So recently, I challenged myself to go sugar free again because it helped so much with my allergies last year when I gave up sugar for Lent. I didn’t do nearly as well this time around (as in I still ate something sweet almost every day). I did still benefit from the drastic cut back (No allergy medicine needed this month: just one of the good things) and I learned to give myself grace.
I am still trying to keep it out of my diet.
While I was researching, I found a 30 Day Challenge that recommended taking out sugar and foods that act like sugar, as in grains. I have been looking into cutting out wheat/grains for a good long time, well over a year. But it seems so drastic! It seems so impossible! I read Paleo and Primal cookbooks and blogs. I know people who have seen AMAZING benefits from dropping grains from their diets. I completely understand why people do it, I just haven’t been able to bring myself to actually do it.
I’ve been grinding our own flour and while I have yet to do it, I’ve been meaning to soak our grains and flour.
One of my hangups has been that both Paleo and Primal, while good nutritionally, come at it from an evolutionary model, in that our apelike ancestors were hunters and gatherers not farmers. I come at it from a Truth perspective, wherein the second generation of people were farmers. Now, that is after the Fall, so perhaps God didn’t intend to have us eat grain primarily.
I found a really interesting article today about the Bible and going grain free at Wellness Mama. That is a perspective I hadn’t seen before.
Another one of my hangups has been the WORK. I know, I know…anything worth having is worth working for.Other families do it. I know I could do it; it’s a whole new way of thinking.
Perhaps I’d better start by being more consistent with cutting out sugar and soaking the grains we do eat first.
Anyway, I’m thinking about it…
Hi Jessica! I met you yesterday in person at the CLIFF picnic and I'm so excited to see that you blog. I blog also! And I sympathize with this post. I also grind my own grains and have been thinking a lot of "properly preparing" them, but haven't done it – can't fathom the extra work either. I do love a good sourdough though, and think that might be the compromise – don't have to soak or sprout it! 🙂 Anyway, it was super nice to meet you yesterday. Hope to see you again soon. My blog is here:
http://www.simplifylivelove.com
Don’t ban any foods from your own weight loss plan, especially the types you like. Banning foods will only make you crave them more. There’s no cause you can’t benefit from the occasional treat so long as you stay inside your daily calorie allowance.
http://www.cureidea.com/
That’s a great tip! I’m not great about depriving myself of entire food groups.
Great Tips