Years In The Making
Her dietary journey had stared long before she even knew she was pregnant.
So, then the unbelievable news arrived, she knew exactly what she was going to do. There was no doubt that people would have their own two cents about her parenting approaches, but she had no clue just how aggressive they were going to be about it.
Lots Of Problems
Shan remembered the slew of health problems she had to deal with throughout life.
There were sleepless nights full of pain and not a day went by when she didn’t feel exhausted. By that point, she was ready to try anything – anything to change the course her health was headed. The solution had been in front of her the entire time.
Cutting Out A Lot
Some called it the Paleo Diet.
But Shan didn’t care about the idea that eating like our ancestors was the key to the fountain of youth. All she saw was cutting out all unnecessary food and just leaving the pure ingredients behind. It was almost over night that she noticed a change.
A Wonderful Blessing
Fast forward to the wonderful news.
She was going to have a baby! As she pushed her cart down the aisles of processed items, and boxes full of what was really just sugar, she started to panic. She knew how the food-shift had helped her. And she wanted the same gift for her coming child. There was, however, on large obstacle.
Dairy Issues
Paleo restricts dairy.
The doctors begged her to breast feed. After having a long think about it, Shan agreed – after all, she was keeping her own body healthy, and the milk was naturally meant for her infant. So, when baby Grace came into the world, her first meal was milk. Then fate threw a curve ball at her.
Cheating Husband
It was devastating.
She found out her husband of six years and been cheating on her for nearly their entire relationship. Aside from the debilitating heartbreak, she now had to deal with a mortgage and being a single mother but only working part time on her own business. She had no choice.
Moving Forward
It was time to dive head-first into her healthy-eating business!
Part of her journey through social media was also sharing how her little Grace was thriving on her natural diet. But here is where the opinions crawled out of the woodwork. Some were simply worried if it was healthy for a child. Others went to another level that scared Shan to no end.
Angry Readers
More than a few said she was being abusive to her child and that they were going to call child services.
There wasn’t a day that went by when she would feel her heart pound in fear with someone threatening to tear her family apart. Throughout the entire battle, the naysayers seemed to ignore one vital piece of information.
Targeted Education
Shan had a degree in agricultural science.
She was a regular face on food-boards and healthy eating councils. She was always staying up to date on scientific papers. Her know-how didn’t come from a 5-minute Google search. This was literally her specialization. But there was another thing she couldn’t wrap her mind around.
Meet Grace
“This is my daughter. She’s happy and healthy – even according to doctor visits. Also, she doesn’t get sick as often as the other kids around her.”
It wasn’t like she was depriving her baby girl of food. She just wasn’t allowing sugar or anything processed. So, what did her girl often eat?
What Do They Eat?
Breakfast was eggs or fruit.
Lunches and dinners were cooked meat and roasted vegetables. Pasta was shredded vegetables. It was common to see her girl munching on a cooked broccoli flower or slurping back homemade apple sauce. She was eating all the things that other parents were begging their kids to finish off their plates, “then they could have dessert.”
But, But, But!
More than one know-it-all threw another comment Stan’s way that just infuriated her.
“But what if you’re girl goes to a birthday party. She will have candy! What will you do then?! See how your plan doesn’t work!” Her response was simple.
Already Planned
“I won’t send my daughter to parties with a bag of kale.”
“By that age she can choose to eat anything. She will just come home jacked-up on sugar, have an exhausting meltdown and then a tummy ache. Then, she’ll learn to have 1 cupcake rather than 10.” Even Shan doesn’t adhere to the diet 24/7.
Not Set In Stone
When she goes out to restaurants, she eats what’s on the menu that best fits her diet.
She doesn’t ask for substitutions. She knows that a little won’t hurt. All she wants is for her child to grow up strong and healthy – and away from modern additives and chemicals, and most of all from sugar. She also had one final comment for all the Negative-Nancys.
Won’t Stop
To Shan she didn’t understand why she was the bad guy for handing her daughter a carrot sticks while these people were dumping things like colas and candies into their kids.
How was that any better? In the end, all she wanted was for people to respect other’s choices. Her daughter was thriving, and she wasn’t going to stop.