Fathers Day

Today is catch up day it seems. We have been having problems with our internet provider the last few days, and so posting has been kind of hit or miss. First off, weigh in results for the week

Me- total maintain. Considering our diet changes , my hormonal state and the horrible weather, I am really pleased. Statistically, people who shift to a Casein free/Gluten Free diet or other such measures, they gain 20-30 pounds because of the changes in dietary fat and the way the body preforms without these substances. Therefor, a maintain is like a loss. Maintaining is the hardest part of the weight loss journey anyway. Many lose weight, but few seem to be able to keep it off for the rest of their life. Shocking, but very true.

The guys both experienced a gain
Hubby- UP3.4 (ouch !!! And no real reason why)
Son- UP 0.2. That kind of gain is most likely from too much belly button lint !

So we begin another week on program, with a new addition. I bought a small ice cream maker this week. It has a bowl that you freeze, and makes about a quart and a half of ice cream. With eliminating dairy and avoiding soy, making our own ice cream is a matter of economic necessity. Our Trader Joes and Whole Foods are too far away to make non dairy ice cream purchases possible, and our local stores charge way too much for these, so it is time to learn to make them. I experimented last night with coconut milk ice cream, but I did something wrong and it froze too solid in the curing process. It did taste incredible though - need to work with this a little more.

We made a trip to Trader Joes yesterday and decided that the store has way too much healthy and tasty stuff . We went mainly to pick up Almond Milk and walked out with over 50 dollars of wonderful healthy goodies. Son has become very adventurous as far as food ( a whole different planet from the boy who would only eat plain white cooked pasta due to texture), and begged to have candied hibiscus flowers. I take responsibility for this- I have added flowers to salads and beverages in the past, and he knows that the majority of items carried at Trader Joes I will say yes to.So after a check for offending substances I agreed, and he happily munched the candied flowers as we head for the next desitinatin. And then a miracle happened- he said "Okay, I have had enough of these ". He is developing an awareness of satiation of a craving or desire, AND the ability to make himself stop. He is learning very well the concept that we eat for hunger and nothing else.I think when he gets down to his goal weight, he will actually be one of the few who is able to maintain for the rest of his life because of skills he has learned on the way.He also announced that sugar makes him sick to his stomach, which it most likely does. This awareness is going to remove a lot of battles.

He also has absolute eagle eyes, and if I tell him what I am lookiing for, he finds it when it elludes me. At the second stop we were going to pick up something for him and I to eat at the birthday party while the others are eating cake. We have cereal bars in the house, but I thought it would be helpful to grab something out of the ordinary, but healthy for us. He seems to have a certain tolerance of gluten in specific forms and not an incredible sensitivity to casien, so our needs are easier to acchive than many. He knows we are trying to avoid certain things, so I asked him to help me find these bars. I squint and the words on the packages sometimes do not register( it's a Mom brain thing), so it takes a while. He glances at the rack and grabs a box, saying "here mom, they are gluten free ! And sure enough, they are ( Envirokids Organic Crispy Rice Bars). Way to go kiddo !

Happy Fathers Day to all you dads out there. For me it is sort of like a get out of jail free card, as my own father and grandfathers are dead.My father died of breast cancer in 2004, was cremated and I have two small portions of his ashes in my possession. There is my father in law , whom I have a sort of waiting room relationship with, and my husband , whom has turned out to be a better father and husband than I ever dreamed possible. We are not really gifty type people, but exchange a lot of mindy concepts. He wrote last night about his thoughts on being a father, and for the first time I realized just how different the experience is of being a parent between men and women. Men seem to look for a connection between themselves and their offspring and attempt to fill a perccived needed roll. For a woman it is different. Something begins to grow in your body, shares your heart, and then has the audacity to seperate from you, still carry your heart, but now has legs to independantly carry your heart far away from you. That perception colors everything , and becomes the motivating factor for how we interact with our children. My own dad was a loving but tough man who saw God in nature and each of us five children as a physical embodiement of the love he shared with my mother. I was the oldest, and he jokingly called me his Love Child ( not totally true- I was absolutely legitimate). I was very much like him, and we would butt heads often because of this fact. I look like his clone, as does my son. He was one who questioned the status quo on everything, and valued an intelegent approach above anything else.Often times I think I feel his presence around me, giving me a nod of approval at all I am trying to to for my son, and it makes me smile. With his nod and all the sacrifices my husband makes for myself and my son. I think the future is indeed bright.