My Mod Bod (guest post).

by

I have begged encouraged Josha to guest post us for a while now.

I enjoy her blog immensely and find her comments here tremendously thought provoking as well.

I knew she had insights to share.

Josha? She wasnt so sure.

Ill let YOU decide as I know you will agree with me.

Please to enjoy.

whaddya want?

Food….so much to think about without complications.

What do you do when one of your family members has special dietary needs?  Well, ya get busy and cook.

One of my little people has severe intolerances to gluten and casein.

Gluten is the protein found in wheat and most other common grains from which flour is made, and casein is the protein found in milk.  Happily, both of these are found in most foods as fillers and are called mysterious things on ingredients lists like “added ingredients” and “natural flavoring.”

So, I get to cook.

a lot.

And guess what???  Wonder of all…I really am not a fan of cooking.

I should insert here the love I have for my mother who not only cooked thousands of meals for our family growing up, but also helped me when I realized I needed to cook special foods for my son.

She came to my house and cooked.

She rescued me.

And since that’s what mothers do, I learned to cook without gluten or casein for my son.  I’m rescuing him, you see.

He has autism, and needs a hero, so I try.

Recently, I found out that he also has some food allergies (different from an intolerance…whole different post).  The two biggest problems in the allergy department are eggs and corn, and guess what again??!!  The planets align to make certain that these two ingredients can be found in just as many foods as gluten and casein!

Oh joy!

Oh rapture!

Did I mention that I don’t like to cook?

So, now I am trying to eliminate two more ingredients from his diet.  All this while trying to feed our family of 5 and keep my food intake “clean” and get all those fruits and veggies into us all and. and. and.

So, from this I will say these things:  I think it’s about choosing what I want.

Do I want to cook extra when I don’t even enjoy cooking in the first place?  Yes, actually.

Yes, I do.  I want a healthy little boy and a healthy family.

Yes, I believe I will.  yes.

How many things in life fall into this category…just choose what you want, and do it.

Sort of a “just say yes” situation???

My little guy has been my teacher on this topic.

From him, I’ve learned that everything in life is a just say yes situation.

When told that he’d never talk, what if I’d believed it and never tried to inspire him?

What if I’d decided our life was less than what I wanted and had given up?

Or what if I’d chosen to believe that he would only be what I wanted if he could change into what I’d thought was “normal”?

Instead, I learned that I don’t want to miss a minute of who he is right now.  Sure, I have goals for him, but what if I thought I could only be happy when the goals were met?

I took up running a while back.  I have goals.  I run and hope to meet the goals eventually, but I’m so glad that I have had such usable lessons from my son.  I love my journey.

I rock along at my pitiful pace knowing that it is all    about belief.  I believe that where I am right now with running and with life is exactly where I want to be along the way to the finish.
In honor of saying “yes” and believing what I choose to believe, I leave you with this gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free, corn-free, healthy, tasty recipe from a recipe book called, Hotze Optimal Eating from the Hotze Health and Wellness Center and my kitchen:


Shrimp Curry
1/2 c onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
2 Tbsp potato starch
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp pepper
2 c pure chicken broth
2 c fresh shrimp, cooked
Saute’ onions in olive oil for 5 min.  Blend in potato starch and seasonings.  Slowly add broth, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add shrimp and heat through.  Serve with your favorite veggie, and enjoy!

Josha is mommy to 3 great kids and wife to a super-supportive hubby.  She began to believe in herself again after many years of stumbling along ss a result of believing in her son’s ability to make his own changes.  She then began to make some changes herself.  Using Body for Live as her model she lost from a size 14 to 4, ran a half marathon and is currently training for another.

POSTS BY EMAIL

Never miss a post. Enter your email to get my latest posts delivered to your inbox.

Comments

  1. “I rock along at my pitiful pace knowing that it is all about belief. I believe that where I am right now with running and with life is exactly where I want to be along the way to the finish.” – simply beautiful Josha. Thank you for sharing this with us. You are definitely a hero. Blessings to you & your family xo

  2. What a beautiful story to share. I rarely use this overused blogger word but it really was ‘inspirational.’

    It reminded me that everyone has their own troubles and challenges to overcome. That we are lucky to have our own set of challenges and not someone elses.

    My Mom always says that God makes the shoulders to carry the cross. We are capable of so much more than we ever give ourselves credit for. When will we start believing we CAN?

    Thanks for the great guest post!

