Adventures in gluten-free travel (oops!) part 2!

Our "gluten free" lunches were NOT gluten free... was it freak-out time?

OK, so this is the scene: 

We're far, far away from our normal food stores, so happy to be on vacation, and I (finally!) notice that our "gluten-free" bread is chock full o glutinous grains!!!  No wonder it had that incredible texture, ha ha!  It was fermented for 48 hours, yes, and still not ideal, especially considering the chemicals and pesticides in most grains.  

Guess what?  

I didn't freak out.  

I didn't get that super-tight feeling in my chest and mostly stop breathing.

I didn't even interrupt our lunch.

(Which was open faced, faux-gluten-free sandwiches, of course!)

This is completely different than how I used to react.  

You see, my whole system was on overdrive.  All!  the!  time!

The stress in my life had accumulated and stacked up and jacked up my nerves, my brain, my adrenals...

Did you know that stress uses up magnesium like crazy?

Did you know we NEED magnesium to calm down our brain?  

And hormones... cortisol gets dumped into the gut to be recycled, and too much causes inflammation in the gut, and inflammation creates more stress (along with a lot of sneaky and persistent gut issues).

More stress triggers our poor little over worked adrenal glands to make even more.... cortisol!  

And when the adrenals run out of ingredients to make cortisol, they steal from other hormones.  Like progesterone.  (Low progesterone causes infertility, fibroids, anxiety and depression, fatigue and many more not-fun situations).

And when the adrenals are pumping out cortisol all day and all night, our bodies have no idea when it's time to go to sleep.  (So we have trouble sleeping and get even more stressed out from that.)

Can you see how easy it is to fall into this crazy perma-stress loop?  Especially when you're raising kids who have food reactions, allergies, asthma, colic, rashes, behavior and learning issues, picky eating, digestive problems and more? 

In the past, even though I understood all of this intellectually, I was totally caught in that stress loop!  Until... 

I got some help.  I got some coaching.  I got some company and guidance.

You know how even the simplest little changes can seem impossible... until you're doing it with a friend?  Don't beat yourself up about it!  Just get the support you need!  We humans (especially women!) are social creatures meant to be in tight-knit communities of family and friends, all around us, all the time!  Our modern lives in separate houses raising families (and cooking and doing laundry etc.) alone is actually kind of weird, considering the entirety of human history.  

Everything changed for the better for me and my family when I actually got the support I needed to take (and stick with!) a few little steps that allowed me to climb out of that perpetual sense of emergency and ground back into my wisdom, my calm, my confidence that I can handle whatever comes our way.  (and if I muddle it up I'm totally clear that I can manage the mess too - I know that because it happens!)

And you know how our energy as mamas has a direct impact on the energy and health of our children, from flaring rashes and belly issues to anxiety and challenging behavior and more.  It took years for me to connect the dots and now it's how I coach my clients.

So, back to my story!  After we finished our "oops" lunch, this is what I did:

- packed up the remaining loaf to bring to new friends (they were delighted!).  

- gave my little boy some activated charcoal.  I carry it when we travel because it stops diarrhea, mops up toxins, and reduces gas.  It also binds with nutrients, making them unavailable for your body to absorb - so only use charcoal when necessary.  It does cause constipation - drink plenty of water - and turns poop black.

- gave us enzymes.  I carry Klaire Labs’ Serenaide enzymes when we eat out and travel just incase of incidental or unintended (!) gluten exposure. , and for the next few days added extra probiotics.

- gave us some extra probiotics.  I'd brought The Gut Institute’s Bifido Maximus, which we normally keep in the fridge, but maintains potency for up to 2 weeks without refrigeration.  

- scanned our stock of carrots, celery, cucumbers, nuts, avocados, coconut, chia seeds, little green bananas... and decided we had plenty to eat and would be fine.  Besides, the town was chock full of tacos and restaurants!  

And our vacation rolled along without a blip, to be honest.  

To emphasize how amazing this was:

In the past I would have FREAKED OUT.  Probably grabbed the lunch right out of their mouths.  Began an edge-of-panic (and very crabby) web-search for different grocery stores or restaurants or something.  Possibly commandeered the day to find food that was “safe.”

But these days...

I practice simple rest and digest steps every day.  

I nourish my adrenals, and sleep well.  

I keep my belly full of beneficial, friendly, gut-loving bacteria and feed them the veggies they love.  

And I do it with the super-easy (some might even say lazy!) daily routines I share with my clients. 

The vast majority of the time, my whole system is running on calm.  And my child is calm too!  It feels soooooo good!!!

You can have this too!!!

When you have the tools to re-engage your innate, grounded, most calm and confident self, life gets so much easier and more fun!  For you and your child.

If you want this hit reply!

Stay tuned for my next email, where I'll show you pictures of the gorgeous, scrumptious grain-free & dairy-free deliciousness we found at the beach!