Everywhere I look there is something delicious with wheat in it. Donuts, Wendy's, pasta, the list goes on and on. I know that I have made a good decision by going wheat free but oh my lord I miss it sometimes.
Today we had pasta salad at work. I really wanted it but I resisted. I did a Wendy's run for my boss and boy did I want to order a Junior Bacon. I went to Tim Horton's for a tea and dang did I want a donut.
I think I am like a drug addict right now just jonesing for one last hit. I know though that if I were to give into temptation then I would throw what I have done away and possibly fall back into my old bad habits. I am staying strong and keeping to my course. I want to be a healthier, happier person. Eating that junk didn't help me be that person before and won't help me now.
But man those donuts look so good....
Monday, August 13, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
That has Wheat?
I have spent a lot of time over the past few days saying that. Remember when I said it was an easy decision to cut out wheat? That was true but the execution of it is a whole other matter.
Can you name the things you eat that have wheat in them? I thought I could. Bread, cereal, pasta and baked goods. Turns out that the list is much, much longer then that. Soy Sauce, BBQ sauce, even canned soup has wheat in it.
Before this lifestyle change I never read labels. I simply ate what I wanted and didn't really care about what was in it. Honestly, worrying about what was in my food was something I actively tried not to do. It stressed me out to think about the horrors of modern food. I saw Food Inc. I knew some of the truths. But choosing not to take notice was much easier.
Of course now I must take an active interest in order to become a healthier person. I dropped the wheat and went on with life. I did not always stop to read the labels or research what was about to go in my body, mostly cause I thought I knew what wheat was in. Then we had sushi. I ate it with great joy and liberal amounts of soy sauce. Yeah. I had no idea it had wheat in it. I figured it out quickly cause me tummy was very unhappy. Now I read the labels of everything that I am going to consume or do some research into it.
Here are the surprising places you will find wheat:
Battered foods like fish sticks
Frozen and Canned Veggies
Sauces like soy sauce, Worcestershire, teriyaki, and horseradish
Gravy
Curry powder, Cajun spice, pie spice and Thai spices
Instant Drinks like instant coffee, cocoa powder
Ice cream!
Sausages
Chewing gum, chocolate
What have I gotten myself into?
Can you name the things you eat that have wheat in them? I thought I could. Bread, cereal, pasta and baked goods. Turns out that the list is much, much longer then that. Soy Sauce, BBQ sauce, even canned soup has wheat in it.
Before this lifestyle change I never read labels. I simply ate what I wanted and didn't really care about what was in it. Honestly, worrying about what was in my food was something I actively tried not to do. It stressed me out to think about the horrors of modern food. I saw Food Inc. I knew some of the truths. But choosing not to take notice was much easier.
Of course now I must take an active interest in order to become a healthier person. I dropped the wheat and went on with life. I did not always stop to read the labels or research what was about to go in my body, mostly cause I thought I knew what wheat was in. Then we had sushi. I ate it with great joy and liberal amounts of soy sauce. Yeah. I had no idea it had wheat in it. I figured it out quickly cause me tummy was very unhappy. Now I read the labels of everything that I am going to consume or do some research into it.
Here are the surprising places you will find wheat:
Battered foods like fish sticks
Frozen and Canned Veggies
Sauces like soy sauce, Worcestershire, teriyaki, and horseradish
Gravy
Curry powder, Cajun spice, pie spice and Thai spices
Instant Drinks like instant coffee, cocoa powder
Ice cream!
Sausages
Chewing gum, chocolate
What have I gotten myself into?
Saturday, August 11, 2012
A Trip to a Natural Path
Deciding that you are going to go wheat free and change your lifestyle are easy choices to make but replacing wheat and knowing what is good to eat isn't so easy. We live in a world that is so fast paced that convince foods seem to be just part of life, something you can't easily replace. Liam and I were unsure of what we could eat. You can Google it but there are a lot of conflicting answers. We needed to ask a professional.
