I never got around to posting further about my experiment cutting out wheat in January. Part of the problem is that I haven't yet tried to reintroduce wheat (yes I am aware that it is now the middle of March) and the rest of the problem is that I just have too many conflicting thoughts about the subject of food. But my purpose for blogging, other than to have fun, is to share my food experiences and perhaps "talking" through our current situation here will be helpful.
The dynamics of food for my family is complex, let me begin with some up to date introductions.
Me: Nursing (avoiding dairy, peanuts, most soy and spicy food for that reason) also trying out wheat-free/low sugar/low grains since the first of the year to see if I feel differently or the extra pounds melt away and I suddenly have Heidi Klum's physique. I want to lose some weight in a healthy way but gnerally, I want to eat real, whole foods from good, known sources and mostly seasonal and local. Of course, I also really love to bake and baking without wheat is interesting but not nearly as fun, or as easy.
John (hubbie): Off dairy and wheat for sinus issues/general health/weight, he flip flops between paleo and carb cycling (I think of the latter as paleo with regular cheating.)
Alex (my eight year old): Dairy allergic, tests low for peanut and peas but still has contact reactions so we avoid them. In the past six months, I've been trying to get soy out of his diet (especially the fake dairy processed evil) and lowering his wheat intake because we're concerned that he has digestive issues that may be wheat related. Also we've been lowering sugar, increasing nutrient dense foods. He's a serious ice cream addict.
Penny (will be one in a week!): Very interested in food (way more than Alex at this age), has so far had rice, corn, eggs, meats, fruits, vegetables, potato and beans. Has not had nuts, soy, coconut, or dairy, yet. Has had wheat but only in communion. She loves bacon, raspberries and rutabaga.
When January came to an end, I was eating no sugar, only a little fruit and for the last two weeks of the month no grains. Instead of going ahead and having a slice of real bread to kick off February I decided to try making a gluten-free sandwich bread mix I had been saving. This resulted in major overindulging-- half the loaf in a day! I then craved carbs like crazy even though I tried to go back to my low sugar/grain-free diet. That was followed by the whole house getting sick and me personally knocked down for over a week. As soon as I felt better I pushed myself to get back to exercising at least five days a week and started doing Weight Watchers lower carb and still kept wheat-free. The exercise made me feel great and the WW wasn't too bad and I lost a few pounds. Then Daylight Saving time hit me like a ton of bricks.
A baby with a sleep schedule all screwy, a whiny older brother, the hour in the morning that I use to exercise and keep things tidy-ish lost, and to top it off I weighed in and gained a half a pound. This last week was a bit discouraging and a lot exhausting and I felt like I was losing the game of catchup in spite of all my best efforts.
So I can't make up my mind about what to do about wheat and grains and our food in general. More than anything I'd like to introduce dairy in my diet (cheese is way more tempting than bread) but with Penny nursing that thought is anxiety inducing. I don't believe that I can control whether she has food allergies but I can't stand thinking if I try dairy and she's fussy how do I know if it's the food?
Since I can't make up my mind the plan for now is to keep up with the lower carb WW and stay on my exercise routine. Oh and somehow I'd like to find a way to take a long vacation somewhere warm and sunny, with no snow and green things growing.. someplace with beaches and fruity cocktails... That I'll have to make myself because I don't want that garbage, sugar filled mix-- Man, I'm ruining my own daydream!