Today as I cracked open my first bag of Chia Seeds and made smoothies for my 2 year old twins, myself, and my husband I realized that I had a great gift. As the blender mixed the bananas, blueberries, low fat yogurt, milled chia seeds, flax seeds, peanut butter, clean water, and ice, I thought wow that was easy. Easy to help my babies be healthy. Like really easy! I gave it to them in their nifty smoothie cups that my father brought them, and they drank it down in a flash! It was delicious and we were all licking our smoothie staches and looking for round two!! But how did we get here? How have I been able to get my little toddlers to eat beets, carrots, hummus, yams, spinach, kale, even chia seeds for crying out loud without tying them down and holding their mouths open? Why do my children love the taste of fish oils and beg for them everyday like pieces of chocolate? Why do they prefer water over any other liquid? As I thought about these questions that I've been asked by friends, family, and even myself, I realize that the answer is simple: A CHOICE. I have the power to choose what we eat and my choice is that we live strong full lives. Lives uninhibited by dis-ease in our bodies, low blood sugar levels, hyperactivity, poor focus, poor digestion, and ultimately unhappiness. That choice is one I made a long time ago YET I have to make it again and again every single day. I have to choose the best possible foods for myself and my family all the time. You've read about the choices I starting making for myself back in 2001, but I made a really small but strong choice for my girls in 2010 when they were born. I choose to breast feed until there wasn't a drop left in me. That was just the first part! The second part of that was my decision to take them from the breast to water. People that were in close quarters would always ask me do they drink juice? I would say, no I'm training them to want water. A revolutionary? Me?!? I didn't think so at the time but now that my girls are almost three and about to start Pre-K, and they're number one preference is WATER... I would probably say yes. Yes I am!
My choice had now turned into their choice. Now when we enjoy juice, it's a batch that I've made with our juicer. Exceptions are made but the training remains. Water. I decided that I would make these precious gifts of mine, apart of what I call, The Human Experiment.
What would happen if the only liquid I gave them besides breast milk was water, I asked myself? And the worst case scenario that I came up with was that they would pee a lot! Lol! But the best case scenario was that they would be hydrated and cavity free. I said to myself, I can live with that! They are in fact my children. My chance to change the world. My opportunity to be a witness of what's good in this life. So far this human experiment is going pretty good. I've tried it in myself, my husband, and my children. Friends and family close to me are joining in and having a good ole time honey! Lives are changing one baby step at a time.
How 'bout you join me and begin to train to be your best self? Use food as your practice like I have and see what happens. Take one small step. One small choice and watch it roll into one good decision after another. I've got another Human Experiment on the way, so keep watching as we choose Life and Freedom to be who were created to be.
