Friday 13 April 2012

My "Wheat Freedom Adventure"

So as of Monday April 9th, 2012 I decided to embark on a new "food adventure" and test out some theories on the effects of wheat on my body. I have gone wheat-free for a few days/wk and little bouts here and there but never consistently for longer than a few days.
I work very long days and I had been noticing a real lull in my energy early afternoon as well as cravings for sugar or just food later at night light 9-9:30pm and I know from many years of education and research in my field that my body does NOT need to eat, its merely a habit or an imbalance in my body that starts to tell my brain I need it. Losing weight is not at all my goal out of this experiment; it is 100% for internal health of all my organs and my brain along with overall consistent energy throughout the day, no "brain-fog" for half the morning and no bloated belly half the time.
So I told my hubby about my plans and as usual he asks why I'm always so extreme and "one-sided" with what I try to follow. He told me that this "diet" was crazy. Once the word diet came out I proceeded to tell him about what I had learned from reading the research in "The Wheat Belly";
1) wheat/gluten crosses the blood-brain barrier and attaches to the same receptors at opium drugs! The ones that make people have the munchies and makes people addicted! So it is 100% an addictive food. They use a gluten-free diet to treat mental illness in some well known facilities...does that not set off a warning sign in anyone else’s head?! It did in mine
2) The insulin response our bodies have when we eat wheat specifically placed fat around our bellies but the scariest part is that the fat is visceral fat. That is the deep fat that surrounds your organs, the most dangerous fat
3) For men, it also increases estrogen production so not only is there belly fat but also "man boobs"...and the list goes on! So needless to say, he reluctantly has joined me on this adventure and I might add, is doing VERY well.
I have also been reading Dr. Natasha Turners "The Carb Sensitivity Program" and it has a very easy to follow meal plan with all recipes and LOTS of options to help you go wheat-free. She also then introduces carbs back into your diet one at a time so you can see if you have any sensitivities, I’m not doing that part...done that already.
The main guidelines we are following are:
1) Breakfast- scrambled eggs with meat and veggies (doesn't take long) or Smoothie with fruit, almond milk, vegan protein powder, ground flaxseed & spinach
2) Snacks- cheese, raw nuts (no limit), Greek yogurt, smaller smoothie, boiled eggs
3) Lunch- Salad or raw veggies and hummus, chicken or fish
5) Steamed or raw veggies with lots of protein (fish, chicken) avocados, salad, and lettuce leaf tacos
6) Evening- green tea

I am proud to say that I have not had a craving all week! Nick on the other hand would have given his left arm for some bread by Wednesday so he had a small portion of rice noodles with a meat sauce but then was fine! I have felt amazing this week, even with an insane work day wed (7:30am-9pm) I had lots of energy and focus. Also, NO BLOATING!! And a pretty cool side effect is I’m down 2lbs, so wont complain about that either.
This is definitely a commitment and not done easily so if you are thinking about it make sure you have time to plan your meals. I did a big shop on Monday for all our meat/fish, nuts, and avocados to make sure we were stalked up or we would crash and burn.
So YAY for week #1 on my Wheat Freedom adventure, I’ll keep you posted on how it goes each week.

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