So You Wanna Make a Lifestyle Change?

I've been sharing more and more about our health and wellness journey on my personal Instagram page. I've always been interested in carrying a less toxic load, and I am aware of what we eat, etc. but the issues we have had with Bubs has really given me the kick in the pants to act on the research and learning (and unlearning) I have done. I have had a lot of questions and most revolve around how we first started implementing changes and how we afford to eat these "specialty foods" or follow a "specialty diet".

Implementing Change

Change is uncomfortable. I get it. I loooove Nibs. If you told me I couldn't ever eat candy again, I might have a hard time with that, if I'm being honest.

The way we have approached changing our diets and lifestyle choices is all around the idea of balance. Of course, any foods that are allergies (Gluten for myself, and milk-protein for Bubs) we steer clear of as best we can 100% of the time. The rest of it though? We like to follow the 80/20 ideology. 80% of the time, we make the more healthy, less toxic decision. The other 20% of the time we don't (give or take of course).

For example, we have been working on eliminating artificial food dyes from our diets. We have found great replacements for gummy candies (my hubby's favourite), sprinkles and frostings, etc. but there's some things (hello again, Nibs) that we still consume, without guilt. Bubs is still too little to have found favourites of things that we have yet to find replacements for. But moving forward, we won't have him be the only kiddo at a birthday party not having a sucker. We'll either have an alternative for him, or not stress it and let him have the dye-filled ones his friends are having. As long as we're making healthier choices most of the time, that balance won't be the end of the world!

One Meal at a Time

When we first started having to eliminate foods from Bubs' diet to determine what was triggering his FPIES, I was feeling extremely overwhelmed. One of my coworkers, who has had her own unique journey with diet, wellness, reactions, etc., told me to focus on one meal at a time. Plan one or two meals that week that you try implement the "new" diet. This was really helpful specifically when we started to remove dyes from our foods. Don't go and throw out everything in your pantry. Use what you have, start to read labels while you're pit and about, and make better, informed decisions when replacing what you've used up.

Another thing we did that made the switch to no milk-proteins for Bubs, was to write down everything he was eating. Then we could easily identify what foods were going to need to be eliminated or replaced. When we started eliminating dairy for Bubs, our pediatrician recommended starting with just eliminating lactose. So we got lactose free options for yogurt and cheese. Those were the only dairy items he was consuming. Then when switching to no milk proteins at all, we identified a couple snack foods, along with the yogurt and cheese. It felt much less overwhelming being able to pinpoint exactly what he was eating and what needed to be changed.

Don't Reinvent the Wheel

Don't do more work than you have to! There are SO many accounts out there that have done the research and put in the work to identify great substitutes for foods that you might be trying to eliminate. I have found a few incredible resources and Facebook groups that give such great recommendations, can answer your questions along the way, etc.

Some of my favourites are: To Dye For, Dye Free Kids, Dye Free Family, GI Kids, FPIES Support, Dye Free Parenting, Natural Minded Momma.

With our FPIES diagnosis, I also found it very helpful to talk about it. I talked about it on my social media stories, and received lots of info from other FPIES mamas. We truly don't know what others are dealing with unless we talk about it. I was surprised by how many people had great suggestions and resources when I started opening up about what was happening with our family.

Affording a "Specialty Diet"

Yes, it is true that eating a "specialty" diet is more expensive than eating without limitations.

For example, here's a look at a few pantry/fridge staples:

In our home, we only buy very few "Special" items; Bread, flour, cheese, yogurt, pasta. Everything else, with a few one-off exceptions (GF Oreos😍), we eat on a daily basis is already naturally Gluten and Dairy-Free.

There's lots of naturally Gluten and Dairy Free options out there and that's what makes up most of our diets.

Here's a day in the life for both Bubs and myself:

As you can see, aside from the flour for the homemade muffins, the dairy-free cheese, and the tortillas, we just naturally avoid Gluten and Dairy anyway!

It can definitely be done in a cost-effective and straight-forward way!

Any other mamas out there grocery shopping and cooking around allergies and intolerances?

xo.-meg