I expected to lie down on the table and have needles stuck in me, but the first appointment was an hour and a half consultation with the doctor.  It was very informative because she explained to me how TCM works, the philosophy behind it, how long she had been practising, where she had worked and what kind of issues she had helped people with.   A lot of what she said was aligned with how I feel about treatment.  She emphasized that Western doctors treat a symptom with a pill, while TCM looks at underlying causes and the balance of the whole body.  TCM balances the energy in the body, bringing up the positive energy and reducing the negative.

From what I can understand, circulation is at the centre of the philosophy.  The doctor spoke of a balance between blood and air in the body, saying when either is out of whack, health problems arise.   She also spoke of Yin and Yang, where there has to be a balance of opposing elements, for example hot and cold.  If the body is too cold, health problems will arise. During her explanation I kept a very open mind, it’s what I was there for after all, to find out if there are different or better ways to think about my own treatment.

The doctor then examined my tongue and took my pulse on three points on my wrist.  She explained to me that diagnosis was done by looking at the colour and other qualities of the tongue and feeling the pulse points.  She showed me a chart with different tongues, different colours or textures indicated problems in different areas of the body, for example the kidneys.  After that she asked me some questions and predicted many of the symptoms/problems I was having.  It was very surprising.  She told me I was cold all the time, for example, and the problems in my reproductive system came indirectly from being cold/not being able to warm.  It’s true, I’m cold all the time, and this winter with being sick was particularly bad.  Then, she gave me a rating on my blood flow and my air flow in my body.  One was at %50 and the other was working at %60.  That was a poor score I guess.   It made me feel like I failed my health exam.  But, the good news was she said she understood what was happening in my body and would be able to help me.  Thumbs up, right?

The next appointment, I again thought I would be laying out on a table and getting needles put in me and fixing my crappy blood and air score, but that didn’t happen.  Instead, we had another consultation and she began prescribing different kinds of teas to me.  I began to feel doubtful and a bit uncomfortable, was it time to bail on this experiment?  She had her assistant take out all these little packets of tea from a cubby area that looked like tiny little lockers.  I sat there watching as she pulled packet after packet out and placed them in little plastic containers.  When she was done, each container held about 25 different packets which was one dose.   As I said before I had trouble getting on board with herbs from the naturopath, and teas kind of fell into that same category for me.  Sure, I believe there are teas with lots of great benefits and properties and will drink me some peppermint for an upset stomach and all that, but what she was recommending was way too far out of my comfort zone.  She was recommending 4 months of treatment with tea.  This meant mixing the 25 different packets of different kinds of teas together into a foul concoction that I had to choke down while plugging my nose twice a day.  I discovered with my healthy eating that if I have to choke something down, I’m just not going to do it.  I could tell this was not going to be for me, but then I thought a bit more and decided maybe I should just try it.  I’m supposed to be stepping outside my comfort zone here, right?  I asked her about the ingredients, telling her I would not like to have anything with animal ingredients and she hesitated and took some things off the list (not a good sign…I also happen to be paranoid about what I put in my body so was beginning to get scared of taking all this stuff without really knowing what it is).  I swear one of the teas was called Donkey-Glue.  What?!

Still, I let this get to the point of billing.  For six days of treatment it was going to cost about $100 for those teas.  Then I just had to say HELL NO!!  Insurance does not cover tea, and we cannot afford $100 a week for four months of foul tasting tea that may or may not do anything!!!  Then the doctor said something to me.  She said, when she worked in the hospital and in the cancer ward if she prescribed animal urine (this kind of stuff is part of TCM), for example, to a patient they wouldn’t drink it, unless they thought they were in a situation where they might die, then they’d drink it.  Yeah, no shit I thought.  It’s called desperation and I’d probably drink animal urine too at that point, but for now I’m not at that point and I just can’t see the logic in going through with this.

