trying to get healthy

[wish]

I somehow have recently found this forum and have become a bit addicted!

I really need to start turning things around for my family and I in terms of natural health. I know we need to stop eating/drinking junk, but at the end of the day it all goes out the window. I want to get us all working on a more whole foods diet that will help heal our bodies. I'm also interested in using more natural remedies etc. Everyone here seems so wise about so much! I feel a bit overwhelmed and don't know where to start.

I want to work on cutting sugar in multiple forms for my entire family, as well as the crummy dyes in food and preservatives we can't pronounce. I want to be using natural health remedies to stay healthy instead of dealing with sickness frequently. I want food to be our medicine.

I'm frequently cranky, stressed, restless and can never get enough sleep. Dh is always on edge about something. Both girls have mood swings and neither are sleeping well.

I don't know if there is some kind of beginner's book or website? I start to look through all the threads and get way overwhelmed. What is one good area to start in?

On the plus side, we are taking the girls in to a Naturopath in two weeks. I just got some cell salts in the mail and are starting those (if I can figure out the dosing). I made my own Elderberry syrup for their colds (yipee!). So I guess I"m getting started. But I really want to start with a good base and build up. Any advice is appreciated!

[zanelee]

Wish-
I'm there with you! All I can say is just pick one area (such as the sugar) and start there. You will gradually move to changing other things. I started with just the want too. Then I've slowly (this has been the best approach for my family) moved on to moving out processed things. Changed to raw milk. (Not telling anyone-that way they can't complain. They mostly haven't even noticed, but if I SAY something, there are alwasy complaints)
Changing to healthier breads...making my own...adding kefir...using herbals remedies...the list goes on.
Really, it just works to pick one area and start there. It sort of evolved for us, and I believe it will for you too. The smartest thing I did was not "say" anything about what I was doing. To dh or the children.
I need to pick up my efforts again, as I've backslid a bit too. Thanks for the reminder!
Good luck!

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by wish

What is one good area to start in?

welcome! You are clearly moving in the right direction because your consciousness around wellness has already shifted. That's step one! As you become more open and inquisitive, things have a tendency to just...show up!

My best advice would be to remain open. In terms of where to start, it's my experience that something is going to catch your attention, be a perfect fit for where you are right now and function as a spring board into the rest. Some start with nutrition. Some with herbs. Others with chiropractic or acupuncture, still others with energy medicine. There is no "normal" progression. They all fit together and at various times one or two will be at the forefront. Just go with that. There's a sort of spiral that happens as information builds on itself.

Is there something that's tickling your fancy right now? You talked about nutrition and shifting your habits there. Nutrition is something you can study for a lifetime and still not know it all! You can delve deeper into that and start examining your beliefs as well as other information that's out there. Then you can experiment. This is a gateway in many ways because you'll see that things can change significantly with "kitchen medicine" and start paying closer attention to everyone's individual needs. You may decide to start using a few herbs nutritionally. You may start learning how targeted nutrition can be used as medicine....there's so much!

You also mentioned getting cell salts in the mail-that's a lovely place to begin. Again, here you're straddling nutrition and energy medicine. You can start seeing how there's a nutritional basis for emotional and mental states. You can start observing symptoms in a different way and arm yourself with tools to address different patterns of imbalance. You can see how the foundation of health is correlated with the mineral balance in our cells and how even small deficiencies can have enormous impacts. I like starting here because I think that it's easiest to learn when you are able to have a practical application.

Seeing the naturopath is a great start-it will be a way to support you in your path. A good practitioner is someone that can facilitate healing while providing support. They tend to be great assets when you are embarking on a new path. Best of luck!

[wish]

You are both so right. Kind of start slow and feel it out to what will work best for right now.

I am happy to report I had an epihany in the bathtub last night!!! I realized that I have to make the decisions to have things happen, they are not just going to do it all on their own. So for example, I LOVE soda, but know it is awful and need to stop drinking it (I drink alot of it). I have this one bottle for work that I fill with soda several times a day. So I went to the store last night and bought myself a new water bottle, for water only. I'm going to put the other one away. It's like I see my soda bottle and it makes me want the soda. It's a small change but hopefully it should help. Also packed a nice lunch with salad and lentils, rice and fruit. Better than cafeteria junk.
I am having some black tea so I get a little caffine, since I was drinking so much before.

thanks for the replies!

[ASusan]

I'm not sure how "bad" things are for you and your family, so forgive  me if what I write sounds a little basic or off-putting.

One (easy?) place to start might be to stop purchasing things that aren't particularly good for your family. Soda (already an admitted problem for you), chips, pre-made snack foods, sugary (or any extruded) cereals, processed foods, frozen meals...When you do your regular grocery store run, take a look at what is on the conveyor belt and do a quick analysis of the food-health-(medicine) value of what is there. My mother taught me to do this when I was young, primarily by just making critical statements toward her own purchases in some grocery store visits. I now, admittedly, judge other people's purchases by glancing at the conveyor belt. I sometimes try to give them excuses for having multiple bags of chips, boxes of ring dings, cases of soda, by thinking to myself, "They must be shopping for a party, because there is no nutritional value in anything they're buying." But it is astonishing to take a look at the ratio of items with any nutritional value to those without. I would much rather put my dollars into the nutrition each week.

And if you're not bringing it into the house, your family won't be eating it. You may find yourself having to make replacements by purchasing more healthy foods for snacks (e.g., fruits, avocados).

[plantnerd]

My advice on nutrition is avoid anything prepackaged.  Learn how to cook (how to cook everything is a great book for beginners) and stick to a whole foods diet.  Foe example, instead of hamburger helper, can of veg-all, and bread for dinner, do small grilled steaks or chops with herbs and olive oil, steamed broccoli and carrots (you can steam veggies in the microwave) with garlic butter, and brown rice pilaf.  This is an easy way to start and the food will taste amazingly good to you.  George foreman grills are wonderful for indoor grilling btw.

Ice cold water with lots of ice and lemon and lime slices is a good drink to start with.  If you do a lot of beer red wine is a good, healthy change.

Don't limit your treats too much, but do focus on making your own.  Make a simple apple crisp with oat topping and greek yogurt instead of an apple pie from the bakery or freezer. 

It can be done, and cooking skills are such a big part of it.  Once you've made the switch you won't believe how gross some of the processed stuff tastes. 

[lookatreestar]

i was pretty much raised in a natural/healthy lifestyle with tons of home remedy type stuff and i still don't understand everything about nutrition and cell salts etc. welcome!