1st Wheat Filled Meal

I encountered my first wheat filled meal this weekend - and it looks like I was able to come away fed and unscathed! 

We had a sweethearts supper at our Church this weekend and TR and I had not planned on going.  For one thing - and in my mind the biggest thing - is that he might end up working and I sure didn't want to go alone!

Turns out he had the whole weekend off and they had a few tickets left, so very last minute we planned to go.

Being last minute we didn't have a chance to make sure the menu would be agreeable for us.  We were told it would be Parmesan chicken and pasta.  I figured I would be able to have the chicken and surely there would be salad right?

What I forgot is that parmesan chicken is often breaded!  So I had to scrape the bread off the chicken :(  And the salad was a caesar's salad which really isn't all that filling once the croutons are in your husbands bowl :(

But thankfully I am not celiac and I don't have a major sensitivity to wheat.  I was able to scrape the bread off and eat the chicken and still enjoy the meal.

I have to say that it is a bit of an uncomfortable experience to be picking at a meal and appearing to be very picky in front of people that don't know why I'm leaving so much food on my plate, and why I'm putting some of my food on TR's plate.  Some at the table knew that I can't eat wheat anymore, but there were two couples that wouldn't have known.

Oh well . . . at least there was something I could eat and I was able to enjoy a wonderful night out with my sweetheart - our very first celebration of valentines day!  He has always been working in the past, even while we were dating, so this was an exciting first! :)

152! & Wheat Loss

I had my first prenatal today.

The very best part?

Hearing my baby's heartbeat :)  152 beats per minute.

*sigh*  I could listen to that sound for hours . . .

~*~

On another note that I think is pretty cool is that I wore pants the other day that didn't fit me 3 weeks ago.  Strange don't you think?  In a normal pregnancy you gain weight and clothes become tighter - not looser!

Not that I'm trying to lose weight by any means!

A few weeks ago I noticed that I could only wear my pants comfortably if the button was undone.  That was highly annoying and so I just resorted to leaving them in the drawer.  I'm not actually big enough for maternity clothes yet so I've just been wearing looser fitting skirts.

The other day I was really wanting to wear pants and since I was just going to be at home I figured what did it matter if I had to have the button undone all day?

I didn't have to undo the button once!

So instead of gaining inches around my middle - it seems to me that I've lost instead!  I haven't been sick.  I've been eating like normal - except . . .

Except for wheat.  I haven't eaten wheat in about a month.  If you do any research on it, lots of people say that they lose weight - and specifically inches around the waist by abandoning wheat.  And that is what I believe happened to me.  It's not to say the pants were loose on me all of a sudden - because they weren't, but they certainly were not as tight as they had been.

Certainly not the reason I gave up on wheat, but a cool side effect anyway :)  

When You Hear One Thousand Voices

Okay, so maybe it's not a thousand - but it certainly seems that way!  Who exactly are you to follow when so many are calling out?

One.

Only One.

Only His.  God's voice.

When I first began what I would call a health journey nearly three years ago it was for the sole purpose of restoring my husbands body.  It began with prayer and seeking the Lord and waiting and following His directions.  Over time I read more and more books, encountered dozens of different perspectives on health and what that entails, and began to realize that not only was my husbands health important but so was mine and so was my childrens.  Areas that used to be clear became fuzzy and blurred.  This one says to eat lots of fat, this one says to not eat pork, this one says that even rice is unhealthy, this one says it's okay to heat olive oil, this one says it's unhealthy to heat olive oil.  After a while my head was spinning and I have to admit that learning was becoming a chore and quite stressful!

I have recently realized that I need to go back to the beginning.  Back to that moment by my kitchen sink and put it all back into my Father's hands.  He knows me.  He knows my body and that of my family.  He made us after all!  It's time I once again asked Him for wisdom and discernment amidst all the different ideas and health advice. 

Ultimately I don't think that we were placed here for the sole purpose of being healthy.  God has used a lot of sick people on earth to do mighty things for eternity, and He has often used illness as a way to bring about change and spiritual healing in a persons life.  I do think that He wants us to be healthy and care for our bodies and not treat them with little care.  I would never feed my new baby a junk diet and I don't believe that God wants us to feed ourselves that way either.  But at the same time if it becomes my all consuming passion and all else is forsaken in my pursuit of the "perfect" health diet for us I think I am missing the mark.  I will never find the perfect health diet here on earth.  Perfection will only come in heaven (I can hardly wait!!!).  In heaven I will not have to question if the beef on my (wheat-free) bun was grain fed and mistreated, I will not have to eye those cherries and weigh the benefit of the fruit to the risks of the chemicals it contains. 

