Wheat Belly Week Three

I’m happy to say that I am still sticking to the diet!  I have had no wheat at all this week and no other grains, except for the corn chips.  Still a no no.  My weight has gone down a bit, but what I think is better than that, is that my belly is shrinking.  Mind you, I am still doing the T-Zone Vibration for 12 minutes a day, as well as the stretches.  I have also added the 2 lb. weights to my leg raises and I’m doing some work with the free weights for my arms.

All in all, the fatigue isn’t as bad this week as it was last week, but not as good as it was the first week.  So, we’ll see what next week brings.

This week, I get to find out about my raise and bonus.  I am so very fortunate to be working in the private sector and be getting raises, as I know that so many others haven’t seen raises for a while.  My review with my boss was good, so my bonus and raise should also be good.  I don’t know if I will get the promotion that my boss is fighting for, but we’ll see.  Our HR rep doesn’t care much for me, so I know that the promotion would be a tough sell.  Not everyone appreciates you telling it like it is, oh well.

Next week will also be the anniversary of when Cavan and I moved in together. It will be twelve years.  The time has gone by so fast.  We’ll have to celebrate at a restaurant where I can find something to eat!  So many have unknown sauces and things, but I’m sure we’ll find somewhere.

I’m also looking forward to seeing Blythe Spirit at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Tuesday night, with my dear friend Viv.  It is actually my Christmas present to her and it sounds like a great show.

So, all of my blog friends, have a wonderful week.  The next time I blog, it will be March first!  Another week closer to spring.  I am so looking forward to seeing green again, and the colors in the garden, as well.  We are now into Lent, as well.  God bless!

Wheat Belly Week Two

So, the weight isn’t falling off and I’m back to being tired again, but not as bad as I was before.  I was down 6.4 lbs., but then went up.  I think I have an issue with peanuts, although I bought the dry roasted, as suggested in the book.  Friday night, I also indulged in nachos and I know that we should only have corn very occasionally.  Perhaps Friday wasn’t the occasion!

So, continuing on with the wheat belly diet and trying to do better this week.  I stocked up on salmon and pork at the grocery store yesterday and have beef and chicken at home.  I always keep lots of frozen veggies on hand, so this week should be better.  I had already stocked up on cans of tuna and salmon, so let’s see how this week goes!

On a side note, I had dinner with my daughters on Tuesday evening this past week.  I didn’t want to go into the city for Family Day, as the weather is so unpredictable and I had to be in the city for work.  I was very careful with my choices at the restaurant.  Alysse ordered spring rolls as an appetizer, so I let her have those and I ate the beet garnish.  I then had a 4 oz. fillet with root veggies.  Very tasty.

Yesterday was St. Valentine’s Day and my honey took me out to dinner. I had lamb with beets and carrots and I had a few forks full of the rice.  I find that I do get full a lot quicker than I did.  Cavan ordered carrot cake and I did have a little of that—very bad!  I shall do better this week.  It is much easier when you don’t go out to dinner.

I think that I shall also try baking with the ‘flour’ that I made from the wheat belly cookbook.  I’m interested in seeing what it tastes like.

It’s a short week this week, with Family Day tomorrow.  I’m only in the city on Tuesday, so it should be easy to stick with the diet.  I’m doing a roast (so leftovers!) and also a stew (I had this huge hunk of beef, so I’m dividing it into stewing chunks and a roast).  So, I can freeze that and have some leftovers from that as well.

Perhaps planning ahead will help out!

Wheat Belly

It has now been a full week on the wheat belly diet.  I have lost 5.5 lbs. I’m feeling pretty good, better than I have for a while and I am sleeping well.  How much of that is the placebo effect and how much of that is real, it is too early to tell, but I can tell you for sure that I am not hungry, but then I am eating a lot.

I knew I had to make some changes in my life to try to get back some energy and stop needing to sleep so much.  It was such a major effort to get through a week of work.  I have had the MS for 21 years, and I truly count my blessings because I am still upright.  I have done better than many of my MS friends, but I was hoping to do better still.  The MS still makes it a challenge to work full-time.

I am now working only four day weeks, though, which my boss agreed to.  Last year I started my 9/80 program where I work 9 hour days Monday through Thursday, work 8 hours that first Friday and don’t work the second Friday because I will have already done my 80 hours for the two weeks.  I have 6 weeks of vacation and 12 scheduled days off (SDOs)—one per month.  So, I now take an SDO or vacation day for that first Friday, getting me down to 4 day weeks, each day being 9 hour days.  Having said that, I often work even 10 or more hours a day, when I work from home which I do usually three of those four days.

Armed with my four day week and this wheat belly diet, I know I’ll get through the next year and into retirement.

I’m not exercising much.  I don’t have much time or energy for that, but I get on my T-Zone vibration machine for 12 minutes and do stretches.  I want to move up to working with the weights—cardio is a bit of a challenge, since my legs don’t move well.  I do have an elliptical, a recumbent bike and a bow flex, so when I retire, I’ll have more time to make use of those, too.

This week, I need to be in the office three days in a row and when that happens, I stay in the city with a dear friend of mine, Viv.  That way, I still only drive into, and out of, the city once.

So, folks, I’ll blog again next week about how the wheat belly thing is going,  I need to work on adding some supplements, like iron, magnesium and iodine, and I’ll get to that soon.

Have a great week!

Something New

I think I really rambled on (and on!) in my last blog and didn’t even really get to a point, sorry about that.  You might ask if I actually had a point there somewhere because I certainly did not articulate it! I think I just wanted to say that ‘let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’ 

None of us here on earth are totally without sin, so we have no right to judge others for what they do or say, or wear, or look like.  I certainly am not covered in tattoos or piercings, but who am I to judge those who are? Appearance isn't even a good measure or character—‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ as the saying goes.

So, finally let’s move on to something else I can rattle on about....................

I have just bought into this ‘Wheat Belly’ thing.  I have collected books related to it for a couple of years now and thought it was finally time to read them!  That coupled with the fact that I know that I feel better when I stay off wheat, I thought I should finally do something about it.  So, I have begun to be cautious about wheat, but starting tomorrow, I plan to drop all whole grains including rice and oats.

This shall be a challenge, but I need to give it a try.  What I read about it, tells me about wheat and other grains leading to things as unrelated as IBS, dementia, iron deficiency, sleep apnea and arthritis.  Scary isn't it?

Leaving the grains behind is just a mindset change.  Of course, I am also hoping for the weight loss that should come with it, but I will be the most happy with just feeling better and not having to sleep so much.

The book says to stick with one ingredient foods.  How difficult can that be?  I even picked up the recipe book, which will add a few interesting things to the menu.  I’ll see how it goes.  The nice thing I like about it is that except for grains, there are no other restrictions.  It will be very different for a starch eater like me, but I need to do something,

So, next week, I shall report back on how I am doing and how I am feeling, if you wish to ‘tune in’ next week and find out.

Happy February, every one!