The 21-Day Challenge Week Three: We made it!

COMING DOWN THE HOME STRETCH

We officially made it through the 21-Day ELBCEC (Eat Like Brady Could Eat Challenge).  Week 1 was insanely difficult.  Week 2 was just slightly better.  As we completed Week 3, many things became obvious.  In theory, Week 3 should have been easier as we went down the homestretch.  For me, it became harder.  So many obstacles seemed to get in my way and I had to quickly learn resilience and resistance.

Grocery shopping took on a whole new meaning.  I noted that it was taking me three times as long to grocery shop.  That doesn’t even count the multiple trips to places like Krogers, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.  Krogers is where I typically shop, but unfortunately Krogers just doesn’t have the selection or ingredients needed to be on the ELBCEC.  Also, while shopping at all of the places mentioned above, I had to look at the ingredients of everything I picked up so we wouldn’t accidently cheat.  There are just so, so many foods out there processed with corn, soy or milk.  That part was one of the most frustrating things about doing this challenge. 

I also had to face special events while enduring the ELBCEC.  It is definitely not fun having to turn down food while on a special diet.  One event occurred last Thursday while at work. My boss kindly surprised our department and had a flying flapjack company come in to cook pancakes for everyone.  All of my coworkers were laughing hysterically while trying to catch their pancakes on their flimsy plates.  It was quite the sight and truly hilarious, but I had a hard time joining in the fun since I was unable to eat the pancakes.  I smiled and laughed along with my coworkers, but on the inside I felt a lot of sadness.  It just reminded me of the many future events my son will be attending where he will be unable to eat the birthday cake, share in the ice cream social, eat the candy given away at Halloween, and the list goes on and on.  Sometimes it’s just no fun not being able to join in in the fun.

The last three weeks were harder than I ever imagined.  It was pretty mind-blowing for my husband and I as we had to get creative daily with our food intake.  We had to have an obscene amount of will power, and yes there were times of weakness, but we never gave in.  It was the constant reminder that if we indulged in our cravings as we tried to live our lives like Brady, it would be the equivalent of our son having an EoE flare.  And no food is quite worth the flare.  Trust me.  So, we said no to many, many foods that seemed to call out to us, begging us to be eaten.  For me, giving up lattes and ice cream just about did me in.  For my husband, it was the bread.  Biscuits to be exact.

Below are the top 10 things my husband and I learned along the way.

TOP 10 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE ELBCEC

10.	Whole Foods isn’t such a scary place after all.  Expensive as hell, but no longer daunting.
9.	Chipotle is our new restaurant BFF.
8.	Food smells SO much better when you’re not allowed to have them. For instance, to get to my workplace in downtown Columbus, I have to walk by a Subway bright and early in the morning.  Bread has never smelled so good at 7:30 in the morning, especially knowing I can’t eat it.
7.	Sugar withdrawal is no joke.
6.	Brown rice bread tastes like vomit that was chewed up, then vomited out again for a second time.  Just don’t go there.
5.	Corn is in everything.  And I do mean everything.  Corn syrup has been the bane of my existence the past few weeks.  Every time I pick up something that looks good and “healthy”, inevitably I would see corn/corn syrup/corn oil, etc. and I regrettably had to put the item back down.
4.	The Ninja blender really is quite good.  A must have for smoothie-making.
3.	There are more Top 6 Food Elimination recipes out there than I thought.
2.	Don’t be intimated by the lifestyle.
1.	When you really put your mind to it, and believe you can do it, and believe it is worthy, you can do anything.  For 21 days anyway.

A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND IN DEED

Several months ago, I met another mother at church.  We got to talking and quickly discovered that both of our sons had many of the same food allergies.  We connected again over the spring.  We had a lengthy conversation about how to handle life and how to prepare foods for children with multiple food allergies. 

This mom was kind enough to come to our house to show me recipes and compare notes.  What I wasn’t prepared for was how kind and generous and thoughtful and patient this mother was.  She came to our house with bags of groceries, all contained with safe foods for our sons.  She stayed for over two hours and showed me all the ingredients and talked me through a few of her recipes that she has invented to ensure her son (and her family) can have safe meals.

I was simply blown away.  And I also quickly realized this would be a complete lifestyle change.  As she was talking, I was nodding and processing and trying to take it all in.  I was encouraged and hopeful, and most of all grateful that I now knew another mom who totally got “it” and only lived a few miles away. 

