Day One

            December 17 was the first day.  Today, December 18, I already feel better.  Especially now that my Internet connection is back.

            Our power was out most of yesterday, and my Internet connection was gone, too.  Thankfully, my brother keeps us partly powered up with a generator.  Being able to run water and flush the toilet are big deals.  So are lights and computer.  A day off laundry wasn’t bad, but I did sorely miss the microwave. 

            All the troubleshooting in the world would not solve the Internet problem, though, until John noticed my router cable was unplugged.  Oops.  Now that I’ve checked my email, read my comics, looked at the forecast for snow, and sent my columns in for the church newsletter, I’m ready to talk about day one:  yesterday was my first wheat-free day.  Perhaps because of the internal rhyme, I like the sound of “wheat-free” better than “gluten-free.”  And if rhyming helps, I’m all for it.

            It is, very likely, too early to tell if this dietary experiment is going to work long-term, but the truth is that I woke up this morning without the usual aches and pains.  I’ve been more than a little discouraged the last six months as pain and fatigue have revisited with a vengeance.  Without the Celebrex to fall back on (Group Health took it off the formulary), it’s been an achy autumn. 

            A long time ago I saw the title Wheat Belly and put my name on the library hold list.  If I remember correctly, over a hundred people had beat me to it, but a week or so ago the book became available.  I devoured it (not literally, of course).  The author’s explanation of the problems with modern-day wheat due to decades of hybridizing made sense to me.  So, driven by desperation, I decided to give up wheat for a month, a big deal for this muffin/cookies/crackers/cake/bread-eating wheat lover.

            Now, along with wheat, the author believes one should also give up sugar, starch, and complex carbohydrates as well as limit fruits in order to stabilize blood sugar levels.  By evening I realized that it was enough for now to give up the wheat.  To succeed with wheat deprivation, I needed a bowl of hot brown rice cereal with two teaspoonfuls of raw cane sugar.  So, yes, I cheated.  (Well, to be thoroughly honest, there was that mid-morning banana and the dinnertime potato.)

            I’m in the process of reading labels and cleaning out my cupboards.  I’ve also purchased such essential ingredients as almond meal, ground flaxseed, and walnut oil.  Grocery shopping has been simultaneously simplified and complicated:  you’ll see me filling my cart with produce, dairy, and lean meats.  (Now is not the time for me to go vegan.) 

I am told that my soul-level craving for carbs will eventually disappear.  Hopefully I’ll pass the test (i.e., the treats) at the church board meeting tonight.  Better pack those raw cashews and unsweetened coconut flakes before I forget.   But now it’s time for lunch:  avocado, alfalfa sprouts, and baby spinach leaves with natural mayo in a flaxseed wrap for me, leftover spaghetti and meatballs for my brother.