Going Gluten Free. What?!

Four days ago, my life changed.  I officially found out that I have a wheat gluten sensitivity/allergy.  I've had a suspicion for quite some time and by process of elimination, I was able to figure it out on my own, but now I know for sure.  I visited the Advanced Wellness Center and got a muscle test done by a holistic doctor.

So here's what I figured out:

Whenever I ate wheat bread, the next day my face would be broken out in acne.  I changed from wheat bread to Ezekiel bread, which is a sprout-type bread.  It helped, but I was still breaking out, especially around "that time of the month".  I got tired of feeling tired, especially in the afternoons and by dinner time, I was so unmotivated, I could care less what my family ate for dinner.

I can't lose weight.  I've been trying for four years now.  Nothing has worked and I mean nothing, to the point where I've given up and refused to try anymore.  Why bother?

Sugar - I've always had a problem with sugar but for the past year, I couldn't function without it.  I am hypoglycemic, which means my body has severe highs and lows when I eat anything with sugar.  I know that, but I continued to choose to eat sugary foods in the afternoons.  It was the only way I felt I could get through the afternoon and evenings.  By 10:30, I was falling asleep on the couch with my husband wondering if he had become boring to me.

This is no life at all!

So I hit rock bottom hard enough that I decided I was sick of myself.  I know what I need to do to gain energy and focus, lose weight and be healthy.  I just didn't want to do it anymore.  That's when I went to go get help.  If I have to pay someone to help me, even if it's to tell me what I already know, then that was good enough to kick my rear end back in gear.

So I have a gluten allergy.  What does that mean?  It means that I have a lot to learn.  I have to read the labels on everything.  I have to learn to cook more meals and shop differently.  Then only after two days, I had my first meltdown when I realized everything in my house contains wheat.  EVERYTHING!  Ok, I'm exaggerating just a little, but as hungry as I was that morning, I didn't want to eat eggs for a fifth day in a row.    I realized that I have to give up a lot of my favorite foods, even my Ezekiel bread and yes, junk food.  Not only do I have to avoid wheat, I also have to avoid soy and sugar.  Soy is in everything.  Even in my olive oil cooking spray and my coffee creamer.  Oh, my beloved coffee creamer, which by the way is one of THE worst things you can consume!  I have basically ruined myself by eating what's mostly provided for us in the grocery stores:  processed, pre-packaged and artificially man-made foods.  Foods that contain so much crap, that I've developed a hormonal imbalance, lack of weight loss and now allergies.

But I'm not to despair!

I'm not mourning over this consequence I've been presented.  I'm seeing it as a challenge.  No wonder eliminating wheat bread out of my diet wasn't enough to help heal my acne issue.  I was consuming way more wheat everyday than I realized.  Did you know that there's wheat in enriched white flour?  Soy sauce?  Creamed soups?  ALL kinds of pastas?  Because of my super lack of energy in the afternoons kept me from making a decent meal for my family, we ended up having pasta a lot more often than I ever allowed us to.  There's wheat in anything that's breaded, most creamy sauces, sprouts (yes, my beloved bread) and beer (barley).  The list goes on.

Four days have passed since I've eliminated wheat from my diet.  A friend pointed out tonight at 8:00 that I looked so awake and energetic.  It's 1:00 am and I'm not bobbing my head at the keyboard.  My stomach isn't bloated anymore and I've already lost three pounds.  My face is already clearing up and healing and I've got more focus.

So I'm not mourning over this challenge.  It's going to be difficult but I'm eager to learn because I've already seen results.  I'm so excited that I can now begin to heal.