Week One of Gluten Free
A little over a week now, our family has been eating gluten-free. I felt this past week was a bit more challenging because I was out of the house more and faced with outside influences. The funny thing was, I did not have the feeling of, "oh, I would LOVE to have a piece of bread right now!" or "those Sun Chips look delish!". I was okay doing without. I feel so good that I don't want to screw up what I've got going on. We also went away this weekend to Amish country. Now that, was a bit more challenging because all they serve is bread and noodles (okay, being a little sarcastic, but you know what I mean!). It was hard to find things I could eat. Even though I stayed gluten free, I found myself compromising on salad dressing that I KNEW had hydrogenated oil in it. It's so hard to stay "natural". :)
Gluten-Free Crap
There is a lot of gluten-free crap out there. Sure, you can eat gluten-free packaged cookies, candy, cereal, mac n' cheese, etc., but just because it's gluten-free doesn't make it healthy by any means. I've started a new rule when it comes to packaged products. If it has more than 5 ingredients, I will not buy it. This has cut a lot of products out of our diet, but we are better off. Since we've become gluten-free, I've been searching out other bloggers who are doing the same. I've found many bloggers and TONS of recipes, but the majority of recipes are not-so-healthy. Be forewarned, if you go gluten-free you can still eliminate gluten and not be healthy.
Adjusting My Frame of Mind
In our society we are told what to eat because it's good for us and we take it at face value. For so long I was told to drink my milk, eat my grains, fat is bad, and Splenda was a gift from above. I believed all these things, without question. When I got married, Kevin refused to eat the low-fat American cheese, the 100 calorie packs - anything "diet" for that matter. So, being the good wife I am, I eliminated those items from our diet in exchange for "real food" (we still ate our fair share of processed food then). Do you know what happened?? Just months after we got married I had LOST weight. Cutting out fake food made me loose weight. At the time; however, I couldn't figure it out because I was consuming more fat than ever before. This did not make sense!! It went against everything I have ever learned!
There are many times I find myself going through the grocery store or looking through a menu and my first thought is, "that's good for me", when in fact it's not. When we are told for so long what's good for us and it becomes your truth, you have to completely rewire your brain. My brain is in the rewiring phase right now.
Why I'm Doing This
Okay, so I understand that some of you may ask why I'm taking everything a step further with going gluten free. After all, isn't eliminated processed foods enough? My answer is simple. I am on a quest for wellness. After having children I began to question our food and what it does to us. My children are the primary reason I am on a mission to do better. Did you know that one in three of our children will have cancer? Did you also know for the first time we are projected to outlive our children. This SCREAMS that a change needs to be made! I want better for my children and I want better for me. I want to be around for my kids and I want my kids to be around for their kids.
I'm currently reading the Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. This has changed my perception on grains. If you want to know the science behind how grains effect us you MUST read this book. I cannot even begin to explain it to you, but he made a believer out of me! The Paleo diet is more than cutting out grains, it's cutting out dairy and refined sugar as well. We have begun the phasing out process to live this lifestyle (which was just decided today). The only dairy we really eat is cheese and since we've went gluten free we've found we don't crave sugar. This past week I indulged in M&M's and a can a pop. Not a bad sugar consumption for a week, huh?! :)
Menu's
I'm going to start posting what we eat on this blog to show other's it's do-able! I can tell you, our meals will consist of meat, veggies, and fruit. Thankfully, we are in the summer months so I have more options!
Getting Started to a Healthier Lifestyle
For those that are seeking a healthier lifestyle, I would not recommend going gluten free cold turkey because it may be very hard to stick with (however, if you do choose to do this, bravo!!). First, cut out the processed food, or use the processed food rule - no more than 5 ingredients. Cut out all deli meat (PROCESSED!) and try to avoid using bread as a side dish when possible. Finally, STOP thinking of fast food as an option. If you eat crap, you'll crave crap. By taking baby steps, you'll find going gluten free will be much easier.
Whishing everyone a healthy and happy week! Blessings :)
No comments:
Post a Comment