Two Weeks In!

I'm two weeks into my "KNF" lifestyle!  If you've been following me, you'll know that "KNF" stands for "Kat's New Frontier".  It's a new day, a new way and a new mindset!

Wheat is a leech!  It will show up in the craziest places!  Places you'd never dream of.  Even in trace amounts it does its evil deeds.  It causes us to crave more and more.  Much akin to an opiate drug like heroin or meth.  Once ingested it creates a need for more.  It creates cravings for starches.  Believe me, I know this to be true.  

The interesting thing is, much like the drugs I listed above, if you've been off of wheat for anytime at all and ingest something with it in it, the reaction is immediate!  You will find yourself going to the kitchen looking for that "something" to snack on!  I did it, I know this to be true.  But, I was able to resist the urge and get right back on the right track.  

This is one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I quit smoking on November 21, 1987.  That wasn't easy, but it was no where near as hard as this has been.  The first week I was enjoying the fact that the cravings hadn't really begun, I suppose my momentum was greater then.

As the week began last Monday, I found myself thinking about foods that I would no longer be able to eat.  It was that old, devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.  Cliche I know but there it is.

This was a battle that went on for a couple of days.  I honestly felt like I was being targeted by demons sent to address the problem of someone that was kicking back.  But, with the help of God's love, Angels guarding and Prayer, I made it through that issue and have had no more real problems.  

Sunday was a test!  It was our Annual Congregational Meeting and following that was a Pot Luck Dinner.  I was very nervous!  That had the possibility of a field of land mines!  

If you know me at all you'll know that I am a carb junkie of the worst order.  Cakes, cookies and pasta were tops on my list of favorite things.  Especially the homemade kind.  Sigh…….

So, I cooked two lovely beef roasts, Green Beans and took them.  I figured that if nothing at all I could eat what I brought knowing I'd be okay.  

The ladies of Mount Pilgrim didn't fail in their usual lovely dishes.  Pasta, cookies, pies, cakes abounded.  BUT, I was able to avoid those dishes and had a helping of my roast beef, green beans and several other items that I know had no hidden torpedoes in them in the form of the dreaded Wheat.  

I didn't have any of the homemade Key Lime Cake, although the smell was heavenly, I avoided the pumpkin pie and it is one of my favorite things.  I did have some sweet potato soufflé for my dessert.  It was lovely!  

I was dreading my first Pot Luck Dinner for the obvious reasons and with the help of my Father God and His crew, I did great!  The scale told the story yesterday morning as I showed a loss of 1 1/2 lbs!  Whoooo Hooooo!

One other thing I have noticed is I'm beginning to WANT to exercise!  I am getting restless.  Up to recently, I was totally content to snooze in my recliner and now know that my blood sugar level was the main reason for that.  Not the case now!!  

This morning my BGL was …… 101!!!  Yeah!!!!!!  So excited for this benefit of going wheat~less!!

If you are at all considering trying this life style, I whole heartedly recommend it!!  There is nothing to buy, you don't even have to buy Dr. William Davis' book if you don't want to, although I do believe it has helped me to understand the real magnitude of just what the food industry is doing to us in the name of the almighty dollar bill.  Simply stop eating ANYTHING with ANY wheat in it and increase your intake of WHOLE foods.  That is all.  

There are no vitamins or supplements to buy, no meetings to go to, no energy boosters to drink, no new kitchen appliances to purchase and best of all there WILL be new clothes to purchase cos you WILL lose weight as a by product of this new lifestyle of eating!  Your family and you will be healthier.  Your personal expense will drop as you drop meds due to being healthier.  

Go to the link below and print out this great sheet that details the HIDDEN NAMES OF WHEAT.  Cut it in half, the sheet has two copies on it and post it on your fridge.  Be sure to carry a copy in your grocery shopping list book so you can refer to it when doing your shopping.

http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/docs/Wheat_Allergy_Read_Label_Travel_Cards.pdf

I will be giving my finds to you here of the wonders of wheat~less eating.  I have found a great deal of goodies to help me and my husband as we travel down this new learning path.

I'll be checking in soon!

Praying God's Blessings to you all!

Kat

Fake Food…..it's killing us!!!

Good morning!!! 