I asked her again about acupuncture.  She basically said it would be pointless, that it would give me an hour of balancing the energy in my body and would not be enough to have any affect on my health, while the tea would give me 24 hour benefits.  She said if any other acupuncturist told me they could help me with just acupuncture they’d be lying.  I would need it like twice a day everyday or something.  So, now it is pretty much pointless for me to seek out/try acupuncture. *sad face*

In general, I liked a lot of what she said to me, how she approached things, how she explained them and the idea of the philosophy behind TCM.  In many ways I understand it, for example we know that positive energy, thinking and lifestyle has health benefits and stress and negativity cause health problems.  Perhaps this is just not a good fit for me and my particular health issues.  I really didn’t like being scored though.  I mean if you tell a patient they are only %50 or %60 as healthy as they should be, they are going to start thinking that.  And now I basically have to walk away knowing my chi sucks.  I also don’t like the animal products used in treatment and of course, the expensive tea was a deal breaker.  I believe it must work for some people, or it wouldn’t be so popular, but at the same time I also know there is quite a lot of power in believing something works….

Have you tried acupuncture or TCM? What was your experience?

photos courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Before I received any form of treatment for my endometriosis, I decided to do diet therapy.  This meant cutting out a whole bunch of foods, all processed foods and making things from scratch.  The idea was to 1) help control inflammation (some foods like caffeine, sugar increase pain and inflammation) 2) clear estrogens from the body (endo thrives on estrogen) and 3) limit toxins that enter the body (organic foods only etc).  This made complete sense to me, and changing my diet, although difficult, really helped with pain and managing my symptoms.

I also went to see a naturopathic doctor because I was on a 3 month waiting list, just to see an ObGyn, meaning I had a diagnosis, but was getting no treatment.  I didn’t find the naturopath helped very much, and it could be because I am very sceptical.  I told her about my symptoms and she prescribed a diet (the same as I was already doing), supplements and herbs including (St. John’s wart and Chaste Tree).  The herbs I could never fully get on board with.  I tried them for a couple of months, but can’t say I noticed any specific change or benefit that I wasn’t already getting from the diet.

Then it finally came time for me to see my specialist and all hell broke loose.  He did not tell me much during the appointment I’d been waiting 3 months for.  Instead, he sent me for another ultrasound and a test called a sonohysterogram and booked another appointment for me 1 month later.  It felt like a wasted appointment and I had to wait another month for any recommendations or treatment.  I continued my diet and just before my next appointment, went for the tests he’d requested.  The day after the sonohysterogram, I was in severe pain.  I called his office and he prescribed me painkillers.  The next day, I still had severe pain, and a fever to go along with it.  I asked my fiance to take me to emergency because I felt something was seriously wrong and my doctor wasn’t getting to it.  That was the beginning of a severe infection, a two-week hospital stay, a near hysterectomy  and a 10 week course of antibiotics.

My stay in the hospital was a complete nightmare, the doctors were guessing at what was wrong with me, putting me through tons of tests, I was getting weaker and sicker, I got an unrelated lung infection, and my ObGyn was hell bent on giving me a hysterectomy.  He actually had me staying in the surgery prep room, and I felt like he was standing over me with a scalpel and wicked grin, all set to slice and dice me.  I refused to do anything he suggested after that.   I then got a second opinion from another ObGyn who suggested treatment for me in the form of a drugs that could possibly shrink my cysts, while a course of antibiotics could hopefully kill the infection.  Hey, that doesn’t sound so bad.  Can we please try that first before gutting me?  Thanks.

They gave me more needles and more tests, and by the time I left the hospital, I was sicker than I’d ever been.  At home, I was still hooked up to an IV, I could barely eat, and the only places I could go were my bed, bathroom and couch.   I looked like I was 5 or 6 months pregnant and there was a whole bunch of pressure on my other organs from the inflammation causing pain and other problems.  It took about 8 weeks for my stomach to shrink down, and 10 weeks on antibiotics to get rid of the infection the sonohysterogram gave me.  Now, the cysts are still bigger than they were before my doctor started messing with me.  So, while I’m grateful that the antibiotics worked and were able to kill the infection without me having to go through a hysterectomy, I wouldn’t have had that infection had it not been for a botched, unnecessary procedure that nearly caused me to lose my uterus.

