My Gluten Free Trial
It’s Monday. My brain is a little tired from the weekend so I’m not going to get too deep on ya! I just thought I’d talk about what’s been on my mind lately, and that’s the challenge I’ve given myself to eat gluten free. My disclaimer would be this: I’m not making any promises!! 
During our 7 Day Juice Fast (you can read about it in previous blog posts) I felt incredible! That was a little odd to me being that most fasts cause you to feel bad the first few days. I never felt bad. In fact, I felt better than usual. After we broke the fast my system had a hard time returning to normal. That’s when I decided that maybe I shouldn’t go back to normal. I’ve always struggled with minor digestive issues so maybe I should try to doing something different. That’s when I thought about trying out eating gluten free. There are quite a few ladies in our church that eat this way so I started asking a few questions. This is what I’ve learned so far:
- Eating gluten free can be a little more expensive, especially if you are a carb eater.
- Use gluten free ready flour mixes for baking. Don’t try to make your own mix of flours if you’re not knowledgeable of what each flour does (which I am not!). I bought a pancake/waffle mix and absolutely LOVE it. So do my kids which is a big winner for me! I also bought a muffin mix. I made banana/choc. chip and banana/blueberry muffins already. The texture was more like a mixture between a normal muffin and corn bread but the taste was pretty good. My kids liked those too.
- Jason’s Deli has a gluten free menu. The bread is surprisingly pretty good.
-Walmart has a small section devoted to all gluten free products (cookies, pastas, flour, cereal, etc.).
- The clothing store, Altered State, has a cookbook called “Baby Cakes” that I hear is great for gluten free sweets recipes. I plan to get that.
I have no idea how long I will keep this up, but I’d like to see if it helps! I will let you know!
I welcome any advice or ideas if you’ve gone the gluten free route.
Until next time…. XO
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Anxiety Girl
She’s the super hero of anxiety. Beneath the mask and all that spandex she’s a villain at heart. She’s powerful I tell you! She’s modern day. No old school phone booth required, just a willing mind. She’ll gladly jump right in and overcome faith. Yes, sadly it’s true. And she steals-your peace mainly. You’d think we’d be smart enough to avoid her, but she’s known all too well. I know her all to well. She had bunked up in the home of my mind one too many nights. She’s a terrible house guest!
Worry is easily justified as a noble act. After all, isn’t worry what mothers are supposed to do? Not really. We and everyone else is supposed to respond to every situation in faith. Fear will always be knocking at the door, and inevitably sometimes we will give in and wear her like a new pair of shoes. But when you do, strip off her cape, throw out the worst case scenario and tell God you trust Him. THINK about if the best case scenario happened. That will open up the door for the possibility of it actually happening. This is a constant act I must intentionally do. It starts with intentionally making the decision to stop negative thinking and walk by faith. Be warned, though, Anxiety Girl is persistent and doesn’t like to take no for an answer. But keep at it. Eventually FAITH wins and she’s forces out, leaping away to the next willing victim!
Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossibly to please God.”
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Days 6 & 7
Over the weekend I took time off of posting so here’s how days 6 & 7 went:
On day 6 I drank several jars of my juice I had stored in the fridge. Of course, it’s always best to juice and drink right away, but I had a busy weekend so I used what was on hand. On Saturday evening I incorporated small amounts of food, such as a banana and edamame. On Sunday, day 7, I broke my fast around 2:00. This was, by far, the best fast I have ever done. After 2 or 3 days of fasting the hunger pains went away. I only had to hush the desire to munch out of habit not hunger. I felt good the entire time. I think the key is continually drinking juice. This year I’d like to incorporate 1 or 2 day juice fast every couple of months just to give my system a break and a jolt of vitamins.
Spiritually I enjoyed this fast. I had a lot of quiet time. I wrote, I read, I sat and enjoyed God’s peace, I listened and I talked to Him. My spirit felt calm. That’s why I spiritually love fasting. Your mind, body and will are set apart for the Lord and are completely submitted to your spirit man. That makes for a really good week.
Consider making fasting a regular part of your life in 2012. It can just be for a day. Outside of your regular routine with the Lord, carve out time to completely focus on Him. After this week I feel better equipped to walk out the days of 2012!
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Day 5-Almost There
Only 2 days left. You doing okay? I’m making it. I feel pretty good, but all I can think about is cereal and bananas and peanut butter! Is that weird that of all things that is what I’m craving? Yesterday I consumed about 80 ounces of juice. I made myself keep downing it for energy. I’m adding watermelon to my list of fruits to juice today. I was told it’s a good kidney cleanser- good to know! I can’t be having a dirty kidney, now!
It seems that God has been writing a sentence for me over the past few weeks and into this fast. From daily scripture to the books I’ve picked up, “Believe” is the message I’m continually hearing. Sounds common, cliche even, but for me, I know it’s from the Lord. Coming out of a season where my believer was almost all believed out, I’m taking this time to refresh, regroup and challenge my faith again. I think of the 20 long years Abraham believed God to see His promise fulfilled. In his humanity there must have been times he desperately needed to regroup, clear his mind of doubt and recall the promise once again. This is why I like celebrating a new year. It gives us a chance to mentally “start over” or get back to what we lost sight of during the previous 12 months.
What is God calling you to believe for in 2012? He’s powerful and can do what He says He can do. If only we’d believe.
Genesis 15:6 “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”
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Day 4
Well, only 3 days left. Even though this has been a good experience I will be glad to actually chew next week. Last night we had our church service. I got to bed a little later than normal so early this morning I felt like a very slow moving train. Energy hit me about 3o minutes after I drank my first jar of juice. Pretty cool when you can feel it kick in.
Today I juiced by color. Think I’m getting a little bored?!? I made three different kinds of juice. Red, Orange, and Yellow. Kind of like Kindergarten. The Red consisted of grape, radish, cranberry, strawberry, red cabbage, ginger root, apple, and orange (I don’t love the radish!). The Yellow consisted of orange, carrots, a few grapes and apple. The Orange consisted of mango, apple, and orange. So, that’s what I will “eat” today.
A little trick a friend told me about last night: instead of peeling your oranges you can shave them with a potato peeler. It removes the bitter outside but leaves the white pith, which is really good for you. Thanks Ellen!
If you’re feeling weary, don’t quit. Remember, we’re in this with you!
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