Gluten Free Journey

So our journey started on March 4th, twenty six days ago. I remember this because March 3rd was my birthday and we went to Red Lobster. I had the pasta because I knew I wouldn't be eating out again. So our experiment has become a journey, why? Because we have seen enough changes to really not want to go back.

I must admit I did cheat a week into it but I have been good since then. Lucas has done well and lost 15lbs (as I read this back to him, he informed me it is 20lbs now. Can we say brat?) already with just a few changes, I however have not been so lucky. The boys are adjusting. It is definitely a journey.

Some Things I have discovered

1. I miss bread. I need to find a good recipe.
2. Gluten free pasta is not as bad as I thought it would be. Winco sells several in their bulk foods section.
3. Winco sells several gluten free items in their bulk food items
4. Wheat is in taco seasoning. McCormicks is okay.
5. Hard tacos are not as good as soft tacos - need to find a recipe for soft tortillas
6. Gluten free brownies are the bomb.
7. Gluten free brownies have ALOT of sugar in them.
8. Gluten free items can be found with other items in the store and are often quite a bit cheaper than the ones in the gluten free isle.
9. Just because it's gluten free doesn't mean I should eat it. 
10. Did I say I miss bread. I had tuna and crackers the other day and I was really wishing for some good ole white bread. 

So we continue on this journey, hoping for more positive changes down the road. I am also cutting out soda pop. Apparently diet soda kill brain cells? I really need to keep the few brain cells I have left. Oh and cutting back on sugar, thats going to be a fun one - NOT.

Laundry

A few years ago a friend of mine wanted me to try her all natural homemade laundry detergent. I kindly declined. I have the brand of laundry detergent that I use and I was happy with it. Why change?

Early in my marriage to save money we would buy what ever was on sale, as long as the clothes came out clean it really did not matter. Powder detergent was a pain so we stick to liquid. When I was pregnant with Timmy I broke out in hives due to the laundry detergent we were using. We found a well named brand that did not break me out and we decided to stick with it. The downside of this was that the detergent was expensive. I could buy it on sale for 3.99 for 32 loads if I was lucky and I stocked up when I did. If it was not on sale it was $6-$8, so I really hated running out. It would be nice not to have to pay much but why mess with what works.

Fast forward to a few months ago, another friend wanted me to try her all natural laundry detergent that she made. My response was automatic - we don't use powdered detergent. To my surprise she explained that it was a liquid. She had made ten gallons for about 10 dollars. She brought some over and I put it behind my other laundry detergent.

Eventually I ran out of my regular detergent so I gave the homemade stuff a try. I liked the smell and it seemed to work the same. We have been using it for awhile now and honestly no one has noticed a difference between that and the expensive stuff we were buying. So when we started to run out I got the recipe from my friend and made my own.

The recipe can be found here . Liquid Laundry Detergent

The products

Started by grating the fels-naptha soap bar

Added it all together and melted it.

Added it to the bucket then filled it up.

The next day it was this gel stuff. 

The kids had fun with this and now I have 10 gallons of laundry detergent. This has been a success and it also has led me to try making a liquid dishwasher detergent that has also been a success  I will blog on that later. :)

Gluten Free Experiment - Week 1

On Monday we started our gluten free experiment. This week has been interesting to say the least. Some good and some bad. Overall I feel it was very successful and we are already seeing a difference.

Monday -
So I let Lucas cheat today. We had eaten at Red Lobster Sunday night and had some left overs. While we did give half of them away we still had some left over pasta so he took that to lunch. I packed home made lunchables with GF crackers. I am glad the kids liked the crackers, I was worried because I did not like them at all. Of course I did not tell the boys that. Dinner was easy has we just had meat, potatoes and veggies.

Tuesday - 
So all of us are suppose to be on board. My goal is to make this transition as painless as possible. Lunch was similar to yesterday. I did go to Costco and got veggies and fruits that I added to it. We had Tacos for dinner and used corn tortillas. I grabbed a Taco seasoning from the cabinet and discovered it had gluten in it. Seriously? Well I kinda winged it and grabbed for spices. I think I used cayenne pepper, chili seasoning and ground red pepper. No one said anything and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Nathanial even went back for seconds.

We also made brownies that were a big hit are definitely going to have to make them again. Everyone is doing well except Nathanial who is having a hard time adjusting and keeps cheating. I am sure he will get it. We are trying to let him do this on his own but I might have to intervene and talk to his teacher. We did notice at scouts tonight that Timmy's circles under his eyes are fading. This is also the second day that I really didn't feel like I needed a nap.

Wednesday -
Timmy has found his energy again. He is like his old self. I am not sure that it's the changes in the diet or what because nothing else has really changed. He was bouncing off the walls. It was nice seeing him like this again. I made spaghetti with brown rice penne that everyone enjoyed. Nathanial refused to try it but it got packed in his lunch on Thursday. He decided he liked it and will give the other dishes a chance.

Overall - 
It was a good week. Lucas has lost some weight. I was starting to feel better but am either going through withdrawal or getting sick, I haven't been able to decifer which one yet. I get to try to new recipes next week. I am excited.

Gluten Experiment - The beginning

This last weekend we started prepping for Monday the 4th. We sat down and talked to the boys and explained that the whole family was going to be trying this experiment and that we were all going to be guinea pigs for six weeks. So what did we do? We had a pizza party on Friday. I am trying to make it as easy as possible on the boys.