I decided to go see my natural path friend from the park in her office. I didn't want to grill her about it on another play date. She should get paid if she was going to give me hours of advice. I emailed her and set up an appointment for after work. I was pretty pumped about the visit, even though I wasn't sure what to expect. I have always had the impression that natural paths were voodoo magic.
So what is a natural path? Here is what I learned. Not just anyone can be a natural path. you must go to school for 4 years and their education is very similar to a medical doctors. They work with cadavers! My natural path also has a BSc. She is a very down to earth lady who practices what she teaches others and doesn't expect perfection. I feel confident in her.
The first appointment was an hour and a half long. We reviewed my medical history, allergies and what I wanted out of this experience. What I want is to one day not be on any medications for some of my illnesses. I don't know if this is going to be possible but even if the doses get lowered I will be thrilled. Of course, I am also hoping to lose this spare tire I have been sporting but then again who isn't?
She did some tests and it turns out I have Leaky Gut. What is that you ask? It is when your digestive track leaks toxins into your body and therefore your blood stream. Here is a link with a more detailed answer: http://www.liverdoctor.com/liver-problems/leaky-gut
At the end of the appointment she gave me some vitamins to take, seeing as I use to take none. She gave me a pro biotic, vitamin B complex, fish oil and magnesium. The funny thing is my mom has been telling me to take those things for years! She gave me a wheat free diet to follow and an anti-inflammatory diet to follow.
The wheat free diet is something the entire family is going to follow together. There are lots of alternative for the girls that are wheat free in the natural food section and this will force us to avoid the processed foods that I must admit were eaten much too often in our house.
The anti-inflammatory diet is for me to follow, though Liam is choosing to follow some of it as well in support of me. It calls for things like no refined white sugar, no sweeteners and no (of very little) red meat. I can say I have had an easy time following both these diets though I am constantly amazed where you will find wheat, which I will expand upon in my next post.
My natural path is also sending me to get my thyroids tested and my Adrenal glands tested. I am seeing my doctor next week for that. I am also going for allergy testing to see if I have any food sensitives. Honestly, if it comes back with wheat as one I won't be surprised. I have truly felt so much better since starting this.
The last two things she asked me to do was to drink more water, specifically 2.6L a day and to drink a cup of hot watter with lemon each morning. I have been doing pretty good about the water but have yet to reach 2.6L. It is so hard to find the time each day! The lemon water has become my morning ritual while I read the news and post my blogs.
Overall, I am finding that I feel better and I am enjoying the changes I have made. Next time I will post about the surprising places you'll find wheat.
I decided to go see my natural path friend from the park in her office. I didn't want to grill her about it on another play date. She should get paid if she was going to give me hours of advice. I emailed her and set up an appointment for after work. I was pretty pumped about the visit, even though I wasn't sure what to expect. I have always had the impression that natural paths were voodoo magic.
So what is a natural path? Here is what I learned. Not just anyone can be a natural path. you must go to school for 4 years and their education is very similar to a medical doctors. They work with cadavers! My natural path also has a BSc. She is a very down to earth lady who practices what she teaches others and doesn't expect perfection. I feel confident in her.
The first appointment was an hour and a half long. We reviewed my medical history, allergies and what I wanted out of this experience. What I want is to one day not be on any medications for some of my illnesses. I don't know if this is going to be possible but even if the doses get lowered I will be thrilled. Of course, I am also hoping to lose this spare tire I have been sporting but then again who isn't?
She did some tests and it turns out I have Leaky Gut. What is that you ask? It is when your digestive track leaks toxins into your body and therefore your blood stream. Here is a link with a more detailed answer: http://www.liverdoctor.com/liver-problems/leaky-gut
At the end of the appointment she gave me some vitamins to take, seeing as I use to take none. She gave me a pro biotic, vitamin B complex, fish oil and magnesium. The funny thing is my mom has been telling me to take those things for years! She gave me a wheat free diet to follow and an anti-inflammatory diet to follow.
