For the last few weeks, I've fallen back on easy - I've been eating more microwave meals, fast food, and creamsicles, which is odd since I've barely ever bought icecream to keep at home, but I guess the heat got to me. I experienced a power outage, about 9 hours, and if I'd followed the recommendations of the FDA's website, I'd have discarded everything in my refrigerator/freezer, which held a significant (for me) amount of meat, eggs, and dairy - a good two weeks' worth. So while I considered the contradicting testimonies on the forums populated by regular folk (if it doesn't smell bad, eat it), I dined on meals from Taco Bell and Wendy's. The weather forecasts have been full of warnings and watches about possible storms, which could lead to more power outages, and my logic told me that the preservatives in microwave meals would leave them much less likely to spoil during an outage.
So I gained a couple of pounds. I'm still 10 pounds ahead (that is, lighter than when I started), but the scale can sure bring a person down.
In the meantime, I found out about this book, Wheat Belly.
It's not really a difficult read, and it's not actually as repetitive as other weight-loss books I've read. I'm glad I bought it, though, because everything didn't sink in on the first read, so I'll need to reference it, at least until I get myself wheat-free.
Sometimes, especially in the weight-loss area, things are too good to be true. But Dr. Davis has me believing, if he hasn't completely won me over, because in looking back at what I was eating in the first 12 weeks since I decided to eat "healthier," a whole lot of what I'd reduced in my diet was wheat. I did not plan this.
I'd been grossed out at the thought of eating breads after reading about a dough conditioner, L-cysteine; depending on who you believe, the majority of the world's supply of L-cysteine may or may not be derived from human hair, as some sources claim it's usually created with duck feathers. Mom used to say that if you thought about where everything came from, you'd starve to death, but something about L-cysteine really turned me against most breads, and I'd even toyed with the idea of baking my own. But it's summer, and baking would make the house too hot, so I'd shopped for breadmakers yet wasn't satisfied with enough of the reviews to actually purchase a cheap one. I had just mostly quit bread, although I occasionally bought a store-baked loaf that didn't list the dreaded ingredient on its label.
I had also greatly reduced my pasta intake by decreasing my reliance on microwave meals. Those things really are mostly pasta, but until reading Dr. Davis' book, I hadn't realized that even without the pasta, one of the many additives in processed food is wheat. Wheat is pervasive. It is in canned creamy soups. It is added to a variety of products to add fiber, or fortify it with "whole grains."
I'm still not clear on a lot of this stuff. While reading the book, I was reminded of the Atkins (aka FATkins) Diet, and while I know there are differences, I don't have those down yet. I found a comparison here: http://diet.pikimal.com/vs/atkins-diet/wheat-belly-diet#side-by-side-comparison
I'm having a particularly tough time with the gluten-free versus wheat-free aspects.
One thing I've learned is that Budweiser beer is wheat-free. http://www.wheat-free.org/is-budweiser-beer-wheat-free.html Apparently, Budweiser briefly offered a wheat beer, but decided that such a "craft" beer wasn't in line with their marketing of their products as fun (http://adage.com/article/news/bud-light-killed-golden-wheat-created-platinum-lime-a-rita/234582/) Beer is an important food group for me.
It really can't hurt to try it, can it? I know Atkins was criticized when its creator suffered a heart attack, but really, he was 72 years old.
Now, I must shop for nuts.
No comments:
Post a Comment