Bread Queen Unseated

HELP! I have been the crowned bread queen around here forever. Who thinks they can just swoop in here and take it? How did this happen? Well, I will tell you! It's Jorge's fault!

Photo credit here

 My journey began about 2 years ago when I found Jorge Cruise's book and Amber's website. She chronicles her experience following the Belly Fat Cure. It was great! She had little how-to videos and food lists and lots of product reviews. She had done a great job of slow and steady weight loss and I felt after reading the book that this diet was FOR REAL!

I lost 20 pounds and kept all but 5 of that off over the 2 years. Jorge recommends low sugar and low carbs. It's actually pretty straightforward. The thing this really did was open my eyes to all the hidden sugar in our diet that I honestly had not considered or noticed. I changed over to alot of salty rather than sugary snacks and found that the kids actually felt/behaved better and they weren't missing a thing.

I, however, was struggling, not with the sugar, but the carbs. If I filled my house with healthy foods I didn't crave a cookie. I wanted toast! :) But, regardless of that I had made so many EASY and SIMPLE changes that the weight still came off if I stuck with it - which I did!

Photo credit here

Building on this theme I picked up a book by Jeff O'Connell. He has diabetes and he explores what diabetics should be eating (less or NO sugar and carbs) versus what all our doctors and health associations are telling them to eat (fruit, oats, whole grains) and why what is recommended just isn't working because it is the wrong information. We have ended up not only with poorly controlled diabetic all over the world but also with more and more total diabetics by following all of the 'healthy diet' recommendations our county endorses. It was an interesting read but I had already cut alot of sugar from my diet and that was not the struggle, it's those darn carbs!

Photo credit here

Which brings me to this book. A book I KNOW is the next step for me. It's a step I do NOT want to take. I love love love my carbs. I have cut them back, I have changed to 'better' ones (this will make more sense to you when you read in this book that there really AREN'T any 'better' ones). But I have resisted the work that needs to be done for me to continue on my healthy weight loss. That is to eliminate the gluten and replace it with vegetables and NON blood sugar raising carbs.

 *please hold while I let out a cry of pain at the thought* Alright, I am ok now.

Basically. I need to live like a diabetic celiac. Bummer! Now, I'm not actually sensitive in the sense that I have celiac (like my brother-in-law) so I can actually not worry about the whole contamination and 'getting a little bit here and there' thing. But we are still talking about a GIANT step for Tracie-kind here.

Photo credit here

The irony is that I have actually simply circled back to Jorge's amended or what I call 'step 2' Belly Fat Cure. See, he came out with this 'BFC Fast Track' just as I was stalling out on the weight loss and I didn't want to do it. Get ALL your carbs without grains?? I wanted to find another way. But, alas, my research has led me back where I started. It's what my mother always said: 'Eat your veggies'. I guess I have some salads to eat and some cooking to learn.

Have you read any of these books? Have you even heard of them? Are you gluten free? I'd love any pointers or recipes you love. And here's the big question---Is anyone going to join me? Besides Eric, of course! (Eric got suspicious when he saw the wheat belly book and said 'Uh oh, what are we doing NOW?)