THE EPITOME OF BEING DISHEARTENED

What happened next, I’ll admit, I’m a bit ashamed about.  I woke up the next day, I looked at the bags of Whole Foods groceries she kindly left behind and I got scared.  I was beyond intimidated and was plain ol’ overwhelmed.  Everything in those bags just seemed so foreign and I wasn’t ready to admit that our kitchen would now need a complete overhaul to get rid of all the items that my son couldn’t eat, and therefore the rest of the family couldn’t eat either. 

I even went so far as to compartmentalize the new groceries.  I put them in completely separate cupboards that had nothing to do with our “normal” food and shut the door on them… shamefully, for months.  It wasn’t until The Virgin Diet book came along that I got to place where I felt like I could deal with it.

I know for some out there, you may be wondering, what is there to “deal” with?  Well, a lot actually.  Yes, my son has EoE and multiple common food allergies including wheat, corn, soy, milk, eggs and peanuts.  If you’ve never had to deal with food allergies before, I encourage you to look at the labels of all of the foods in your pantry, refrigerator and freezer just to see how many of your current foods would be affected by this eliminatation.  Let me tell you, it’s a lot. 

DEALING WITH IT

I’ve never been a big cook.  I know enough to get our family by and I rely on the trusty recipes given to me from my mom.  All of those homey, feel-good recipes that I grew up on would all have to be eliminated to accommodate my son’s needs.  Flour?  Gone.  Bread?  Gone.  Eggs?  Gone.  Breadcrumbs?  Gone.  Milk?  Gone.  Butter?  Gone.  And the list goes on and on. 

When I met with this mother, I wasn’t ready.  Plain and simple.  If I hadn’t been introduced to The Virgin Diet, I’m sure all of those lovely groceries would still be sitting in my cabinets today, for months to come probably if I’m really being honest.  Making myself do this Virgin Diet made me deal with it.  The first few days while we were scrounging around for something safe to eat, I remembered those groceries given to us all those months ago.  The last few weeks, I am proud to say I have put to good use almost every single item she gave us.  That in and of itself, is a huge win for me and for our family.

The thing is, our whole family does not need to be immediately affected by the top 6 elimination just yet.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, my son has a severe feeding sensory disorder as well.  Most days, he only eats gold fish and drinks ice water.  Although gold fish are not technically “safe”, he gets by with little flares because he is ingesting so little and he has medicines to help keep the flares away.

THE KICK START WE NEEDED

Now that Brady is in his fourth week of feeding therapy and we are beginning to introduce safe foods, this Virgin Diet was perfect timing.  It was the kick start that my husband and I needed to start incorporating safe foods into our daily diet.  That’s really what the ELBCEC was all about.  Getting that kick start we desperately needed into a new way of life.

My husband and I are forever changed by this experience.  Living with EoE took on a whole new meaning and way of life, for us, as his parents.  We collectively lost 18 pounds in just 21 days due to the vast change in our diets.  The weight loss may have been the exterior change our family and friends saw in the both of us.  However, it's the internal change that I'm still struggling with and processing.  I am in constant awe of my son and his view on the world.  Brady has this wonderful way about him where this empathetic characteristic comes shining through whenever he sees someone in need or hurting.  I have a feeling the EoE has taught him that.  My empathy for him is what pains me at times and makes it hard as his mom to see his daily struggles with food.  By completing this challenge, I couldn't think of a better way to honor him and his bravery through this fight with EoE.  

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Honestly, I don’t know exactly where we go from here.  All I know is that it’s a much healthier place.  My husband and I have proven to ourselves that we can eliminate wheat, corn, soy, milk, eggs and peanuts and survive!  Will we eliminate all of those foods from our own diets 100% of the time?  No.  However, my husband and I will be aiming for a place where we’re eating healthy and eliminating those foods around 60-70% of the time.  It’s a start, and it’s much better place than where we were pre-ELBCEC.

The future is so uncertain when it comes to Brady and his eating habits.  Of course I’m hopeful that he can eat an entire meal at some point.  But that is so very far away.  Getting him to eat one bite of applesauce is a huge success for us right now.  Feeding therapy will have its ups and downs.  For instance, I got an email from Brady’s occupational therapist at school last week.  She let me know that Brady tried eating a raisin during snack time.  It was when she encouraged him to put a second raisin in his mouth that he threw up all over the place.  That, unfortunately, can be such a huge set back when it comes to progress in feeding therapy.  We have learned the fine art of finding that fine line of how far to push him and when to back off.

Feeding therapy is not easy and we have a long, slow road ahead of us.  One of the things I’m most thankful for from the ELBCEC is that it has helped equip us for that long ride.  It certainly hasn’t been an easy past few weeks.  It had its ups and downs as well.  But I can say with 100% certainty that is has made me a better, stronger person. 

Not a bad transformation in just 21 days time.