For years I have been aware of the impact that wheat has been having on my health and I have finally decided to take the plunge and experiment with a month of giving up wheat. Follow the highs (and possibly lows!) of my journey as I give up gluten. I’ll be sharing the physical and emotional impact, as well as plenty of simple, healthy, delicious wheat free recipes.
Why Give Up Wheat?
To be honest, I hardly ever eat ‘normal wheat’ – it gives me stomach cramps and makes me feel bloated. But over recent months I have felt strongly that I needed to go further – and my chiropractor agreed. He’s fed up of treating my pancreas, which suffers from the insulin-producing roller coaster that wheat intolerance can fuel.
I didn’t want to make the change while I was pregnant (detoxing whilst expecting is not a great idea). But now that bubba is here, I was fast running out of excuses.
Although there was plenty of raw stuff in my diet, it was combined with regular (daily) helpings of gluten-containing foods, such as spelt pasta, porridge oats, rye flakes and homemade sourdough (rye & spelt) bread.
It was safe to say I was almost as addicted to the bread as I am to my morning coffee, which is a common symptom of wheat intolerance.
Ironically, if wheat has a negative impact on your body, you crave it more! (I’ll be blogging about that in coming weeks).
But the thought of ‘giving up’ my remaining sources of wheat and gluten felt too much like hard work.
What kicked me over the edge?
Two things:
- The arrival of bubba reminded me how challenging interrupted sleep patterns can be and increased my now-familiar ‘brain fog’. I felt I had to do something to maximise my energy levels and improve my mental clarity, sooner rather than later.
- I ‘stumbled across’ (don’t you love synchronicity?!) Wheat Belly by William Davis MD
. Once I had read it, there was no turning back. (I’ll be doing a full review of it for you in coming weeks).
So I did my homework about how to keep my diet optimally healthy – plenty of fresh vegetables, sprouted seeds and raw nuts, unsurprisingly – and then set a date for ‘Day Zero’ – my official ‘Decision Day’ and last day of munching pizza and bread. 😉
Decision Day
This is a really important step in making the shift to giving up wheat.
Unless you have truly decided to make a change, you are much less likely to succeed.
Why?
Because you’re not fully committed to it.
How can you tell if you’ve made a committed decision?
If your decision has words like ‘have to’, ‘should’, ‘must’ or ‘can’t’, then it’s been made from a position of obligation, rather than freedom, and your words and telling you that you’re not fully committed.
“All choices made from a place of freedom create more freedom.” ~ James Twyman
Conversely, all choices made from a place of obligation create more obligation.
Can You See The ‘Future You’?
I can feel that this challenge will work, because I can already visualise the ‘future me’, with more energy, brighter skin, clearer eyes and a healthier body.
This helps because whenever I might feel tempted to eat something with gluten in, all I have to do is ask myself whether that choice would move me closer towards or further away from that ‘future me’.
Then it becomes a conscious choice, rather than auto-pilot.
Why 30 Days?
30 days is long enough for the body to detox most of the negative impacts of wheat, if you are intolerant. It’s long enough for the body to start reaching balance and for you to notice a clear difference.
For me, it’s nothing to do with the old ’30 days to break a habit’ – it’s about giving my body the time it needs to prove whether or not this new habit is for its highest good. 🙂
(Want to know how long it takes to break a habit?)
Why Am I Sharing This?
I’m hoping that, by sharing what I learn on this wheat-free journey, I’ll be able to inspire others who are considering taking the leap. I’m also hoping you might offer me some encouragement, via the comments boxes.
It will also help me to hold myself accountable, should I feel tempted to jump off the wagon 😉
So farewell to all things glutinous for at least a while. And hello to feeling healthier, more energised and free from the roller-coaster of eating wheat.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or just want to offer some moral support, I’d love to hear from you, via the comments box!
And if you’d like to share your personal healthy eating journey with like-minded people, how about joining in with our Raw Food Forum? There’s a whole discussion area for getting started and making this kind of change in your diet.
Not a member yet? It’s part of our Soul-Sized Living online community and it’s free to join. Register today.
With love, Clare x
