A Side Effect for Skip

Skip suffers from headaches.  Almost daily.  Always a dull ache in his head and he frequently can be seen sitting at the table holding his head in his hands.  Neither of us take things for headaches unless it's just unbearable, but that doesn't happen very often.  His vision has been checked, his teeth are fine. So we have been kind of at a loss about the headache thing.

BUT, this morning I had a sudden Ah-Ha moment.  I was reading a status on FB from a friend who is very into all natural healing.  Someone made a comment about their headaches going away after a serious diet change.  Skip hasn't had a headache since we quit eating grains.  It just dawned on me that he hasn't been complaining or holding his head.  I told him my observation and he said," Well can I have some pizza and see if it comes back?".

NO.  LOL.  So that is really the first BIG thing I think I have seen with this.  I will most definitely be monitoring it.

Bracing for a visit from my mother....

Oh well it's that time again.  A visit from Mom.  I think the last she was here was in October for Aiden's birthday and I saw her in January when we had to go to Colorado for our family emergency.  I love Mom, but I love the distance better sometimes.  I haven't spoke with her much since before our trip to South Carolina and Virgina last month.  She lied to me about my brother's condition with intent to still take Aiden for Spring break while my brother was having another heroin melt down.  Not my idea of being a responsible and trustworthy grandparent.

In any case she will only be here a day and half before going home again.  I hope to hang onto my sanity as best as I can.  At least Skip is home now and she will be a little less brave about things.  I hope.

Oh, I can't wait to make her eat grain free for the weekend.  She is going to accuse me of  having a malnourished kid.  SWEET.

One Week Check In

It's officially been one week without grain.  For me, it hasn't been all that difficult.  For Skip, well I cannot say the same.  Aiden has certainly noticed a difference and between him and Skip there has been plenty of food related whining.  But in another week I think that will get better.

As for the results of week one, Skip lost 3.8lbs and I lost 4.  I am down a 1/2 inch in my waist and Skip is down   1/4 of an inch.  We added fasting blood sugar levels this morning and we were both in the mid 130's.   Still not good on that front.

Skip suggested also cutting  the starches this week.  So no potatoes or rice.  I will have to remind him that it was his idea.  We will see what this next week brings!

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.