My Feingold package is here and its overwhelming

[babytay]

I got my package last night and I am very happy.

I am at the end of my rope my son and I have had a hard time lately. I really need to sit down and read this information but it is so much I dont know where to start. I dont know if anyone else has had this problem but I feel overwhelmed. I am going to take my time this evening and look things over.

It also looks like I am going to have a little trouble finding some of these foods. I live on the edge of Illinois close to Indiana and there isnt a Whole Foods close to me I would have to go to downtown Chicago.

Well I am going to give this my best shot wish me luck.

[gabrielsmom]

GOOD LUCK !!!! BABYTAY ;D ;D ;D

[SKay]

One thing that you will find suggested in the materials and I found helpful is to go through the stage 1 items and highlight all the items that you already use or think you might be able to find and use. Good luck!

[AustinsMom]

I agree with SKay; there are items in each section that you can buy at a regular grocery store, and I highlighted those and made them my first priority to buy. Since not all stores carry all brands, I have had to learn what stores carry what, and I did that by trial and error.

I followed the instructions on purging your kitchen and then went shopping. It took 4 grocery stores and about 3 hours to do all of that. But I only make occasional trips to the health food store, for convenience things like chicken broth, etc. The internet is a good source for some things. I ordered marshmallows and christmas candy from the Squirrels Nest website.

It does feel overwhelming at first, but if you can make it through the first shopping trip, it gets easier. I have found that cooking isn't the issue--meals are no problem. However snacks are a different story.....

Good luck!!!

[dfp]

I agree, the first shopping trip was the hardest. It took forever and I was very overwhelmed. IT GETS MUCH BETTER!

It did seem to work better when I made my regular shopping list at home, then looked at the food guide to see which brands I could use, or what I needed to change. This got me out of thinking that EVERYTHING had to change. Turned out that lots of what I bought already was actually fine. For instance, my son eats pretzels for snack at school. After making up my list, I just made sure I was buying an ok brand, and that was that. That's much easier than going to the market, Foodlist in hand, thinking "I can only buy what's on this list! What am I allowed to get???".

We started in November and it's just a way of life now. I don't really think about it. We're in stage 2 pretty much, and mostly other than being very careful about the artificial colors & flavors, additives & preservatives we're pretty relaxed. I avoid the salicylate fruits mostly but ds hasn't shown a huge reaction when I've added them back in occasionally.

[RiahBubbaPooh]

We've been on FG for six years, and I'm still finding items in the book that have been there for YEARS, that are right on my grocery shelf and I never noticed them!

Take your time. It is overwhelming, but before you know it, you'll be an old pro.

And utilize the member's message board...the help there is invaluable! I'd sign up and pay the fee just for the access to all those wonderful helpful people on the board!

[catatonic]

Babytay -
It gets easier!! Do make sure to use the members' support board. It's tremendously helpful.

One thing I had some difficulty adjusting to is not being able to purchase discount brands and sale items. With 4 kids and a careful budget, cutting costs in every possible way has been a way of life for me. It horrified me to think I couldn't buy -- to give one example -- the big bags of chicken breasts at Sam's Club for about $2.10 per pound (because of "solution added") but instead had to buy the $4.99 per pound fresh chicken breasts at the grocery. Let me tell you, our budget is NOT up to doing that kind of thing on a regular basis.

But what I've found is that overall, despite the fact that you are often paying more for name brands or high-quality items like Pure Maple Syrup as opposed to fake-o syrup at 1/4 the price, overall my grocery bill has not gone up much. That's because generally the less processed and more wholesome foods simply do not cost as much as the packaged items. My kids can eat English muffins, along with olives and apples with cheese when they come home from school and that large, healthy snack costs me half of what it would if they pigged down a bag of chips or a box of microwave popcorn. It's also an ENORMOUS savings to make your own "mixes" like hot cocoa, frozen lemonade, hamburger helper, etc. And making a batch of caramel popcorn or Crispix mix costs about 1/10 of what buying them costs.

You may have a big grocery bill the first couple of weeks, until you begin doing things like buying 20 lb. of chicken when it's on sale at the grocery, or 5 boxes of Crispix when they have it at $2. You'll also find your first couple of shopping trips take about half the day. That gets easier, too.

Stick the fast food guide in your car, since that's where you'll probably need it most. Make a xerox copy of your food list and keep that in your car, too. That way if you go "oh, yeah" and need to stop for a couple emergency items on your way home, you still have the list handy. Make a particular note of what junk foods are acceptable. It helps me a lot, just for example, to be able to tell my mom that my boy can have some Pringles and a lemonade for a treat when she takes him with her to town.

I've heard that Whole Foods is a great place to shop, and would love to check it out someday. Nearest one is in Albuquerque, though. Not worth a 5 hour drive (EACH WAY) just to shop!!!

Best of luck to you, babytay, and don't forget to use that Feingold support board. It's a life saver.

[babytay]

HEY,

I went to the store last night and it took a little longer but my cart was full after all. It wasnt to much more than I usually spend but we will be eating alot of chicken

I passed on the pure maple syrup for now I couldnt cough up the 7.99. I will get some of that later. I got some brown sugar poptarts instead.

Dinner was pretty easy last night but this is something we are going to do for a while so I will see how I feel next month. My boy was okay with the adjustments so far. thanks for the support and I will look for the support board on the feingold sight I have my password now.

[DenverSarah]

Hooray! You finally got the stuff! Seems like you are doing pretty good already judging from your last post. Just sos ya know...there is a recipe for homemade syrup that just uses brown sugar that's cheap and tastes yummy! Also there is one for homemade choc syrup too. These are great because you can just make a big batch and keep them in the fridge. Check out the members recipe board and hang in there! I know it's hard to believe right now but it all becomes second nature. Don't forget to bring approved snacks with you EVERYWHERE! Also, if you have a Santa around maybe you could hint for one of those lunch-box size electic coolers that you can plug into your car lighter. I don't have one yet but I know they are around 20-30$ at places like target and walmart. We're here for ya!

[Sorka]

oohooh mabye "santa" can bring you a bottle of pure maple syrup too
My kids really enjoyed making our own chocolate syrup it was pretty good too.
I am probably going to have to can Feingold though unfortunately because of a possible gluten intolerance by my two year old so we will be going on an even more strict diet, when you cut out gluten you cut out alot of the things feingold cuts out because processed foods are chock full of it as fillers and flavorings... I will have to see what effect it has on my oldest.
but I know the feingold diet did cut down on the grouchies around here..