Encouraging the Health Conscious Mom

Feeding American children healthy, wholesome foods that nourish them and prepare their growing bodies for their adult years is one of the most challenging things a mother will encounter in her pursuit of health. It is especially challenging when the children have been raised in the standard American lifestyle that neglects The Twelve Laws of Simple Health.

Through a series of events a mother comes to this life changing, life saving information and immediately she, the mother and nurturer that she is, tries to implement her knowledge into her family’s daily lives only to be met with protest. She all but stands on her kitchen chair with a bullhorn and declares the kitchen a sugar-free zone, the fridge a no-meat zone and the freezer a dairy-free zone. She pronounces judgment on McDonalds and tells the older teen child that his complexion will clear if he stops pouring trans fats into his body via the foods he is eating.

Mind you, no one gets to hear her vast knowledge faster than her husband. Morning, noon and night she plans to rescue him from his choices and addictions to doughnuts, pork chops, and cheap breakfast burritos from the gas station. His love affair with chocolate caramel ice cream that wakes him up at midnight is going to be the first thing she works on. After all, his sleep apnea is way out of control. She is willing to take it all on, after all what is a mother to do? She is a woman with a mission in pursuit of her family’s health, but no one, and I mean no one is following close behind.

“Surely my black bean burgers will taste just like a red meat burger” she plans. “I will hide some spinach in the brownies and red onions in the pasta salad and the kids won’t even notice, I think.”

Day after day she introduces new recipes at dinner and watches unblinkingly for her family’s response. The kitchen table use to be a warm, inviting table where the family gathered mindlessly to eat, drink and be merry. Now it seems like an experiment, a laboratory of some sort, a place of torture and stress for all, especially her. She has spent hours making a plant-based dinner. “I don’t like this kind of bread” the four year old whines. “Mom, are we going to eat like this forever?” asks the eight year old. “I have friends coming over for pizza on Friday mom, you didn’t forget did you?” says the boy with the skin condition. “That reminds me you need to pick up the acne medicine for Michael tomorrow. I don’t know how much longer we can pay for it,” she tells her husband.

“Did you know that there are carcinogens in everything, especially in the foods you grill? I am stressed out about that.” He sits there staring at her. “Say something. Don’t you want our kids to be healthy?” He breathes a slow but impatient sigh. “I never know what you’re going to come up with next. I work hard and I want to come home and eat with out you making everything such a big deal.” Mom sulks into her chair and with every inch of drama and trauma she can muster reports to the entire family that she is done with trying to make them healthy. “I am going to get myself healthy and leave you all to get diseased!” She eats her 10 ingredient salad and asparagus and quinoa without a word. Her husband skips the quinoa and asparagus and eats the salad.

By the time she cleans the kitchen, helps the kids with their homework, puts them to bed and oversees the remainder of the evening she finally lays in bed exhausted, discouraged and in a spirit of defeat. Thoughts of giving up altogether gain power and drag her away into abandoning this health transition. Oddly it never occurs to her that it is not health that the children and her husband are protesting but the methods she has employed. Like most young mothers on a journey to introducing her family to caring for their human design, she has run into obstacles she had not planned for. She was stunned at her family’s response to her work of obvious love and concern for them. So what should she do?

Should she abandon the work? Should she pursue health apart from her family? Should she beg her husband to join her? Should she force the small children to obey and leave her older son and her husband to their own health demise? Should she keep forcing them to eat what she prepares and hope they get use to it?

Transitioning from an unhealthy lifestyle to living in accordance to The Twelve Laws of Simple Health and lifestyle medicine can be a traumatizing experience for a family when they have not been prepared. The following critical health-thinking skills will help young mothers introduce the majestic world of health to their family. The hope of educating and assisting them in a clear path to understanding their human design and caring for it hangs on knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

• Begin by educating yourself on the subject of health and wellness using resources that provide you the knowledge and understanding of your human design and what it requires for health. Passing down life saving information to your family comes on the wings of your steady work to educate, not force. I recommend the book series “The Human Body” by Barnes and Noble as a great head start. Remember your role is to educate your family on the majestic human design.

• Remember that it is not a one-time conversation that changes the heart. What is needed is a steady work of renewing the family’s mind and understanding.

• Approach your family with compassion and gentleness of spirit. Don’t demand, but rather model.

• Respectfully introduce your knowledge to your husband on the subject of health and wellness and ask him if he would be interested in trying new foods and finding ways to reduce sickness and disease in the family.

• Let your family know that this is a difficult transition for you as well but that you are committed to the process of learning how to be a more health conscious mother without trauma and drama. Talk to them about what foods they love and what foods they absolutely don’t. One very helpful thing is to not remove unhealthy foods with out exchanging them for a better or higher quality one. This will encourage discussion on consuming better and healthier foods without giving up taste.

These critical health thinking skills will assist young mothers in getting started in educating their young families about their human design and how to care for it with the least amount of drama and trauma possible.

Don’t give up moms!

Experience How Simple Health Is!

Becky