Changes in our Kitchen!

For the past few months I have been convinced through different things I am learning that our eating, though seemingly pretty healthy, needed a great overhaul. Honestly with all I have had going on in my life over the past two years - two international adoptions and they ensuing bonding and transition issues, a father who relied on me for transportation and attendance at all of his doctors appointments and then his final illness and death this summer and my severe back pain which made me almost unable to stand for more than 30 minutes - I was a bit overwhelmed. Add to that being overweight and not having much strength or energy.
Well, things are changing for me and with those changes I am feeling more energy, clearer thinking and a desire to overhaul our eating once again.
My preschoolers are now in preschool two mornings a week which gives me just enough free time to feel like I am getting a little break. I finally got a diagnosis for my back and some real help from active physical therapy. I basically got to work out with a personal trainer all summer and get an exercise routine that has helped me sooo much!
Last year while we were waiting for AJ I felt led to really concentrate on loosing weight. There is a whole story behind that and God really did a supernatural thing in my life which we later realized was necessary for our adoption - but that is another story. One of the things that I felt led to do at the time was to go off of all wheat. I really believe it was a key. Over time I began eating wheat products again and gained back almost all the weight I had lost.
I have been trying for a few weeks to get myself psyched up again to get off wheat - I have always been a bread and pasta person and at first could not imagine giving them up but did it last year so knew I could.
About two weeks ago I went off wheat again. The transformation has been amazing. I have been virtually pain free with my back, I am not retaining water (by evening my ankles would be so swollen it was really scaring me) I have dropped 6 pounds (probably a lot of water - but can feel the difference) I am not feeling bloated. I was diagnosed with a spastic colon when I was young - do not have issues related to that when I am not eating wheat. I am feeling much more energy - last week I actually cleaned both bathrooms thoroughly and then the next day spot scrubbed my carpet and had no ensuing back pain. This is amazing - I have not been able to clean my house much at all because of pain. I am thinking more clearly and more positively. I feel like I can think through these changes I need to make.
There is a lot of research out there about wheat and it's affects on our body. A lot of it has to do with the way it is processed and prepared and I am not going to expound on it because I don't understand it all yet but if you are having any of the above symptoms and cannot find answers I would encourage you to check it out.
I am not sure anyone is even checking my blog anymore but I am going to write some more about this and how we are eating now and the changes we are making. It will still be a process and learning new things all the time.
What I used to think was healthy has changed - drastically! I am excited to see what develops over the next few weeks and months. I will be posting some links to some great blogs and sites with more information - so stay tuned if you are interested :-)