Yesterday was the first full week of KNF. "Kat's New Frontier". lol…That's what I'm calling my "new lifestyle". But you know what, it isn't new. It's very old. But, I digress, let me get back to my real subject for this post.

I just am so excited about this and now I'd like to share some things with you.  

I am not about to tell you that it has been an easy week.  I've had my moments, but with God's help as well as my sweet husband's support, I've made it through!  There are so many things that we eat, just popping them into our mouths without a thought of what the end result might be.  Immediate gratification is our goal as a rule and that is our downfall!  There are so many chemicals and genetically changed ingredients in our so called "food" that I have renamed processed food, "Fake Food".  

After watching a story about a man that found a McDonald's hamburger in a coat pocket that had hung in his closet several years (I think it was something like 10 years), and finding it (along with the receipt with the date on it) had not changed at all, I decided that I just couldn't be eating that stuff!  That was 2 years ago, I've not had a meal from McDonald's since January 2012.  In fact, fast food isn't something my husband or I eat a lot of these days.  

That was the beginning of my journey to a better me.  It's taking a minute (2 years to date) and the journey will never end until I go home, but this half of my journey will be infinitely better than the first half because of these changes.

There are so many benefits to my health and generally well being that I've discovered since going wheat less.  Below are just a few:

After 1 week of going "Wheatless":

1. BSL (Blood Sugar Level): Down from 200's average to 120
average at morning.
2. Sleeping: Through the night, no issues with going to sleep. No
more falling asleep if I sit down for more than a few minutes.
3. Energy level: Much improved
4. Mind Fog: GONE
AND last by not least by any means:
5. Weight loss: 7 lbs!

Do I see this as the "magic bullet" that we are all looking for?  No.  There is no such thing.  Stop looking for it folks.  Is this the cure for all my problems?  Maybe not, this is definitely a great starting place though.  

I've read Dr. Davis' book and will read it again.  I have it on my Kindle (one of my most favorite "things" in this world) and take it with me everywhere.  I've downloaded one of the cookbooks and might download the other, we'll see.

My grocery shopping list is much different these days, no cookies, candies, processed foods like sandwich meats and the like.  No breads, pasta, or frozen pizza's.  The money I spent on those things is now going to purchase fresh foods like, meats, fish, veggies and fruits.  So there goes the, "I can't afford to eat healthy" excuse.  I have found absolutely NO difference in my grocery bill price wise.  I do find that I'm not buying antacids, pain relievers and such as that.

I pray God's Blessings and His Angels around you and yours as you walk through your day!

Blessings~ Kat

Good Morning from a new frontier!

It's a new day for this ole  girl.  I've decided to go "Wheatless".  Yep, in this day and age of this diet and that diet, I'm going backwards and going back to the old way of eating.  I am sure there is some "food plan" or diet labeling this but as for me, I'm calling it Kat's New Frontier.

What's it all about?

I'm removing ALL Wheat and wheat by products from my food chain.  That means no bread, noodles, pastries and the like.  

Why? You ask?

I recently watched a special segment on our local public television station called:  "Wheat Belly" hosted by Dr. William Davis.  Dr. Davis is actually a Cardiologist (heart doctor) that accidentally found a connection between wheat products and several issues they  cause in our bodies, from cardio issues to inflammation of the joints to literally producing opiate effects on our brains.

Now for starters, I am not interested in debating clean eating or any other forms of diet.  I'm in to day two of this New Frontier and I'm already feeling a huge difference in my body.  You see I am a RAGING diabetic.  Completely uncontrolled and running on the red line.  This morning I awoke to a BSR (Blood Sugar Reading) of 101~~!!!!
That is HUGE for me as my wake up levels have been in the 200+ levels for so long it is nuts.  My insulin injections are way to high level wise and I'm already seeing that I'm going to have to reduce them.  PRAISE GOD!

I'm going to post a link to the Amazon.com site where you can go to look at the book, read the details and reviews and make your own decision….OR you can follow me and see how it works for me.

I will be posting here my daily progresses, failures and issues.  You are going to be my accountability partners!

This morning I awoke at 4:30 am (my usual time) and after getting my husband off to work at 5:00 am I checked my BSR…101!  I was so excited!