The thing I’ve learned is this; doctors aren’t god and most of the time they’re making an educated guess about things.  That’s okay, the human body is complex, I get it and they’re only humans with 8 years of education or whatever.  But it’s something we have to be aware of.  What a doctor says and what a doctor recommends may not always be the right thing for you.  One thing that is repeated often when you seek out alternative therapies, is that Western medicine treats a symptom and doesn’t look at how the body as a whole is working or what is happening with the rest of the body or where the cause might lie, which seems to be a more important question.

I personally think our diets and lifestyle are really important.  We know that stress causes a lot of health problems, both physically and mentally.  So, many people have turned to meditation and yoga which has been shown to alleviate many health problems.  I’m on board with this because it makes sense to me.  There is clear evidence that being in a constant state of stress can cause serious health problems and that being in a state of relaxation can provide many benefits to the body and some say even heal the body.  Relaxation triggers the parasympathetic nervous system which is the “rest and digest” mode of our body which ensures all our necessary body functions, such as digestion, and immune system are working as they should, it also allows the release of good chemicals like endorphins and dopamine that make us feel good mentally.  Stress triggers the sympathetic nervous system which puts us in our “fight or flight” mode, this shuts down all our other systems and allows us to get out of a dangerous situation.   Constant stress will keep you in the fight or flight mode and stress hormones can be released which, in abundance, do damage, and other body functions can remain shut down or begin not working properly.  It’s true.

So since Western medicine has been a big FAIL for me, I’m again seeking out alternative medicine.  Not to say I’m totally rejecting Western medicine, but I’d still like to see if there is anything that can be done along with my “treatment” from my ObGyn (who I actually fired and replaced…yep, that felt good).   And, as a side note, I was living overseas in Japan and India and I had a baby no probs, no complications in 2008.  I’ve been back in North America for 5 years and suddenly I have severe endometriosis and possible infertility.  What gives? Diet is different, for sure.  Lifestyle is different, definitely.  It’s time to open our minds to other possibilities, and maybe not necessarily start popping the first pill the first doctor prescribes.

Do you believe in alternative medicine? Have you tried anything “woo woo” out there? 

Eating vegetarian foods is not always healthy:

I have been a vegetarian since I was 15 (I have had several variations on the theme throughout, and currently eat eggs and fish but no land animals).  Anyway, many of my friends in highschool were also vegetarian.  When we went camping we brought veggie dogs, when we had barbecues, we ate soy-based veggie burgers.  Even recently I have bought veggie dogs for my daughter instead of hot dog hot dogs.  There are tons of other fake meat products available too, soy bacon, soy chicken nuggets, soy turkey burgers etc.

People have a lot of complaints about meat hot dogs, including they are made from every part of the animal (anus, lips and faces).  Being a vegetarian, I’ve never understood this complaint.  If you are eating an animal, why is eating some parts of it grosser than eating others?  Other than that though, there is the high sodium, nitrates, fat, processing and chemicals.  Well, soy versions are also highly processed, to get the ingredient vegetable protein, for example, a process that produces MSG (a neurotoxin) is involved.  They are also filled with sodium and other chemicals and flavourings.  Remember, they are making a vegetable taste like meat…that can’t be natural!

What to do:

Decide to be vegetarian and use beans, lentils, nuts, seeds as your meat replacements, make your veggie burgers out of vegetables!… or decide to continue eating meat but get meats/eggs that use humane and sustainable practices (free range, chemical and hormone free).

