I almost don’t want to tell you this story because I don’t want to be true! But it is, so here we are…
Nine weeks ago, I went off of refined sugar and white flour. I said I was going to try it for six weeks, just to see if it would help my allergies. I had had a big allergy flare and had to be on multiple medications and was feeling miserable, so felt like I was willing to try anything.
I really didn’t think it would work but I figured I’d try it. And it DID help! I felt SO much better.
So I made it six weeks and felt like it was easier than I thought it would be, so then I was like, “well, I guess I’ll keep going…” So I went almost nine weeks without any refined sugar or white flour.
Then we were at a party last Saturday and they had this cake that looked SO good. I thought, “what’s one little piece of cake?!”
Here’s the crazy thing — within 12 hours, I started to feel like things were swelling up inside. White sugar and white flour are supposed to feed inflammation and, sure enough, I felt like things were getting inflamed. My lymphnodes started swelling up, my congestion came back, and I felt like I had a head cold with runny nose and sneezing. I was miserable! All for one little piece of cake!
So now I’m like “okay, body, I hear you.”
I don’t know how long I’ll be doing this for, but here we are. I guess this is my life now! Who would’ve ever thought that Crystal the Queen of Sweets would not be eating refined sugar and be okay with it?!
If you’re curious what a day of eating looks like for me, check out this example day!
But don’t feel sorry for me! I’ve found lots of delicious treats to eat that don’t have refined sugar in them. Click here for a list of the best candy and sweet treats without refined sugar.
Plus, I still eat local honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, fruit, dates, whole wheat flour (mostly fresh ground), and stuff like that, so I don’t feel deprived.
And now we’re going to talk about periods. So if you’re one of my very few guy readers, feel free to just scoot on out of here! 🙃
For the rest of you: usually leading up to my period, I have about 3 days with inflammation, bloating, and generally feeling blah.
Well, since giving up refined sugar and white flour, it’s totally different. My last two periods, I haven’t even known that I was about to have my period! No bloating, no inflammation, no blah feeling.
The only way I knew it was coming was my Oura ring telling me that my period was about to start! And, when it told me, I was like, “I don’t think so because I do not feel gross!” And then it would start!
Speaking of periods, check out my IG Live I did with Kim Gargano about her new book, Holy & Hormonal: A Faithful Guide to Understanding Your Body and the God who Designed You.
We talked about:
- How each of the phases of a woman’s cycle is like the 4 seasons and how to support your body in each phase.
- Why getting bloodwork done is so important and what to test for.
- Tiny baby steps we can take to fuel and nourish our body better without feeling overwhelmed.
- Simple, high protein breakfast ideas.
- What cortisol is and why it might be impacted by how stressed we feel, and what to do if you have high cortisol.
If you want some really great advice and encouragement surrounding balancing your hormones, you will LOVE this IG Live, and I’d encourage you to check out her book!
“David cut his toe and it’s bleeding everywhere, he’s really upset, and I think he needs stitches!”
Jesse called me and told me this one night this week, as I was driving home from Kierstyn’s cross country meet. I could hear David wailing in the background and it broke my mama heart.
But here’s what was even harder…
When your child can’t verbally communicate and has limited communication skills, they can’t tell you what they did or exactly where it hurts.
He was so upset and we could only guess at what had happened and how he was feeling. These are the parts of parenting a child with significant disabilities that are so hard.
But then, in the midst of him panicking and being so upset, I heard Jesse say to him, “Do you want to talk to mama?”
As soon as Jesse asked him, he calmed down some.
I started telling him how brave he was and how sorry I was that it hurt and that I was coming home and that we were going to help him feel better. I could hear him slowly getting calmer and calmer.
By the time I got home, he was calm enough that Jesse was able to get the bleeding to stop and to wrap his foot. David was so excited to see me and cuddled right up next to me.
We would have just taken him into urgent care, but we knew he would need sedation of some sort if he needed stitches.
So, at 7:30 pm, Jesse took him to the ER. He said he felt bad taking him to the ER when it was minor, but we also didn’t want him to have to go to after hours urgent care and then find out they needed to transfer him to the hospital so they could sedate him for stitches.
Gratefully, they were able to clean it and glue it and he didn’t end up needing stitches or sedation!! And he did really well at the hospital — except for the cleaning and gluing part!
As soon as he got home, he lunged from Jesse’s arms into my arms and wanted to cuddle up in bed like this and went immediately to sleep and slept like this all night long.
While I’m sad he hurt himself and couldn’t tell us more about it, I was also grateful that he could be so comforted by me. You see, he is usually a total Daddy’s boy. He will choose Jesse over me almost every single time.
But that night, when he was hurting, he wanted comfort from his mama. Seeing how attached he is and how deeply calming my voice and presence were to him made me so grateful.
What a gift that I get to be his mama and that he feels so safe with me.
I traveled to Kansas with Micah last week for my Grandpa’s service. We had the best time and he didn’t use a screen or device one time the entire 3 days we were on the trip.
Here’s why & here’s how we do it…
THE WHY:
We limit screens pretty significantly at our house — our young kids don’t have iPads or devices, they don’t use our phones, and we limit the types of shows they can watch to what we call “calm shows” or family movies that we watch together.