The wheat free diet is something the entire family is going to follow together. There are lots of alternative for the girls that are wheat free in the natural food section and this will force us to avoid the processed foods that I must admit were eaten much too often in our house.
The anti-inflammatory diet is for me to follow, though Liam is choosing to follow some of it as well in support of me. It calls for things like no refined white sugar, no sweeteners and no (of very little) red meat. I can say I have had an easy time following both these diets though I am constantly amazed where you will find wheat, which I will expand upon in my next post.
My natural path is also sending me to get my thyroids tested and my Adrenal glands tested. I am seeing my doctor next week for that. I am also going for allergy testing to see if I have any food sensitives. Honestly, if it comes back with wheat as one I won't be surprised. I have truly felt so much better since starting this.
The last two things she asked me to do was to drink more water, specifically 2.6L a day and to drink a cup of hot watter with lemon each morning. I have been doing pretty good about the water but have yet to reach 2.6L. It is so hard to find the time each day! The lemon water has become my morning ritual while I read the news and post my blogs.
Overall, I am finding that I feel better and I am enjoying the changes I have made. Next time I will post about the surprising places you'll find wheat.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Welcome to the Wheat Free Experience
Welcome! My name is Jenn and I am a newbie to being wheat free. I am writing this blog to share with you my experiences on this new and exciting journey. Let me quickly tell you how and why my husband and I decided to go Wheat free.
A few weeks ago I had a minor health scare but it was enough to make both of us realize that we needed to change our lifestyle. We ate too many processed foods, too much sugar and way too much of the wrong kinds of fat. But neither of us really knew how to eat better. We slowly cut back on these things but didn't really know how much had to go to make a difference.
Then one day we had a play date with one of the kids from my work. We met the child and their parent at the park and after some chit chat I mentioned I was looking for a way to change my life style but wasn't sure how. It turns out this parent is a natural path and had some great advice.
She recommended lots of fresh fruits and veggies, nuts and other sources of protein and she said fish was great. Then she recommended a book called "Wheat Belly" by Dr William Davis. It is about how wheat as we know it is so far removed from the wheat our ancestors ate and how the wheat We eat now is not doing us any favors.
Now I found it a very interesting and you might too but remember that before you change your diet or decide to do anything drastic that you must speak with your doctor first. I don't have a medical degree and I am only sharing what my family and I are doing to change our life styles.
So the medical scare and this book led Liam and I to the decision to cut out wheat from our diet and see what happens. As of today it has been a week and I feel pretty good. In my next post I will share with you my trip to see the natural path and the surprising places you will find wheat.
A few weeks ago I had a minor health scare but it was enough to make both of us realize that we needed to change our lifestyle. We ate too many processed foods, too much sugar and way too much of the wrong kinds of fat. But neither of us really knew how to eat better. We slowly cut back on these things but didn't really know how much had to go to make a difference.
Then one day we had a play date with one of the kids from my work. We met the child and their parent at the park and after some chit chat I mentioned I was looking for a way to change my life style but wasn't sure how. It turns out this parent is a natural path and had some great advice.
She recommended lots of fresh fruits and veggies, nuts and other sources of protein and she said fish was great. Then she recommended a book called "Wheat Belly" by Dr William Davis. It is about how wheat as we know it is so far removed from the wheat our ancestors ate and how the wheat We eat now is not doing us any favors.
Now I found it a very interesting and you might too but remember that before you change your diet or decide to do anything drastic that you must speak with your doctor first. I don't have a medical degree and I am only sharing what my family and I are doing to change our life styles.
So the medical scare and this book led Liam and I to the decision to cut out wheat from our diet and see what happens. As of today it has been a week and I feel pretty good. In my next post I will share with you my trip to see the natural path and the surprising places you will find wheat.
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