Then there is the problem with soy…

The Problem with Soy:

I don’t think soy beans are bad for you.  I think they are very healthy and high in protein, and are a good meat substitute for vegetarians.  But, here’s what we did in North America… We saw that Japanese and Asian countries were profiting healthwise from eating lots of soy products.  Low instances of cancer, endometriosis, and longer life expectancy rates, are just some examples.  We then began to market and process the crap out of soy products.  GMO (genetically modified organism) soy is the worst and most prevalent kind of soy in North America.  Basically over 90% of our soy products are  GMO, and soy is in everything (look at any bottle in your fridge).  The reason it’s bad, is because it is sprayed with higher amounts of chemicals and pesticides (when the intent was for GMO products to require less herbicide use), in fact it is deadly to the farmers spraying them and has detrimental effects to the environment and animals.  This process has been linked to increased allergies, asthma, and a propensity to get antibiotic resistant infections.  I don’t know about you, but my instinct here is to stay far away.  

There is also some argument that the naturally occurring plant estrogens (phytoestrogens) in soy cause health problems, such as increase in female cancers, and early onset of puberty.  Soy can, however help with hormonal disorders such as menopause, and the flip side of that argument is that it can actually help block stonger estrogen-mimicking chemicals (xenoestrogens), present in our products and our water (from pharmaceutical use and waste).

What can you do:

• Don’t believe the marketing.  Many are highly invested in soy because it is a prevalent and money making crop.  Most studies done on the safety of soy and gmo crops are by parties who profit directly from there being no health risks.
• Stop drinking soy milk (unless you make it yourself from organic soy beans), and other soy foods that have gone through heavy processing.  There are absolutely no health benefits.  Don’t give them to your kids either.
• Get products that are organic, or non GMO and eat soy in moderation (a few times a week).
• Eat fermented soy products, such as soy sauce, miso and tempeh (made from organic, non gmo soy beans).  These have many health benefits such as preventing cancers and increasing brain function.  The fermentation process gets rid of the antinutrients (and plant estrogens).  These are likely the ones benefiting the asian diet, although they also eat tofu and edamame which are not fermented…so I don’t think non-fermented is the evil (I lived in Japan and saw lots of non-fermented versions of soy being eaten).  I think it is the processing that is bad.  We ruined it.

I buy San-J Lite Tamari soy sauce, which is wheat/gluten free and non-GMO.  I bring this with me when we go out for sushi, and use it in stir fries and curry dishes.

You can find miso and tempeh at health food stores, or asian grocery stores (it tends to be cheaper at asian grocery stores).

Do you think soy products are evil?  Do you eat soy products?

Soy milk and beans picture courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Today Anjali and I had planned a playdate with one of her friends from school, since they were both off for Easter Monday.  The playdate was unexpectedly cut short though, because her friend was having an off day…it happens.  But we found ourselves completely free, with a whole afternoon in front of us, no plans, and nothing pressing to do.  I wanted to take advantage of being out of the house, but it wasn’t nice enough outside to take a walk or go to the park (c’mon spring… get here!).

We decided to head to Chapters, the bookstore with the huge play/reading area for kids.  We got a drink and then went to the play area.  Anj likes to play with the train set they have there.  A little boy was playing there when we got there and his Mom wanted to leave.  He didn’t want to.  She politely asked him to go, and it ended as it always does in a dragging, kicking and screaming match with the promise of treats if he would release his death grip on the magnetic train car.   At that moment I thought: kids annoy me.  That was a really wrong thing for me to think. I love my daughter and I love kids in general, and there’s lots of kids that don’t annoy me besides my daughter.  It’s not a kid’s fault if their parents consistently reward them for bad behviour, or allow themselves to be controlled by a 3 year old (hint: if you’re in the double digits you should be smarter than a toddler).   But now I’m being mean and off-point.

Anyway, I was thinking to myself why does it seem so rare for parents to put their foot down and teach their kids to be respectful (I know all kids have tantrums and bad days and don’t want to leave stores, and there are some with behaviour issues relating to other disorders, but this was a separate thought).  I was thinking isn’t it one of the most important skills we can teach our kids, to be kind and respectful to other kids and people around them? And doesn’t that start with how they treat their parents or their own family?  Screaming, yelling, kicking, hitting, slapping because you don’t get what you want is just not going to fly at school or anywhere else, so wouldn’t it be easier on everyone to teach that right from the start?

