Thursday, July 26, 2012

Cake is our Crack!

So trying to do this wheatless thing is not as easy as turning on a light switch, I'll tell you that.  I can't tell you how much pizza and wheat riddled crap we've eaten since moving into the apartment.  We also had a sugar fest last week with chocolate chip cake and buttercream icing mingled with ice cream.

Yeah, yeah... I know that has to stop.
We had an urge and since we haven't gone cold turkey yet (due to moving and being all out of whack with proper pantry items) we went with it.  I'm also one of those people that like to buy in bulk and I look at "What you get for the money".  I realize that this kind of thinking is dangerous when it comes to sugary treats.  I usually don't like to keep the stuff in my house and never would go get any unless my hubby and I agreed we couldn't fight the urge any longer.  If we were going to get it, we should have just gotten some small single servings instead of the whole cake.  Yes... we paid for it it other ways and it was not worth it.

Modern wheat causes an addictive response.  Wheat polypeptides are able to cross the blood brain barrier.  This is NOT a good thing, the barrier is there for a reason!   Researchers call these polypeptides "exorphins".  When they cross into the brain, they bind to the brain's morphine receptors this is what opiate drugs bind to.  It is interesting to also note that the the drug Naloxone (given to addicts on heroin or any other opiate to instantly reverse the high) will also block the wheat exorphins.

Congratulations, you are getting high everyday.  Some people are addicts and some people are obsessive addicts.  "Wheat can dictate food choice, calorie consumption, timing of meals and snacks.  It can influence behavior and mood.  It can even dominate thoughts."  (Wheat Belly)  Oh yes... we can relate in our household.  Hence the Crazy for Cake attacks we would periodically fall prey to.  It's not a "boy I'd like to have a piece of cake and ice cream" mentality, It is usually a "I gotta have cake and ice cream now" mentality.  Yep... it is a borderline obsession for us.  Cake with ice cream is our crack.

You know... I like being in control of my thoughts and my actions!  Wheat is NOT going to control me or my hubby anymore.  We are "the masters of our domain" on the matter!!!!  Slavery to wheat and it's effects is going to end.

We have committed to rid the house of all obvious wheat products (and then turn to the not so obvious ones and I'll talk about those another time).  I was able to return some unopened pasta and a box of Bisquick to Walmart with a receipt.  I also have about 5-6 boxes of whole wheat pasta and 2 boxes of stuffing mix that I don't have a receipt for.  I hope I can return them for store credit.  This really shouldn't be a problem, walmart is good at taking things back and it is a win win situation because I'll just turn around and buy something else from them.  :-)

I do hate that the hubby will be taking his Hebrew National hotdogs to the race tomorrow tucked into a hotdog bun.  At this point, we don't know a good alternative for him to take that is portable and easily consumed at the track.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Beans!!!!!

So as you know my question before was:  "How do I keep my husband from loosing weight if I don't throw wholegrains at him anymore at mealtimes?"

Some years back I watched a friend loose a BUNCH of weight and this girl didn't even exercise regularly.  Her trick was Somersizing (aka: Food Combining).  I immediately got the books and started applying the principles I had learned.  I kept a VAST majority of the weight off because I had LEARNED about food (until some medications and a wedding was introduced into my life).  I LOVED Somersizing.  NO counting calories, eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.  Eat a variety of wonderful REAL food and give up the junk.  AND... don't mix carbs with proteins!!!!  THAT was the major key.   You could have carbs with veggies, but NOT with protein in the weight loss phase.  SO.. lazy me just gave up the carbs all together so I didn't have to deal with accidental mixing.  So, I was conditioned to always remember that to loose weight avoid mixing carbs and proteins.

When I picked up my Somersizing recipe books, there was the answer to my question.  BEANS!!!!
I don't know why, but somehow I eventually just associated beans as a protein and NOT a carb, but actually they are a carb & protein (they are classified as a carb on the program).  AWESOME!  My hubby will not turn into Skelatore afterall.  Meanwhile, I feel like a complete idiot for thinking beans were ONLY a protein.

Carbs to remember:
Yogurt (this will be great to make salad dressings or dips)

Other food items to note that are both protein & carbs are:
Nuts
Olives
Liver
Avocados
Coconuts
Soy
Low-Fat or whole fat soy milk
Low-Fat or Whole milk
Low-fat or full fat rice milk
Buttermilk

Since we are still living out of boxes at our new apartment, we haven't exactly been entirely wheatless yet.  Trying to get it together is a bit of a focus and eating easy seems to be the order of the day.  Between the donuts, pizza and $1 McDonald's burgers (over the past few days) we have yet to exile wheat totally.  I also have a box of Bisquick and 10 assorted boxes of whole wheat penne, spaghetti and macaroni on my shelf.  I do hate to waste anything yet am resisting the urge to cook it.

Tonight we are probably going for the Turkey sausages I defrosted and some veggies.  Yeah... sounds boring, I know.  I'd like to throw a cookie in there somewhere.  Oh yes a big chocolate chip one sounds good right about now.

Meanwhile, I'll be going through cookbooks to find interesting meals that wont bore our palette.   I have seen some, but moving expenses have lessened the cooking budget.