WOW!!

As a family, we've been trying to eat healthier for many years now... I think that's always a part of everyone's New Year's Resolutions, in some form. For us, we've noticed that we really do feel better when we eat out less, and when we consume less junk food. But, like most people, it's really hard to make a ton of changes all at once, so we've been slowly working to improve our eating habits. Our first goals were to avoid MSG and High-fructose-corn-syrup as much as possible. Now it's pretty much a given that our favorite "fast-food" binge is Panda Express with a side of Jamba Juice (YUM!!).

After limiting these two items for a while, Dave and I decided to eat out at PF Chang's, since we'd never been there before and we had babysitters. I had heard there was a lot of MSG in their food, but didn't really think about it... until that evening. Dave and I both left the restaurant feeling pretty gross and swore we'd never go back, and we'd avoid MSG-filled restaurants in the future. Several months later, I started wondering if that was just a fluke, probably in response to my pregnancy cravings for the new Wendy's Bacon-ator. I figured we'd never know for sure.

So, this past week was a bit crazy. Nothing really out of the ordinary, except that my baby sister and her husband flew in from Ohio for a funeral. On Friday, after a burial service, everyone who was at the graveside went to lunch at Chuck-O-Rama. Since it was a family event, and the chosen restaurant was a favorite of the deceased, we went with it. The bill was super low, which was nice for our family, and I made sure that our kids each had a good salad before filling up on bread, rice krispies treats and brownies. I tried my best to avoid the meats (especially the breaded ones) and other things I figured would be filled with MSG. I did allow myself a small slushee which was basically pure High-fructose-corn-syrup, lightly chilled, and each of the girls got a small one too.

A couple of hours later we were in the car on our way home (we stopped to visit Lindsay's Puppies before driving home). Pretty much as soon as we got in the car I started feeling HORRIBLE. I just felt nauseous, slightly car-sick even though Dave wasn't driving crazily, and I wasn't reading, and really light-headed & achy. I got progressively worse as we got home and by the time we walked in our front door I seriously wanted to puke... but thankfully didn't. In the mean time, our kids were getting more and more hyper, and more and more sensitive to everything. As we began to get everyone ready for bed we were met by the wails of ALL 5 KIDS!!*

*As a side-note, this has never happened before... we've had 2 or 3 crying at the same time, and every now and then 4 are crying simultaneously... but NEVER all 5 at the same time... and NEVER that type of crying.

Dave and I have now officially sworn off Chuck-O-Rama, as well as anything with MSG or High-fructose-corn-syrup... if anyone knows of a great tasting MSG-free Ranch Dressing, I would love to know about it. Thankfully, I felt much better after a good night's rest, but I don't ever want to feel that way again.