Gonna try it gluten-free

I am embarking on a 30 day gluten-free trial starting Sunday.  I’m debating adding sugar-free to it as well. But what will be left to eat? I currently live on bread and pasta and fruit.

Perhaps that’s the problem.

I was a skinny and active kid, but ever since I started university at the age of 17 and a half I have struggled with a slow but steady weight gain.

First it was studying and working part-time alongside a sudden cessation of all physical activity besides writing notes and term papers – at least my fingers got a great workout.

Next it was the food in Mac Hall and whatever I could cram in on the run between classes and jobs.

Then came the boyfriend with a sweet tooth, and my own spending money so I could eat out if I felt like it (this was always a huge treat growing up so I went a little wild).

Next came marriage: merging cooking styles with a husband who has no problem saying “No thanks, I’m full” and us both loving to eat out.

The final nail in the coffin had to be four pregnancies, depression eating – especially after two consecutive miscarriages, and exhaustion with jobs and two young kids. I never seemed to get back into that active lifestyle I once loved.

Now I am at my heaviest weight ever – even when compared to my pregnancies – and I am miserable.

Aside from the desire for weight loss is the desire to find the source of my constant digestive difficulties.  My husband, family, and friends would also love it if I could find a cure for this little (or sometimes not so little) socially-challenging side effect of eating.

Due largely to the last factor, I am going to attempt 30 days gluten-free and see if that makes a difference. Barb Thomas of Love 2 Eat wrote an article for The Calgary Beacon  that clarified some of the mystery around the gluten thing ( You’re gluten free- are you stress free too? ). It made sense to me that the increase in gluten problems can partially be boiled down to the fact that we eat the same thing all the time.

But what else is there if you cut out wheat and/or gluten? 

I’m going to find out. I have a feeling I have a lot to learn.

Any tips or tricks to make this easier and successful?  I’d love to hear from you!

A Healthier Me