Everyday Baby Steps

I went grocery shopping yesterday.  I spent way over an hour in the grocery store.  I usually shop at Aldi and get in an out.  Yesterday, I went to my local grocery store on a mission.  I've written about my allergies to wheat and milk before.  And I've talked about knowing what I must do.  But I've yet to actually do it.

Cutting wheat and milk out of your diet takes a good deal of planning and a HUGE deal of willpower. I used to work with juvenile offenders with drug addictions.  They told me on more than one occasion that they'd rather stay off drugs than give up most of the foods that they eat and love.  I went for quite a while during that period without eating the offending foods.  It was my way of trying to relate to these kids I really had very little in common with, and it worked.  It helped me to see how difficult it must be to give up an addiction when seeing those around you indulging in it constantly, and they were able to see me fighting my own battle and seemed to respect me for it. 

I respected myself, too.  And I'd like to respect myself once more.  The times in my life when I've eliminated dairy and wheat, I've felt great and lost weight.  I had more energy, and it became easier as the cravings ceased.  Many diet plans actually seem to focus on the things I was doing while simply avoiding wheat and milk.  Programs such as Atkins, The Zone, and The South Beach Diet all have varying plans the seem to cut out carbs, white flour, and processed foods.

Lots of newer plans also advocate cutting out a lot of these things.  I just heard about The Eat Clean Diet on the Today Show.  And Living Well With Montel is all about eating natural foods, cutting out processed stuff.  I just read a great article on Gwynneth Paltrow's blog, Goop, that talks about eliminating white foods - white flour, dairy, sugar, and in that order.

I love what the doctor who writes this says about eliinating one at a time.  I bought foods that don't contain wheat and milk, but I know I can't give up the sugar right away on top of the other two.  It's nice validation knowing my instincts were right.  Baby steps, right?

I'll continue this post, sharing with you the items I bought to help me eliminate wheat and milk from my diet.  I'll also talk about the tricks I've learned to make it more doable.

Photo by Jenny Downing