Anyway, as I was thinking this, another little boy had come to play at the train table and his Mom sat down beside me.  I was zoned out in my own thoughts, but slowly started to realize that she was closely monitoring him to make sure he shared the trains and the space nicely with my daughter.  He was a gorgeous little boy, he played very peacefully with the trains, and he seemed content with what was offered to him, and didn’t demand any more.  I felt guilty then for thinking that other kids annoy me and that all parents suck.  I struck up a conversation with his Mom, and we realized very quickly that we had a lot in common.  It was one of those very strange conversations where you bond really quickly and end up revealing a whole bunch of stuff about your life that even people you’ve known for longer don’t know.  It feels natural because the other person has gone through similar experiences and you’re both realizing this as you each reveal things bit by bit.  We talked for quite a bit, and after our long chat, we read some books to our kids.  Other parents and families drifted in and out, and I realized it was later than I thought.  I also realized that I wanted to ask for her number, but didn’t know if that would be weird.

I don’t have a lot of friends in my town who are parents.  I know that seems strange, but I’m fairly new to this town and when I arrived I was a single Mom and didn’t know anybody.  Anjali and I went to Mommy and baby classes, but I often found it hard to relate to or bond with the people I met there.  They wanted to talk about babies and kids, and I love talking about my daughter, but I have other interests too and I felt I wanted to relate to people on other levels than just “hey, we both have kids” or “hey, where did you get that stroller”.   So, many of the friends I ended up making don’t have kids.   That becomes difficult sometimes too though, because I want my daughter to have exposure to other kids and playdates we can both enjoy (my daughter tends to hang out a lot with adults – even with family stuff she is usually the only kid).  Since she started school though, I have been fortunate enough to meet some of the parents of the friends she’s made there and she’s had a couple of playdates with one classmate.

When it came time for us to leave the bookstore, I said bye to the other Mom and she gave me a hug.   That didn’t seem weird, but for some reason I still felt weird asking for her number, so I didn’t.  I regret it now.  It could have been another friend for me and one for Anjali too.

How do you ask someone you just met and want to be friends with for their number?

Photo courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net (this could have been me on the phone with my new friend…if I wasn’t so uncool )

I know it’s cliche, but healthy eating is on my list.  I got some wonderful new cookbooks for Christmas, so I really want to stick to my healthy diet, cooking from scratch and avoiding processed foods and preservatives for my family.  I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a great cook, so I really need to practice and hone my cooking skills and learn to try again when I fail.

Exercise is also a cliche resolution, and I want to emphasize that I’m not going in with a weight loss goal, just an overall health goal.  Have you ever noticed that exercise is the answer for so many health issues; fatigue, depression, anxiety, stress relief? It also helps thwart serious illnesses and disease.  I don’t really need to wail on my pecks everyday, but I do need to increase my weekly exercise time.

I’ve been working on a novel for over a year now, and would like to finish it and publish it this year.  The publishing process is a complete nightmare, so this is going to be my hardest resolution.  I really need to have a strong will, perseverance and determination.

So…usually we stop at listing our resolutions, but how do we really make a plan of action and hold onto them throughout the year? Most of us (including me) make resolutions and push really hard to stick to them in January (it’s the busiest time of year for the gyms!).  Then, as the year goes on, we slowly forget about them or they start to sink to the bottom of our priority list.  Then we make excuses for why we didn’t stick to them.  To stick to goals you have to make a plan of action, and here’s some ideas I have to keep to resolutions:

1) Don’t make resolutions that will be impossible to stick to.  Are you going from not going to the gym at all to going everyday? Are you going from blogging once a month to blogging once a day?  Make goals that will realistic fit into your schedule and be achievable.

2) Realize that every dream and goal takes hard work.  The thinking, listing and dreaming part is the easy part.  We feel really good when we think about our end goals or achievements, but sometimes we focus so much on that that we forget about the work involved in getting there.  You need to be rock solid, tough and prepared to do that work (which is often not very fun).

