Going Wheat Free Worked For Me

For as long as I can remember I have spent my life hungry. I mean HUN-GRY! I would sometimes complain to people, "I swear, the more I eat, the more I WANT to eat!"

Somehow I still managed to lose about 120 pounds with this affliction. I increased my protein, water consumption and ate frequent meals and this definitely helped a lot but I would still get these episodes where I would just be a bottomless pit! And it was keeping me from losing the last few pounds.

I really started to take note of when these times occured. And I started to notice a strange pattern. When I had my breakfast with a piece of fruit for my carb, I stayed full way longer. When I had the same exact breakfast with a piece of organic, 100% whole wheat bread, I was starving an hour later (if that) and would get really sleepy!!!

Now, the idea of not eating my whole grains flew in the face of everything I had read on the subject of nutrition (and, let me just say, I've read a LOT). So I did what every modern American does when they are confused about something....I googled it. What I found has changed my life!

I started out by reading the blog of a body builder who talked about how many body builders have to cut out wheat in the weeks prior to a competition to really "lean out". I followed that blog to another site and on that site I fould a link to the book Wheat Belly.

I immediately downloaded the audiobook for Wheat Belly and listened in disbelief to what I was hearing. What? No wheat? But I kept listening and, as I've said in other blogs, I started to believe it because it made sense and those are the things I tend to believe.

So I thought "what do I have to lose" and decided to go a day without wheat. That was quite a few months ago and I've never looked back. Let me stop here. Some people don't understand what wheat is. Many believe when I say I quit eating wheat that I mean whole wheat. They believe I just starting eating white bread. Basically all bread products are wheat (the ones that are not will be touting this clearly on the package because they are probably specifically a wheat substitute). In fact, you'd be surprised how many products contain wheat when you start reading ingredient labels.

I'm not going to go into all the science behind why wheat negatively affects most of the population (although some have much more severe and adverse reactions--like me), I'll just tell you what eliminating it did for me then you can educate yourself if this interests you.

Since I've eliminated wheat:
  • I have lost the 10 pounds to my goal weight with basically no effort or calorie restriction.
  • My stomach has DRASTICALLY flattened! I mean DRASTICALLY and almost right away!
  • My digestive problems are basically gone! (The only time I experience them now is when I eat sugar--which I will address in my next post.)
  • I am no longer constantly hungry for the first time in my life! And my energy level is much higher (again, except when I eat sugar).
  • My allergy headaches and congestion are very minimal and I used to have horrible allergies.
  • And the one I didn't expect, my knee had been bothering me for about a year and the pain cleared up 100% after only 2 days of being wheat-free!!!
Some people are convinced that I am doing some crazy fad diet in order to look a certain way. They are so completely wrong! Eliminating wheat is one of the hardest and one of the healthiest things I've ever done. Since quitting, I can think, off the top of my head, of 6 other people that have eliminated it from their diet as well when they saw my results. 2 of which have also seen the same dramatic results as me (which, oddly, almost exactly fits the 40% projection I mentioned earlier).

Also, I removed wheat products from my 3 year old son's diet as well and his allergies cleared up overnight! This is after him having perma-snot basically his entire little life. And he was a little chunky before that and he immediately slimmed down to a healthy weight. I will also add, he still eats wheat products at daycare and at his father's house, so this is actually the results of wheat-reduction in his case.

So who most likely should try wheat elimination?
  • People who struggle with being overweight.
  • People who carry a lot of weight around their middle.
  • People with allergies or any other afflictions caused by inflammation (like arthritis)
Like I said, I'm not going to go into the science behind it but its definitely out there. I highly recommend reading (or listening to) Wheat Belly. Or you can start by checking out this blog: Wheat Belly Blog.

 

Comments

  1. Great post, I have done the no wheat before, but as you mentioned, many products have wheat in them so it gets challenging. The results were very sililar to yours, but then I felt off the wagon and gained 20 pounds in the process ( I had to relocate from one state to another-just my excuse :( ). Great info and reminder for me!

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    1. Yeah, wheat is a hard one to give up! In the beginning, I had a short affair with some pizza lol. But it messed up my stomach SO BAD! I felt like I had some kind of bug for almost 2 days. That was the last time I've been tempted and I'm finding all kinds of great wheat substitutes. They are out there, it just takes some looking around to find the good ones. Good luck to you!!

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  2. I am goin to try this iam only 23 yrs old n weigh 214 ive tried pills diets etc etc ... I will give updates as soon as I see results .. Thanx ur website is a motivation for me especially ur before n after pics .

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    1. Good luck, Ginger! I hope you see the same drastic results from wheat elimination that I did. But, if not, keep trying! Everyone's journey to health (and the resulting weight loss that will come with it) is going to be different.

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  3. Hi Tammi,
    If Wheat should be eliminated from meals then what should be the source of crabs BROWN RICE??????

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    1. Brown rice is definitely a good choice. In addition to that there's sweet potatoes (white & new potatoes are acceptable choices too IF they do spike your blood sugar too much--you will know because you will feel tired and hungry soon after eating them). And my personal favorite carb is FRUIT!!

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    2. Oh beans are also good complex carbs and, bonus, protein and fiber.

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  4. I love, love, love Wheat Belly! Congratulations on your amazing results!!!

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  5. WHAT IF YOUR DIABETIC? WHAT CAN YOU EAT

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    1. Well, you already know what you CAN'T eat, I would most definitely add wheat to the list! I'm, by no means, an expect on a diabetic diet. However, I find that overweight people tend to need to eat like a diabetic to control their weight. This means keeping your glycemic index low on whatever you eat. I would suggest doing some research on the glycemic index if you haven't already as I've read that it can be a much better guide than the conventional "just don't eat sugar" advice!

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  6. Very interesting, I like the idea, and the symptoms are very true to me but I physically cannot give up wheat as I literally, wholehearted truthly eat pasta EVERY single day and have done for the past 6 year, i am a wheat addict, whole weat bread, whole wheat pasta, if it says whole wheat I want it, my doctor was very concerned with my diet at first (became vegetarian, seemed easier to just cook past and sauce every night) but after alot of checks my body seemed to actually respond well to this diet and she let ms be. Saves me heaps of money hah, i'm not overweight at all, I need to lose some after having to give up jogging due to an injury and sitting on my butt till I healed but I weigh about 9st. I am incredibly athletic and work outdoors with horses. I am always hungry, even if I gorge myself, 30 mins later I am famished. But this hasn't been since I became a veggie, this has been my whole life, my parents used to challenge me to see how much I could eat and am still unbeaten. I cannot get rid of the podge on my stomach, no matter how skinny I get, I put this down to a disability which means I cannot exercise my back and torso muscles correctly after a car crash, but I do believe this diet may also be a factor after reading this. I also have sleeping disorders, which my food could actually be making worse it seems!
    Basically I seem to be buggered, but this information has at least let me put my finger on another issue to cause my problems instead of constantly wondering why!

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