{Photo By: Maria Alexandra Photography}

I'm not a picky eater... really... I'll eat just about anything you put in front of me and go back for seconds. One time while I was living in Chile, we were camping in the foothills of the Andes ... and not wanting to be seen as the wimpy "gringa" I ate the coagulated sheep's blood with lemon and cilantro (a chilean delicacy I guess or... a cruel joke to initiate the naive foreigner:):) ) Anyway, I sucked that blood jiggler down with pride... consequently I also spent the following 3 months knowing what it actually feels like to have your guts turned inside out ... it wasn't pretty... at all! While I lost a ton of weight, it's definitely not a diet plan approved by the FDA, and proof that you shouldn't just eat anything someone puts in front of you.



My boys... (including my husband)... are just the opposite. Picky isn't even a strong enough word to describe whatever it is they are. Sawyer has to sniff everything and has turned down cakes, and cookies and candy many times because he's not sure about how it feels on his fingers. I realize autism has a huge role to play in the pickiness of two of my men... but what's my hubby's excuse? And why in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks won't my youngest eat anything but fruit roll ups and pretzels? That's rhetorical... I don't really want your advice:) I know what you're thinking... be the boss!!! make him!!! But I'm lazy and don't want a fight and have about 15 other excuses if you want to check back with me later:):)



Here's the thing, along with loving a hot loaf of "fresh at 5" from safeway, or anything with butter or heavy whipping cream in it... I do in fact also LOVE veggies.. I love salads and chicken and beats and chard and leeks and so many other really heathy foods... BUT... I HATE ... I mean I HATE(!!!) making them just for myself. My husband won't eat green and never has to my knowledge. Sawyer has actually thrown up just from seeing peas in a bowl by his plate (not even joking)... the little boys are just stubborn ... and I am the worst of all... I am the L word... L-A-Z-Y!!





I can admit it... I start the day off with great intentions... and so many times the only things I eat until 5 pm are bites I steal from the boys. They are scarred by their thieving mother's attempts to help them "finish" and all to often ask me to stay away from their food... poor kids:):) AND it's not because I'm soo crazy busy I just don't have time to eat a real meal... but because mama's too lazy to go throw some pre-washed lettuce in a bowl or slap a piece of turkey on some bread. It's that bad. If I'm hungry I grab whatever's fastest and easiest... which translates into "CRAP" off of my kids plates, and then I like to gorge myself with dinner because I realize I am freeken starving...

By Guest Contributor {Emilie Sampson}

Almost six years ago, I gave birth to this perfect little monkey named Parker. He was my third baby and I had breastfed the other two with little to no issues. From day 1 Parker spit up. And not the typical small amount of baby spit up…like disgusting man-barf from this tiny, perfect bald baby. The doctor did MANY tests and no matter what medicines we tried…Parker still spit up. A friend of mine suggested that it could be something in my breast milk, so I decided to try cutting food out of my diet. I tried dairy first and it was an IMMEDIATE change. He stopped spitting up completely! As long as I did not consume the SMALLEST amounts of dairy (not even cream in my coffee), everything was golden….until Parker started eating solid food. As we began to add food to his diet (still eliminating all dairy), Parker began to get sick. He was losing weight by the week, and the doctors were concerned. We saw specialists and had a MULTITUDE of tests done, and eventually one gave us the answer. Parker had Celiac Disease. Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye. Switching to a gluten free (as well as dairy free) diet was a huge adjustment, but we saw the benefits immediately! After months of losing weight, as soon as we took Parker off all gluten, he gained 10 oz in one week!!



As I entered this world of food allergies, I had to learn how to read labels and how to find out what is REALLY in the food we eat! And the more people I opened up to about this, the more people I found that also deal with food allergies and food intolerance.



How many of us deal with daily ailments that could possibly be attributed to the food that we consume? Chronic headaches, stomachaches, rashes, irritability, insomnia, trouble focusing can all be signs of food allergies! Now, I am no medical professional (Seriously, guys…I’m not a doctor. Take their word for it, not mine), but I often wonder how many things we choose to medicate for that could be cured by a simple change in our diet.