My kids can be jerks and alcohol is bad for me

If you have been following along on my "journey to a healthier life" (I need a logo for that.  Like STORM OF 2012!), you are aware that I am working at revamping my kitchen and my family's eating habits.  I started off gangbusters then backed down a smidge so that I wasn't overwhelming everyone by going from boxed mac & cheese straight to quinoa & kale.  I keep introducing new recipes.  Some go over better than others.  The date bars are a hit with pretty much everyone (although Brad has to point out that it looks like we're all eating "cat turds" - and it truly does), Sam seems to like the kale smoothies, the gluten free oatmeal goes over well, and who doesn't like to snack on Pirate Booty?  So a few things are sliding in nicely.  Then there are the things that blow up in my face.  I made some kamut breakfast bars that triggered phrases like "leave me alone" and "you're not my friend" from Gus.  Sam held his but I don't think he ever tasted it.  I'm pretty sure he thought it was a rock.  Once the house was empty I sat down with my kamut bar and coffee and can honestly say that it tasted like I made charcoal for breakfast.  BUST.  I still can't get anyone to eat quinoa.  Rainey claims "fish eggs," Sam throws his fork across the kitchen while never taking his eyes off me, and Gus goes through his various "I don't like you" comments.  What's almost worse than the food is the beverage department.  I really don't know how or when we allowed these kids to be such big juice drinkers.  We know that milk and water are more important in their diet and that juice is too sugary.  So now we're stuck with the job of de-juicing our kids, which is no easy task, especially since they have no interest in water or milk (I personally can not bear milk or the thought of it, so we're working on rice & coconut milk, which has 30% calcium just like cow's milk). I've started watering down the juice to thin it out and eventually get to water.  We're flavoring water to taste like punch, which is hit or miss.  I think we're just going to have to offer water or milk and when they are thirsty enough, they will drink what we have. 

I'm really kicking myself for not starting this family out on the right food track.  Backtracking is hard and frustrating.  I'm spending a lot more time in the kitchen to get these healthy meals on the table only to have the reaction as if I'm putting dirt & muddy water in front of them.  But I will attest that screaming "you kids are jerks!  Don't you want to be healthier??!?" has no place here.  I'm starting to realize that I have to handle them like I need to handle myself. 

I'm definitely seeing some changes in my fibromyalgia symptoms.  My hands have been less swollen and my general aches seem a bit better.  Unless I drink alcohol.  And now I notice the flare-ups almost immediately.  When I first was being tested and realizing that the doctors were whittling down to the fibro diagnosis (because there's no test, it's really just "well we've excluded everything and we can't call it anything else..."), I went online to see how my diet can improve the symptoms.  I needed to omit the following from my diet: caffiene, gluten, alcohol, sugar, carbonated beverages, and red meat.  To which I responded "what else you got?"  Because those were all going to be rough to quit.  Except they really aren't.  I'm still drinking coffee because...well see above about the three nutty kids I'm wrangling, but I could probably weed that out.  I can live without soda & red meat pretty easily.  I'm working on getting the sugar out (although Brad did smell the cinnamon gummy bears on my breath last night - don't judge).  I have a great sugar alternative (I use the Zero brand of erythritol) that I've been cooking with or adding to certain foods.  But the alcohol is hard! I really like to have a glass or two of wine every once in a while and drinking beer is fun at the hockey game (feel free to insert a whiney tone in here).  But now that I have cleared my system out of some things, I can really notice that alcohol is just not working for my ol' bod.  To anyone reading this who is not necessarily a drinker, I'm sure I sound like a moronic lush.  And I probably am.  But I'm going to work on cutting back.  Perhaps I will stick to the 4 ounces of "juice" my kids are allowed and see if that works.  Or maybe Brad can thin down my wine until it's just water and I don't notice.  Still easing into the changes.  Hopefully I won't throw my fork across the room.

Tonite I am serving Asian-style grilled tilapia.  I'm eager to see the results of this torture.