Moving forward

So what has occurred in the past 40 days since I started eliminating white flour, sugar, and refined processed foods?  A lot of learning.  I had no idea how fascinating the science of food was, and how much there was to know about it, nor how much I did not know!!!  As you know I'm one of those people who when the Lord says, "Go left and walk off that cliff." I respond with "OK left!" and just start walking. I was terrified, and ignorant, but I have seen so many tender mercies of the Lord sustaining me across this chasm that I can't deny His hand in it, and even though I still get discouraged at times because this is tough, He keeps sending me knowledge so I can keep going. 

First tender mercy, the day I decided to stop eating refined flours or any kind my husband brought home a bunch of food for a Brazilian dinner we were hosting for missionary youth. He brought a huge pan of beans, a huge pan of lettuce, and a huge pan of tomatoes, and he complained up and down that the person he ordered it from had made too much food. That "mistake" in food quantities fed me for the next 3 days. I ate beans on salad, tomato soup, and salsa, and all the food was consumed.

Second, I had unknowingly been setting the stage for this change for a long time, so when it came down to it I infused with excitement and optimism, even a passion, for what I was doing which made the "deprivation" and determination to see how this affect me more bearable.  Even my withdrawal symptoms which were really not pleasant made me feel happy inside becuase I felt like I ws finally "cleansing" my body and moving towards healing.  The Lord had inspired me to start writing all my journals on a blog a couple months before this occurred so I already was looking inward at my life and seeing the connections, and I had an outlet and coping mechanism with which to pour out my difficulties and lessons learned. I felt like this was a mission instead of just an experiment.

Third, my dizzy spells went away immediately which indicated to me that I was headed in the right direction. Having dizzy spells is extremely disconcerting, it's hard to feel like everything is OK when the world is spinning at random moments. My chronic headaches stopped, I haven't had a migraine since April 1st, and I haven't had to take any pain killers in 40 days.  Also my grinding of my teeth at night stopped, I don't wear my mouth guard anymore.  Digestive-wise I felt good too, and my weight started dropping, which was not my intention at all but it showed me that a change was occurring and that what I eat definitely affects my digestion.  These positive benefits helped me deal with the physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms.
 
Fourth, guidance in what to learn about food.  I realized a couple weeks into the process that I didn't have enough information to know what was going on biochemically inside me, and this was a disadvantage, because I couldn't tell if my negative symptoms (low energy, feeling trembly, mild head pressure, occasional irritation, and once in a while nausea) were due to what I was eating or what I was not eating, and if it was a step forward in the process or a step back. I also hated telling people I was just sugar intolerant and didn't know why, people don't understand why you would deprive yourself of sourdough bread and lasagna, its not even "sugar." When everyone but me was enjoying those foods that I love love love, it made me wonder why I was doing this! I wanted to know myself. So I went online and tried to find some more literature that would help.  There were a lot of options, but I decided to buy 2 that looked to be from reputable sources and recently written: "The 21 day sugar detox" by a nutritionist, and "The sugar addict's total recovery program" by a substance abuse clinician and PhD.  

I read the detox book first and found many helpful ideas for what to eat, and spent a week preparing for my 21 days off all grains, starches, sugars, and fruits (except green bananas, lemons, limes, green apples and grapefruit).  I found it interesting that my husband fully supported me purchasing a new food processor, $1000 worth of groceries in one month, and giving away and refusing to buy any chips, popcorn, white bread, crackers.  He was aware and probably felt unsettled, but he was with me, and it was a tender mercy of the Lord that he helped me reach this goal. I will talk more about the detox in another entry.
I also purchased a rather pricey course on mental health and nutritional science and supplements and spent many hours taking notes on her work and counsel, which reaffirmed to me over and over that the body can be healed by food, even more so than with medication, and that sugar is harmful and needs to be eliminated from the diet. She also gave me ideas for supplements and introduced me to the idea that everyone has a different metabolic type and oxidized glucose at different rates, which explained a lot of my problems in a way no doctor could ever verbalize to me.  He words helped me understand my mental and physical health and how it was related to my intake.

After the detox, I read the Sugar Addict's recovery program and found further insight into why my body is so sugar sensitive and what areas specifically I need to address with my diet and why, which helped me immensely. I couldn't believe how perfectly the timing was on this book. I had to read the detox first to help me cleanse my body, and the addict book second to help me continue.  It felt like the Lord was truly placing one board of the bridge under my feet exactly when I needed it there to keep me going. I had to keep learning and I will yet keep learning as I keep moving forward.