Guest Blog by Dr. Potter’s Wife, Jennifer
There it is again. That old saying, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade”. Well, as I have said before, sometimes it takes awhile to get to the lemonade stage. Sometimes the sugar is in short supply and you are doing good to decrease the tartness of the lemon by making lemon water. As of late, we have been dealing with lemon water. The lemonade is still a bit in the future.
Like every other individual and every other family, times of crisis do hit our family. In these tart times, we have learned that nutrition, while important, must be altered. During weeks of crisis living, I have had to give up my hopes for the perfect diet- for both myself and my little ones. I am learning to take the following approach:
- Stay away from the definite allergies and intolerances. For us, that includes gluten among other things.
- Attempt to eat organic as much as possible but… it won’t always be possible.
- Reach for easy to eat fruits and veggies.
- Be satisfied with simple meals and repeat the same thing often (for simplicity’s sake).
- Be thankful for and take advantage of any well-intended meal help – even when it is less than ideal from a nutrition standpoint.
- Realize that it is a temporary situation.
- Slowly return to the normal state of nutrition affairs as the crisis resolves.
I am sure that nothing here is surprising, but it may help to know that you are not alone when life hands you lemons. Surviving the lemony times through a little dilution of expectations, remembering that one day you’ll get the kale back on the table, and focusing upon the crisis clean-up, go a long way toward getting enough sugar in the situation to make that proverbial lemonade. Until then, a little lemon water can go a long way to surviving until ultimately thriving. Just some friendly musings from a family (and mom) who is learning to deal with the lemons of life just like everyone else.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
Thank you for taking time to write these posts! They are encouraging to me as my family is just beginning this journey.
It is a hard journey. We must all pray for one another to overcome this enemy.