Stepping Out of The Fog

I guess posting recipes and funny stories about flying mixing bowls can be nice and funny, but you are probably wanting to know "what exactly has going wheatless done for you?"

So here I am, probably a little less then a month into wheatlessness and I can say that I can join the ranks of those I read about who walked out of that "wheat fog".  I'm clearer in my thinking, my moods have leveled out BIG TIME and I'm no longer all over the map emotionally.  I am happy and very content on a daily basis.   

Maybe this doesn't seem so amazing to some, but I'll let you in on something.  My mom has been fighting cancer closing in on two years now.  That in and of itself was crazy dealing with and then we'll add the extra crazy that comes with family members and drama.  I have to mention the family drama because that shot me from feeling crazy to like I was walking through Hell in a gasoline suite most of the time.  Now, this post isn't to trash other people.  I'm just trying to express the state of mind I was in.  To say I was a mess emotionally would be an understatement.  All this was going on while my husband and I were living with my mom (temporarily) and the feeling of being trapped and walking on eggshells was the order of the day for me.  I even came to a point that I just knew I was going to die if things remained as they were.  I'm so embarrassed to admit that last statement, but it is true so there you go.

The last weekend of June we moved to an apartment.  Those feelings didn't really go away, they really just decreased in intensity.  It was nice having our own space to decompress and no worry of judgmental attitudes from other family members.  It should have been liberating, but it really wasn't.  I just felt blah with a side of listless.  We were eating wheat left and right because it was easy while settling in.  Pizza here, Subway there and etc.  Several weeks after we moved we were able to go wheatless and gluten-free.

After a few weeks of wheatlessness, I just felt content all the time.  My zest for life came back and I had more energy.  Headaches, I seemed to have all the time, went away.  I still go to the chiropractor for my spine due to some structural things, but beyond those localized areas ALL the other aches pains and hurts are gone from my back and neck!  Awesome!

Then, recently, my mother was told that the cancer got into the bone and they couldn't do anything else for her.  They proceeded to give her a two month expiration date.  Ok, yes that was a devastating hit, but then something happened that was very confusing to me.  I realized I was still feeling happy and content.  It was to the point that it was disturbing to me and I felt guilty.   

I was like "What the heck???  My mom is officially terminal and I'm happy with life???"  Of course I wasn't happy with my mom's situation, but then I REALIZED I was just feeling the affects of the wheat purge.  It was no longer clouding my mind and keeping me locked in a battle with depression.  That crazy train ride is over!  

THIS is what all those personal experiences ( I read online and in the Wheat Belly book) were talking about when they said that they stepped out of the "wheat fog".  I had NO IDEA how bad it had been until I went wheat and gluten-free and then I saw clearly... I FELT it.  

You never really know the extent of how BAD bad is, until you start to feel good.  I have done a 180 emotionally.  I have begun to think I wish I had discovered the Wheat Belly book earlier.  I would have been able to deal with things better and avoided feeling like everything was caving in.

But these things happen as they do and all any of us can do is carry on and do our best day to day.
I love my mom and I pray that she will be here for a long time yet to come, she is doing well emotionally and is in a good place.  It makes her happy that I am too.  We are all living day by day and taking it as it come.