Aiden, we are going to starve to death

We are 4 days into our 4 week grain free experiment and Skip has already told Aiden they are starving to death.  LOL.  All because he can't have bread, crackers or any other grain.  You would think that was all we ate or something!

We have been actually eating nicely. Good breakfasts, usually eggs and some meat.  Lunches have been salads with all the fixings and dinner has absolutely been no different.  But Skip thinks he is starving.  Aiden is always asking for more to eat even tho his belly is all bloated and full of food.  They are really feeling lost without a loaf of bread.

I actually don't mind finding alternatives to snack on and I haven't dwelled on the bread I cannot have.  We are both already losing weight, but I will wait to tell you how much on Sunday when the first "official" weekly check in happens!

So, what are we eating?

You are probably wondering what we are eating now that we can't have grains.  I mean that's all food right?  What could there possibly be to eat if we cannot have bread!! That's how Skip feels anyways.

It's really simple. We are still eating veggies, meats, eggs, dairies (that haven't been sugared up for no reason), fruits, nuts, cheese, spices and small amounts of rices and starchy foods like potatoes.  So we can't have a bagel every morning for breakfast or an english muffin.  But we can still have yogurt, eggs, fruits and some nuts.  You could argue that it would get boring and leave us no options, but how entertaining is the same bagel every morning, they come in bags of 6 ya know.

The hardest part about cutting out the grains is reprogramming the way we think about meal time.  Especially breakfast and lunch.  There is no more whipping pancakes together or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We have to think about what we are going to eat and its probably going to take a small about of prep to get it done.

I'm not baking right now, something I LOVE to do.  It all contains grains. At the end of the 4 weeks we are going to talk about adding small treats back into the diet on a TREAT Basis.   But that is still up in the air as to what and how much.  We still have 3 1/2 weeks to go.

Something small I noticed today...

We are still learning to get past the "need" for bread at meal time. Poor Skip seems to be scanning the kitchen constantly looking for something to eat.  Its almost like we don't know what to eat without bread.  And that's odd because we don't eat bread at every meal! Taking away grains is having a pretty serious mental effect for one.

But the biggest thing I have noticed is Skip's fluid intake has increased tremendously. It's very interesting to watch him.  He is just going thru the motion because I said so and explained why. I don't think the experiment has hit home just yet.

Fun Wheat Experiment with the Glucose Monitor

Tomorrow marks day 1 of grain free living as part of a 4 week experiment in our house.  We purchased a basic blood glucose monitor from Walmart to prove how high our blood sugar levels are after eating anything that contains grain.  Normal healthy ranges should be between 64 mg/dl and 104 mg/dl.   So basically when you measure your levels you get a digital readout of your glucose levels.   It is recommended to not allow your glucose levels rise by more than 10 points one hour after a meal.   After that, it just sits and goes straight to your middle.  The fat in your middle is what makes you insulin resistant and makes you a candidate for diabetes.

So on the breakfast menu this morning was whole wheat waffles!  My starting glucose level was 100 mg.  Already pushing that normal level.  Skip and I were up late eating chips and did with no exercise.  Skip on the other hand was already a whopping 145mg!! He was in shock that he woke up with it so high to start.  He had a lot more chips than I and he was drinking beer.

We were supposed to check one hour after eating, but got side tracked and ended up testing at 90 mins.   I tested at 145mg and somehow Skip tested at 90.   I contribute his black coffee and multiple trips to the bathroom for getting his sugar lowered so darn quickly.  But I still don't know how that happened.   He had a glucose level of 160 yesterday after eating Chipotle.  That was a real eye opener.

Tomorrow we are both getting on the scale and measuring our middles.   Once the grain has been eliminated, your middle is supposed to start shrinking.   We also may go thru "wheat withdraws" that can cause sleepiness, moodiness, headaches and over all mental "fog".  

So that's were we are in our experimenting. Skip is enjoying his last 2 liter of coke and we have finished all the bread.   If you haven't already done so I encourage you to take a look at The Heart Scan Blog and follow along.

