Why no wheat?

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Just for clarification we are not going "flourless" or complete gluten-free...we are going wheatless for 30 days in March.
So a few people have wondered why no wheat for a month...frankly if someone else had suggested they were doing the same thing I would have told them they were nuts and that it was unhealthy and unwise to try and cut something out of their diet cold turkey like that...BUT...there are a few reasons why we have decided to try this new adventure...these are not in order of importance it is all randomized if there even is an order of importance. I can't say that there is. I am going to be bluntly honest so hopefully it doesn't offend anyone I know or love.

1. Nathan is concerned about Natali's weight. She is a little "chunky" for her age compared to some...but at this age there is no telling how "unhealthy" it might be for her because family dynamics differ so much from one family to another so they do a percentage for children her age. I am not sure what that is honestly and we will find out when she has her yearly Dr. appointment come April/May. But all I know is that if she is above 80% for her age she would be considered "heavy" for her age and "overweight" or "obese" I really really don't think that is her case and I look back at when I was a kid and I fluctuated all.the.time! I would chub out and then grow and thin out and did that all the way up until college. I went into college a size 14 pants and came out of college in a size 8. So...ya...BUT Nathan and I both have a family history of struggles with weight issues so we just want to experiment for a couple reasons.

  • One to see if it makes a difference in weight for ourselves as well as Natali (hopefully not so much with Noah and Kate as they are bean poles already
  • Two there is a history of allergy's on Nathan's side of the family. The girls as of late have been complaining a lot of headaches. In the last month Natali has come home three times early from school because of a migraine. (she has been diagnosed and both Nathan and I suffer from them so no surprise) I am sure I could take Kate in and have all the test run for her and be diagnosed the same so there IS a possibility that wheat could be an issue (as well as dairy) but we will tackle that one another time...maybe...wheat packs in a LOT of calories and are high in carbohydrates. I know we need carbohydrates but we will still get those in potatoes and rice. 
The other thing I have noticed with all of our kids as well as myself (and Nathan) is self -control/disciple. Nathan is pretty good at that with most things. But especially with food, Natali and I don't know when to stop. Or rather I should say, I know when to stop, but I don't. I know I am a terrible example. Noah although not with food has an issue with knowing when to stop playing his games (computer or Wii) and although they are clean learning games that challenge his mind there needs to be a limit. So I would say the BIGGEST reason (if I had to choose 1) why we are doing this is to help teach self control/discipline. 

The Monday following our goal (so the first week of April) we are going to do a FHE on this very topic and relate it to our ability to cut out wheat and how it relates to how sometimes Heavenly Father requires hard things from us but that if we continue to work hard and be persistent we learn and grow and benefit. (I hope to see that we all benefit from it and everyone can share their experiences.) We have already asked the kids if they are willing to participate and they are excited but nervous (just like myself) but I have reassured them as I have built my monthly calendar that although it seems hard I think they will be pleasantly surprised by what we CAN eat vs. what we can't and have reassured them this is not a permanent thing.  I think we may cut back dramatically (as to eat healthier than we are now) but I don't think having some wheat in our diet is a bad thing. If we do find that the girls headaches are not as frequent we will probably limit flour to once a week. 
Nathan actually has a food sensitivity to wheat as well as corn. (but he isn't bothered by it too much unless he over does it. We have been overdoing it for a while now (we love our breads) but I do hope that it will make a difference in all areas. So for those who would like to follow us in our journey stayed tuned weekly. Starting today (later this afternoon) I will post our first weeks menu starting  this Friday March 1 and we will go through March 30. Easter will be our day to celebrate our success...But I will post what we will be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you are more than welcome to use the recipes and do it with us or tweak things or just copy the recipes because you think they sound good. Either way this is my way of trying to stay focused on our goal. We know it will be difficult but hope to learn and grow from the experience. 

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