Good-Bye, Nutella....Oh, How I'll Miss You

Dad and me

Went to see my dad today. While I was there, I asked him when his stomach problems started. I remember him having almost constant stomach pains when I was a teenager. He shared that he'd pretty much always had them. The interesting thing was that the only time he didn't was early in his marriage and then again when he served as a bishop.

The reason I asked him was because I, too, have been suffering from stomachaches. I noticed that I was going to bed with them and then waking up with them in the morning. I had had a bad stomach when I was a teenager, but haven't suffered from it again until just recently.

My dad's parents

My dad told me that both of his parents had stomach issues as well. His brother died of stomach cancer a number of years ago, and my mom died of colon cancer. I guess I'd better interject that I know that cancer doesn't actually kill people, it's the periphery illnesses that accompany it. In my mom's case, it was pneumonia. In my uncle's case, I'm not sure, but he passed away on my birthday my second year in college. I remember hearing, though, that by the time they found his cancer, the tumor was sizable.

A couple months ago, I started to get these little promptings to change my diet. I wasn't sure how to go about it, but I knew I'd probably better do something. These promptings started in before my stomachaches started and before I recalled the history of gastrointestinal tract cancers in my family. That reminder only fueled the need to do this. It look me awhile to get my act together and figure out just what I was going to do.

image: alimentblog.blogspot.com

For the past three weeks, I have changed my way of eating. I have eliminated white flours and gone to whole grains. I had a blood test run to see if I was gluten intolerant, and it came back negative, so I'm sticking with the whole grain thing. I have also taken sugar and white rice from my diet. I'm eating lots of fruits and veggies, but I'm also eating protein and dairy.

image: epicnutellafreak.tumblr.com

So, yes, there goes my Nutella. DARN!

Since I've been doing this, #1 has made cookie dough twice. Next to Nutella, cookie dough is my next big weakness. 

The first time she made it, I was able to walk by the bowl like it was no big thing. The second time, though, #3 was standing by the bowl giving some to the kids. She said, "Mom, you've been doing so well. Just have a little bit." So, I did. BAD MOVE! Within an hour, my stomach hurt so badly and continued on into the next day. It was so bad that the Warden called me from work midday just to check on the status of my stomach.

So, I guess I'm on the right track.

With the sugar thing, I have heard that sugar feeds things like bacteria. If sugar feed bacteria, what else does it feed? If I cut off the sugar from my diet, maybe I'll cut off the food supply for something bad inside me. Maybe that's not correct thinking, but that is my theory nonetheless.

image: futurity.org

#5 and I arrived at his soccer practice a half hour early last night, so we took the time to drive to the grocery store to get him a snack. He purchased a peach, and I bought a nectarine. We also shared a bag of pistachios. It was such an interesting experience. The aisles I would have normally been drawn to weren't even a temptation for me. My brain had accepted them as not even an option--forbidden territory. I didn't look at them as evil places, per se. It was just that they weren't worth my time. I wasn't interested.

So, from here on out, in my "What's for Dinner" section, look for cleaner eating ideas. I'm still working on having crock pot recipes for dinner, but I will also work on including breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas that fit with this healthier way of eating.

I'm hoping to have found the key to eliminating the problems it seems that generations of my family have suffered from.

I have to add that during this time, while I was figuring things out, I happened across this little fact. I'm thinking the whole red dye situation in our home has me wondering about how much extra crapola gets put in our daily diet. Well, I'm done with it. Just trying to do it in a prudent way.