This weekend we made of list of everything that is going on with each one of us. We will put it away and look at it again in six weeks and see if anything has changed. If it has we are better for it, if everything is the same we have tried some new foods so in my opinion we are still better off for it. Really what do we have to lose, (except possibly some weight :).)

Monday went better than expected. The boys have decided that rice crackers are pretty good. Timmy misses his ritz crackers but is adjusting. He went to the boys and girls club today and I had forgotten to talk to them about dinner. I asked if they ate when I picked them up and Timmy said no because he wasn't sure if it was okay to eat. He said he was bummed because it was chicken nuggets. I promised him I would find a recipe for gluten free chicken nuggets.

Overall Monday went well, I am very proud of the boys. Timmy is doing well and Nathanial is trying. I went to costco and bought a bunch of fruit and veggies which the kids love so it will help.

The Writing on the Wall

A few months ago my therapist suggested this thing called a “gluten free” diet. I honestly pretended to listen to what it was about but I know what gluten is. It’s in all my favorite foods, why would I give that up. I am a carb addict. Pasta, bread, muffins, donuts, I love it all. I try and curb my carbs so I don’t gain weight but I have trouble losing it.

The problem is, I have a problem with fatigue and med changes have not helped. My weight loss attempts in the last few years have been very short lived and I am struggling to stay afloat.

Thursday, my therapist asked again if I had considered going gluten free and pointed out that the issues I was having were some of the same my son was having. If I wouldn’t consider trying something that could possible benefit me, would I consider it for him? Friday, my MD asked a very similar question. Both recommended that I pick up the book The Wheat Belly and read it.

Thus the Gluten Experiment as we will call it, begins. I honestly don’t know what to expect or if it will make a difference but we as a family will abstain for the next six weeks. Oh, joy.

Second Guessing a mom?

It started in the delivery room. They were in the process of putting in the epidural (they missed) when I got very sick and started vomiting. When things calmed down they started prepping me again. I looked at the nurse and told her I needed to push. She looked at me and patted me on the shoulder and said it was too soon. They had checked me not too long before that and the baby hadn't dropped yet and I was stuck at 4 cm  She told me that it was going to be a while. I shook my head and told her again I needed to push. Thankfully the doctor putting in the epidural told the nurse to humor me and check again to calm me down. The next thing I knew they were yelling for the doctor.

This was not my first baby. I was here two years ago, I knew what it felt like, my body knew what it wanted to do. I understand that it's not the norm to go from 4 to 10 and have a baby drop in less than 20 minutes. I have learned in my 36 years that things do not always fit in the norm. It would have taken her less time to check than it did to stand there arguing with me. My Timothy was born minutes later. So much for the epidural.

I make it a point to know my kids, I know their quirks. I don't always get it right but I learn for next time. It's all trial and error until you succeed.

I know that it doesn't take much to set Nathanial off when he is having a bad day, sometimes it is better to have him take a nap then start over than to fight through it. I know that when he is having a bad day he will grumble and complain about going to swim practice but I also know that after wards he is in a much better mood and thanks me for taking him. Its better for him to take his aggression out on the water than on others around him. I know his impulsiveness and mood swings frustrate him. I also know that he will learn to harness these and do great things.

I know my Timmy, Tim these days :(, is fun loving, goofy and energetic. I know he would rather be alone than with a group of people. I also know that in spite of this, people gravitate to him. I know that he doesn't like being wrong and he will practice things when no one is looking until he gets it right. I know that he is always looking for more things to learn and this will take him far. I know he will do great things.

So when my fun loving, energetic Tim started wanting to sleep all the time and started getting very irritable I knew this was not him. Something was not right.  We started by making sure he was getting enough sleep. We also started giving him multivitamins. This didn't help. We finally took him to the pediatrician who asked some questions and said it sounded like he was depressed. He did do blood work to rule out stuff like low iron, low vitamin levels, etc.. He also asked if we had thought about seeing a therapist that could prescribe meds. Tim has a therapist who he has seen for the last few years and we have access to a PNP. The ped recommended getting him screened for depression.

I found myself hoping that one of the tests would come back with low iron or a low vitamin d levels or something that was going to be a simple fix. It didn't happen that way. Everything was normal. There was no medical reason that was causing his fatigue. So we made an appointment with his therapist. She did a depression screening and did not agree with the pediatrician. So what was next?

I have several friends that have cut certain foods out of their diet and have seen a day and night difference. Even though we have seen it ourselves, (Red dye make Nathanial really hyper then really irritable, so we avoid it) I would still try not to roll my eyes when they were talking about it. Really, why would I choose to take a whole food and possibly a whole food group out of my child's diet or my own. Even my therapist has been trying to talk me into trying a gluten free diet, what give up my breads and pastas? You have got to be joking. But the last few months I have honestly been wondering if there was something to all these food sensitivity's I keep hearing about.

So back to the problem, Tim is tired most of the time. Timmy is 7. The medical tests came back normal, his therapist does not think he is depressed but he is still tired. When I told the ped what the therapist had said he disagreed. When I asked if it was possible to do a food sensitivity test or refer me to a specialist, I was told that there was proof that foods and diet can cause fatigue. Really? Even if that is what he believes can't he just humor me and send me to someone who does? He doesn't have to pay for it and this mom will sleep much better at night.

I was frustrated and mad. So what do I do when I am frustrated and mad? I pray. I know what depression looks like, I have struggled with it a good part of my life. There is something else to this. While I knew the ped wasn't going to look any farther I knew the Lord was telling me that we weren't done here. Mom's don't always have the answers, even though we make it look like we do but we also don't give up until we find it.