Confessions of a Wheat Addict

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I love sweets, cookies, and pretty much any delectable morsel that contains sugar.  And I love bread.  Really, really love bread.  I love the smell of freshly baked pastries and muffins.  Have I made you hungry?

Only problem is the fact that I'm hypoglycemic, and being hypoglycemic automatically makes you pre-diabetic.  It's a fact of life that's haunted me for years, and yet I couldn't stop eating sweets, even though they made me super sick.  But knowledge of the situation didn't seem to stop the cravings.  

I've tried on several occasions to give up sugar, soda, and chocolate.  A few times I even made it a month-and-a-half until I gave in.  Even with this gallant effort sugar still haunted me and everyday was torture. 

Then a couple weeks ago I realized I was approaching this from the wrong angle.  Even when I was not eating a lot of sugary treats, I was still eating a lot of bread and pasta, so I set out to study what being on a low-gluten diet was all about.  Through a couple of searching I found Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis.  I haven't finished reading the book, but last week I decided to first focus on cutting out all wheat.

The withdrawal period was awful, getting a terrible migraine and dreaming about bread.  But this week I've noticed something interesting.  My cravings are completely under control.  

Yesterday I went to the mall with my family to the food court and I got a chicken salad from Chick-fil-a. Suddenly I remembered how amazing their cookies are.  The restaurant heats them up so that they are warm and the chocolate is melted.

Then the mind games started.

"I really want one!" I thought.  But did I?  Did I want one because I was craving one?  Or did I want one because I remembered how good they were and wanted to experience that again?  Did I really want one?  Really?  For a few minutes I stood there, thinking, playing angel and devil, and realized I didn't want one!  

So you know what I did afterwards?  I went to See's and got a chocolate lollipop, which I didn't even finish.  Even now, right next to me in a bag, is a dark chocolate almond candy bar.  I don't have to have it.  There's no desire.  It's sitting there just in case I have a breakdown, which hasn't happened yet, or a little indulgence, but I don't want to have an indulgence.

It's so weird!!  So I've realized, all this time, I was never a sugar addict.  I was a wheat addict.  When I thought I was craving sugar, I was really craving the wheat and flour.  

I'm on my second week, so we'll see.  The real test is how I am at the one-and-a-half week mark.  The point that always brings me down . . . and leads to unhealthy, sick inducing binging.   

So go have a cookie!! . . . or not:0)

Sarah

EDIT: May-06-2013, I must admit that I couldn't stay away from wheat.  Wish I could!  I really do like bread.  But, in reflection, what I experienced was quite real . . . I need to find a way to balance it all.