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A really wise friend and healer framed Halloween and the upcoming holidays this way:

We are entering the sugar season and our culture is “profoundly youthful and immature” in relation to how we eat during the holiday season. Could he be more on target? Sugar – public enemy number two after wheat (see Wheat – Cut that Shit Out!) – spreader of disease and death.

The past four months have brought tremendous healing to my family (amazing how much healing there is to do given the strides we have made in the last three years!) and we can see more clearly than ever what sugar does to us. Best of all, we are much more capable of resisting it because we have overwhelmingly broken its grip. In fact, we are sweetener free. No sugar, honey, maple syrup or any other sweetener.

Just so you don’t think we are only hard core food freaks with super sugar avoiding powers (which we are), we didn’t get here over night – it took five years. And we stumbled A LOT!

You can read about the stumbles and many lessons here: So Much Sugar in Two Years! Mistakes happen, and we have to be kind to ourselves. Breaking from the American sugar/food/emotional reward system is tough!

Now on to Halloween – the Sugar Bowl Kickoff.

What to do about it? Most kids are going to pound their candy and their parents will be enjoying some too. I lived that frenzy all of my trick-or-treat years and beyond, and I have the mouth full of crowns and mercury to prove it.

Because the candy that people normally eat for Halloween is just plain nasty – full of wax, colors, preservatives and who knows what else – I have never let my now eight year old eat it. We trade his trick-or-treat haul for a toy and an organic dark chocolate candy bar. The funny thing is that this year, when our eating is as good as it can get, he doesn’t even want the candy bar. He is just in it for the romp through the neighborhood and the toy.

If an eight year old rejects really yummy chocolate, you know that breaking the sugar addiction is possible.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years will quickly follow (talk about a one, two punch – all of that wheat AND sugar), and what are you going to do when those treats start popping up everywhere you go? I will be blogging some more between now and then, so check out Moving Strongly Forward for motivation and ideas for conquering the holiday treats.

Until then, just do your best to help your kids (and yourself) break away from the usual Halloween nonsense.

Make it fun.

Get a substitute for the candy – it doesn’t have to be a big thing. It doesn’t have to be a thing at all – it can be an event. Maybe bowling or putt-putt golf. Just something besides sugar.

If you want to do some advanced reading and get a head start on kicking the holiday junk food in the pants, check out the Whole 30. If you dare to take this healing food adventure, your life will be powerfully, profoundly and positively changed.

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Whew! December and the mad food rush is over.

December more than any other month seems to be a minefield of fake food because it is the month of parties.

The pressure from relatives, friends and colleagues to let loose and enjoy the season and all of the food can be huge, and in the America of increasing obesity and disease, the choices we make are significant.

My goal is to give some provocative thoughts about a fake food that crossed my family’s path this past holiday season: Whipped Topping.

Join me, and my seven year old, as we conduct a simple experiment with shocking results… (more…)

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With every bite you eat you determine how you will live. Today let’s focus on sugar and its effects on all of our lives.
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Do you believe you should be feeling better? Have you forgotten what it is like to feel great? Is your child dealing with an autism spectrum disorder or other health challenge? Given that you are reading Uncommon Childhood, you know that there are better ways to live, including improving your health.

The guiding principle in my health journey is this Arabian-based proverb:

“She who has health has hope, and she who has hope has everything.”

With that proverb in mind, read on for five first steps that you can take to help ensure that you have health, hope and everything. (more…)