About to do some serious experimenting

In January I made the commitment to eliminate meat from my diet in an effort to find out why my insides were always feeling bad.  I did notice a large change and it really was good, but something still hasn't been feeling "right".    So I have been pretty unsure of the direction to go.  I've been eating well.  Whole grains, fruits and veggies, limited processed foods and no sodas, no fast foods.

I did lapse a little on our trip and had some fast food and soda, and I noticed that I did feel a little more "off", but  no where what I expected it to be.  So that has had me wondering if the meat and fast food are truly what's making me feel bad?  So I really had no idea what to start looking at next.  I haven't had any weight loss since cutting the meat and fast food. I am watching portion size, no seconds.

I happened to be reading a blog the other day about the death of the Aurthur's grandfather and someone left a link to blog by a doctor he thought he should read.  So I checked it out.  It's called The Heart Scan Blog.   I thought at first it was just going to be some blog about heart health.  But it turns out it is MUCH more than that. It is written by Dr. William Davis of Wisconsin.  He advocates a grain free diet.  Hmmm...my interest peaked.

He talks about "wheat belly" and how modern day wheat is causing us serious health issues. I won't go into detail because it's so much better stated in his blog.


So we are going grain free for at least 4 weeks to see what happens.  We got a glucose monitor to start seeing what our food is really doing to us.   This is a project I will absolutely be updating here on probably a weekly basis.

We are super excited about seeing what this actually does.

Why is it so hard for me?

I am still struggling with the whole dinner/meal planning thing.  I am totally lost and clueless.  I feel like it is even more difficult since I have given up meat and processed things.  I gave them up for good reason, but I haven't a clue how to do anything with raw materials.  I feel hopeless about it.

Together

I think the past 30 days has been one Hell of a ride. There so many places I could start that it's ridiculous.

Patty has been in the hospital in a coma for almost a month.  They are expecting to try to wake her next week. She is off all coma inducing medications, but is still sedated.  She is moving all her limbs.  We are happy to know that is happening.  Her aneurysm has caused much stress, sorrow, confusion, uncertainties, disappointments and has brought relief and happiness at the same time.

I got in the car last month and drove straight to Denver with no expectation that I would make it to DIA in time to meet him from his flight from Germany. I got lucky and made it 15 minutes before the original scheduled landing.  His flight ended up being an hour late. Since the moment our arms were around each other all the emotions from this haven't stopped.  It has been a difficult and yet easy transition back to as normal a life as we can manage.  There has been no post deployment ceremony to mark the end of this year and honestly we both have had a hard time accepting that it is actually over without that marker.  There was no crazy anticipation.  No group of crying family or people embracing each other.  It has been hard.  We are still so ready for it to end and have what happiness we can find tore out from under us.

I have taken the month off from grooming. I cannot even begin to describe how thankful I am that I have not had to work. I do not think I could have handled all this and a full time job.  I have been able to be home with Skip and give him all the support he has needed to deal with the situation at hand.  I feel like because of that, the stress levels have been dramatically lower compared to how they would have been were I still employed.


We have been able to sit together and make some goals and plans that will benefit us and our tiny family.  We have been able to start the Iraq de-programming process.  He is still using a lot of water simply because it's clean.  I fully expect a huge water bill! Getting regular sleep and rest is still not happening.  I don't expect to see much improvement in that department for another 90 days, minimum.  I am cooking healthy meals and have started pushing some vitamins to help cope with the lack of sleep.  I know his body is only going to take so much,


The entire unit has started it's move back across the world.  We are expecting multiple groups to continue being received for the next week and a half.  I am happy this is over for not just us, but for all the families that have been effected by this deployment.  My heart goes out to the ones that are returning home to broken families, divorces, infidelity and so much more.  I am thankful we made it through this one in one piece and stronger than we were before he left.

And for some strange reason I am most thankful that I get to be the significant other of one of our military personal.  I have a lot of pride in knowing that I have done the right thing by him and that he can come home knowing it's all going to be ok, even if it takes some time.