Lent 2013

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Last year it was very clear that God wanted me to give up worrying for my Lenten journey and I did just that. Now, I’m not perfect and I still worry some, but I have definitely learned how to nip it in the bud and how to allow myself to feel God’s peace. I’ve really been seeking what God wants to instill in me during this Lenten season and I just can’t narrow it down and we are almost one week into it. I really want to be a more self disciplined person and I want to find joy in daily life no matter what the circumstances, but I can’t really think of something to give up.

Then it hits me. Hits me straight in the face (as I’m typing this actually). God wants me to rely on Him. Give Him myself. Give up my stubborn streak and my independence. Let God take the lead. I mean, I pray about my decisions and I do seek His guidance, but there is so much that I try to handle myself before I take it to Him. Sort of like I’m an inconvenience to Him and I need to try to handle it myself before I bother Him with it. God is perfect and He isn’t inconvenienced by me asking for help or advice. He has given me a book to use to seek those truths. He has given me a way to communicate with Him.

So there you have it. My Lenten journey will be comprised of God teaching me to sit on the sidelines. I’m going to truly seek His guidance in all. I’m going to try to focus on scriptures I know and learn new ones to help me when I need to know which way to turn. I’m going to utilize more often that open line I have to Him all day.

Here I am God. You are in control. You’ve got this. I place my full trust in You.

Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

Do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek His will in all you do,

And He will show you which path to take.

Our gluten free journey thus far

So we've been gluten free for a few weeks. We've had a few bad days and are still working on cross contamination stuff, but for the most part, we are there. I know everyone really wants to know how we are feeling, so I won't beat around the bush.

The first week wasn't easy. I wanted to eat every starchy or sugary thing that I could put my hands on. I was exhausted and felt horrible. By the 2nd week, I felt like a new woman. I am the type of person who drinks a minimum of 2 cups of coffee every morning, just to function. I literally do nothing before my coffee. Since going gluten free, I've noticed three really big changes in myself.

1. I don't need coffee to function. I still drink a cup, but generally I can unload my dishwasher and get breakfast ready without coffee. I've even been singing in the morning before my coffee. Words that I thought I would never say/type.
2. I am sleeping better! I am falling to sleep within 20 minutes of going to bed and most often before midnight. Yeah, I thought I would never say or type those words.
3. My mood swings are more manageable. I am not perfect, but seriously I am doing better. I don't feel nearly as down and I feel a general just kind of happy feeling...or as Phil from DD would say, "happy, happy, happy".

Chris
I can't really speak for him, but he has way more energy. He is motivated to work on home projects quite a bit lately. He is drinking less coffee. His appetite has decreased and he has lost weight. His digestive issues have improved as well. He doesn't want to eat gluten again because he feels that much better.

Harrison
He is sleeping much better. He has decreased to one mg of melatonin at night rather than two mgs. Ideally, we will have him off of it completely by the end of the year. His rest throughout the night as been amazingly better as well. He was struggling to sleep a full 11 hours and now he is easily getting 11.5-12 hours again. His eczema and itching is almost non existent. He would always get eczema flare ups on his bottom and itch late at night. He doesn't have any eczema and the only night he has itched was the day he consumed gluten. Coincidence...I doubt it.

Kadie
Her meltdowns have slightly decreased and she is eating a little better. She is our child that only wanted carbs and sweets. She will actually eat eggs now. She has always been a good sleeper and generally sleeps 12 hours without issue.

Sam
I've seen the biggest improvement with Sam. Since December, until recently, he has had very loose stools and they are almost completely back to normal. He also has not been waking anymore between 2-3am. His 5am daily wake up time has ended. He will usually wake up between 6:00-7:00 wanting milk and will go back to sleep for another hour or two. This is a HUGE improvement because this mama was a zombie!

I'm very certain we are going to have to cut out dairy if it isn't raw. Harrison had a very obvious reaction to dairy when he was a preschooler. He actually tested positive for a slight allergy to it when he was  2. I am fairly certain, he still can't tolerate it and just manifests  differently now. So removing most dairy from his diet will be something I start working on next week. I'm going to test him with only raw dairy and see if it makes a difference.

I'm also monitoring everyone's weight closely Chris has lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 lbs and I've lost 3 lbs. Harrison is between 50-51 lbs/49.5 inches. Kadie is between 40-41/41.5 inches lbs. Sam is 28 lbs/no clue how tall. Harrison is definitely underweight and has been for several years. Kadie is average and I'm not sure on Sam (he won't stand still enough to get an accurate height). I would love to see Harrison gain some weight!

I would suggest for anyone who wants to try going gluten free, to go about it in a one meal at a time approach. I realize cold turkey works for some, but it was too overwhelming for me. We focused on breakfast during the first week and learned how to make yummy waffles, muffins, and pancakes. The following week, we worked on GF bread and other replacements. We actually ended up doing dinner the same week as lunch, because we weren't too bad with consuming gluten filled dinners. We've replaced all of our favorite snacks as well.

Here are some meal ideas with links to recipes I've tried and like. 

Breakfast:
Muffins (with coconut flour), Pumpkin muffins
Pancakes (with GF AP flour), Pancakes (with almond flour),
Waffles
Bacon and Eggs
Lots of fresh fruit

Lunch:
Sandwiches
Tuna
Avocado
Tomato Soup
Salad
Lots of fresh fruit
Salad with protein
Tortillas

Snacks:
Cheese crackers

Dinner:
Tacos
Potato Soup
Cheesy Beef & Rice
Slow Cooker Roast Chicken and Gravy
Meatloaf

Desserts:
Chunky Monkey Cookies
Giant Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chunk Cookies

There are tons more out there. I will update as I can. I would suggest looking on Pinterest or doing a paleo/primal meal search. There are really a lot of options and we don't feel deprived.