Tag Archives: grains

One year free of grains and refined sugars

It’s been over a year since my lifestyle makeover, so it’s time for some updates and some thoughts on my experiences.

I never thought I would feel healthy again. I never thought I would feel good again. But I do. It’s amazing. Giving up grains and refined sugars was the best thing I’ve ever done for my health.

I’ve lost over 60 pounds, despite conventional wisdom. I don’t exercise any more now than I ever have. I’m as active as ever. I walk daily, hike hunt and fish in my spare time. I have never counted calories, measured portions, or starved myself.

All my unpleasant digestive issues are gone, and have been gone for a really long time. I’m off all my medications. No more heartburn, GERD, acid reflux, bloating, gas, burping, IBS, etc. No more proton pump inhibitors, Prilosec, Tums, or Pepto Bismol.

My blood sugar levels are consistently in the normal range. In the last six months I’ve rarely seen it over 100, and never over 109. Diabetic levels are over 125 (12 hour fast) and 200 after eating. Pretty easy to do when you don’t eat foods that spike your blood sugar, like grains and refined sugars!

My clothes fit better now, actually they are baggy. At some point I should buy new clothes, but I’m still losing weight. So that will have to wait a bit longer.

For the first time in my life I didn’t gain a single pound over the holidays. In the past I have typically gained anywhere from 10-20 pounds in the October-January timeframe. This year, zilch.

I’m still not hungry in the morning, so I don’t eat breakfast. However, I do drink coffee with heavy cream.

For lunch I eat stuff like bacon double cheeseburgers without the bun, piles of meat at Chipotle, assorted Italian cheese and cured meats, leftover steak and chicken from the night before.

Dinners vary, but are always heavy on the meat and vegetables.

If I’m craving something sweet after dinner I’ll have a bowl of berries and heavy cream.

I turned 40 last month. Feels weird to be 40. Two years ago I was sure I’d be 400 pounds by my 40th birthday and miserable. Boy was I wrong! I weigh less than 300 pounds for the first time in over 10 years and I feel healthy.

Life is good. I can’t complain =)

PS: fuck you, gluten. You made my life miserable for years. Never again!

Fuck gluten

WARNING: gross, disgusting, graphic gastrointestinal descriptions ahead

Bloating, burping, farting, gas pains, abdominal pains, chronic constipation and diarrhea, nausea, occasional vomiting, acid reflux, heartburn, upset stomach, general GI distress and discomfort.

Perhaps these things sound familiar to you. I lived with these symptoms for years. I could never figure out what its cause may be (until now).

I complained to my doctors. They ordered some tests. Blood work, urinalysis, fecal analysis, barium enema radiology, colonoscopy, endoscopy. Lab work always came back negative–no infections, bacteria or virus. My endoscopy and colonoscopy were normal, other than irritation and inflammation of my GI tract. There was nothing wrong with me, they said.

Then what is causing all these horrible symptoms?

My doctors would then prescribe some drugs. “This visit is over. Next patient please.” But what about the cause? Dammit, what is fucking causing these symptoms? “Shut up, take your medicine. Eat a healthy diet, and plenty of heart-healthy whole grains.”

The nausea was the worst. I could live with all the other unpleasant symptoms. Feeling like you were going to vomit all the time was horrible. It was maddening. The quality of my life was suffering. I felt nauseous several times a day, just about every day.

God dammit what the fuck is wrong with me?

Last year, as my weight gain continued, my GI symptoms got worse. It got to the point where my belly was so bloated that my gut was pushing up against my diaphragm (the muscle between your gut and lungs). This in turn made it hard to breathe. It also had the unpleasant effect of smushing my heart.

It was late last year when my heart problems began. My heart would flutter, and flip flop in my chest. It was scary. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I went to the hospital. They did tests. No, I didn’t have a heart attack. My heart was healthy and my arteries were fine. They couldn’t find anything wrong with me. OK, so why do I feel this way? What is causing this? How do I make it stop? “Get plenty of exercise and eat a healthy diet and lots of heart-healthy whole grains” they said.

Sigh. I just want to feel normal again. I want to be healthy again.

My previous posts have discussed my recent dietary changes and resulting weight loss. One of the first things I did back in January was eliminate heart-healthy whole grains from my diet.

Grains. Wheat, oats, barley, etc. “Heart healthy whole grains.” I stopped eating all cereals, granolas, breads, pastas, pizza, pies, crusts, breaded foods, muffins, cakes–anything made with wheat or flour.

After the first week I started to feel a little better–OK, this is good. After a few weeks I felt great–yay. And now, five months later, I feel better than I’ve felt in the last 10 years–fuck grains.

My GI distress is gone. I haven’t felt nausea in months. My burping and farting and gas and bloating are gone. My heartburn and gastric reflux are gone. All my unpleasant digestive issues have been resolved.

Gluten. It was gluten. The gluten that is found in grains–particularly those heart-healthy whole grains.

I first heard about gluten last year, but didn’t know what it was. This year I discovered that it is something found in grains that causes gastric distress. For some people, those with celiac’s disease, gluten can kill them. In others, like myself, gluten causes all the above symptoms I’ve described.

I am gluten intolerant, not a celiac. When I eat grains my gut rebels, but it doesn’t kill me (sometimes it sure feels like it might).

So I’m off the grains now. My quality of life has markedly improved. I don’t even miss bread or pasta. I make pizza without the crust and I eat hamburgers without the bun (wrapped in lettuce). I still get to eat great food, like grass-fed beef and pastured bacon and organic chicken with the skin!

Whenever I feel tempted to eat a slice of pizza or a bite of lasagna I remember laying on the doctor’s table with tubes coming out of my ass or shoved down my throat. I remember the way I used to feel. I remember the sleepless nights spent in and out of the bathroom. I remember the vomiting and being laid out on the floor, wondering if I was going to die.

No. I’m not going to eat grains ever again. Not if I can help it. So please don’t ask me to eat a bite of the cake you just baked–it will make me sick.

Maybe you are gluten intolerant also. If my symptoms sound familiar, and your doctors can’t find anything wrong with you, try giving up grains. Google ‘gluten’. Maybe, just maybe, your doctor has heard of it.

It worked for me.