3) Baby steps.  Truly, every amazing thing is achieved slowly and progressively.  It seems obvious, but I really learned this while working on my book.  It’s such a huge undertaking, but if you’re only doing a little bit every day, you’re still getting closer to your end goal.  You have to get rid of any ideas of instant gratification and be prepared to take a long journey before anything really happens.

3) Make a specific time and schedule for the things you want to do.  So I want to exercise more.  I am going to make Monday, Thursday and Sunday mornings my exercise days, plus my yoga class on Wednesday evenings.  I want to cook more, and weekdays tend to get away from me, so Sunday will be my cooking and freezing day.  Scheduling things is the best way to make them routine and once they become routine, they are not as easily let go.

4) Don’t give up.  Are you going to fall off your schedule? Most definitely.  But try to get back on it asap and don’t beat yourself up about it.  I fell pretty severely off my super-health diet over Christmas, but I’m okay with that because I’m working really hard now to get back on it, and it’s much easier than it was when I first started. Accept that you’re not perfect but you’re doing what you can and the important thing is to not lose sight of your goals, and try again when you fail.

Ok, now I’ve put these things in writing and published them.  Let’s see if I can follow my own advice this year!

How do you stick to your goals or resolutions?

Photo Courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net

Quote Courtesy of tumblr.com

Now, the message is not as smooth as we’d probably deliver it today, I mean even Santa shames Rudolph for his shiny nose at first.  I would personally hold Santa to a higher standard when it comes to acceptance.  Most of the North-Polers are pretty ignorant of differences, they’re pretty mean to Rudolph and they aren’t even very apologetic after they decide he is useful.  One exception is Rudolph’s friend Clarice.  She’s a pretty cool doe until her Dad comes along and basically says she can’t hang with a shiny-nosed freak like Rudolph.  (The adult deer seem to be especially harsh).

Rudolph’s Dad’s character is pretty hilarious, looking at things from a modern perspective.  There is one part where his wife wants to help him look for Rudolph and he yells at her: “This is man’s work!” I was half appalled and half laughing hysterically.  (I’m pretty sure this is going to be our household inside joke this year).  The young does also did not seem to be allowed to train for pulling Santa’s sleigh.  They just stand around giggling while the male deer try out their flying skills.   Also, Mrs. Clause’s purpose seems to be cooking, sewing clothes and waiting on Santa.  Her biggest concern is that Santa won’t be fat enough by Christmas Eve.  I get it, in 1964 obesity was not as much of an issue and you were probably considered a failure as a wife if your husband wasn’t fat from your homecooked meals.

My fiance also pointed out the disturbing part where Herbie the Elf, who wants to be a dentist, pulls out all the Abominable Snow Monster’s teeth with pliers, and they all rejoice because he can’t do anyone harm any more.  I guess it’s okay, but I feel like in a remake of this he’d instead realize the errors of his ways and that he was only lashing out because he wanted to be accepted, then they would all bond over their differences.  I mean technically, he is a misfit too right?  But I guess if you eat people, you don’t get special considerations.

Well, I guess I better hang up my modern perspectives, put on my kid-goggles and start enjoying it.  We’ll probably be watching it everyday until Christmas!

What Holiday movies do your kids drive you nuts with watching?

Earlier this week I said to myself, I need to do better, I need to try more veggies, stuff like Kale.  I thought maybe I could learn how to make a healthy veggie smoothie.  Of course, millions have had this idea before me on the Internets, so I sought them out.  The first site I found was a blog by a woman who blends together a series of super-health veggies (including garlic, onion, and jalapeño) and drinks one of these a day.  According to her, the benefits are amazing, but she also needs to choke it down with intermittent gulps of water.  While I applaud her, and would love the benefits provided by this gag-worthy drink, I just can’t commit to that!

Then I found this site that has a 3 fruit/3 veggie smoothie.  It’s very easy and flexible (you can add anything you like).  So I took liberties and made a kind of awesome smoothie.  It had kale, avocado  cucumber, banana, blueberries and strawberries.  I added yoghurt, and almond milk for the liquid and some honey to sweeten it.  Though it looked revolting, it was completely drinkable and almost savoury!  Here’s some of the wholsome ingredients:

Smoothie photo is courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net (my smoothie was camera shy and ugly).