I recently read the passage in Matthew where Jesus says "Do not worry about what you will eat or drink or what you will wear", "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well" in a totally new light.  I have been worrying about it.  I have been worrying about the food I'm eating and feeding my family.  I have been stressing about it and overwhelmed.  And it's time I once again placed it all at His feet and sought His righteousness first.  Sought His kingdom first.

So what should you do if you are needing to be healthier?  If you are unsure of whose advice to follow and what to feed your family?  I think that you should pray.  Pray and seek Him.  Our Father knows what we need. 

Making Changes

After Christmas I began to notice that I was having frequent stomach pains.  All I wanted was hot baths and a heating pad when that was over.  I began to wonder if I might be reacting to something that I was eating.  The first thing I took out was wheat and I noticed a difference almost right away.  After a few days of no wheat I was really missing my morning toast.  Eggs without toast and oatmeal without toast is like tea without honey :)  So I decided that if wheat was making me sick than perhaps I could still have wheat if it was fermented first.  So I made this overnight bread and enjoyed it very much with my oatmeal.  It didn't take very long, maybe an hour or so and I was having the pains again.  Over the course of the day it got worse so that by the time the kiddos were in bed I was in the tub again.  I love a good bath, but this was getting a little ridiculous!  Toast with my breakfast is not worth a day of pain.

So it has been almost a week now since I've had wheat and while I still miss that option, I am feeling better.  I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that I have more energy, but it is actually a possibility.  I have not been drinking kambucha lately as it was turning my stomach a little and my energy levels have been pretty high considering I'm still in my first trimester.  So maybe the lack of wheat is helping in more ways than one.  I'm not sure if this is a permanent thing or if pregnancy is just making me extra sensitive, but maybe it is the kick I need to remove more wheat from our diet.

So for breakfast I've been having soaked oatmeal or eggs.  I tried this zucchini date bread this morning and while it's not awful it's not exactly something I'd jump out of bed for either.  Maybe I'll try to toast it tomorrow and see if that helps.  Otherwise I haven't really missed wheat too much.  I often make the kids and I gluten free pancakes - we've been eating them that way for months - so I can still enjoy those.  We often eat rice noodles instead of wheat. The other day I made gluten free wraps that I've made a few times already.  I'm guessing it'll be just like how it's been for TR - easy enough at home, it's when you go visiting that it becomes a problem. 

I am so very thankful that I found the connection between the wheat and my stomach pains so quickly - and also that I live in this day.  A generation ago most people didn't even know you could be unable to digest wheat.  There weren't even that many other options.  I have so many options for replacements in my diet and there are so many resources (like the library!!) for learning. 

Results and Raspberries

While we have been waiting for a local naturalpath doctor to come home from vacation TR went in and got some blood work done.  He had quite a few tests done on his blood and last week (or was it 2 weeks ago? . . . ) he went in for the results.  And they all came back normal.  The only thing that showed up was a slight dairy allergy - which we weren't surprised about at all.  He didn't show any signs of being allergic to wheat.  So now we just keep waiting and see if the naturapath can find anything, although I am a little suspicious that his problem might be in the gluten free flour mix I was using . . . I hope not!  But it is quite possible.  Until then I haven't been using the gluten free flours for anything that TR will be eating unless I know he's had it before without a reaction.  For example: he reacted to the cookies so no cookies, but the gluten free brownies were fine, so I've still made those.

We picked raspberries again yesterday and it might be the last time.  I have to say it would be nice to have a break from picking but it has been such a huge blessing!  We have so much in the freezer, I've dehydrated some, I've made some fruit leather, I've canned some juice, I've fermented some (more about the fermenting in another post :)  I am so thankful that my Mom has so many bushes and so little use for them herself :)  And I am also very thankful that my kids have been doing so well when I go out there.  My Mom has often been working when we've been there and the kids have just entertained themselves.  Fresh berries, grown local and organic  - for free!  We absolutely love raspberries and now we can enjoy them all winter long too.

Today I am really hoping to make sauerkraut! I bought 2 big cabbages from the farmers market and I think today is the day :)  My Mom gave me a stone crock used for fermenting vegetables that was my Grandma's and I am so excited to use it! I don't like sauerkraut to be quite honest.  But that's besides the point!  It is healthy and if I make myself eat it maybe I will grow to like it?  I didn't grow up eating sour or fermented foods and I really have to say that I can hardly even swallow yogurt.  BUT maybe I can learn to like it.  I hope!!