Wheat-free Ponderings and Possible Cleanse

I am now back to 202.8lb, so down 5.4lb from that super swollen weigh-in two weeks ago.  Ever since I reported the next day that the severe burning joint pain was gone, it has remained so, and I am grateful.  I have eaten no wheat for two weeks, and very little refined sugar.  I was exercising regularly until I caught a cold/strep at the family reunion last week, since then I've most been in bed with no appetite, so I'm sure that has helped a bit, although part of my recent diet has included Menchee's frozen non-fat yogurt and some delicious raw honey, all for throat soothing purposes.  Today I'm hoping to stroll a bit to get my lymph moving again; I will also do a focused colorpuncture treatment on myself to obtain lymph draining effects.

I toy with the idea of a cleanse and summer is a good time to do it.  It would probably be helpful to help clear out the remainder of this lingering illness (along with continued journaling and expressing).  I've done a few cleanses in the past.  The parasite cleanse with Dr. Mikio Sankey's parasite cleanse herbs and clean diet was exceptionally helpful for gaining clarity and insight, and removing both physical and emotional toxicities.  If I wanted to explore more of the diet-related allergy related toxicities, I might pursue the cleanse in The False Fat Diet, which is an elimination diet, for awhile, and then add foods back into the diet one by one while noting any reactions, such as congestion, or digestive issues, etc.  There is also the liver/gallbladder cleanse or the Ultra Clear liver cleanse.  I am leaning, at this moment, toward the parasite cleanse since I can still eat a healthy and clean diet, and I have the herbs on hand.  My brain and mind a slowly coming back on board from the illness knockout, so soon I'll be able to decide if this is appropriate for me, and then take action.

As for the wheat sensitivity, I am both excited and dismayed to have isolated one of the culprits of the severe joint pain I was experiencing.  Excited because the pain is virtually gone, and I know what caused it, and dismayed because wheat can be a difficult thing to eliminate from the diet and avoid in the general public.  When we were in the Tetons last week, eating out at one of the resort lodges, I was excited to obtain their gluten-free menu, and super excited when I saw that they had sandwiches available made with Udi's whole grain gluten-free bread.   Udi's is a bakery in Denver, and I often consume their ready-made fresh sandwiches and delicious salads purchased from local health food stores.  They now have a restaurant in Arvada (and other places around Colorado), which we are looking forward to trying.  Thankfully, companies like Udi's are making these products which saves me lots of bread-making experimental time that I can focus on other creative endeavors.  For more about Udi's check out: Udi's Food.  

At the reunion I worked around the wheat thing by making sure I had enough non-wheat foods to gnaw on.  My main intention for the trip was to stay within the DASH diet guidelines, and remain wheat-free.  I made lasagna for the reunion, with the whole kit-n-kaboodle of wheat noodles, eggs, cheese, sausage, etc., which is one of my favorite recipes, however it doesn't work for those of us who are wheat-free, or those of us who are meat-free, like Richard.  

My solution for lasagna night:  quinoa spiral noodles (I was on a big search for quinoa lasagna noodles - to no avail yet) mixed with Italian spiced tomato sauce, fat-free cottage cheese, a bit of grated parmesan cheese and mozzarella, and some Egg Beaters stirred and cooked in.  It was actually pretty tasty, and I didn't feel as though I was missing out on the lasagna at all.  I know my body was very, very happy to not have to contend with the extra calories and high saturated fat food.  I did consume several glasses of red wine that evening, which seemed to exacerbate my increasing sore throat and illness, so I refrained for the rest of the gathering, and since.

My plan is to continue on, possibly modifying the DASH diet to reflect the requirements of the parasite cleanse (no alcohol, no refined sugar/wheat, no caffeine, decreased dairy - and eating organic fruits and vegetables, and whole grains and clean proteins).  

I am glad to be feeling better, finally, and anticipating feeling even more energized as the days go by.  I am looking forward to when the scale decides that it can register under 200 lb for me.  :-)  I will post the details of the parasite cleanse soon.

Blessings and Great Joy in the meantime!

2-5-2011 Wheat-Free

The Week's Stats:

Weight: 205.0 lb, loss for week is 1.6 lb, and total loss is 6.2 lb. since 1/1/11.

This is more like it.  After last week's blog I spent the next few days pondering what to do with my suspected food sensitivities.  I knew I didn't have time or energy to revamp my entire diet to start in on an allergy elimination diet, but I knew something needed to change.  My intuition kept telling me to check into a gluten-free diet.  Even that would take a whole lot of effort and planning, and in the midst of the pharmacy school semester, I did not want to make too many changes to what I was already doing.  I did actually decide that February was going to be "gluten-free", but what did I do the first morning of February 1?  I ate steel cut oats for breakfast, which, of course, have their own gluten.  Noticing my frustration with myself, my hubby, Richard, suggested that maybe instead of ALL gluten, maybe just eliminate wheat products, since those are the most allergenic for most people.  That made the most sense of all.  That way I could still have my healthy steel cut oats, and just be super mindful of the wheat products around me and not eat them. Being a vegetarian, Richard isn't too keen on wheat-, or gluten-free, which is fine.  We stocked up on gluten-free breads at Whole Foods (and got him a loaf of wheat bread to gnaw on).  I am so grateful to live in an era where these products are available.  

Thus, for the last four days, I have not had any wheat products.   I've also kept to no refined sugar, and no dairy (except for my Wallaby yogurts), including cheese, one of my favorite and worst dietary culprits.  I do have to say, that even after just four wheatless days, my body feels far less bloated, far less gassy, and "cleaner".  Also, the cardiac exercise seemed easier.   Interesting.  I'm going to give "wheat-free" a month, and see if it gets even better and better, or if there might be something else I need to eliminate.  I'll call this the Reverse Elimination Diet.  I am also pondering doing a cleanse over Spring Break in March, to clear even further.  There's no way I'll do something like that while I have so much homework and studying to do.  I am also surprised by how easy it is to not eat wheat products.  Of course we haven't eaten out yet to face that wheat-free challenge.

The exercise has been good, with the Gazelle elliptical 45 minutes 4 mornings this week.  Last weekend we went on a couple of 4 mile walks.  The weather was not compatible for outdoor walks this week due to -15 degree temps and lower with wind chill and snow, so all of the exercise was indoors.   I'm sure I burned lots of calories just staying warm.  We did our Five Tibetans for about half of the week, until my left wrist/thumb started to feel jammed and bruised, perhaps to doing yoga in the cold house.  So I am resting my hand, and doing the yoga I can without weight bearing on my wrists.  

We continue to read a Course in Miracles lesson each day for our meditation study, so that is still in alignment with my goals.  I have done absolutely NO EFT this week.  There just hasn't seemed to be a need.  I really haven't experienced cravings, or emotional addictions, even with eliminating the wheat, it is almost as if my body is sighing a great big "THANK YOU!"   The possibility for doing EFT is always in my mind.

I'm looking forward to another successful week.   I am excited I weigh 15 pounds fewer than early last August, and I am encouraged that I am on a great track!