have decided to go for a mutual compromise, the word 'no' vanishes. Life needs such deals when you have decided to sacrifice to achieve."-Sivakumar Madathil Oravil

Our new way of eating has certainly been a sacrifice. I have realized that convenience drives us to make many of the choices that we do. We live in an age of faster, better, easier. We seek to find ways to cut corners, save time, do more. What we fail to realize is that in doing so, we often compromise quality of life. In our case, it was choosing to medicate our child in exchange for the convenience of being able to eat whatever we wanted and still get the desired results of his better behavior. At what cost were we doing this? At the cost of his well being. We were pumping him full of legal stimulant drugs, food dyes, refined sugar, artificial ingredients, preservatives...all of which are synonymous with carcinogens. Carcinogens are cancer causing agents. To put it simply, we were choosing to vastly increase our son's risk of cancer for the sake of convenience. Doctors will not tell you this, but it is the ugly truth.

Our diet changes have meant the end of convenience. Even something as simple as running errands becomes a pain in the rear when the kids get hungry and you do not have the option of stopping at the nearest burger joint. Planning is key in our new way of eating. I have to make sure that we always have approved snacks on hand. Dinner cannot be a quick affair. Meat has to be prepared in advance, because ordering take out is no longer feasible. Every thing we put into our mouths is a conscious choice. It has become so much more than a way of eating. It is a way of life.

Daniel spent the night at a friend's house, recently. I told the mom about our new endeavor, just so that she would have the heads up if he acted out. Being a former teacher, she was fully aware of the ADHD dietary rules, so I didn't have to worry. I did forget to tell her that we are cutting out milk until next week. My forgetfulness could have meant that we had to start over in our allergy testing. Fortunately, Daniel knew his limitations and gracefully declined the cheese he was offered, siting his need to stay away from dairy products. I was so proud of him! It shows that he is dedicated to finding the answers, as much as his Dad and I are. It shows that he has self control. It shows that there is hope. Our minds have made the choice to embark on this journey and it is clear that our hearts are willing to sacrifice the desire to have what they want. Hopefully we can keep our hearts in line with our rationale.