  3. Rrrr! I hate to cook, but marriage forced me to part with my quick and easy “recipes” for Oodles of Noodles and fish sticks. And Rrrrr! I STILL hate to cook.

    (we suspect hubby might have an intolerance…..Rrrr! again.)

  4. This is a very inspiring story! Thank you Josha. I try to avoid those substances too, so cooking my own food is essential! Fortunately my husband is 100% on board.

  6. Josha, have you discovered the joy of coconut products? Coconut flour (gluten free). Coconut milk. Coconut oil. My new favorite website for internet shopping is Tropical Traditions. They also have a bunch of recipes, although not all of them are gluten free.

    The egg restriction is a tough one; it’s gonna be hard to substitute for that.

    Good luck in your cooking endeavors; take care of that little guy (and yourself!)

  7. WOW! Yep this was inspirational! Usually I am inspired by the person themselves (her son) but this time I get to be inspired by the ‘person behind the person.’ Thank you so much for sharing yourself.

  8. When I think about how much I whine about simple cooking, let alone the sort you describe, I feel pretty embarrassed.

    I love the way you frame it in terms of saying yes!

    Thanks Josha, for a really inspiring post.

  9. Oh I hear you (and many others – all the time)! One of the reasons I try to eat low/no carb is to keep “other added ingredients” out of my food because the simpler you can keep it the less cooking you have to do (although granted, I love to cook). Just the other day my oldest son removed a bag of flavored pretzels from my hand and said “Mom, ingredient #6 is whey” he is learning to really look at what is in the stuff he eats. Naomi is right – coconut ice cream is just the ticket when you neeeeeeeeeed something creamy and delicious.

    Kudos (or your preferred brand of GFCF snack bar) to you all around! : )

  11. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Your commitment to your family and your son is inspiring. What makes me even more impressed is the fact that you take good care of yourself while taking good care of others. That can be hard to do.

  12. diane NAILED it with her last 2 sentences.

    I’m chicago bound but am leaving you w/a heaping serving of Miz First Person Friday tomorrow anyway 😉

  14. Thanks for your guest post, Josha! (Glad Miz convinced you to write it.) I, too, liked your “just say yes” catchphrase and that you take the time to take care of yourself, too, as Diane mentioned. (I look forward to trying the shrimp curry recipe–I love curry!)

  15. This post is awesome! Thank you, Josha. I am sure it would be very tempting for someone in your position to rail at the heavens and shake your fist and whine and complain, but you just took ACTION and are doing what you need to do to take care of your family, and of course that’s so much more effective than any kind of fist shaking. 🙂

  17. Wow that recipie sounds tasty! I’m so making that as soon as I finish this Detox Diet thing.

    Your post was amazingly inspiring. I hope I can take with me your positive attitude about making that choice to “just say yes.”

    I’m also curious to learn more about this casein allergy thing, as my S.O. may have it (we thought he was just lactose intolerant but things like lactaid don’t work for him)

  20. Thanks for sharing!
    It’s amazing what us women will do for our kids, husbands…and pets!!
    You just never knows where our life journey will take us. One thing is for sure, if we quit–the journey stops and we miss out on meeting incredible people and incredible people miss out on meeting us! Also, we stop growing as a person.

    keep on keeping on…it’ll be worth it!

  23. Thanks for a reminder of what matters. You know-I know a number of parents of autistic kids and I have to say – you are all inspiring amazing positive people. Through you I am constantly humbled and reminded of what really matters…thanks 🙂

    That recipe looks good…my sis in law is celiac and lactose intolerant…. I’ll have to make it for her.

  24. checking in from the airport….is it wrong if I’m *already* tired? 😉

    Documenting my journey in photos as I know you’re all on the edge of your collect seats for a post….

  25. Wow what a great idea. “Just say yes.” I’m inspired to try it with all those things I know I should be doing and don’t. Much more positive than “Just do it.” Much more committing.

  26. Wow, I can’t imagine going from not knowing how to cook to needing to be very specific and specialized about cooking. How difficult! Good for Josha!

  27. A great story to share with all of us! One of my granddaughters is allergic to just about everything & her mom (my stepdaughter) has to cook everything for her, not many places she can eat out, she carries medication at all times just in case her daughter eats something that can actually take her life if she ate it… a very stressful situation & yet they have learned to deal with it as has little Emily. Thx for sharing.

  28. Thank you for sharing your story and your positive attitude! Yes, it is all about how we respond to all the different situations and challenges that we encounter in life. You are truly an inspiration! And the shrimp curry sounds delicious! 🙂

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This