We’ve found that this makes a big difference in their behavior and attention span. Remember, this is just what works for our family in this season. I’m not saying it is a universal rule!
So, when we travel, we have a no screens rule while we are traveling. This encourages the kids to look out the window, interact with everyone, and find creative ways to keep themselves occupied.
THE HOW:
I try to always have some snacks, toys, and activities planned. I also usually get something new for a long road trip or plane ride. For instance, Micah got to get new cars and a little toy airplane for this trip. I also got an activity book that kept him throughly engaged one entire flight. (Add affiliate link?)
I also don’t plan to get my own work done. If I expect my kids to not be on screens, it’s not fair if I’m engrossed in a screen and not interacting with them. So I never pulled out my laptop the entire time we were traveling there and back last week. I did do some journaling, I did do some work on my phone when Micah was having a blast playing with his toys, I got a lot of reading done, and I spent a lot of time just being with Micah.
I took him on this trip specifically because he hasn’t gotten a lot of one-on-one time with me the past few weeks and has been showing signs that he needed some TLC from his mama. We had the best time together and it was so good for his heart and mine for us to have such quality time together. Not having screens as distractions really helped facilitate that, too! ❤️
What are your best road trip or flight activity ideas to do with kids? I’d love for you to share with me in the comments below!
Don’t Miss This Bonus: 5 Days to a Financially Healthier You
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This Week on The Crystal Paine Show: Making Peace with What I Can’t Control (with Lysa TerKeurst)
I am honestly truly honored to have Lysa TerKeurst joining me for this conversation! Lysa has been such a meaningful mentor in my life for many years, and in her new book, Making Peace With What I Can’t Control, she tackles something that I think so many of us wrestle with: the exhausting desire to fix, manage, and control the people and circumstances that we love.
This conversation with Lysa helped me see control in a way that I hadn’t really considered before — sometimes, our struggle with control doesn’t come from wanting power; it comes from responsibility, capability, and care. We love people so deeply that we don’t want to watch them make choices that could hurt them, but there’s a difference between helping someone and trying to control their outcome, and Lysa explains how trying to rescue others can eventually lead to anxiety, exhaustion, and codependency.
Listen in as we discuss parenting, including a story from my six-year-old’s first cross-country race that helped me understand the difference between supporting someone and controlling them. That conversation leads into something that has been especially significant in my own life: our desire to control how other people perceive us. We talk about approval, overthinking conversations, replaying what we said, and how a mistake can become a label we believe about ourselves.
Lysa also opens up about some of the most painful seasons of her life — including betrayal, divorce, disappointment, and moments when she questioned whether she could truly trust God — and she opens up about what it means to hold onto faith when God doesn’t do what we thought He would do, and why accepting reality isn’t the same thing as giving up.
If you’re in a season in which you feel like you’re trying desperately to hold everything together, I really hope that this conversation feels like someone throwing you a rope and saying, “Just hold on for today!” You are not alone, and you don’t have to control the outcome to be okay.
I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Lysa, and, as always, please feel free to reach out to me with any thoughts or questions! I would love to hear from you!
What I’m Reading…
I finished reading Making Peace With What I Can’t Control this past week. If you struggle with feeling like you are frustrated that people aren’t acting like you wish they would act or aren’t making decisions that are best for them or if you wish life didn’t feel like things are so out of control, I think this book would really encourage you!
Currently reading: The Inspired Homeschool. The Bright Side of the Other Side, and House Hushing.
What I’m Watching…
This week, the girls and I watched week 4 of Dancing with the Stars together. (It’s fun to have a show that Kierstyn, Kaitlynn, and I all enjoy together!)
I also watched Chilean Miner Rescue: Race Against Time (very fascinating!!) and Surviving the Mount St. Helen’s Disaster (Kierstyn and Micah watched it with me and were so fascinated by it!
What I’m Listening to…
I’ve almost finished listening to The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Volume 3.
More Links You’ll Love from This Week:
- “When your 6-year-old with Down syndrome learns how to vacuum and it’s all he wants to do” — This video right here represents SO many skills David has developed this year! He has been obsessed with the vacuum for the last two months, but he just started being able to push and maneuver it himself and he is incredibly proud of himself — and so are we!! Also, he wants to vacuum for at least an hour every day!
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole with Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins — My sister Brigette shared this delicious recipe and says, “This Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole and these Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins have been a staple at my house for years. Pair them for an easy, affordable, and filling $10 Family Dinner!”
- Easiest Whole Wheat Banana Muffins — Another delicious recipe from Brigette! This is the easiest, yummiest recipe that is the perfect way to use up ripe bananas! It only takes a few simple ingredients – and doesn’t use any eggs, milk, or oil!
- You Can’t Control the Economy but You CAN Control Your Money — Money can feel especially stressful when so much of the economy is outside of our control. Rising costs, housing challenges, job uncertainty, college expenses, retirement — it’s easy to feel like we’re constantly bracing for what might come next. But, while we can’t control the economy, we can become more intentional about the way we manage what we have. This week I joined the Minimalist Moms podcast to discuss what that looks like. Tune in for encouragement and practical advice.