Wednesday, January 30, 2013

My First GF (gluten free) update

Well, friends, I have survived almost a week since I started my gluten free (GF) diet. I gave away all of our foods with gluten in them. I gave away most of our sugar and HFCS foods too - because I figured, why not? At the time it seemed like the thing to do. The new doc is pretty radical about sugars and starches (there is a poster in his office that calls soda a "poison." And this is a mainstream doc!) I am also strictly limiting carbs.

After just 4 days I had lost 8 pounds and 3 inches on my waist! Seriously... I had some serious bloating apparently. (Paul has lost 7 pounds, and the big two kids have lost pounds too). Nelson's face is thinning out. I think both Nelson and I are both less irritable. And, I think we are slower-to-anger. No joke, there is a big difference in the amount of annoyedness in our home! (Spellcheck does not think annoyedness is a word. Yes it is. I just made it up.)

But, the biggest news is Lydia! She has not been napping at all!!! She is staying up and playing all day. She still has some gas, but her stools are much more normal (and less frequent).

I am only a little ashamed that I did not give this diet a go before now. But, honestly, I couldn't have done it before. I was not ready. Now I am ready. And, wow!, the cookbook aisle at my library is packed with GF cook books! And, I already have some "raw" cookbooks (so-called un-cookbooks), so I am doing okay.

The first four days went great! But something clicked Sunday night into Monday morning... and now I am struggling. Paul is being our chef - since he is home anyway - so that takes a huge burden off of me. I could not do this without him. He has been the support in my times of what-am-I-going-to-make-for-dinner-panic. (Que the "Wind Beneath my Wings" music.)

Regarding Paul's health - I was wrong about the date of his evaluations. His evaluation with physical therapy was today and his evaluation with the chiropractor is Friday. Then we have our official answer. But, it looks like he will be in another round of therapy and will likely be sent to an orthopedic doctor. No talk of surgery yet. From my perspective, I don't see how he will ever work at UPS again. Some may call this faithless... so, I should clarify. Short of miraculous healing - I do not know how Paul can work with big boxes again. (I'm not exactly an optimist though... so take the above paragraph as you wish.)

To add a depth to this post that I did not intend - let me tell you this: If you want to know who your god is, try losing your job/career, health, comfort foods, caffeine, sugar, etc all in the same month. I told my mom yesterday that I am "glad" that these things have happened, because now we are in a position of leaning solely on the Lord. (And, as a side note, going GF is kind of like fasting for the rest of my life. Right?)

In my weakness - He is made strong. And, when all fleshly comforts are taken away - I know that my Help comes from the Lord.


OH - one more thing - I want everyone one of you to watch the documentary about Billy Graham called Billy Graham: God's Ambassador. It is awesome! If this movie doesn't get you fired up to go where the Lord leads... well, you may need prayer for a softened heart.

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