The problem is you have to purify your diet.  So, everything has to be organic, made from scratch, no preservatives, hormones,or toxins.  You also have to cut out foods like: wheat, dairy, soy, sugar, caffeine and alcohol.   I think I am someone who can actually do this.  Generally I’ve been a healthy eater and had already begun to be conscious of the importance of organic and preservative-free foods, I don’t really drink caffeine, I am however attached to things like cheese, chocolate, wine and pasta.  I don’t consider myself a very good cook either.  There are meals I can make that are good, but I’m not someone who can whip anything up and I don’t usually make stuff completely from scratch.  I can learn though.  I can learn anything with the right motivation and enough practice.

Luckily we have a very large Farmer’s Market close to us, so I picked up some fresh organic veggies and fruits.  I found this amazing recipe for a vegan soup that uses coconut milk instead of cream or milk.  It actually turned out delicious and awesome!  I also made my own pasta sauce from Roma tomatoes, garlic and onions from the Market and added some red red wine (the alcohol burns off, but I can still get the flavour!)  You can buy brown rice pasta too, which is actually tasty.

More and more I’ve been reading about the foods we eat that are causing us such harm, and I think being forced on this diet is a good thing.  There is absolutely no history of endo in my family, and a lot of the research I’ve done has shown a link to foods with preservatives and hormones.  There is a huge link between wheat sensitivity and endo as well.  It may be the plant estrogens in wheat germ (in soy as well) or hormones used in growing and treating process or preservatives in the bread.  The plant estrogens (phytoestrogens) can mimic estrogen in the body (endo thrives on too much estrogen) and are linked to female cancers as well, such as breast cancer.

At the Farmer’s Market on Saturday I asked the Portuguese baker if he had gluten-free bread.  This question sent him on a huge rant about preservatives in bread and how the bread in Europe only lasts a few days, but the bread here lasts for a week.  He said gluten problems are a North American problem and most of this is caused by all the preservatives in our breads and not actually gluten.  I realize everything on the internet and from ranting bakers has to be taken with a grain of salt.   We have to gather lots of info and proper research studies have to be conducted, and we can’t oversimplify or take things out of context (soy is bad!! wheat is bad!!), but doesn’t this tell us something? How very important it is to consider what we are actually putting in our bodies?  This has given me a really good reason to clean up my diet and be more aware of the foods my family and I are eating.  I am also incredibly grateful that I haven’t been diagnosed with something more serious or life threatening.  Once I become a better cook and better at making things from scratch, I hope we will  all be eating healthier, aware of what’s in our food, and still enjoying what we eat!!

Photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos.net

Anyway, I did pick up a few more supplies for bento lunches.  The first thing I was looking for was those silicone cupcake holders to use as dividers.  This is something I’ve seen on a few bento lunch sites and I really wanted to use them.  I found them at Michaels, but they were outrageously expensive ($16.99).  My sister suggested looking at Walmart, and at first I couldn’t find them there.  They weren’t in the baking/pan section, but in the crafts/cake-decorating section (?!).   So anyway, the exact same ones were $6.99 at Walmart.  They also had some other interesting and inexpensive items in the cake decorating section that I thought might work well for these lunches.

Using my new supplies, I created a couple of healthy and fun lunches (in regular Ziploc containers).  Again I did a wholegrain sandwich with cheese and turkey and cut it out with the heart cutter.  There’s a babybel cheese, cantaloupe and honeydew melon skewers, and edamame beans. All food groups REPRESENT!

In this second one I did cantaloupe and grapes, penguin crackers, a hard boiled egg and meat and cheese skewers.  The skewers aren’t sharp at all, by the way.  They go through food, but wouldn’t go through skin.  Let’s see if Anjie brings home all the little pieces today after school…

Do you have more healthy school lunch ideas?