Why I Started this Blog

Last updated: July 19, 2023

With only a few years left before hubby retires, it's time to think about what shape I want my blogging to take before we reach that point in our lives.

Over the past few years, I have wanted to trim my interests down to just one blog, but which one?

• Low carb?
• Moderate carb?
• Affordable gluten-free recipes?
• Being super sensitive to gluten?
• Personal development?
• Writing tips and advice?

If I had to pick just one, it would box me into a corner because I'd have to leave a lot of my readers behind.

So let me be honest with you:
I am no longer eating "very" low carb.

Heck, let's get real for just a minute. 

I'm not even dieting. 

I'm using an intuitive, nutritional approach to living and some common sense about weight loss that I'll be talking about in the coming weeks. 

Over the past year, I've dropped about 50 pounds eating this way. 

That's real life for me.

While I will always have to restrict carbohydrates to avoid slipping into diabetes, I'm not using an official weight-loss diet of any kind. I can't say that I'm doing Atkins or even Keto.

Because I'm not.

I'm being practical when it comes to portion sizes, and eating only when I'm hungry. My personal weight-loss strategy covers almost anything I want to eat, at any given time -- including real cane sugar.

When I first started this blog, hubby said that we are not giving up dessert, and I said: "Okay." That has changed now. We are eating dessert, but mostly sugar-free gelatin and ice cream with fruit on top.

I'm also not watching my pennies anymore like we did in Utah.

While I'm practical when it comes to grocery shopping, and have learned how to make our gluten-free diet more affordable; hubby told me that due to his current income being enough to live comfortably on, at least for right now, I need to stop thinking about how much food costs and just enjoy our life together.

Again, I told him: "OKAY."

Still super-sensitive to gluten?

Sort of.

I am not as sensitive as I used to be. 

Hubby and I have been taking a glutamine supplement for a few years now, which has helped a whole lot with our gluten symptoms.

We are still gluten free, because we have to be gluten free, but I don't panic when I walk down the bread or flour aisle at the grocery store any more. And I can eat at the same table as someone else who is eating something with gluten.

I still have to eat mostly gluten-free certified foods, wash my hands all of the time, and watch the conveyor belt at the grocery store for flour.

So what's the problem?

Most of those who have contacted me through that blog want to know about brand names for products that are safe for them because they react to products that are certified to be gluten free.

I don't seem to be as sensitive to gluten as they are. Gluten sensitivity is a spectrum, and those reaching out to me are people who are very, very sensitive to certified gluten-free products.

While I have to limit the amount of products I consume each week, I don't have to avoid them completely, so I'm beginning to feel a little helpless.

What I thought was super-sensitivity has turned out to be an unhealthy gut.  

I do have to seek out products that are certified to be up to 10 ppm, or less. Preferably, up to 5. And I do have to drastically limit how many "up to 20 ppm" products I consume during the week. 

I can't eat those daily. Or even weekly.

Neither can I eat lots of gluten-free whole grains or seeds like sorghum flour and flaxmeal -- due to the fiber. I can eat them more often than I could before, but I still don't subject my gut to them every day.

I can use a handful of traditional products like mustard and catsup and sour cream, but healing the gut with glutamine supplementation has done wonders for my overreaction to dairy that I was having before.

Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid that the body makes to nourish the gut lining. You don't have to get it from your food, but some of us just don't make enough to repair all of the damage caused by hidden gluten in our food and environment.

I cannot pig out on Cheetos, which test to less than 20 ppm, but I don't have to totally avoid them either. I can actually enjoy them in very small quantities once in awhile. 

I've also moved past the "Harry Potter is alchemy" idea in the personal development space and would just rather ditch all of the talk about symbols and mind tricks and get right into the core of personal responsibility and emotional maturity.

Thoughts are powerful enough without having to invent additional reasons for not living up to your true potential.

What Does this Mean for You?

It's time for me to start over.

It's time to consolidate all of my blogs into one single project. 

To do that, I've decided to start a brand new blog and just brand my name, so I don't have to leave anyone behind.

 
(If you're looking for a little bit about who I am, and my background, don't leave without visiting our About page.)