Years ago when I was going to the gym I believed that as
long as I was working out and burning calories I could eat whatever I
wanted. The same was true when I started
running in 2010. I thought I could out run
bad food choices. But that was not the case.
After having our second child in 2007 something else changed. What worked in the past, what I thought was a
healthy diet, didn't seem to work. We
ate the traditional food pyramid, yet, despite all my exercise, I could not
seem to lose weight. In addition I just
felt awful – physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Our diet consisted of whole grain cereals with 1% or skim
milk or whole wheat waffles or bagels for breakfast, deli sandwiches on whole
wheat bread for lunch, and dinner was pasta (once or twice a week) along with
chicken, ground beef or pork and maybe some vegetables. Snacks throughout the day were usually low
fat yogurt with granola, or a granola bar of some sort. And of course there was the after dinner
treat, usually low-fat frozen yogurt.
Why didn't I feel healthy? I was
following what we thought was a healthy diet.
I would eat a good breakfast, and be starving only 2 hours
later. Or have a huge bowl of pasta and
have the worst stomach pains after and thought “Man, I ate way too much!” Other times I would have a nice bowl of
Cheerios with banana and milk for breakfast and have more stomach pains. This breakfast seemed so simple and healthy,
but what I didn't realize it that it is the cause of my pain. Honestly, I didn’t think to go to a doctor
because I didn't think there was anything really wrong with me. This was how I lived for many years, until my
husband read the Wheat Belly book by Dr. William Davis and Good
Calorie, Bad Calorie by Gary Taubes.
These books were a huge light bulb! It described most of my symptoms to a tee,
and some I didn't realize here symptoms. Can you guess what the “cure”
was? Remove all wheat and wheat products
from your diet. What? That seemed crazy since we are constantly
told to eat “healthy whole grains”. If
it’s healthy, how can it hurt me? Well,
wheat is not all it is cracked up to be, and the effects on our bodies are far
from anything healthy. You know that
feeling when you eat cereal, toast, or a bagel for breakfast are starving two
hours later? That is due to the impact
wheat has on your blood sugar. The
processed carbs found in these breakfast foods quickly turn to sugar and your
body either burns through them, or if you don’t need them at the time they get
locked away as fat. In addition, there
really aren't a whole lot of nutrients in wheat, so your body is starving for
real foods in search of the nutrients it needs to fuel your body.
Whoa! So we decided
to give it a shot and remove all wheat based products, and a few others
mentioned in Wheat Belly, and see how it went. This seemed hard and I was constantly looking
for “wheat replacements” - which I don’t recommend trying to do. If you’re going to remove wheat just do it! Don’t look for things to replace the things
you once love; you’ll be happier in the long run. But within 8 days I began to feel better –
not as much stomach pain around meals.
About two more weeks later I noticed a big differences. My energy levels were higher than ever, and I
even slept better. In addition that
little belly “pooch” (ladies you know what I’m talking about!) started to go
away. I stepped on the scale for the
first time in months and had lost 8 pounds! What was happening was my body was less inflamed
from trying to digest the wheat, and my body was getting the nutrients it
needed so I wasn’t always looking for something to eat. Another change I had noticed was my emotional
and mental states seemed to improve. I
no longer felt “down” most of the time.
What I learned is there is a connection between the gut and the
brain. A protein found in wheat wreaks
havoc on your gut and brain ultimately leading to depression and anxiety. If you want to read more about this
connections check out this
article by Dr. Mercola.
This has been a learning process. In the beginning we tried to remove
everything wheat-based from our diets, along with milk and yogurt. Here
is an extensive list that we used in the beginning. However, we realized that this might not be
100% sustainable over time. There are a
few things that we do eat today, such as oatmeal, bacon and deli meats, some
corn, the occasional French fry when we go out to eat, and occasional sweets. We are not
perfect, but this is what works for us.
It’s about balance and moderation.
Will we ever eat regular pizza again?
Probably not. I did have regular
pizza once or twice since going wheat free and the resulting pain, bloating,
and ikiness were so bad I never want
to feel that way again!
So, just from removing wheat I felt better in so many ways –
I had more energy, no more brain fog, improved sleep, better mood, and even
lost weight. I feel better than I have
in a long time! If you have any questions, or need help going wheat free,
please let me know. I would be more than happy to help!
