Wheat Belly

A few months ago, one of my best friends started raving about what I immediately thought was the newest fad diet. Isn't eliminating carbs the Atkins Diet? And I'm pretty sure that in the long term that didn't work out well for most people (I heard that as soon as carbs were reintroduced people ballooned).

Long story short, she told me that another friend of hers started following the plan to a "T" and swears that her life has been completely changed. My friend doesn't follow it as strictly - allowing herself little indulgences here and there - and she still looks fantastic and also swears that, overall, she feels amazing; that not only has the weight been melting off, but she has more energy and rarely feels lethargic.

Now, as for me, I've never been able to really follow diets very well. I briefly entertained starting the Dukan Diet (even bought the book) but only because I read somewhere that that's what keeps Kate Middleton so thin. I never read it.

The Wheat Belly Diet freaks me out. When I eat at restaurants, I love the bread. And while I rarely eat pasta, sandwiches or breakfast cereal, I adore waffles and french toast casserole. Eggs benedict, served on their toasty little English muffins, bagels and pizza are also some of my best frenemies.

The problem is that it shows. I am about 40 pounds heavier than I would like to be, and all I see when I look at pictures of myself is a bakery. Buns and rolls galore. Although I'd love nothing more than to fit back into my size 4s, I clearly haven't wanted it badly enough since I just bought a new pair of size 8 jeans. The holidays didn't help and I haven't gone for a run in over two weeks (there was no way I was running in 30 degree weather).

With that being said, I am giving Wheat Belly a try. I just borrowed the book and the cookbook from my library and will be cracking them open today.

Before I start, here are my chief concerns:

1. Wheat is in everything. This is going to be too hard for me to really follow.

2. Cooking is now going to require all sorts of funky ingredients that I'll be lucky if I am able to find in Whole Foods.

3. Food is going to taste like cardboard.

4. My husband is a picky eater. While he's the first to promote healthy eating, his reaction is usually less than pleased when I do make healthy meal ("meh, it's okay. It's healthy" which translates to "yuck").

Hopefully I can make this work. I'm not going to give myself a time frame, but I will document my experience here including when I cheat (because I am bound to cheat at some point). I am starting today - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - so Sundays will be my weigh-in days. Ultimately, I need a lifestyle change if I am going to be successful.

So I guess let's consider that one of my New Year's Resolutions: instead of the banal "lose weight" I will say "I am going to change my lifestyle". Here goes nothing!