Lesson Learned

Have you ever experienced something where you think, “Will I ever learn my lesson?!?” Unfortunately, I seem to repeat those words a little too often!

It has taken me several attempts to go and stay raw, even with a supportive husband and kids young enough to have an easier transition. Each time I went off raw before, I was somehow happier with the ease of falling back into old comfortable habits and routine, but at the same time, so very unhappy about knowing and feeling the difference. The change was that there was a definite pull toward eating healthy raw foods that I never experienced before. Once you feel the difference raw makes, it is impossible to fully enjoy a cooked food diet knowing it makes you feel terrible, both physically and mentally.

Sometimes, the memory of just how bad I did feel on standard food faded away and it was easier to entertain the thought of eating what I said I wouldn’t. It wasn’t until I was ‘off the wagon’ and back in the old ways that I remembered how amazing raw food is and what it does for our bodies and minds.

In the same way, since taking the plunge this year to be consistent with our children’s diets, I knew the changes we have experienced in our son’s behavior, attention, and other symptoms have improved in a way I never imagined possible. It has been 5 months now since they have been eating a high raw, gluten-free, vegan diet. The vegan part was not new to them and in the past they have had varying degrees of ‘rawness.’ The amount of raw in their diet before was anywhere from 50 to a full 100% when we have been raw.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was saying our family would never, ever go back to another form of eating because of what it does for my son and his issues with milder autism spectrum disorders. As the memory faded about just how extreme his ‘bad days’ really were, the thoughts of allowing a little something special occasionally entered my mind. We finally let go one time and allowed a cooked meal that did not fit our diet standards.

After just one single meal, we noticed within 3 hours that something was up. Then, for a full 5 days, we dealt with anxiousness, aggression, hyperactivity, anger, frustration, sensitivity, obsession, and more from our son. The reappearance of these symptoms was sudden and it was obvious that he was not the same child that he recently has been. It was not as extreme as before the diet change, but then it was only a small amount to affect him.

I don’t know what upsets me more, the fact that we gave in to the temptations or that he was the one suffering for the regression. We are, after all, the parents. It was our choice to allow it. On the other hand, we told him before allowing it that we knew this was something we eliminated from his diet and we could choose to test it or to keep it out. He wanted to try it, and now he knows as well as us that the efforts we are all making are worth it. He did not like the way he was feeling any better than we liked being on the receiving end of it all!

As my son gets older, he will have more freedom to make his own choices about his food. I think he will carry this experience with him to hold himself accountable. One of his traits is obsession over issues he believes are important. There is no middle ground, only very black and white boundaries, and definitely no giving in. He is very adamant about healthy food and even though he wants the other stuff, he never sneaks ‘off-limit’ foods because it isn’t right in his opinion. (Besides, we would know the second he did!

In the end, it was a lesson well learned for all of us. Any previous thoughts creeping in as to the real effectiveness of this diet change are gone. The benefits are clear and fresh in our minds, and this experience will only make us stronger!