Hi,

I just finished my third 24-hour fast day in three weeks time and am really excited about continuing to continue. I am within two pounds of my first small goal of hitting 315. So... I've come down from 355 to 317. Took a long time, but since I started the 24-hour fasts once a week, I am really beginning to see progress. It has certainly broken the stall that I was in. Still heading for 315.

I had laser surgery on my left eye last Wednesday and will be getting the right one done tomorrow. I was completely amazed at how simple and easy it was. If you've ever had an eye examination where you placed your chin on the lip of a frame and put your forehead against the bar at the top that was exactly the apparatus that they used to do the laser procedure that I had done. All I had to do was look at the pencil-like device my doctor told me to look at and let her know when I needed to blink -- which only happened once.

It was a little overwhelming to see my field of vision suddenly go opaque white and seem to float, but I just kept my other eye on the spot and let it happen. It was only like that for a few seconds. It happened once more and the whole thing was over. Zip. Zap. Zowie and it was over.

I had had cataract surgery in 2009 where they removed the lenses in my eyes and put in plastic lens "transplants" but my vision seemed to be, once again, growing fuzzy and out of focus. The oncoming headlights at night had gotten the big flaring star-like streaks of light, back again and I had become frightened to drive on a rainy night because I could not tell where the road was. So if there was a church service on Sunday night or Wednesday night and there were predictions of rain, I would not go for fear of driving off the road that I could not see in the night-time rain. I was caught in the rain on a few rainy nights and still remember how hard it was to tell where the road was when traffic was coming towards me.

The flare from the oncoming headlights plus the reflection of light from the wet pavement simply blurred everything together so that I could not clearly see where the road was. Thank God for those painted white lines on the outside edges of many roads. If not for those I would simply have not even known where the road was and I'm sure I would probably have ended up in someone's hedges or worse.

I am now able to read a little better with the left eye (the eye with the lens that focuses up close). Before I had the laser procedure, I had been seeing a large blur in the middle of the type as I read my Bible and it would only get worse as I continued. (I had to stop doing it for a while and had gotten behind in my daily reading.) That blur is not completely gone but is much improved. I am better able to read, but the small blur is still a little distracting.

I mentioned that to my doctor and she started talking about new glasses so I'm hoping that can be corrected. Looking forward to getting the other eye done tomorrow; mainly because that is the one that focuses more for distance viewing and I'm hoping that one clears up a lot. The doctor who did the original surgery on that eye told me he was not able to completely get the cataract out and mentioned at that time that I would need to have a hole cut in the back later on. That is what I am getting done tomorrow so I'm hoping the vision in that eye clears up a lot.

I've been reading (on kindle on my computer) an excellent book written by William Davis, M.D. called "Wheat Belly." Someone referenced it and I checked it out at Amazon and purchased the kindle version. It is very good reading, although, at times it gets a little technical. I would not change it though, because it is those technical details that really reveal the reasons behind his advice which is to eliminate wheat from your diet.

I've sometimes wondered about that. I'm a Bible-believing Christian and I know that bread is something that is talked about and recommended in the Bible. Remember the loaves and the fishes? Jesus fed the people bread. This was always a puzzle to me because I know that eating wheat products raises my blood sugar fast and high so I eat it only on rare occasions. It just did not make sense.

Well, now it makes sense. Dr. Davis explains with great detail that the bread we eat is not the same as the bread that was eaten two thousand years ago. That wheat had been found in the wild and planted in a farmer's field, just as it was, but our bread has gone through multiple generations of breeding for specific traits on top of genetic engineering and in the process is hardly even similar to the wheat of our ancient ancestors. It even grows on shorter stalks now because of the interference of man.

Basically the wheat we have available has much more gluten and other things in it that are not healthy for people to eat anymore. For some people it is even deadly. It causes not only Celiac disease but many other rashes, headaches, and weight gain and gluten is not the only problem. I'm not going to list all the problems he mentions because I think folks need to read the book and find out first hand.

I'm just at the part where he begins to tell people what they should eat instead of wheat and, fortunately for me, it is exactly the same as my personal plan. When you drop out the wheat (which is not easy for many people) you add in more vegetables and protein. None of us will get a "wheat deficiency" from not eating wheat and most of us will have improved health in some way or other.

I know, for sure, that eating wheat raises my blood sugar faster than nearly anything else -- even sugar. I also know that if I go without it for six days, I suddenly have much less pain in my body. No kidding. I do eat things made with wheat on occasion. If I'm at someone's house and they offer it, I am likely to consume it. Sometimes I have it at a restaurant, but for the most part, especially when I am at home, I just don't eat it or buy anything that has it as an ingredient on the label.

When it comes to blood sugar and weight gain you cannot substitute potatoes or other starchy carbs for wheat because potatoes and other starchy carbs still raise blood sugar and cause inflammation. But I have them once in a while. I know that if I want to keep losing weight and feeling good I'm better off without it at all.

I think the hardest part of getting off wheat is for those who have an addiction to it. (Like me.) Those bread and pasta cravings are coming from the wheat that affects the brain as well as the intestines. I know from experience that if you can just get past the first three days, it gets a whole lot easier. It can be done.

I really think you should check out this book at Amazon.com and see what you think. It has a lot of answers to some health questions that are usually hard to figure out. If you have one of those hard to interpret health problems, eliminating wheat might help solve some or all of the problem.

Anyway. My fast is complete. I just had half a bowl of chicken curry with vegetables and a large salad. My belly is full and happy. My ankles are still small and I think that is wonderful.

This fasting thing really seems to be working for me. Finally.

Be back soon,

Marcia

P.S.  If you want to read about the fasting thing check these sources out:

http://www.eatstopeat.com

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting/chapter-6 (this one is free online.)


If you want to check out the "Wheat Belly" book, here is a link:

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343168165&sr=1-1&keywords=wheat+belly+by+william+davis+md

You can copy and paste these into your browser. God bless!!