I found I wasn't the slightest bit hungry.  Now THAT is unusual, I generally would away ravenous!  So I got busy and at about 10:00 am I decided that I'd better eat so I wouldn't have a binge issue later.  BSR was 76.  YaY!  I wasn't shaky or hungry either.

I injected my insulin 10 units on my NovoLog FlexPen.  That is my normal dosage, I use the sliding scale.  I can already tell it will be coming down as well as my Lantus (Long lasting insulin taken at bedtime, once daily) injections.

Brunch Menu:

4 egg whites, 1 yolk omlet
bacon bits (yep, the real thing, no fake ones that are made with WHEAT)
baby spinach
chopped onion
sharp shredded cheddar cheese (yep the real thing, not a lot just a sprinkle)
Mrs. Dash (to taste)
black pepper
(I'm not a big salt eater)

YUM!

A cup of coffee and a big ole glass of water and call me STUFFED!

I plan on having a cup of homemade chicken veggie soup at about 3:00 pm to keep from getting to hungry before supper which isn't until 6:00 pm.

So, I call  day two a success already even though it isn't over.  I have my Prayer Warriors lifting me up in prayer, my sweet husband supporting me every step of the way and God is smiling on me, taking all the nasty side effects of withdrawal away from me once again.  That is all I need to succeed.

Here is the link I promised ya!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1609614798

I hope I'm not violating any rules by posting it.  If it doesn't work by clicking on it you can copy and paste it into your browser and it will take you to Amazon.com.

Blessings ~
Kat

Starting the New Year off with a repair!

January 1, 2014

I am truly blessed!  I am married to a real life "Doug of all trades!"  

As so often happens in our home, I begin to work on something and find a broken part on what ever it is that I am wanting to work with.  All I have to do is show it to my husband and the next thing I know…..It is repaired!  More often than not the repair makes the item even better than it was before.  

A good example is this morning's pot repair.  I went into the kitchen to begin preparing our New Year's Day meal.  Normally, Doug and I go on the "Ride to Buckner's" with our CMA Chapter, Blessed Riders, but not this time.  Doug had to work, water issues at work had to have immediate attention.  So, I am elected for our traditional Pea's and Collards meal.  

I reached in the cabinet and pulled out my favorite large pot.  It is sort of heavy with a copper bottom.  Revere Ware.  It is no where near a new pot!  As I lifted it up, I notice the handle is wiggling some.  Hummmm……now what do I do?  The handle is not screwed on so I can't tighten it.  It is riveted on.  Oh, no!  Not my favorite!  I could see the handle coming off and me trying to use it without one and the disaster that would surely follow!  

Doug hears me whining and comes to see what's up.  "Oh, no problem!  I can have that fixed in a jiffy."  he says.  Both Doug and my pot disappear down the stairs.  Some banging and clanging sounds drift up the stairs making me wonder at the fate of my pot!  

The pot appears on the stove a few minutes later and I marvel once again at my amazing husband as I lift up my favorite pot finding not so much as a slight wiggle on that handle!  

I  know I sound like I'm bragging…..okay, I am!  Doug has repaired things in and around this house that I had completely given up on.  I'm sometimes guilty of being a "the glass is 1/2 empty" sort of girl. That is something I'm working on, well, God and I are working on!  

But, for today, I'm Thanking God for my "Doug of all trades" and the blessing he has been and continues to  be in our lives.

Today, you might be looking at your life as needing some repair.  If you are, there is one that can help you with that.  Believe me when I tell you He is the Ultimate Fix.  Jesus Christ.  Oh no, you are saying…there she goes, bringing God into this post.  

Yep, I am.  I can't tell you what God will do for  you.  Your life is different from mine.  I can tell you what He has done for me.  He has made my path straight, He has blessed me with a wonderful husband, beautiful children and grandchildren.  He as blessed me with a warm, comfortable home and a means to keep that home up and running smoothly.  

Now, I'm not going to even try to tell you that it has all been smooth sailing!  No way!  BUT, with God at the helm of our lives, the ride, even when bumpy has been a wonderful one!  

I pray that, if you are needing repair, fixing up or a complete remodel, you will give God the control and let Him handle the repairs with you!  

A Happy New Year and May Gods Blessings be unto you all ~

In His Service For His Glory!

Kat