Gluten-Free Bread Lover

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:

1. 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)

2. Remember your specific motivation for going gluten-free

3. 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?