I love bread. I love cereal. I love pasta and grains! Why would I choose to go gluten-free?
I watched my Ma lose 60 pounds when she maintained a gluten-free diet. I still ate a bowl of cereal every morning for breakfast.
I read Wheat Belly, a compelling book written by a cardiologist from Wisconsin who argues that modern-day wheat is the cause of many medical ailments in addition to obesity. I still ate a sandwich for lunch every day.
I signed up in January 2013 with a personal trainer named Megan K., who challenges her clients to lose fat. That’s when I went gluten-free.
Let’s start with the basics. I don’t need to go gluten-free. I am not allergic, or intolerant, or suffering from a mysterious ailment that does not respond to treatments. Megan is not some hard-core trainer who screams that I need to “put the bread down”.
My goal is to experiment with a gluten-free life. Basically, I want to see how long I can go without eating my beloved bread.
For those of you who are thinking that’s a recipe for disaster, think again. This is how I began my weight loss journey of 100 pounds over a decade ago. I wanted to experiment with a new way of eating back then, too. I still haven’t looked back.
It took me two weeks of overall grumpiness and frustration before I manifested some of the benefits of cutting out bread. So far, I have lost 6 pounds, 3% body fat, and the grumpiness of “dough withdrawal”. I also have a different energy level.
In order to avoid bread, you have to have a lot of patience and a bit of creativity.
Here are my 3 best tips for those bread lovers who are willing to try:
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Find go-to meals that take the work out of building your new meals (i.e., Amy’s Light and Lean entrees, Garden Lites, Kind Bars or Pamela’s Whenever Bars, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, fruit, raw veggies, nuts, etc)
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Remember your specific motivation for going gluten-free
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Don’t demonize bread! If you obsess over a piece of bread, just eat it!
Only time will tell if I will completely adopt the gluten-free lifestyle. They say that new habits are adopted within 21 days. I have lasted for about one month.
What change can you make in your lifestyle, even if only for one month?
w8lesschronicles 